Last week I received an e-mail from Sage dining rooms inviting me to a Good France Dinner to be held on Thursday 19 March.
It seemed like an obvious thing to do to just call the restaurant and make a reservation.
So it’s Thursday night and I have a booking for 7.30. When we arrive the restaurant already has a good crowd seated and everyone is looking happy.
We’re greeted enthusiastically and have at least four people looking after us. The degustation menu is set before us and we’re offered an aṕeritif. I was offered a non-alcoholic drink which is something I’ve never been asked before and I happily said yes. I can’t remember exactly what was in it other than hazelnut. I’m happy to call it Essence of Nutella because it was delicious and made me think of Nutella.
The first food we’re served is the chef’s take on salt and vinegar chips. We’ve had this before and we both love it. The vinegar is subtle, the crispy texture pops and the Hollandaise is so creamy perfect.
I can’t remember all the snacks but one is a leafy green marshmallow with a Spanish ham, the other is a creamy puree and the third is a fried wonton wrap with a fresh bit of tuna in it.
After the snacks, we start with the main dishes. The first is a parfait of hazelnut and pork which includes pâté, crackling, popcorn and hazelnuts. This is unctuous. 
The next dish is sea scallops with leek and truffle. Three scallops are cooked in a scallop shell that has been sealed with puff pastry. The leek, caviar and truffle add so much flavour to the perfectly cooked scallops.
Next, we are served a perfectly cooked duck breast with shaved and candied orange. It is served with a ‘two-tone’ caramel which is sweet and bitter.
My favourite dish was the beef cheek that had been cooked for 20 hours. It was the chef’s take on the classic French Beef Bourguignon. The meat was amazing and the onions so cute and sweet.
With a French degustation, we had to have cheese and we were served a marvellous blue vein cheese with honey and homemade Lavosh bread.
The cheese was so creamy and flavoursome.
We were then served a palate cleansing carrot ice cream with liquorice and yoghurt. It was so refreshing.
The final dish of the evening was dessert and I’m happy to say it was spectacularly yummy. It was a large Géant chocolate truffle with a salted caramel soil and the filling of creamy gooey chocolate.
As we’ve said before, Sage dining rooms is a favourite Canberra restaurant. The Good France dinner was fabulous. The service was attentive, friendly and knowledgeable. If you get the opportunity to try it, do it. Apart from the Good France Dinner, I’d highly recommend dining at Sage dining rooms at any time. Go for the degustation menu if you can, it’s so worth it.
