Intrigued by the concept of a 22 year old at the helm and a quarterly rotating menu inspired by global travel, I visited Atlas with 3 girlfriends. The fit out and decor is impressive with lots of white and light wood. Our individual leather roll wrap of cutlery is a novelty...evoking nuances of airplane travel and camping weirdly.
The welcome is warm as is the temperature. We're seated in front of the kitchen pass and the heat comes through whereas the front dining area manages to stay slightly cooler.
We toast our arrival and the imminent coming of Christmas with smoked straweberry bellinis and a mojito. They are delicious and go down a treat. Before long, we're on the 6 course journey with matching wines and that's all the decision making we need to do. The rest is all chatter and giggles.
The welcome is warm as is the temperature. We're seated in front of the kitchen pass and the heat comes through whereas the front dining area manages to stay slightly cooler.
We toast our arrival and the imminent coming of Christmas with smoked straweberry bellinis and a mojito. They are delicious and go down a treat. Before long, we're on the 6 course journey with matching wines and that's all the decision making we need to do. The rest is all chatter and giggles.
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Bread arrives; 4 substantial pieces of chargrilled warmth and a pot of pate but it's not really explained what it is. Lighter than normal pate with some hints of lemongrass I think, it's absolutely delicious. Good start Atlas! |
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Heirloom tomato is our first dish and an off centre offering of festive red and green arrives with some egg white bits and a clear tomato water is poured out.
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Refreshing and clean flavours come through and the different types of tomato provide varying flavours that layer upon themselves giving the simply named dish some complexity. There's a sweet almost dried tomato at the bottom that is also slightly chewy and then there are fresh, tangy tomato flavours from the cut tomatoes and the Vietnamese herbs take us to Asia.
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The courses come out quite quickly but that's ok because they're not huge so there's no need for a break to digest.
A curl of octopus tentacle blushing pink in colour with hints of char is prettily presented. There's sweetness and sharpness and some bouncy texture from the octopus. It's well put together and very enjoyable. |
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We continue with the fish theme and a whole piece of King George Whiting comes out.
It's a mini fish and I like the soft texture, sweet flesh and the gentle tang of the pickled vegetables. The Vietnamese mint sauce is a light and doesn't overpower. |
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But I We weren't really sure what to expect with the next dish. I know pho and I know beef tartare but I don't know how they can be one.
More beef tartare than pho, it's disappointingly small in size for a main meat course. I actually had a really good beef tartare for lunch earlier that day as an entree and that version was three times the size! I suspect the pho aspect is the spicing of the beef as the star anise and cinnamon flavours omnipresent in pho broth came through.But the texture was a little greasy and the egg yolk didn't bring it together. |
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Palates were cleansed by a refreshing little teaser of mango and ginger. Well balanced and light it helped erase the memory of the not so enjoyable beef. |
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Dessert didn't sound particularly appealing:
I was hoping for something reminiscent of Mamasita's sweetcorn icecream but this was all a little bit weird for our tastes. Sharp, tangy but it didn't buzz my taste buds. There were some great flavours in this 6 courser but the portion sizes were small and we didn't feel satisfied! Call us greedy but we ended up having a second dinner elsewhere! On paper the menu and wine matching seemed reasonably priced but I'd prefer to pay more and eat more. |
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Service was proficient and capable but not personal. The wine matches were read out to us like a script as was the description of the food; we couldn't grasp any personality, passion or energy.
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