Once Upon a Time chapter III @ Nel Restaurant

Back to Nel since the renovation and it looks amazing. They’ve added more serving stations throughout added a long feature bar at the back and given the aesthetic a complete facelift. Working in the design industry I can appreciate the trending green forest colours and the terrazzo tiles in the bathroom, the curves of the mirrors and the accents of the fireplace and the bunny icon at the front, an homage to the old bunny mural on the back wall.

Perfect start to the most perfect menu, “Day of the Dead” from the movie Coco these were little corn skulls filled with Chimichurri, Sundried tomato and the skulls were parsley infused cocoa butter. It was a little cold starter that melted quickly in your fingertips, once in your mouth it burst with flavour. I love popping, bursting starters and desserts so I loved this! It confused my partner and mum because they expected it to be sweet. It was like a Bloody Mary burst in your mouth.

Next out come a beautiful red treasure chest aka Dead Mans Chest from Pirates of the Caribbean which was lollipop style; Pineapple cut squid marinated in spiced beetroot juice. Fried in beetroot flour, topped with a black garlic emulsion, crispy garlic and viola leaves. The little viola leaves reminded me of little crab claws. This had so much flavour and was warm straight from the kitchen.

Next up was my favourite “snack”: Man’s Red Fire from the Jungle Book. I love a lamb rib, they are probably my favourite type of ribs. Tikka and wildfire spiced slow braised lamb rib, the ribs are slow braised for 12 hours, then fried to give a crispy outside and juicy, melt away from the bone, centre. The ribs are glazed with a mint gastrique (caramelized sugar and vinegar) and covered with cashew nuts. These ribs were perfect!

Next up was the bread snack, the aesthetic “Black and White” from 101 Dalmatians which were Asian style steam buns, flavoured with a rosemary salt, served with cultured butter blended with black Kalamata olive and whipped. The buns were so cool, tasted amazing especially with the olive butter.

What can I say except “You’re Welcome”, Moana’s dish consisted of Raw kingfish brushed with a pineapple caramel and coated with golden toasted dessicated coconut. The fish sits on top of sliced taro and spring onion mixed with a jalapeno vinaigrette. It is topped with crispy taro ‘spaghetti’, sliced jalapeno and finished with micro coriander and a sauce made of coconut milk and lime and coriander oil. I loveee a fish course and this was it!! I love raw fish and this kingfish was so refreshing and had excellent flavours.

Up next out came the magic lamp, for “Street Rat” which was a cumin and olive oil marinated cherry tomato with a date and cumin puree, it reminded me of a risotto. Topped with toasted pistachios and dehydrated pistachio microwave cake. Microwave cake is made from yoghurt, pistachio paste and egg white. Finished with nasturtiums and basil leaves. 

Inside Genie’s lamp was blue tomato water. Blue tomato is made from hung tomato water and butterfly pea flower extract for a natural blue hue, spiced with toasted cumin and black pepper. 

What a spectacular dish presentation, it looked like Aladdin had stolen random veggies from the market and it was made into this amazing dish. It had the same consistency as risotto but more of a date and cumin taste. Mum recognised the nasturtium from her backyard.

Is it a flounder? The story behind this Little Mermaid dish is that Flounder (Ariel’s bestie) is in fact not a Flounder but a tropical yellow fish. But this is a curry spiced flounder sat onto a Cauliflower cream foam with a roasted cauliflower and lemon puree. Topped with pickled cauliflower rice that has been fried to make it crispy and glazed sea herbs (karkalla and seablite).

The crust on this fish was soooo crisp and beautifully caramelised. The curry foam looked like light bubbly ‘sea wash’. I loved the sea herbs it gave the dish some extra salty flavour.

Now for the highlight of the mains; Hundred Acre Wood. “This is Piglet” the waitress told us as she put the plate down. This was a herb marinated pork belly which has been confit for 8 hours then glazed with Blue Mountains Honey *drool*. Alongside smoked carrot puree with juniper confit carrot, topped with pickled carrot. Finished tableside with a rich pork jus.

This was definitely a highlight and favourite of many, the pork absolutely melted. I didn’t even miss the skin! The rich flavours of the jus with the side of the carrot was just a match made in heaven.

Dessert time! To kick things off was “I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts” made famous from Zazu from The Lion King. This had so many different elements like an Eton mess. Brown sugar and Rum Jelly, Honeycomb Cake, Kafir Lime espuma (thick custard), Coconut and Pandan sorbet, Coconut Water granita, Coconut Snow and a Coconut meringue straw.

The dish is reminded me of a cocktail in a coconut, complete with edible straw. It was coconut overload in different consistencies, delicious!

Now for my fav movie and fav dessert Monsters inc - “Boo’s Best Friends”. It was a White Chocolate and Mint Parfait with Cucumber and Yuzu juice. Topped with Fairy floss and Chocolate Cremeux. I loved the Mike Wazowski eye it was so delicate and smooth and tasted like chocolate. The fairy floss representing Sulley quickly melted into the cucumber and yuzus juice which was so fresh and minty. Chocolate-y, yet fresh, minty yet sweet.

To finish we had “Creme De La Creme A La Edgar” inspired by The Aristocats this was a Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Sugar Milk BOMB rolled in a Biscuit Crumb with a Cocoa butter coating. It tasted like a Chai Latte!! & I love me a chai latte.

I sipped on a drink named after my favourite monster James P. Sullivan which was Poor Toms Sydney Dry Gin, Fino Sherry, Strangelove Tonic, Blue. It was super strong so I took nips throughout my meal. Very enjoyable!

Now I am about to make a very big call here but this was my FAVOURITE MENU at Nel to date. Not because Nelly served us himself and we finally met after all my visits, he sat down at our table and we gave him Inspo for Chapter IIII haha. Not because we dined next to a celebrity couple as I didn’t know who they were but did admire her 3 Cartier bracelets. But purely because of the food and the menu, i LOVED every single dish and every element of every dish which is rare. I sang along to the songs all night and every time I saw a dish coming I got that genuine childlike excitement. Especially Monsters Inc as it has my heart. Truly a great night celebrating my Dad <3. Until next time…