Tuesday, July 5, 2011

THREE PALMS

154 Ocean Beach Road
Sorrento

http://www.threepalms.com.au/

Whilst planning a trip to Sorrento and browsing through the 2011 Age Good Food Guide we came across a listing for Three Palms. With very favourable online reviews we decided we had to visit and so a Saturday night dinner for two was booked (very easily online).

Three Palms is located in a sandstone cottage on the main street. Dishes are designed to be shared and the menu leans towards modern Asian with a few exceptions. It was lucky we had a booking as people were being turned away as we arrived.

The cottage had a cosy, intimate atmosphere with many of the internal walls still intact, effectively dividing the restaurant into sections.  One of the many things to stand out about Three Palms is the unique ordering system. You are presented with a paper menu and pencil and you indicate which dishes you’d like to order. It was quick and easy and worked well (maybe more restaurants should try this?).

I can’t speak highly enough about the staff. Our waitress was even kind enough to suggest another bottle of wine when we inadvertently ordered a dessert one. The promised ice bucket never arrived but that was the only minor glitch in an otherwise highly enjoyable evening.

WE ORDERED
We selected two Small Plates and two Large Plates to share.

For small plates we ordered -
Prawns wrapped in kataifi pastry with a honey and almond dressing accompanied by an avocado salsa and Duck Wrap with Hoi Sin Sauce.

Unfortunately I don’t have pictures of these two because they were so good that we simply forgot!

For large plates we ordered –

Kingfish Green Curry with Mango -


Pork Caramel  -


and a side dish of Egg Fried Rice -


For dessert E had the Creme Brulee three ways – traditional, coffee & lime & ginger -



 J had the Affogato -



WE THOUGHT
I cannot speak highly enough of each dish that we tried. Everything was jam packed with flavour and we pretty much cleaned every plate. Every element added something and you could taste all of the individual ingredients in each dish.

The prawns were crunchy and sweet and the salsa really hit the spot.  The duck wraps were beautiful and it was a treat to find thin noodles hidden inside each one. 

The Kingfish green curry was melt in your mouth tender with great curry flavour that wasn’t too hot. The Pork Caramel was beautiful and it was great to get some crackling on the dish as well. The Egg Fried Rice was eggy and full of flavour.

The desserts were seriously impressive. I was expecting tiny serves of each flavour of crème brulee, instead I received a decent sized soufflé dish of each flavour along with an additional serving of great tasting vanilla bean ice-cream. Each brulee tasted exactly of its flavour, you would have been able to pick them even if you hadn’t known what they were. The traditional one was a bit plainer than other crème brulees I have eaten but with the strong flavour of the coffee and lime & ginger ones, it was a nice balance. J enjoyed her serving of Affogato which came with Kahlua, coffee and icecream.

WE LIKED
Pretty much everything.  A great warm and intimate atmosphere, excellent food and extremely hospitable staff. Every staff member we encountered was so warm and pleasant and wanted to ensure we were enjoying ourselves.  Considering there was also a private function on, the staff did a terrific job of keeping everyone fed and happy.

WE DISLIKED
Nothing.

WILL WE RETURN
Definitely...I cannot recommend Three Palms highly enough.  If you are looking for somewhere to dine in Sorrento you won’t be disappointed...just make sure you book!

9.5/10


Three Palms on Urbanspoon