Felix, Sydney

I'd been wanting to go to Felix for quite sometime now, so when our friend Flying High Girl was down for a visit, we decided that we would catch up over dinner.  Flying High Girl let me decide where we would meet for dinner, and since Cheesecake Boy and my relationship is democratic to an extent, I gave him a list of places that I was considering, and all he had to do was choose the place and I would book it in.  I knew he was going to choose Felix, especially when I mentioned that they had oysters, cheese souffles and last but not least Reuben sandwiches, so I may have slightly manipulated his decision, but that's how we finally ended up at Felix.  

I have to say that the environment of Felix really was very inviting with all that red, it's really seductive and quite dark at night, so great for a cosy dinner and thinking your in a brasserie in France, but not great for taking photos especially in the plush booth corner we were in, so the photos on this post don't really do the food enough justice, but they were the best we could do given the circumstances.

Complimentary bread came with a choice between a soft sourdough and rye with French butter.  French butter is a favourite of Cheesecake Boy's, so there was liberal smear on each of his slices.

Flying High Girl and Ms. Montana both ordered the Debutant.  I was too busy catching to realise that I did not take note of this concoction at the time, except that there was ginger and I am pretty sure citrus notes, to make for a refreshing drink.

Debutant, $16

I went for the Pigalle cocktail that night that consisted of calvados, dubonnet rouge and cherry brandy shaken with fig jam, lemon juice and bitters.  It was sweet at first due to the apple and cherry notes, but the bitters gave it a slightly bitter edge.  The fig jam and lemon really rounded off the balance of bittersweet notes nicely.  However, the rouge dubonnet provided the much needed depth.

Pigalle cocktail, $16

Cheesecake Boy ordered the Coopers Pale Ale.  He has a soft spot for Coopers Pale Ale, and it's usually one of his standard go to beers.

Coopers Pale Ale, $8

Unfortunately the day before I had been quite under the weather and almost had to cancel, but I hadn't seen Flying High Girl in ages so I was going regardless.  Luckily, by lunch time I was feeling better, but I wasn't game enough to unsettle my stomach again with overly rich food, so I had to put off trying the chicken liver pate and Gruyere souffle this time round.

Instead we decided to get a couple of the Sydney rock oysters each except for Ms. Montana who joined us for dinner too.  I'm pretty sure we chose Merimbula lake rock oysters out of the three kinds of Sydney rock oysters available from the oyster bar, but my memory is failing me.  They were lovely and beautifully shucked, nice and cool going down and the vinaigrette hit all the right sweet and acidic notes.

Sydney rock oysters with condiments, $3.50 each

Flying High Girl ordered the spatchcock with iceberg and lemon.  It looked beautifully roasted and juicy, but I didn't try any of this, so can only say that Flying High Girl definitely enjoyed her spatchcock when I inquired.  I trust her judgment completely, as we seem to have similar likes and dislikes at where and what we like to eat from our past dining experiences together.

Spatchcock with iceberg & lemon, $32

I never doubted that Cheesecake Boy would order the Rueben sandwich with dill pickles.  The version at Felix is quite different to the one that Cheesecake Boy regards as his favourite at Rueben & Moore.  The bread had quite a charred quality to it.  However, I liked that the sauerkraut was not too sour and really enhanced the flavour of the corned beef.  Also, I loved the dill pickles as they were slightly sour and had a nice sweetness that did not overwhelm the rest of the elements.  However, Cheesecake Boy did not agree with me and thought the sauerkraut and pickles were not sour enough.

Rueben sandwich with dill pickle, $18

Ever since dining at the Chophouse, I have been ordering steak a lot more frequently.  Usually I would only eat it once a year, but it's a year full of change so the sirloin fillet with herb butter and fries was what caught my eye that night and Ms. Montana too.  There's something very luxurious about melted herb butter with beautifully cooked medium rare sirloin and nicely crisp fries.  The side of rocket was a good contrast against all that rich goodness.

Sirloin fillet with herb butter and fries, $36

Flying High Girl was definitely a good influence on us, as we got a side of steamed vegetables consisting of broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini cooked just the way I liked them.  Meaning they were still slightly crisp.  It was much needed against all the meat we were consuming that night.

Steamed vegetables, $10

Cheesecake Boy wanted a side of fries with his Rueben.  For the price it wasn't a huge serving, but it was a nice crisp bowl of fries that still managed to get demolished mainly by Cheesecake Boy.

Fries, $8

The restaurant was really buzzing after our mains, so it took a while for them to clear our plates.  It would be the only fault of the night, but seems to be happening to us more frequently.  However, when you have a restaurant that was so busy for a Wednesday night, I guess I can understand the twenty minute delay for our table to be cleared and for the dessert menu to come around.

You may then be able to understand why Cheesecake Boy did not want me to order the passionfruit souffle with vanilla ice cream, as it was going to be another twenty minute wait.  However, I insisted, and lo and behold an ethereally light and gloriously high passionfruit souffle graced our presences.  Now for the guy that didn't want me to order this dessert, he more than ate his share. I don't blame Cheesecake Boy for invading my souffle as he enjoys intense notes of flavour, especially when the sweet tangy passionfruit really screamed to be noticed in this souffle. The passionfruit almost overwhelmed the delicate lightness of this souffle for me, but not quite.  The vanilla ice cream was simply nice and creamy, the way vanilla ice cream should be.

Passionfruit souffle with vanilla ice cream, $18

Ms. Montana ordered the white chocolate almond parfait with roasted strawberries. I actually really quite liked this dessert, but not everyone took the same shining to it that I did.  The white chocolate was quite subtle and not overly sweet at all, but sweet enough for me to really savour the almond that was coming through.  Out of all the desserts that night it was the one that was just simply nice, but in a good way.

White chocolate almond parfait with roasted strawberries, $16

If you remember the beginning of this post, I lured Cheesecake Boy here because of the lemon delicious pudding with cream and candied lemon.  You don't see many lemon delicious puddings around and for Cheesecake Boy it's always a winner.  If you love sweet and sour lemony tanginess with a soft and gooey texture, then this lemon delicious pudding ticked all the boxes.  If it wasn't for the passionfruit souffle, this would have been Cheesecake Boy's favourite dessert of the night.

Lemon delicious pudding with cream and candied lemon, $16

As soon as we got the dessert menu, Flying High Girl had her eyes set on the chocolate mousse with hazelnut milk granita and caramel.  The only component of the dessert that I tried was the mousse and this one was quite a rich and dense chocolate mousse.  Flying High Girl's eyes twinkled with each bite, so I'm sure this was a lovely way to end the night. 

Chocolate mousse, hazelnut milk granita and caramel, $16

We all had a lovely meal at Felix, I don't know if it's because it's hidden off in Ash Street or the lovely decor, but I was truly enchanted by this place.  The service did stray during the busier periods and our meal did take three hours, but when you're catching up, time really does fly.  Otherwise, the service was pretty impeccable at the start.  However, at times Felix did get a bit noisy with everyone chattering and buzzing along with enjoyment, but it's all part of the ambience.

On another note, I have just recent set up a facebook page that will make it easier for some of you to keep up to date with our posts.

Dining away, Dumpling Girl.


Felix
2 Ash Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: (02) 9240 3000
http://www.merivale.com/#/felix/felix