The Little Snail, Revisted

I claim to everyone who bothers to listen to me ramble in my overly obnoxious tone, that The Little Snail is one of my favourite restaurants that I frequent for their price-sensitive (read: affordable!) lunch set menu.

$35 will cover an entrée, main and dessert course of French and French-style dishes. I've been there so many times that I've perfected my menu and now know what to order as soon as I walk in; this NEVER happens to me, I'm one of those annoying people who stare at a menu for many awkward minutes deciding which dish to try next.

I apologise to my hundreds of waiters and waitresses that have to keep coming back to my table because I am never "ready to order" -_-

I have yet to try the dinner menu and have yet to try bouillabaisse, which I've always wanted to eat! Must try dinner menu one day! Will someone go with me?

The Little Snail looks out onto Darling Harbour, but the view is quite obscured by other buildings like the Maritime Museum. It really is a shame because the restaurant features a circular room (and an upstairs) with ceiling tall glass windows spanning across one side. The waiters are attentive and service is pleasant, so we had no problems leaving a tip despite our poor uni student lifestyles.

Anyone coming to dine at The Little Snail must at least try the escargots, AT LEAST ONCE! Come on, people! Rich with melted buttery-ness, which is best with a side of my favourite chili, cheese and honey bread/baguette slices to lap up all that melted butter...

Snails don't taste like anything (except butter, herbs and garlic from the sauce), and texture reminds me of soft baby octopus. Don't be squeamish, just try it! And if you don't like it, you can always palm it off to someone else...maybe...

They used to be served in these metal plates with circular indents, but not this time.

Introducing friends to the chili, cheese and honey bread is always met with more orders once they realise how delicious the balance of crunch from the baguette, kick from the very mild chili flakes, sweetness from honey and...cheese, is. A little pricey at $6 for 2 slices, but definitely give it a go and see if you like it enough to justify the price. I highly, highly recommend it.

Delicious chili, cheese and honey bread with parsley. Look at that awesome gooey cheesiness melting on the plate.

Other entrées on the table that day was the smoke salmon terrine wrapped with cucumber, lemon aioli, tomato salsa and garnished with micro herbs. The lemon aioli and tomato salsa was citrusy and sweet, although the smoked salmon wasn't anything special. Presentation was beautiful.

The vegetarian entrée was an attempt to fit more servings of vegetables into my diet under the judgemental eyes of my nutritionista friend, plus I've never had it before so it was a new experience. Turns out that it was actually really good, supposedly better than the terrine. A HUGE grilled portabello mushroom on a bed of rocket with vinaigrette, topped with tomato salsa, grilled basil leaves and melted cheese. Likewise, presentation was beautiful and made it look mouthwatering.

Third entrée we tried was the salt and pepper calamari with rocket salad lightly dressed with vinaigrette and tartare sauce. While it was alright, it needed to be more salty and peppery. The crunch was there though.

The pate du jour, which is a duck liver pate served with Melba toast wasn't tried but I leave you with an old photo of the dish from last year. Might give this another try in the future, but wouldn't be my first choice.

For mains, I always order the kangaroo fillet on a bed of mashed potato, baby spinach and mustard honey sauce ever since I first had it. The meat is tender and juicy and rare, but maybe I might order it medium rare next time. The mash at the bottom soaks up some of the sweet, tangy sauce, yum! The spinach makes me feel like I'm being healthy, ahem. Kangaroo meat is also leaner and hence, better for you than a beef steak.

Love that sweet sauce and lovely creamy mash <3

The veal tenderloin comes smothered in piquant cream sauce loaded with smoked bacon, shallots and diced sun-dried tomatoes, with a side of broccoli and a crunchy potato ball with soft potato mash inside. The veal is also tender and easy to cut with a knife. The sauce is rich, creamy and full of flavour - Bacon!! Shallots! Sun-dried tomatoes! Such full-bodied, flavourful ingredients to make this sauce. Maybe order an extra side of steamed vegetables to finish that sauce with and bump up your vege intake.

A couple of us ordered the rack of lamb on a bed of mash potato (says pumpkin puree on the website but I've never had that) and broccoli, with shiraz jus. Another mouthwatering, meaty main dish. Ahhh Little Snail, your mains never disappoint.

Also on the menu from last year is the prime Australian beef fillet ($3 extra).

Dessert ties all the meals together. A word of warning however, because these desserts are a diabetic's nightmare because it is very, very sweet. Every one of them, except perhaps the profiteroles (which aren't the best in my opinion).

Creme caramel is a classic choice; someone will always order it. It comes with a strawberry slice and spun sugar that is always fun to eat. The creme caramel is of course, really sweet which is primarily due to the caramel sauce. Eat less of the caramel and you might save yourself from sugar overdose. The creme caramel  is also very egg-y, smooth, silky and wobbly.

Oh sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce and vanilla bean icecream, how you make me salivate onto my keyboard. Another super, super, intensely sweet dessert, but oh so delicious.

Thick, gooey, moist pudding that oozes with butterscotch when you cut into it (I had to show everyone how touching it makes it ooze butterscotch from its porous body). It is also still warm, and when you cut into the middle the sauce erupts like a chocolate lava cake or chocolate fondant. The pudding was so sickly, deliciously sweet that the only thing that cut through that sweetness was the icecream, and several cups of water.

Food-gasmic.

The Kahlua chocolate mousse in a chocolate cup looked very elegant and lonely on its giant plate. I didn't try this one, but I heard it was really good.

Old chocolate mousse, looks pretty different doesn't it?

Old photos of the profiteroles with chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

And we mustn't forget drinks. On a hot day like last Saturday, we all ordered the same blended fruit drinks in watermelon, lychee and mango. All of which were equally good and I couldn't decide which was tastier.

Super refreshing.

Address:
The Little Snail
50 Murray St
Pyrmont (near Maritime Museum and Star City, corner of the traffic lights)


Side note: Each time I go to The Little Snail I always find little details that change, like an extra ingredient, a new plating technique or less ingredients, and this always bugs me because I can never put my finger on it!