I missed a call from a foodie friend on Sunday. No big deal, I rang her back almost immediately. She asked me if I didn’t pick up before because I had armfuls of food and couldn’t get to my phone.
My eyes widen and my heart skips a beat.
Just a few moments before, I had just been lugging bags of oranges into my very full shopping trolley. I didn’t hear or feel my phone. A friend who I was shopping with at the Belconnen markets had gone to the delicatessen and wasn’t back yet. I reach into the shopping bag where I had just purchased warm freshly cut smoked bacon. I put it to my face; it was still warm and smelt so good. I could use it as a pillow, a delicious intoxicating smoked bacon scented pillow. I then quickly remember that I was still in public and returned my bag into the trolley.
Had my foodie friend seen me lay my head on bacon during that small glimpse of vulnerability at the market?
I nervously laughed and asked if she had seen me at the market using my ‘bacon pillow’, she didn’t know what I was talking about and it was just an assumption or even a lucky guess that I would have armfuls of food.
I then had to explain to her what I meant by my bacon pillow.
Flat white coffee (regular $3.85).
Eggs Benedict two poached eggs, bacon and wilted spinach topped with house made zesty hollandaise ($18.50). My friend’s poached eggs were completely overdone and the hollandaise tasted a bit funny. She didn’t eat much of her breakfast. 
B&E bacon and eggs, with buttered toast and roast tomato ($16.50) with a side of mushrooms ($4.40). The poached eggs were also over done but it didn’t ruin the dish because the bacon was nice.
Palate speciality pancakes soft buttermilk pancakes with mascarpone cream, and a poached strawberry compote ($16.50). Even though we explicitly asked for the compote to be served on the side, it still came drizzled all over the first time and we had to send it back to the kitchen. Luckily my friend is a fast eater so he still finished his breakfast at the same time as everyone else.
The Big Breaky with all the trimmings, bacon, two eggs, roast tomato, mushrooms, sausages, hashbrown and buttered toasted ($20.35). No complaints here, everything was done well and the buttered toast was a welcome treat.
Banana bread with honey and ricotta ($7.70) and a side of bacon ($4.40). When a mini loaf of banana bread with placed in front of me, I thought it was adorable. I have eaten a lot of banana bread which usually come out as a slice but I’ve never seen a mini loaf. Unfortunately, that is where my good impression ended. The banana bread was dry, not sweet at all and didn’t taste like banana. Thank goodness I had a side of bacon to drown my disappointment.
We had mixed reactions over brunch but no one was overly impressed. They were really busy which might have been a contributing factor, but there are many other places to eat in Bowral so we will not be back.
Complimentary bread and butter~
Amuse bouche~
Entrees~
Confit quail terrine, toffee parsnip, spear, watercress, cumin ($23.00).
Mains~
Maugers lamb back strap, braised baby leek, roasted garlic crushed, roasted Kipfler potato, eggplant caviar, chilli fig, rosemary jus ($39.00). I was really disappointed with the portion sizes; there was just two tiny pieces of lamb for almost 40 bucks, I’m glad we came in with a voucher. 
Marseille bouillabaisse, today’s market fish, cold water langoustine, scallop, saffron rouille ($40.00). I loved the intense prawn head flavour throughout the soup base and it had nice meaty seafood textures to compliment but it is these same aspects that made my friend not like her main. It goes to show each to their own.
Desserts~
Lemon panna cotta, rhubarb foam, coconut parfait, lime cannoli ($18.00). This had way too much gelatin in it, we could tell from the moment it was placed down in front of us with its stiff movement.
Blood orange and almond pudding, lychee sorbet, pomegranate ($21.00). We had to remind the waitress that this dessert came with lychee sorbet and she rushed back into the kitchen to have it added.
Toffee apple tea cake, camomile ice cream ($18.00). I liked how the cake looked like a cross between a toffee apple and a real apple but made the cake very messy and difficult to eat. The cake’s sweetness comes from its sticky toffee coating which was balanced by the ice cream.
House cheese: aerated Manuka honey blue, lavender Bergamot, rosemary and thyme labna, local Camembert, local goat’s cheese, selection of breads and crackers ($26.00). The last cheese platter I ate/stole from was amazing (
We definitely got our money’s worth considering my three courses was more expensive than the voucher for two people. The food quality was okay, but definitely nowhere near the calibre of which they had advertised to be (it is supposed to be a hatted restaurant by the Australian Good Food and Travel Guide). It was a shame because they started the night off so strong with our entrees.
Sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce ($32.00?). I asked how to serve it and they said to microwave each individual slice and just to spoon on a helping of sauce and it just melted perfectly. The pudding wasn’t dense and overly sweet like you would get in a Sara Lee version, it was more of a tall fluffy cake studded with dates.
All 18 inch jumbo pizza ($19.90)~ I didn’t know how big 18 inches really was (#gometric) but when TimmyC brought the pizzas into the house, the pizza boxes barely cleared the doorways.
Roast vegetable supreme roasted peppers, zucchini, chargrilled eggplant, fresh tomatoes, mozzarella. I didn’t think I would enjoy this because I usually want something greasy, meaty and cheesy on my pizza. So I was surprised when I enjoyed the refreshing flavours of the vegetables, in particular the zucchini.
Tomato and basil fresh tomatoes, basil, mozzarella. This is usually my pick of topping, it is a great combination of flavours and when done well, it is perfection. Unfortunately I thought the basil was over cooked and lost all its strong flavour. I think this would have been brilliant with buffalo mozzarella.
The Bronx special mild pepperoni, cabanossi, beef sausage, shredded beef, mozzarella. Not only did I want to try their signature pizza (that they named after themselves), it also had everything I like on a pizza. As expected, I enjoyed this pizza but nothing really wowed me.
BBQ Chicken oven roasted chicken breast, onion, mozzarella with BBQ sauce. I’m not usually a fan of chicken on pizza, but the chicken pieces were shredded small enough that they weren’t dry. For some reason I was really drawn to this pizza between all the different toppings.
In no way is this authentic Italian pizza, this is Australianised take away thin crust pizza done really well and I think there is a novelty to the enormous size. It’s a shame it is so far away from my house.
TALES OF A CONFECTIONIST 