Review: D'Artagnan in North Adelaide
A PEEK in the window of North Adelaide's newest restaurant, D'artagnan, reveals a surprising, theatrical little fantasy world which looks luxurious, French and chic.
A PEEK in North Adelaide's newest restaurant, D'artagnan, reveals a surprising, theatrical fantasy world.
Knowing little about the food, I just want to go, if for no other reason than to enjoy the cosy, hushed yet fun setting which is such a contrast to our ubiquitous mod eateries of hard surfaces and high noise levels.
There are oversized wing-back Alice-in-Wonderland-like armchairs pulled up to dark tables, smart black furnishings offset by luxurious lime-green crushed velvet stage-like curtains, ivory chiffon-draped walls, long black bar, little cocktail/dining nooks and dramatic provincial splashes of swirly black and white.
Booking via answering machine proves difficult. There's no return call to confirm. My check call early evening reveals the restaurant is full, leaving us without a booking on a Friday night.
Success next time, but a late call to add a guest to our party of two must go to message again, and no reply. It hasn't yet been sorted when we arrive so we forgo an armchair nook, ending up at the only table in the place set with four ordinary chairs, and facing the back wall.
It's half an hour before our first drinks arrive and disappointment is setting in.
To their credit, once alerted, the particularly friendly staff go into damage control and organise a move, improving the setting and our mood. We're now a bit jaunty, two of us up in soft dining chairs, one down in an Alice armchair, warmed by a flickering gas-flame fire and feeling that this is more like it.
D'artagnan promises the influence of French cooking and a cocktail-bar ambience. It offers hors d'oeuvres, charcuterie and a share platter for drinks hours morsels that double as starters to a meal.
Most have three or four pieces, and ours arrive quickly, to nibble over belated drinks. Four ham and cheese croquettes are generous, crisp and simple, although the tomato relish is a bit sparse for the serve. Three arancini are just rice and breadcrumbs; all too plain with scant sign of the mushroom and blue cheese description, and certainly not evident in the flavour.
The best of these starters is three little mounds of beef tartar, soft, well seasoned and easily spread on to house-made crispy croutons. Truffle oil has unusually light impact, so the dish is just fine.
We've moved on from pre-drinks, choosing wine from a comprehensive list, although right up there in price. You won't find a bottle under about $40, but a nice selection by the glass. Plus, we're planning for later, eyeing a good cocktail list and a fancy dessert drink styled for the chocolate lover in me.
So far, there has been admirable attention to seasoning, but there's a blip. A heavy hand on the pepper spoils an elegant bowl of house-made pappardelle. The lovely flat ribbons of pasta are twisted with soft duck flesh and a punchy herb flavour, but pepper overwhelms it, tasting of "slips" in the kitchen.
A nicely balanced tomato-based seafood broth is well seasoned and a bit rustic, with delicious chunky herb bread on the side. The medley of fish is almost perfect, with even tender scallops in the stew-like setting. Only the mussels tarnish the score because they're overcooked and tough.
Deciding on the main course has been a bit difficult because meat and vegetables seems a recurring theme. The chicken breast wrapped in prosciutto with figs, provencal vegetables, tomato and basil sauce is tempting, but only because of interest in the figs.
But then the grilled Hay Valley lamb rump earns an ardent fan. It's tender, deliciously fatty, braised, flavoursome lamb shoulder meat with homely sides of baby carrots, potato fondant and wilted greens.
The lure of a Berkshire pork scotch is that it has been cooked in D'artagnan's bouillon, then grilled, and it shows, being tender and quite sweet. A striking smear of reduction and a strip of baby vegetables including morel mushroom and perfect confit garlic cloves gives the plate a more styled look than the lamb.
A beef fillet with baby spinach, truffle cream and shiraz glaze is homely again, this time with smaller versions of the croquettes we had as starters but a bit misshapen and soggy in the meat juices. For some reason, the fillet has been halved, so two thin pieces, stacked, are barely able to qualify as medium rare. There are also some tiny baked onions, good except for the tough, unchewable outer skins which need to be discarded.
We order a side of broccolini with goat's cheese and garlic chips. It's nicely done, but it's worth noting that, in a mark of good value, the mains ordered have enough veg.
Finally, a more obvious French twist arrives in the chocolate fondant simple, a surprisingly flat disc, but somehow yielding the textural double of a crisp outer and oozy chocolate within. A dollop of ice cream sits on a little pile of perfect pistachio praline. We love it, but then, sticky warm ginger bread with caramelised apples and cinnamon ice cream also takes the cake.
HOW IT RATED: D'ARTAGNAN (26 O'Connell St, North Adelaide; ph 8267 6688 www.dartagnan.net.au)
Food: 12/20
Staff: 8/10
Drink: 3/5
X-Factor: 3/5
Value: 8/10
THE TOTAL SCORE OUT OF 50: 34