silks brasserie, leura...

So last night V and I stayed in Leura, at the charming Old Leura Dairy. And we decided to celebrate our little one-night getaway with dinner at Silks Brasserie

I had been wanting to try Silks for the longest time, and it seemed like the ideal restaurant for a quiet, romantic dinner for two...

We started out with a glass of chilled Wither Hills 2009 Savignon Blanc (and yes, the rest of the bottle too lol)

V started out with the house-made gnocchi with Milawa blue cheese cream + sage sauce, served with a paprika straw - the gnocchi were light and delicious and the sauce was perfect

I had the pan-seared scallops on avocado and tomato confit, asparagus tips, witlof, cress, panchetta + honey-mustard seed dressing - is it a cliche to say this was orgasmic? The scallops were divine. Possibly. Best. Entree. Ever!

Feeling in the mood for a good steak (as he put it), V ordered the tenderloin of grain-fed beef with forest mushrooms, asparagus, mild horseradish butter + Madeira jus - I actually didn't get the chance to taste any of this dish because it disappeared so quickly! But judging by the fact that there was nothing left on the plate by the time V was finished eating, I'm guessing it was well-received

I took the plunge and ordered the confit of duck Maryland served with duck sausage, pickled pear, beetroot + watercress salad - I know it can be a bit of a risk ordering duck (if badly done, its just icky). But this dish was delicious. The duck sausage was a bit rich for me, and had the taste of pâté (which I hate), but everything else was just perfection

Despite being unbelievably full, we simply had to try dessert! The menu of offerings was far too tempting to pass up

I ordered the caramelised warm banana tart with coconut ice cream - this was really yummy and perfectly made, albeit very, very sweet. The banana was perfectly crackly and caramelised, and the coconut ice cream was a particular standout, full of toasted coconut. So delicious.

On a side note, I loved that the dessert plates were both decorated with a little sugar "S"!

V had the shortcrust Medjool date tart with toasted fig, candied ginger + pineapple compote, served with vanilla ice cream - again, I didn't taste this one, but this time because I really don't like dates or candied ginger. Whereas V is obsessed with both these, and also fig - it was like his ideal dessert! He gave it full marks

The service at Silks was warm and friendly, but always utterly professional, and the venue itself was beautifully and tastefully decorated. Highly recommend

blue mountains getaway...

So on Thursday morning, V and I packed ourselves up, handed over the house keys to my lovely brother P (who was roped into feeding the kitties while we were gone), and headed off to the Blue Mountains for an overnight getaway!

First stop, Leura! This is me with my alpaca friend - I think alpacas are beyond adorable, and would love one for the backyard. V is a little less keen. I'm working on it

It was around midday when we arrived, and we were feeling peckish - so we decided to drop into Bygone Beauties for lunch

We shared a devonshire tea and a platter of "dainty" sandwiches

The scones were freshly made and absolutely divine, smothered in lots of strawberry jam and cream

V wanted dessert, so he ordered a slice of apple pie with cream - this, too, was freshly made and was delicious!

We stayed at The Old Leura Dairy (in Leura, obviously), in the Studio. It was absolutely gorgeous! It is a cosy little apartment, with a lovely old claw-foot bath, and a kitchenette will full coffee and tea making facilities (coffee, tea and milk were all provided)

The bed was loooovely - crisp linen, big squishy pillows. I love the floral print

When we arrived in our apartment, they had classical music playing to welcome us, fresh flowers on the windowsill, and a jar of homemade apricot jam as a welcome gift! These little touches made the stay really special

The view from the window - so beautiful

We decided to grab an afternoon snack at Cafe Josophans in the Leura Mall - I ordered the hot chocolate, V had an iced chocolate (and was jealous of my drink and tried to convince me to swap - fat chance!)

This morning (Friday), we walked the short distance into Leura for breakfast - at Stockmarket cafe, for the best coffee in the Mountains

I had the buckwheat pancakes with rhubarb compote, fresh strawberries, vanilla bean yoghurt and honey - I lack the words to describe how truly perfect this breakfast was

V had the herb and garlic mushrooms on sourdough toast - they looked fantastic! I was too slow to grab a taste

The deluge of rain this morning put paid to our plans for a bushwalk, so we took some time to drive around the lookouts and wandered around Katoomba and Blackheath

And of course we had to stop in at Medlow Bath to the Whisk&Pin store, to stock up on their amazing mueslis! The Summer muesli is a favourite in our house - we have never tried the Organic muesli before, it sounds delicious, cannot wait to try it!

I will post a review a bit later of our fabulous meal last night at Silks in Leura!

xoxo