Bistro Lilly

A rare dinner for 2 at a nice restaurant without the kids. Comes by once a year ; )
I picked Bistro Lilly for our 5 year wedding anniverary. I was after something nice but not over the top or too extravagant. Did some research and eventually decided on Bistro Lilly. It was their fast courteous email reply that won me over.

The specials currently available are 2 courses for $39 or 3 courses for $46 where you must arrive before 6.30pm. Or you could go for the 5 course degustation for $69. We went for the early bird 3 course special.

Outside
Nice romantic ambiance

Optional extra - Bread roll, roast garlic and truffle butter ($1.75pp)

Entree 1 - Polenta Dusted Baby Calamari, Basil Aioli and Rocket
Baby calamari are the way to go! They were so tender and they had a nice crunch with the polenta curst. The basil aioli was very subtle. Mmmm good dish.

Entree 2 - Truffled Duck Liver Pate, Cherry Vinegar, Red Onion Relish and Toasted Brioche ($19 off ala carte menu)

For me, I'm don't like pate so I can't say I enjoyed this. But my husband thought it was lovely : )

Mains 1 - 180 day Grain Fed Angus Beef Fillet, Sauteed Spinach and Shiraz ($35.90 off ala carte menu)

Our version tonight came with pumpkin puree, mash and onion relish. The steak was awesome! Seriously, the knife just slid down the meat. Really beautiful. And cooked just as we asked.

Side - Crisp Royal Blue Potatoes Lyonnaise ($9.50)

Very good. But again with the onion relish?

Main 2 - Confit Duck Leg, Braised Red Cabbage, Caramelised Pears and Chestnuts ($34.90 off ala carte menu)

On the night the ingredients were changed slightly. It was broccolini with pomegranate sauce. This was gorgeous! Loved the crispy duck skin and the fall apart meat. And the pomegranate sauce goes really well with the duck.

And to my horror.......my camera battery died just before the entree : ( Couldn't believe it. Oh well. I ended up having the Vanilla Bean Brulee with Lavender Sable. Lovely and creamy with the ever important top you can crack with a spoon. My husband chose the White Chocolate Parfait, Liquorice and Fresh Raspberries. He absolutely adored this. And I was impressed with the Liquorice Parfait as I don't like liquorice in it's "normal state" but this was really good.

My one gripe? Onion relish was a bit of an overkill. Only the pate (entree) mentioned onion relish so to get it on the beef (mains) and potatoes (side) was a bit too much. Or I guess it's just bad luck that those were the dishes my husband chose.

Overall, a really nice place. Not too fancy, smart casual (but a couple rocked up in jeans and a t-shirt) and the service was attentive - our water was filled up regularly without any need to hail someone down. Har! We got a phone call in the middle of entree to see if we still wanted to keep our booking ha ha ha!

Happy 5 year anniversary : )

Love forever

xoxoxo