We didn’t have to wait long for the first course though, which was some of the most delicious soup I’d ever tasted. It was a Coconut and Prawn Broth, Coconut broth served with freshly shelled prawns, Kaffir lime leaf and Balmain and Rozelle spice. The only other that had come close was a white bean and truffle oil soup that we’d had at a Sitella lunch and stood out as our best soup of all time to date. After careful consideration, we decided it still held that mantle but this soup was impressive nonetheless.
Next up was a crab dish, Tian de Crabes Bleus, which was Blue swimmer crab set as a montage with tomato, Toodyay olives and iceberg lettuce served with a light green vegetable sauce. This came with a glass of Domaine du Rimauresq Provence 2009. I really enjoyed this course. There was such a generous amount of crab meat and the combination with the lettuce and the slight saltiness for the olices, it all worked so well. The rose was a delicious too – really light.
I was slightly daunted by the next course, given it was fish, which isn’t my favourite. I needed have worried though because this salmon was not at all fishy, cooked to perfection and in a wonderfully herby sauce. Le Saumon de Tasmanie d’eau Profonde et La Saint Jacques de Shark Bay aux Aromates, was Finest Tasmanian salmon and Shark Bay scallops, braised with aromatic herbs and served with a beure blanc on wilted spinach. If all salmon came this way, I’d be eating it every day! Especially with the lovely wine this one came with, J.J. Vincent Bourgogne Blanc 2008 – very nice drop!
The next course was the first one that GG and I differed on. I decided to embrace my inner frenchie and try snails – Escargots à La Bordelaise en Pâte de Brick sur Ratatouille Tomates aux Chilies sauce, Snail fritter served golden on a warm ratatouille stack with a tomato and chilli sauce. It was really tasty, sort of like a fancy spring roll, and the snails didn’t really have too strong a flavour. GG had the pig trotter option here. Neither of us particularly liked this flavour, but again nice to say we gave it a go. This course came with our first red for the evening, a Plan de Pegau Rouge 2007.
Again on the next course we mixed it, with GG going for beef cheek which was cooked perfectly and I went for the duck option. It was perfection. Le Confit de Canard au poivre, Leg and thigh of duck, slow cooked and served with diced roast potatoes, wilted spinach and a light pepper sauce, which came with another red, this time the Pezat Bordeaux Superior 2006. I think this was one of my favourite courses. The meat literally fell off the bone and the flavours were in perfect harmony. The pepper sauce in particularly was fairly light but had this amazing depth of flavour. Amazing! The Pezat Bordeaux Superior that came with it was excellent too.
The Loose Box is the perfect special occasion place. It is worth the drive for the experience of the amazing cuisine of Alain Fabrègues – Très Bien!
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