Transformation is now complete: the European to Pomegrante

While I was happily reading through HerCanberra‘s list of new places to try, my heart skipped a beat as I read the line “European was changing hands“. Oh no! My wonderful friend had given me a voucher to go there for Christmas and I was waiting for a special occasion to use it (which goes to show that you shouldn’t wait, every day is a special day). I definitely am not a fan of wasting vouchers so I quickly rang up to see if they would still honour my voucher. They still answered as the European so I was thinking that they hadn’t changed over yet.
When we arrived, they confirmed that they had changed owners but would still take my voucher that they were still running under the name of the European because the signage was lost in transit. Phew! That was very lucky!

The “European” which is now Pomegranate has just changed their signage but when I went last week they were still operating as the European even though they menu and everything else had changed.Entree~

Chargrilled QLD King prawns served with avocado and mango relish ($21.00). The prawns were lovely and juicy with some spice I couldn’t pick which left hints of a Turkish influence in my mouth. The salsa was a combination of my favourite ingredients and definitely complimented the prawns. One couldn’t help but notice that for $21 we only received there scallops and three prawns, luckily we had a voucher!Pan seared jumbo scallops with lemon mash and eggplant relish and parsley salad ($21.00). The scallops weren’t particularly ‘jumbo’ but they a good sear, freshness and natural sweetness which made up for the size. My preference was more for the prawns but TimmyC really liked the scallops. Mains~

Chargrilled Cowra lamb cutlet, served with crispy fried potato with herbs and coriander ($28.00).TimmyC had his eye on the lamb even before I finished taking photos of the menu and browsed through it myself. I also wanted him to order this so I could eat the potatoes! The lamb was nice albeit nothing special (again only three in the serve) but when I looked at the potatoes I couldn’t help but notice that there was lots of parsley but no coriander. I enquired with the waitress about the parsley/coriander situation and she apologized and said she will get the chef to make a new side of potatoes for us. Wagyu striploin with mash potato, exotic mushrooms and beef jus ($31.00). I couldn’t help but do my happy clap when I ate this. The steak was well cooked and melted in your mouth. The mashed potato was so incredibly smooth and creamy and there was a good mix of mushrooms sandwiched in the middle. I found the portion size more generous than the lamb and because of the rich potato, it would have also been more filling. My mouth is salivating as I write this. I would definitely order this again. Extras~ The second time around but the coriander didn’t make up for the lack of crispy potato but eating the fine dice relish was definitely tasty. Palette cleanser homemade pomegranate sorbet with crushed pistachios. We were given this and said it was compliments of the chef. We didn’t see anyone else receive one so I couldn’t tell if it was because I was taking photos or because they mixed up our potatoes. It tasted like frozen ribeana, it had a tart aftertaste but still cleansed the palette.The restaurant itself looked rather funky. We took a liking to their book collection, they encouraged us to browse and they said that the books were there to be read.As we were waiting for our desserts, TimmyC and I were browsing the elbulli book and drooling over their amazing looking creations. A funky lamp on the book shelf.Dessert~ We were meant to share one dessert but that idea went out the window when TimmyC couldn’t decide between two options.

Mixed nut ice cream with cinnamon crunch and caramel sauce ($14.00). I was convinced that this was what I wanted after the waitress informed me that everything including the ice-cream was made in-house. It tasted like a decadent Christmas pudding with dried figs and a mixture of nuts. The caramel sauce was super tasty and I wanted more more more! White chocolate panna cotta, pomegranate granita and peach ice cream with honey wafers ($14.00). I thought it was odd to pair a panna cotta with a granita as well as an ice cream but I was really impressed when the dessert came. The presentation was beautiful with the panna cotta skewed to the side of the glass and the contrast of beautiful colours. Alas I knew it wasn’t meant to be as soon as I put my spoon through the panna cotta, it was thick like a mousse pudding and when I tasted it, I could taste white chocolate but it had a gritty texture that was really disappointing. The granita was similar to the palette cleanser but had an icier texture and the ice cream just tasted like canned peaches. I told TimmyC not to bother finishing it and just help me share my mixed nut ice cream.The beautiful presentation of the dessert.We didn’t get very far with out panna cotta but we enjoyed the honey wafers which was the best part of the dessert.I found the service to be very attentive and friendly and although one of the desserts was really disappointing, overall I really enjoyed my experience here and I would order that steak again in a heart beat. The new owners of Pomegranate are the people who used to run Ottoman cuisine.