Dinner @ Marque's

I finally lost my virginity last night ........................................................................................................................................TO ONE OF THE BEST FINE DINING RESTAURANTS IN AUSTRALIA, BABYYY!! Lolz...gotcha, didn't I?

It was the first time ever that I've eaten at a fine dining restaurant. The restaurant is called Marque and according to the 2009 Australian Restaurant Guide, Marque is in the Top 6 across Australia. Not to my surprise, the food was more than excellent....it was almost orgasmic! Why almost, you might wonder? Well, to be honest, I didn't like the cheese course. The cheese kinda tasted like aerosol.

I went to Marque's together with Vivien, Bryant and Fiorn. The dinner was an 8 course meal...8 tiny little portions I might add. 3 entrees, 4 mains, and 1 dessert. It took us almost 4 hours to complete the 8 courses. That was the longest dinner I've ever had in my life. But truth be told, it didn't seem that long. We were enjoying random conversations over dinner....very Western style...instead of the very typical Asian style, whereby all dishes come out at the same time and everyone gobble their food like a ghost during Hungry Ghost Festival. You know what I mean. And you're not even allowed to talk so much during dinner. It's rude la kononnya!

So..we had a half bottle of French red wine...very expensive half bottle of red wine. Though it was already the cheapest one. But what the hell...what's fine dining without wine? But thank God it was one hell of a red wine....I don't normally like red wine, but that one seemed alright to me.


This was our first appetizer dish. It's called "Chaud-Froid Free Range Egg". The waitress explained to us that the dish consists of 5 elements that stimulates the palate. "sweet, sour, salty, hot and cold." It was goooooooodddd!!! Oohh la laaaa!!

As for the second entree dish, I think we forgot to take a picture of it. And damn it...that was my 2nd favourite dish. It's called "Almond Jelly with Blue Swimmer Crab, Almond Gazpacho, Sweet Corn and Herring Roe." The crab tasted so good...it was like something I've never tasted before. But I thought the taste of the almond jelly was a little too strong. But overall, the dish was definitely one of my favourites.


This entree is called "Octopus Nicoise with Passionfruit and Pineapple Sage." This dish is a very refreshing entree and the ingredients blend in very well together. However, I'm not a big fan of octopus. So I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd liked to.


Now this was our first main course, which is called "Cured Ocean Trout with Coleslaw, Lemon and Dill Jelly. The trout was served cold and raw.


The second main course is called "Duck Liver with Duck Ham, Onion and Charred Leek. Now this is the kinda dish I could get used to. I thought duck liver tasted like any other liver, except that it's more tender and the taste was less overpowering. Overall, great dish.



As for this dish, it's called the "Roast Jurassic Quail with Black Lip Abalone, Chocolate Feuilletage and Celeriac." I can say that this might just be my favourite dish. The quail was so tender and flavorsome...I totally didn't expect it. When you see Quail and Chocolate...you'd think that it would be a weird combination. But the combination is actually pretty awesome. I loved this dish so much that I wanted more! But of course I wasn't entitled to another portion. Bottom line....YuMMiLiCiOuSZzZzzZ!!!


This final main of the day is "Poached Veal Loin with Root Vegetables, Smoked Parsnip and Wakame." Veal is baby cow's meat, if I'm not mistaken. I kinda like veal...I think it tastes better than beef. It's not as heavy or flavorsome as beef, but it's got its own unique taste and texture to it. I think it's something different, and I like it.

There was an optional cheese course after main couse was over. The cheese dish is called "Bleu del Moncenis (Piedmont, Italy) with Apple Jelly and Konbu." Basically, it's a type of blue cheese from Italy. You know blue cheese...it stinks, big time!! But this one didn't stink as much. When you take a bite and try to taste it, the result of it is kinda tasteless in the beginning. But when the cheese starts to kick into your palate, you will find that it tastes like aerosol. Really!! Even Fiorn agrees! She actually suggested it first!!


This is a pre-dessert, according to the waitress. It's called "Sauternes Custard." I hated this dessert. It's too damn sweet. I had two spoons of it and I gave up on it. The caramel on top was too sweet. The custard was very smooth, though. But I'm not a big fan of custards...so I couldn't enjoy it anyway.


The final dish of the day, "Poached Strawberries with Raspberries, Liqourice, Yoghurt Sorbet, and Vermouth." Now this is a dessert I could never get sick of. The yoghurt sorbet was marvellous. They only served us a little scoop. I almost wanted to ask the waitress if I could have some more. Mmmmm....yummy!!!


This is a menu that they gave to us at the end of our meal. It's funny...they only showed the menu to us at the end of service, instead of the beginning. They said they wanna give us a surprise. But what the hell, they've already explained every dish each time they serve us a dish. There's no surprise whatsoever. Plus, we've already checked the menu online before we came.


Vivien and me - Dinner @ Marque's


Bryant and Fiorn - Dinner @ Marque's

So..those were all the dishes we had for dinner at Marque's. It was a great experience for me....and quite a funny one at the beginning. Coz me and Viv were figuring how to dress up. Since it's a fine dining restaurant, it's kinda common sense to assume that a dress would be a minimum requirement. But then again, I guess we over-estimated our common sense...there's no need to wear a damn dress to that place. It's has a semi-formal setting and ambience...a dress might be a little too grand for a dinner out with friends. But of course if it was a romantic date, then a dress would be a minimum requirement. Imagine me in a dress....kekekekekekek!!!

The most painful part of the night....was when the waiter handed us the check. OUCCCHHHHHHHHH!!!! It was brutal...very brutal!! But then again...not unexpected. This dinner cost me my entire week's pay. But no matter what you say...it was worth every dime.

Oh ya...did I also mention that while we were waiting for Bryant and Fiorn to arrive at the restaurant, me and Viv saw a Karaoke bus! OMIGOD....it's sooo hilarious!! Hahahah!! The bus is actually equipped with karaoke necessities, such as mics, TV, karaoke player, etc. And these ppl were just singing on the bus! And might I add...they were "sumbang"! And you know what the funniest part was?? The bus driver had a microphone in front of his mouth, and he had to sing along too!! LOLZ!! And that driver was actually so into the song, he honked according to the beat of the song that was playing. So damn hilarious man!!! OHHhh...they were singing "Behind these hazel eyes" by Kelly Clarkson!! AHAHHAHAHAHHA!! Funny laaaa!!!

So basically, that was the best Saturday night I've ever had....since a really long time. Coz I had to work during most Saturdays...so it's been a while since I had such a great time. Looking forward to another night like this.

I guess I should stop now. Tune in again next time. Cheers!