A post on the The Lab at Conrad.

I had dinner at a restaurant called The Lab at the Conrad Hotel. The Entertainment Book makes such things possible with 2-4-1 mains.

Stepping into the place, we had to wait a little while to be seated, though we had seats reserved. But the waiter was French and he was very polite. 'FLAP', and a folded napkin floats unto your lap without you noticing.

Glancing around, I realised that most people were a tad more dressed up than most places. Strings of pearls, cocktail dresses, suits...I felt glad I had actually popped on a dress and heels.

A nice surprise were the hot bread slices that were served promptly to us. The bread was soft, with a crisp crust. The dishes of butter were pretty and white. The butter melted immediately on the bread. I think that all fine-dining areas should serve bread and butter for a starter instead of CHARGING for it. Thumbs up for the great service!

We opted for the Red Eye-Fillet with wine-jus and parmesan mash; and the Grilled Seafood Plate. Mains took a while to come. The night was busy.

My main was the eye-fillet. It was almost 2 inches thick! Medium-rare. Gorgeously done. The jus was very good, flavouring the little carrots and brocolli. The mash was soft and buttery. Very well-flavoured. I would have preferred the steak to have a teensy weensy bit more flavour, but overall it was very professionally done.

The other main was moreton-bay bugs meat, prawns, scallops and stirfried potatoes. The sauce was a little too salty. The prawns were overdone, so a little tough. But the bug meat and the scallops were perfectly sweet and tasty. Portions were a little small overall.

The crowning glory was the dessert. At $10, the freshly backed belgian chocolate souffle was served with coffee ice-cream and a red berry sauce. Have you ever had anything that tasted totally moist and wet, yet it was hot. And yet it wasn't wet to touch. My dining partner described it as eating hot chocolate mousse. Ahhh...HEAVENLY!! The coffee ice-cream and berry sauce sat supremely well with it as well.

Well. It was a good meal. Recommended for quality but not quantity.