Felix, Sydney CBD ($$$)

Address: 2 Ash Street, Sydney NSW

Tel: (02) 9240 3000

Website: http://merivale.com.au/felix

Opening Hours:

Monday to Friday 12:00pm – 3:00pm; and 5:30pm – 10:30pm

Saturday 5:30pm – 10:30pm

Sunday 12:00pm – 3:00pm; and 5:30pm – 10:00pm (kitchen closes at 9pm)

* * * 

Felix is a French-styled restaurant located near Sydney’s popular Ivy and Ash Street Cellar   Wine Bar (both Merivale establishments). It’s located close to Wynyard Station and Martin Place, making it well-placed to attract business people from the surrounding offices and those looking for a high quality dining experience.  My friend Fitness Fanatic and I were members of the latter.

Atmosphere

Friday night is undoubtedly one of the busiest days for any restaurant. Given the fact that most people don’t work on Saturday and are looking for a nice place to relax post-working week, it’s not surprising that it’s such a popular night.

The french style decor and eclectic mix of furniture, lamps and murals added to the opulent Parisian feel. The modern french style music also contributed to the restaurant’s atmosphere, as did the busy bar nearby. The oyster bar and wine cellar on display, as well as the ability to see into the kitchen made the space more interesting and less stuffy and formal.

Service

Fitness Fanatic managed to make a booking for us on a Thursday at 6.00pm. We initially wanted to dine at 5.30pm straight after work but unfortunately this could not be accommodated. We arrived at 5.45pm, a little early for our 6.00pm booking. Despite FF having been told that we couldn’t get a booking for 5.30pm, there were only two other tables in the restaurant, other than ourselves.

During the night we had one waitress who took our orders and handled requests. All food was brought out by the waitstaff and drinks by the bar staff.

Our waitress was quite friendly and said all the right things but we couldn’t help but think that she wasn’t genuinely friendly.

All in all service was quite good. Food was brought out very quickly, we never had to wait long for anything and we were paid attention when we wanted it.

Food

We decided to go with the prix fixe menu. This had two options: 2 courses for $45.00 or 3 courses for $55.00. We chose the second option.

Drinks

I chose a lemon lime bitters (my favourite) which cost $5.00.

Breads

To start with we were served complimentary bread with a little butter. The bread was sourdough and while it was quite tasty, the sourdough baguette was a little tough and hard to eat. We also didn’t have a side plate to eat it on which was a bit awkward :p

Entree

For entree I chose the Twice baked Gruyere Soufflé, Rocket and Walnuts. The souffle was well presented and at first I really enjoyed it. The smell was inviting, the texture not too chunky or too soft, and the taste revealed the perfect amount of cheesiness. I love walnuts and thought the rocket was refreshing and broke up the cheesiness a bit, but would have loved something juicy on the salad such as tomatoes, orange slices or figs.

Overall, not a bad dish but it did get a little overpowering and heavy after a few mouthfuls.

FF chose the Smoked Chicken, Frisée, Onion Compote and Crispy Fried Poached Egg. I also tried some of her dish and thought the smokiness of the chicken was quite prominent and contrasted brilliantly with the sweet compote. We were interested to see what the poached egg looked like and thought it was quite interesting to see a poached egg, which is usually something so delicate, coated in batter and fried.

Main

For mains I found it difficult to choose between the Mulloway and the Beef cheek. Both looked inviting but I decided to go with the Pan Roasted Mulloway Provençal with Fennel, Crushed Potatoes Steamed Fennel and Soupe de Poisson as I liked the idea of the pan-fried piece of fish.

The fish was quite well presented and the Soupe de Poisson (basically a thick, colourful fish soup), was (although not very fishy) tasty and fragrant. I was provided with a spoon for the soup but didn’t need it as the fish and potatoes soaked up all the juices. The fish skin was delightfully crisp and golden and the fish was soft and flaky. The fennel which tastes basically like celery was OK but the potatoes were a little undercooked. Overall I did enjoy this dish and had the potatoes been a little more cooked, it would have been brilliant.

FF chose the Rotisserie Spatchcock, Savoy Cabbage and Boulangere Potatoes. I tried a little of the spatchcock, despite not being a huge fan of spatchcock generally as it’s a baby chicken and I don’t like the thought of eating a chick. However I did enjoy it and although I wouldn’t order it myself I thought the dish was quite well done. The spatchcock was well-cooked and the gravy was poured on top of the chicken at the table. The boulangere potatoes, which are basically finely sliced potatoes layered and cooked in an oven for a long period of time, were one of the standouts of the dish. FF mentioned that she thought there was too much chicken and not enough cabbage. We did agree that more chicken was better than not enough and that the servings at Felix are very generous.

Dessert

For dessert I had trouble deciding between the profiteroles, the cold fondant and the parfait.

FF chose the profiteroles: Profiteroles, Vanilla Ice-cream, Pistachio Custard and Hot Chocolate Sauce. The chocolate sauce was poured on top of the profiteroles at the table. FF really enjoyed them and I thought the pistachio custard with hot chocolate was an interesting combination and went really well together. I did, however, think that the profiteroles were a little dense.

I ended up deciding to go with the Vanilla Parfait, Glazed Fig, Baked Meringue and Almonds. I was extremely happy with this choice as the parfait was delicious and tasted of cardamom and nutmeg. It had the texture of pashmak, and the was very interesting to try! I love figs and really enjoyed the fresh figs. I couldn’t taste any glaze on them but I thought they were delicious nonetheless. The baked meringue added a lot to the presentation of the dish and the dry, sweet texture went great with the parfait. The almonds added some extra crunch. This dish was my favourite and by far one of the best desserts I have had in a while!

Overall we had an enjoyable evening with excellent food, generous portions, great value and good service.

Cost:

The meal came to $115.00 all up.

Rating:

Overall I would rate my experience (out of 10):

• Service- 7
• Food- 8.25
• Ambience- 7.5
• Value – 7.5