Pilu

To celebrate my milestone birthday, we went with a group of close friends to Pilu, a two chef hats restaurant located in Freshwater at Sydney Northern Beaches. We chose to have lunch so that we can enjoy the beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean and Freshwater (aka Freshie) Beach. The weather that day was the best we've had in Sydney for some time (after grey and cloudy days). The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the ocean sparkling blue green waters. The company was awesome.... lunch went on for 4.5 hours. Time just flew by when you're in great company. It was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with friends without the children, having adult conversations, enjoying the wine and meal.

From our table, we had a beautiful view of Freshie.

For entrees, we had:

De-boned quail wrapped in pancetta, stuffed with chicken livers, fennel and tarragon

Those who chose the quail enjoyed the different flavours from the salty pancetta to the chicken livers. I thought the quail was well-presented.

Saffron spaghettini, QLD Spanner Crab, crispy guanciale and pangrattato

I really enjoyed the saffron spaghettini. Guanciale is unsmoked Italian bacon prepared from pig's cheeks. It was not too salty and flavoursome. It was a good balance to the spanner crab.

Salt baked NZ King Salmon, saffron kipfler potatoes, baby leeks and beetroot puree

The salt-baked salmon was tender and smooth.

For mains, half the table ordered the Oven-roasted suckling pig.

Oven roasted suckling pig - various cuts, served on the bone with traditional
farm house suckling pig sausage

I enjoyed the suckling pig, with the crispy skin. It was a pity that the slices of pig sausage was so thin, it was difficult to taste the full flavour, would have preferred a slightly larger slice.

Tasmanian Wilderness beef sirloin, cavolo nero and bottarga butter

Slow cooked Coronga lamb, cous cous, olive and almond salad, pan juices

Chris had the lamb, which I thought was slightly overcooked, but he enjoyed it.

Unbeknownst to me, Cindy had pre-ordered my birthday cake from the restaurant. When she rang to enquire about bringing a cake, she was told that the chef could make a cake - and there were about 4 or 5 choices to choose from. Cindy chose the Almond and Orange amaretto cake. It was a good choice, the cake was dense but moist.  Thanks Cindy, you have good taste.

The cake was beautiful presented on a plate with gold flakes and flowers.

We finished this delicious meal with coffee and petit fours.

Do you spy a missing nougat piece?

"On the Beach", Moore Road
Freshwater NSW 2096
Telephone: (02) 9938 3331
E-mail: dining@piluatfreshwater.com.au