Crusoe's

Crusoe's on Urbanspoon

The extremely chipper waitress at the front desk shows me to a table, and then turns back into a rainbow.

The view over the lake is nice. If tonight's feed is no good, I can take it outside and feed it to the ducks. :)

Four point spring lamb rack
7/10

With a pea purée, roasted spring vegetables, crushed Kipfler potatoes and a rich lamb jus.

I hope this earns more than four points from me. :)

The lamb is soft and juicy, and the lamb reduction (from the little jug) adds a nice saltiness to the meat.

I'm less impressed with the "crushed Kipfler potatoes", which is a boiled potato, crushed. There's some undetectable herb added to it, but it's otherwise an entity of random potato and potato skin textures, and the exact taste of boiled potato.

The pea purée isn't bad. It has a reasonable "pea" taste, but is a bit too crude and sparse to use as a sauce for the lamb.

Basil Panna Cotta
7/10

With macerated strawberries, mini meringues and blood orange sorbet.

I wonder if Basil Panna Cotta is anything like Basil Brush. :)

This is really unusual, but in a good way. The tart strawberries and leaves of basil strongly evoke eating savoury basil and chopped-up tomato. The actual panna cotta is more like mousse, and doesn't have a strong flavour, however.

The blood orange sorbet is somewhat irrelevant, but it's light and refreshing. It tastes a lot like Berocca. :)