{ _anne_with_an_e // review }
First and foremost, it’s important to note that William Blue Dining is a training restaurant that is staffed by students, but under the close supervision of industry professionals. Essentially, the restaurant is a ‘classroom’ for hospitality students of William Blue College of Hospitality Management to gain real-life experience and undertake all the duties in service and cooking.
We were greeted very professionally, promptly and warmly when we arrived for our 7pm seating. The interior is neat and tidy, and it does give a sense of a fine dining restaurant.
We were attended pretty quickly; received our menus, served water and had our orders taken down without any fuss. You can tell the students are really wanting to do well and trying not to make a mistake. But as a result you can sense their unease and nervousness, which in effect caused a few bumbles here and there.
The complimentary house made bread was warm, soft, and delicious to eat with the PepeSaya butter. All the dishes were surprisingly served super quick and the dining experience lasted for about 1 hour.
We started off with the entrees, having the braised pork belly with apple slaw, pickled cauliflower, spiced fennel puree, and the kingfish ceviche with blue swimmer crab, baby coriander, lime, chilli, mustard cress. I was really impressed with how it was plated, both entrees looked beautiful. The pork belly was one my favourite dishes of the night, being tender, succulent and tasty. The apple slaw was dressed nicely and tasted delicious. The kingfish ceviche was not bad, but it could have done without the lime. I wasn’t expecting the whole segment and it was really off-putting to eat, as you can imagine it was pretty sour.
On to the mains, we had grilled ora king salmon fillet with crispy skin, pink pepper sauce, sweet corn, prawn, chives, braised witlof, plus the smoked spring chicken breast and confit leg with celeriac cream, compressed watermelon, potato croquette, pepper jus. Both the salmon and the chicken were cooked well, the salmon had nice crispy skin and the chicken confit was tender and moist. The watermelon was questionable and seemed out of place on the plate, and the jus could have been a bit punchier. Both dishes were, ok. But the highlight was the potato croquette, which was pillowy soft on the inside and had a nice crunchy outer coating.
Last but not least, the desserts. We ordered the orange and cardamom crème brûlée with brandy snap, citrus salad, and the dark chocolate and honeycomb parfait with meringue, dried raspberry, lemon balm. The crème brulee did have that notable top layer of hardened caramel, but it was a tad too thick. Again, it could have done without the sour lime segment on the plate, and maybe need a little more time to set. The dark chocolate and honeycomb parfait was the dish of the night for me. It was absolutely delicious and it was texturally really enjoyable to eat. However, there was a lot going on, on the plate – maybe one or two elements too many.
I absolutely love the idea of a training restaurant and with more confidence and training I know some of the students will go on to accomplish great things in the future. Yes, not everything was perfect, but you know what – the house made bread, potato croquette, the dark chocolate and honeycomb parfait, and the meringue were all of excellent standards – the same standards that I see at some of the top hatted restaurants out.
Excellent // braised pork belly, potato croquette, dark chocolate and honeycomb parfait, house made bread
Pros // friendly service, neat décor, dishes presented beautifully, changing menu, excellent value for money
Cons // few bumbles here and there, limited seating times/days, booking only
Food: 4/5
Ambience: 3.5/5
Service: 3.5/5
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