bio·ta noun: “Animals and plant life of a particular region.”
Ta-da! Like I promised, my Biota-dining in Bowral post. This restaurant is spacious and lovely inside. We were warmly greeted and seated near the kitchen area where we had prime seats to see the chefs preparing our dishes. They have a private dining room at the other side of the restaurant where they have TVs set up so you can watch the kitchen preparing the plates and not miss out on the action.
It was inspiring to see so much care was taken on presentation. Each leaf/vegetable/ garnish was placed onto the plate deliberately in a particular way with large forceps.
Before I had even started looking at the menu (I was too busy taking photos and taking in the lovely setting) we were served with fresh warm bread
‘eggs on toast’- compliments from the kitchen. How lovely, while you’re browsing the menu you get to eat delicious fresh warm bread served with a quail egg dusted in garlic ash sitting in a creamy sauce. Not a bad way to start the dining experience. p.s. love the bowl!
This was my entree– banana prawns, cured scallop broth, cucumber with green tea and dill seeds. Wow this was very delicious and everything from the prawn to the cucumber tasted so fresh!
My partner’s entree– barbecued calamari, tuna ham dressed with sugar snap peas, celery and kohlrabi. This looked beautiful like artwork! I didn’t mind his entree but much preferred my own.
Pinapple with snow- compliments from the kitchen. Lovely palate cleanser.
Crackling pork neck, broccolini, amaranth cooked with blackened onions and licorice- the pork meat is very caramalised and sticky which made the inside a little dry but it was still very nice.
Lamb rump in olive caramel, baked carrots, oat milk, hazelnut and garlic ash- The oat milk and hazelnut made this a very unsual dish but delicious none the less. It takes great skill to get me to eat brussels sprouts so hats off to the kitchen.
After our mains were taken away, a waiter came to ‘de-crumb’ out table with a folded napkin bound together with a sprig of rosemary and cute tray to capture the crumbs. It made me giggle because I’ve never seen that before in a restaurant.
Dessert time! Caramel pear, raw cacao ice cream, warm buckwheat and malt- The chocolate chunks were so light and airy- almost like homemade ‘aero bars’. The creamy ice-cream was a refreshing contrast to the sweet caramalised pear. The wafer log was unbelievably light and delicate.
Cold infusion of eucalyptus, blood plums, rhubarb and hibiscus preserve, native lime- A very unique dessert with all flavours being very floral and fresh. A dessert for the adventurous at heart.
Traditional italian thick hot milk chocolate (left)– when I saw the size of the hot chocolate, I knew it was going to be strong! Just imagine stirring cocoa into hot milk at a 4:1 ratio. I couldn’t finish it, it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to sweet and it was also a little lumpy.
biota ‘fairtrade’ coffee (right)– my partner said that the coffee was a bit bitter and not the best he has had.
The warm atmosphere at ‘biota-dining’
The relaxed atmosphere of the ‘biota-lounge’ with a more ‘down to earth’ menu. I would love to come back and try the ‘biota-lounge’ menu, the croquettes and mini wagyu burgers sounds delicious!
The lovely tranquil surroundings makes it an ideal nice stop/overnight stay/day trip from Sydney/Wollongong/Canberra.
They even have their own vegetable garden at the side, no wonder everything tastes so fresh and delicious!
Their menu often changes so check out the website (which is very lovely btw) for the current menu. The photos on there are stunning.
TALES OF A CONFECTIONIST 