Folonomo

Folonomo claims to be Sydney's first "for purpose" restaurant. Folonomo stands for 'for love, not money', and the profits earned by the restaurant goes towards charitable ends. If that doesn't make you feel good about splashing out on lovely food, I don't know what will.

I am an absolute fan of tasting menus, because they generally showcase the best of the restaurant, and you get an opportunity to sample a wide variety of 'signature dishes' by getting a little bit of many things. That way, you know exactly what to, and what not to, order a la carte the next time you visit. The banquet menu at Folonomo is exactly that - little bites of items which are on the menu, and thus can be ordered individually if desired.

For everything reviewed below, unless stated otherwise, the dish is shared between four people.

Bread and Olives

Despite not being the most exciting part of the meal, I often find that the quality of the bread and butter served is a good indication of the quality of the rest of the meal you are about the receive. The bread served at Folonomo is chewy and moist, with a rich, softened butter - the kind you can happily nom on without anything else. The olives are also good quality, being slightly fragrant and not overly salty.

Preserved Vegetables

Though it may seem slightly odd to offer guests what is essentially pickles at the beginning of what claims to be a banquet meal, I think this plate is a stroke of genius - the tart, crunchy preserved vegetables is an appetite-stimulant and prepares your palate as well as your stomach for the richer food that is to come. I particularly enjoyed the pickled celery.

King Fish Tartare

A sort of a mini-san-choy-bow, the king fish tartare is a satisfying little mouthful where the very slight tartness of the pomelo balances the fatty, rich texture of the king fish sashimi cubes.

Quail and Apricot

This is a two-person share of quail and apricot, resting on a bed of hummus. I have never enjoyed quail personally - it's basically a small, boney chicken with not much meat on it. The pairing of apricot with poultry is nothing new, but I found the use of hummus surprising and the flavours work quite well together!

Bean and Mandarin

The sauce used to toss the grilled beans with the lettuce is a smokey sesame sauce. The menu plays fast and loose with naming, as there are clearly no mandarin, but some orange segments served with the greenery. There is not much special about this dish, I think it's more of a filler, and I certainly would not have ordered it straight off the menu, but the pickled raddish is quite lovely.

King Prawn and Zucchini 

At this point, my mother started to worry whether the men in the family are going to have enough to eat - as we were each served half a prawn. By the end of the meal, we were all quite full and satisfied, so her worry was unwarranted - but understandable. The prawns tasted fresh and sweet as one would expect.

Cotechino Terrine

This was the highlight of the meal for me. The terrine, made of pork, is surprisingly sweet - and served with green sauce, pickles on richly buttered bread, this dish is complex and deeply satisfying. I would definitely order this straight off the menu next time.

Rump Steak

This is a two person share of rump steak, pictured with a four-person share of mixed leaf salad. The mixed leaf salad is possibly the simplest thing I have ever seen served up at a restaurant - it takes a very literal approach to 'mixed leaf'. The dish consists of leaves. And they are mixed. The rump steak is delightfully pink in the middle, but rather chewy.

Ice Cream Sandwich

Another delightfully surprising dish, the ice cream sandwich may look like your everyday vanilla-chocolate biscuit-caramel sauce fare, but it is a bit more fancy than that. The ice-cream is sweet-corn flavoured - and you can sometimes find the corn kernel skins in the ice cream as you melt it on your tongue. The chocolate biscuit layers have added cumin, so there is a noticeable saltiness to them which compliments the rich, gooey caramel sauce. You get a pretty descent block to share between two.

Petit Four

Again, the menu plays fast and loose with naming the dishes. The petit four, in this case, is home-made nougat with macadamia. Very sweet, fluffy and soft, there are a lot of macadamia in these babies; but if you taste carefully you can discern that the nougat itself is flavoured with earl grey.

Score: 4 / 5 
Overall, this is a very delightful meal. The staff were absolutely lovely and attentive, filling your glass without asking and explaining the dishes which are a little less self-explanatory. My only criticism is that given the small amount the guests enjoy of each dish, there really should be no filler dishes such as the beans dish.
Price: a very reasonable $70pp without drinks.
Address:  370 Bourke Street, Surry Hills
Website: www.folonomo.org.au