A good meal ought to begin with hunger". (French Proverb)
Finally, I'm back to our Saturday routine...catching up with friends and trying out new place to eat. My husband and I are glad to find another new food enthusiast couple (T and L) to join our dining adventure. Last Saturday, we left the honour of picking a place to them. They decided on La Boheme, a Czech restaurant located in Balmain. T said it's the restaurant that he's been wanting to try.
Hidden inside the Heritage listed Working Men's institute. La Boheme provides a unique and intimate European dining experience the moment you walk in. The interior recreates an atmosphere of the old-world Europe. Their menu is extensive and they have a great selection of European beers to choose from.
Apart from the stunning interior, there are many other reasons to visit this restaurant:
- If you are very hungry
- If you want the best value for your money
- If you want to try Czech beer (or if you simply love beer)
- If you want a fast and attentive service
Minutes after we made our order, the staff came with a complementary bread rolls and dip, that tasted a bit like pate. We had no idea what the dip called but we all enjoyed the bread rolls and the pate like dip to start our meal.
Entree 1:
We ordered some entrees to share. First entree we had was the Escagort. The French snails were so rich in goodness of almond and garlic butter. There's only one way to describe it "C'est si bon!!!" (It's so good!!!).
French Snails $ 24.90 (one dozen) $13.90 (half dozen)
Entree 2:
Second entree we had was the Almond, paprika and herb cheese balls. When this dish arrived we were a bit dissapointed with the size. We thought the 3 cheese balls were pretty small, but after we tasted it, the three were definitely enough for the five of us to share. It was really rich, perfect with the crispy toasted breads.
Cheese Balls $11.90
Entree 3:
The last entree we had was the Homemade Duck Pate. The Pate was reasonably fine, not overly strong in flavour. Complemented with a homemade cranberry sauce and rye toast. It was perfect as an entree as you don't want it to be too strong that it might ruin your taste bud before you start the main dish.
Duck Pate $13.90
Main 1:
Most of us wanted to try a bit of everything, so we ordered the Bavarian Feast Platter. The platter includes chef's selection of Duck, Schnitzel, Pork ribs, Sausage with Saurekraut, Red cabbage and Mixed dumplings.
The platter was huge! None of us could actually finish the whole thing. I've done pretty well by finishing the quarter duck and Schnitzel (these two were my favourite). I found the duck meat really tender and flavourful. The Scnitzel was thin and cripsy. The pork ribs tasted like smoked bacon and the sausage was pretty ordinary.
Bavarian Feast Platter $29.90 (for one) $58.00 (for two)
Don't forget the platter comes with mixed dumplings too. How could I possible feed in all these? I might if I didn't have the entrees. Overall, it was still a pretty good platter.
Main 2:
Grilled Pork Knuckle. My husband will never go pass pork knuckle when it's available on the menu. He should be happy because like the platter, the pork knuckle was huge (although it might not look as big in the photo). T who claimed to be a big eater couldn't even finish it, but my husband happily polished the whole thing. I had abit of it and I have to admit, it was really good!
Grilled Pork Knuckle $24.90
Didn't know what to expect from the main dishes, we even ordered some side dishes to share.
(Left) Mushrooms Risotto $ 6.50
(Right) French Fries $6.00
Before we started our meal, we were saying that we have to try the desserts. But by the end of the meal, all of us were too full to have anything else. After we left the restaurant, T even suggested that we should take a short walk and for the first time, we did! We actually walked along Darling street for 15 minutes before heading back to the car. That night we went home satisfied and happy.
332 Darling St (rear of the Institute Arcade)
Balmain NSW 2041
Ph: (02) 9810 0829
