People love to visit the Grounds in Alexandria for their beautifully themed displays, like Cinderella 2020 with the golden carriage. After their sessions of selfies, the people roam hungrily into the Potting Shed. This is a cute, forestry restaurant located on the Grounds. The first time we were here, we waited 1.5 hours for a table. Luckily in our recent visit in May with A & T, we didn’t have to wait at all.
Food
The burrata was smooth and mild with a light brush of the persimmon’s sweetness. It was refreshing to eat, especially when paired with the flakey herb bread and clean chive oil.
As much as we love parfait, you can’t have too much of a good thing. This duck liver parfait with pickles and Grounds bakery rye bread had an odd taste. The parfait was a little too salty and the pickles were too sour. It needed something lighter to replace the pickles and balance the richness.
These sloppy joe’s were misleadingly disappointing. They looked amazing, with their “buttermilk chicken, soy aioli, Thai salad and curry leaves” description and sauce-drenching visuals, but the taste was meh, at best. It was difficult to hold and tasted very dry and bland. We ended up spreading the parfait on and that made it so much better. We regret ordering this dish.
The noosa scallop ceviche with green chillis, coriander, tomato salsa was alright. The scallops were thick and creamy, masked by the overwhelming sour lemon juice and pickled onions. It tasted like two contrasting taste profiles clashing harshly with one another 🤷🏻♀️.
This side dish of fried cauliflower was very enjoyable with the Taleggio, hummus and pickles. It was crispy and delicious. The pomegranate added a nice burst of sweetness.
For our mains, the fresh egg spaghetti was an interesting and delicious twist 🤤. The South Australian clams were chewy with a strong umami taste. The pork sausages were nice charred chunks, adding a deep savoury flavour to the bite. The chilli and parsley were the right earthy condiments to elevate the dish. And the pasta was cooked very soft, absorbing all the spicy seafood sauce.
Finally, the chargrilled Victorian wagyu rump cap
with sauteed onions, spinach, mashed potatoes, pickles & chimichurri was average. The medium-rare steak was dry. The potatoes were sweet and chewy, almost like a yam flavour and texture. The sweet apple puree was the best element of this dish.
DRINK
We loved the variety of colourful and extravagant cocktails.
Service
We don’t have much to say about the service other than that they were kind and fast.
Review
The Potting Shed is a beautiful location for a weekend lunch, however, be warned, taste, service and space decreases on busier days. It’s the sort of place you go for the vibes and experience more than for the food.
Thanks for reading, happy eating 😄.
Thanks for reading, happy eating 😄.
Wow, superb blog format! How lengthy have you been blogging for? you made running a blog look easy. The full look of your web site is great, let alone the content!!