Nel. Restaurant, Surry Hills

After reading so many amazing reviews from my fellow bloggers. I decide to check out Nel for an anniversary dinner.

I see Head Chef and Owner Nelly Robinson running the kitchen so I can't help but keep looking his way to see what is going on. There's the choice of the $98 per person degustation or you can add wines for another $80.

I toast with a drink to kick off the degustation. Their menu changes every 6 weeks so this is likely to be an older menu. First off are some snacks. A small container is presented in front of me and I take the lid off to see a bit of food theatre. Check out my video below.

All this smoke comes out and I watch silently in anticipation. It's some sort of smoked snack. I finally put my spoon in and scoop up some cucumber among with a mouthful of bread and trout. It's a cold snack. I'm feeling slightly perplexed but intrigued.

The next snack looks like a chemistry set. It's called "thai green curry". The instructions are to eat the ball and then to drink the entire test tube. The flavours all taste like Thai Green Curry. My imagination goes a bit wild along with sight, taste and smell. 

The final snack is called "Easter Egg Hunt". I saw the box of grass and wondered what was in store. I didn't have to eat any grass because the key was to find the egg. Inside was a delicious scotch egg. I quite like the theatre of it though, it brings back childhood memories for me - playing in the grass.

After a bit of bread and butter, it's now onto the mains. First up is the venison with eel, mushroom, sorrel and berries. The bright veal catches my eye. The combination of flavours surprises me as it's quite nice and I soon forget that I am eating bambi. It's very well textured.

Next up is the Kingfish tandoori with smoked yoghurt and lobster. The kingfish was very fresh and I wish there was more! 

Next up was the duck (above) with port, cauliflower and hazelnuts. It was a subtle hazelnut foam and cream. The duck was in little pasta parcels and was garnished. I really liked the snapper (below) which was cooked perfectly, topped with seaweed and tomato.

Next up is dessert. There was the sheep's yoghurt, yuzu, coconut and violet sticks. This dessert is refreshing and very well textured. 

There was also the pumpkin pie which was really deconstructed. I must admit, I don't really associate pumpkin in the dessert category but it was something different that I enjoyed.

Finally, there was the petites which included the chocolate with a passionfruit centre then eccles cake lemon curd and espresso martini wine gum. What a nice way to finish the meal.

Overall, I had such a nice dinner at Nel. It's a great place for an anniversary dinner. The decore is very intimate. The snacks were so creative and I loved the food theatre of it all. 

Price: $98 for the degustation.

Location: 75 Wentworth ave, Sydney

Opening Hours: 6pm to 10pm Tues-Sat. Also open Friday 12pm to 3pm

Summary: Lisa's Rating: Check it out if you have a special occasion. 

Food: 8/10 for fine dining 

Customer Service: 10/10

Atmosphere: 8/10
Value: 8/10