Claireville Kiosk, Claireville

Located in the leafy green and quiet suburb northern beaches suburb of Claireville is Claireville Kiosk, a cosy little restaurant serving up some very fine food. The restaurant is situated in a beautiful old cottage which has seen many different faces over the years including a post office and general store. It’s a gorgeous venue and definitely a neighbourhood gem, perfect for a relaxed weekend lunch or a romantic dinner.

The restaurant offers an a la carte menu as well as a six course tasting menu however for this particular meal we were treated to a special set of dishes showcasing some of the best items on the menu.

Coffin Bay and Pambula Oysters

The first items to arrive were the delicious fresh oysters sourced from Pambula and Coffin Bay, quickly followed by the house baked bread paired with a divine whipped butter. The amuse bouche of chicken liver parfait which came next possessed a perfect balance of flavour from the pieces of brioche and pistachio.

When the second wave of food hit the table, that was when we came to the realisation that we were in for a an amazing journey of food. The two dishes above were two of our favourites, the grilled leek smothered with cream in particular was a wonderful dish. I personally enjoyed the well prepared combination of ingredients which included some of my favourites such as leek, cashew, celeriac and ponzu.

The next set of smaller dishes to arrive were the tuna and quail dishes, I quite enjoyed the quail which was served with small pieces of crispy pancetta. Any form of raw tuna is a winner in my eyes but the tantalising addition of being served with a fresh and tangy combination of avocado and finger lime was simply perfect.

I’ve noticed that venison is popping up on more menus and I love that it’s happening, venison is much more lean and flavourful than most other cuts of meat which makes it an interesting choice if it’s cooked well.

I wasn’t quite expecting the seafood pasta dish to be as incredible as it was when I first saw it, but looks can be deceiving and I was proven wrong when the butter poached barramundi and linguine dish stole the show, we both agreed that it was our favourite dish and we loved the unbelievably good butter sauce.

The desserts had a lot to live up to after the array of amazing dishes but I found the beetroot and white chocolate parfait to be absolutely delicious and moreish. On the other hand, I was quite excited by the black truffle ice cream at first but I have to admit that the flavour combination wasn’t quite to my liking.

Nathan Boler is a trained sommelier and throughout meal he paired each of the dishes with a wide range of amazing wines. I’m not an expert on wines and generally just prefer a nice riesling but I have to say that these wines matched very well with the food. The wines which we were treated to are listed below.

N/V Bailley Lapierre, Blanc de Noir, Burgundy FR
2014 Kentia, Albarino, Raixas Bias, Spain
2014 Vignamaggio ‘Il Marino’ Super Tuscanino, Tuscany, Italy
2015 Rob Dolan, Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley
2014 Clarence House Estate, Pinot Blanc, Tasmania

As you can see from the photos, the interior of venue is beautifully laid out and decorated with some beautiful artwork, we definitely loved having a lunch meal during the day. The main dining room is bright, airy and full of natural sunlight which makes for a very pleasant dining experience.

Unfortunately there are no water views directly from the venue itself however after a long lunch, a nice walk along the beach is well within reach and the water is just a stones throw away.

The Food Diary dined as guests of Claireville Kiosk.
All views and opinions expressed in this post are our own.