swift

6.5 Recommended

Food  5      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  6     

My friend and I visited this new restaurant last Friday night. The place presents very well, comfortable and well set out, and well set tables. However, on leaving at 9 pm, there were 3 smokers crowded around the front entrance to the verandah, and we had to walk closely past them which was Very unpleasant.

The young waiter was friendly and efficient, but obviously inexperienced. He couldn't explain much about the menu. He had to run back and forwards with the questions, and was not able to expand on any of the information he was given from the kitchen. The older waitress who brought the bill couldn't raise a smile all night, and seemed to be not enjoying her work very much at all.

We weren't alerted to the blackboard menu, which was located directly above us on the wall, and we didn't see it, and couldn't read it anyway. The a la carte menu was smallish, but had variety. My friend chose the trout with Asian greens which looked and tasted great, although it was wrapped in a parcel of baking paper which detracted from the presentation.

I chose the duck with figs and sauce. Bad choice. It was severely undercooked, pink, the flesh so stuck to the bone I had to leave half of it behind. The skin was tough and tasteless. It was presented on a bed of mash, with a couple of small figs in sauce trailing out along the coldish plate. The figs and sauce were good. I think the chef needs to do a re-think on this dish, but I like the idea of eating Hawkesbury Duck. It really needed some accompanying vegetable or salad to complete the dish.

The sweets menu was very ordinary, only a couple of choices, which needed very little effort to prepare. The blue cheese plate tasted good, but was small in volume, even though spread out all over a big plate.

All in all, a good eatery, but still needs some tweeking in some areas. I would re-visit to try some of the other menu options.

Feb 07, 2012

6.5 Recommended

Food  5      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  6     

My friend and I visited this new restaurant last Friday night. The place presents very well, comfortable and well set out, and well set tables. However, on leaving at 9 pm, there were 3 smokers crowded around the front entrance to the verandah, and we had to walk closely past them which was Very unpleasant.

The young waiter was friendly and efficient, but obviously inexperienced. He couldn't explain much about the menu. He had to run back and forwards with the questions, and was not able to expand on any of the information he was given from the kitchen. The older waitress who brought the bill couldn't raise a smile all night, and seemed to be not enjoying her work very much at all.

We weren't alerted to the blackboard menu, which was located directly above us on the wall, and we didn't see it, and couldn't read it anyway. The a la carte menu was smallish, but had variety. My friend chose the trout with Asian greens which looked and tasted great, although it was wrapped in a parcel of baking paper which detracted from the presentation.

I chose the duck with figs and sauce. Bad choice. It was severely undercooked, pink, the flesh so stuck to the bone I had to leave half of it behind. The skin was tough and tasteless. It was presented on a bed of mash, with a couple of small figs in sauce trailing out along the coldish plate. The figs and sauce were good. I think the chef needs to do a re-think on this dish, but I like the idea of eating Hawkesbury Duck. It really needed some accompanying vegetable or salad to complete the dish.

The sweets menu was very ordinary, only a couple of choices, which needed very little effort to prepare. The blue cheese plate tasted good, but was small in volume, even though spread out all over a big plate.

All in all, a good eatery, but still needs some tweeking in some areas. I would re-visit to try some of the other menu options.

Feb 07, 2012