Pilu at Freshwater is a beautiful two-hatted restaurant on Sydney's northern beaches, overlooking the beach. It is a very popular wedding venue - and one can understand why, just by looking at the tranquil and beautiful little garden right near the sand.
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| What a view! |
There are four main options available at Pilu: a 5 course degustation menu (at $125pp + $80 for matching wine), an 8 course degustation menu (at $154pp + $105 for matching wine - $145 premium matching wine), a 2 course a la carte menu ($75pp) and a 3 course a la carte menu ($95pp). The a la carte menu offers quite a small and select number of choices for each course (as is usually the way at good restaurants), but each dish is intriguing and appetising in its own way.
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| Sardinian flat bread, complimentary |
Each meal begins with some crispy, golden Sardinian flat bread. Paper thin and packed with a delicate olive oil and rosemary flavour, these flat breads are absolutely moreish, especially when paired with its accompanying dip. The dip appears to be a light cream cheese with truffle reduction, and it is earthy, slightly sweet and very delicious. We're off to a great start.
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| ‘Cocktail di Gamberi’ (extra $10) |
Queensland scarlet prawns must be some of the most succulent, juicy prawns out there - served as a fancy prawn cocktail, the head and tail of the prawns are fried until crispy and edible, the prawn meat very lightly cooked and tossed, huddled on a bed of charred cos lettuce and served with prawn aioli. Some sharp finger lime provides a welcome, fresh tartness to the dish.
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| Tonnarelli con coniglio alla cacciatora, capocollo croccante, capperi, olive e pinoli |
This is the first time I have ever had rabbit, and I suppose this is a good introduction to rabbit, because it is mainly a pasta dish with just little slivers of rabbit meat throughout. The meat is cooked until very soft, almost like a ragu, topped with a piece of crispy capocollo (google tells me this is a traditional Italian and Corsican pork cold cut made from the dry-cured muscle running from the neck to the fourth or fifth rib of the pork shoulder or neck) with a reduction of capers and olives. Some toasted pine nuts are strew throughout the dish to provide texture and that lovely nutty flavour.
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| Carparccio |
Thiscarparccio is my most highly recommended dish out of all the entrees. Using premium, melt-in-your-mouth wagyu beef, this carparccio is beautifully salted to the point where you think you are having a delicate salumi - a beautiful balance of protein and fat, abosolutely delicate.
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| Fregula risottata, calamari, nero di seppia, riccio di mare e peperoncino |
This squid ink risotto has a complex and lovely flavour, but it was perhaps a tad over-salted: it was really difficult to finish the dish, but what was served was really very good. In particular, the long, generous strips of sea urchin provides the dish a deep, briny flavour, and needless to say the risotto is cooked to creamy perfection. The squid ink is gorgeous - though perhaps not a good choice for a first date!
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| Ricciola alla brace, cetrioli, uva, siero e aneto |
Moving onto the main dish, this is king fish cooked over charcoal, served with salted cucumbers, grapes, whey broth and dill. The fish is so fatty and delicately cooked it is almost like eating sashimi. The paring of salted cucumber and grapes provides a lovely, interesting balance to the flavour profile.
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| Polcheddu arrustu e ‘laldinu’ (Limited Availability) |
Free range suckling pig slow roasted on the bone - the flesh falls right off, with the skin crispy. It is served with laldinu - I have absolutely zero idea what it is despite trying to google it, but it appears to be pork-based as well, and is served with a lovely meaty reduction and dollops of apple sauce.
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| Snapper |
When a fish is cooked well, it really is the most comforting thing - the flesh of the snapper is buttery yet firm, swimming in a pool of creamy broth. The flavours are well balanced - a deceptively simple dish that is highly satisfying.
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| Cervo alla brace, broccoli, limone preservato, foglia di vigna e bacche di capperi |
This is a day of firsts, for it also marks the first time I have ever had venison - the meat of the nobility! The venison at Pilu is cooked over charcoal, with charred brocolli and caperberry salt, topped with a crisp grape leaf - while I enjoyed the grape leaf (the texture is almost that of a seaweed snack sheet), I could have done without that foliage-like reminder of where my meat wandered in its lifetime. The meat is impeccably cooked, and not gamey at all. Despite really enjoying the dish, I think I will stick with a fine cut of beef in the future, because I was traumatised by Bambi as a child, and interesting fact - Bambi is by far the most flattering of the nicknames I have collected in my childhood, so I suppose I'd better not eat my own kind.
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| Coconut mousse |
To finish the meal and continue the magic forest theme, behold, a perfect apple consisting of berry glaze encasing a dreamy coconut mousse and black forest sponge cake. The plummy sauce has hints of red wine, and the poached cherry adds a lovely tartness to this beautiful dessert. What a perfect end to the meal.
Score: 4/5
Price: around $100 - $250pp
Address: Moore Road, Freshwater
Website: https://www.pilu.com.au/
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