With all the winter specials around at the moment it was brought to the attention to finally try out the Ivy Bar’s winter feast. Nadine organised a dinner with a couple of work mates to experience Merivale’s $35 winter feast. With a bargain 3 course meal and a glass of James squire or red / white wines… how could anyone say no to a fantastic deal like this.

Not sure if many of you have been to the Ivy bar but the crowd is filled with luscious model material women and men who are just as glamours and trendy as the women. So ladies if your planning to enter the Ivy make sure you put on a dress and whack on a pair of heels.

FOOD
We were served miso soup which as a base while we were waiting for our entrees. ^_^ Unfortunately my photo turned out blurry so i’m not gonna bother posting it up as we all know what miso soup tastes like.

Fresh Queensland Spanner Crab Meat
Ginger, chives, chilli & lime, served on a betel leaf (2pc)

I’m quite a fan of betel leaves as I had a fantastic experience at Longrain. To my surprise it was quite nice. Although it didn’t taste like I was eating crab. It felt like i was eating something soft and gooey. Never the less I still enjoyed it and the presentation of the dish was spot on.

Crisp Balmain Bug Wonton
Sweet chilli & cucumber sauce (2pc)

These were a huge Hit! The thing that caught my eye in the beginning was the “Balmain Bug” Its one of those rare seafood options that is hardly seen on menus. The concept of this dish is the same as the “Fried Wonton’s you could find on a Yum Cha trolly” but created in a fancy modern style cooking with thai style condiment.

Twice Cooked Free Range Pork Belly
pork belly with shaved fennel, apple & caramelised black vinegar

I loved this dish to death. The pork cut was premium and you could tell it wasn’t your usual pork cut you would get served at a restaurant. It had a fresh taste to it and the pork flesh was tender and the fat melted in your mouth *OH SOO GOOD*. The sauce was sweet almost reminding me of sweet plum sauce but not. It was soo good I would have enjoyed it if it came with a bowl of rice hehe.

Wagyu Striploin 120g Oakleigh Ranch
marble score 5+

Another huge hit! I couldn’t make my mind up on which dish I thought was better.. Beef or Pork? They were both fantastic and in fact I really really enjoyed the Wagyu Dish. The side vegetables were divine. It consisted of japanese mushrooms, edame beans, garlic and I think barley! Wagyu been was super tender it melted in your mouth.

Banana Tempura with Sake Chocolate fondu
Can’t go wrong with tempura batter! If you thought banana fritters were heavy these are super light. The batter had a lite crunch and the color was golden brown. Once dipped in the sake chocolate.

Panacotta & Black Sesame
This isn’t on the menu however it was the night’s special! As soon as I heard the bloke say “panacotta and black sesame” i just knew that i had to order this and nothing was going to get in the way of my decision LOL. Panacotta’s happen to be one of my ultimate favourite desserts and Black Sesame is my favourite icecream flavours.

The panacotta wasn’t the best (obviously) but it was still making me moan hahah! It wasn’t servered like the usual style in this instance it was served in a cocktail glass with beautiful black sesame layers.

Tepanyaki (Ivy Bar)
Level 2,
320-330 George St,
Sydney NSW 2000
P: (02) 9240 3000