Jensens, Kareela
- Location: At Kareela Village: 1–13 Freya Street Kareela NSW 2232
18.3.23
Nick and I had a gift card for a dinner at Jensens. As this restaurant is quite popular, it had been booked at least 1 month in advance. We were so excited for it! It was a classy place, but the vibe was more semi-casual. Some people were dressed up, others were in smart-casual. It was a great mix of fancy and casual.
In summary:The staff and service was 5/5 and the food was mouth watering delicious
Over the month of March, they offered a deal: Buy 2x three-course meals and get one of the mains for free. Nick and I starved ourselves before going because we wanted to take advantage of this deal.
When we arrived, we were immediately seated at a table for 2, booked for 7.30 pm. Shortly after, we ordered a bottle of wine: Silkman Shiraz and pinot noir blend from the Hunter Valley 2021. We ordered this one as I didn't like the sound of the other ones and this was on the cheaper end of the wine list. The wine was very nice and unexpected. I enjoyed every sip of this wine. We made a note to visit Silkman vineyard next time we go to the Hunter.
Img caption. My three-course meal at Jensens.
Side note: At Jensens, they serve some really fancy and cool cocktails, but I am not much of a cocktail drinker: I honestly think cocktails are more of a dessert treat.
For a starter, we had a garlic pizza. The bases were very well cooked. Although it had a taste of any standard garlic pizza.
For my entre, I ordered the pasta of the week which was pasta with potato and a honey sauce. Nick ordered the tuna sashimi. The flavours of my entre were mind blowing. Nick was also very pleased with his entre, he said that it was his favourite dish.
For the main, I ordered another pasta: Smoked beetroot ravioli with whipped ricotta, roasted beets and brown butter, while Nick ordered the chargrilled Lamb Backstrap with a smoked macadamia hummus, charred herb salsa and lamb jus. My main was also really amazing. All the flavours came together quite well and the beetroot was not overpowering. I was stunned that someone could cook like this. Kudos to them. I aspire to be as good at life as they are at cooking.
Finally, for dessert, we ordered:
- Chocolate fondant with peanut butter ganache, caramelised white chocolate and peanut crumble and rice milk icecream; and
- Jensens banana pudding with hot butterscotch sauce and sticky cream and hazelnut praline.
Both of these dishes were to share. I personally enjoyed the banana pudding the most. The pudding was very moist and complemented the butterscotch sauce well. Too much of the butterscotch sauce overpowered the banana flavour, but just the right ratio produced an amazing dessert. Usually with pudding, extra butterscotch makes it so much nicer, but just eating the banana pudding alone was very nice.
The chocolate fondant was also a great dish. By itself however, it was very bland. It definitely needed the peanut butter ganache. This mixture was quite heavy.
We did leave Jensens with full bellies. However, it was mostly the dessert that filled me up. I found that the serving sizes of the entre and main were quite similar (small) and after the main I still had a hungry tummy. It was just as well that we ordered the first garlic pizza. We definitely didn't need to starve ourselves for this meal. Next time, we probably will order a pizza to share as well as the entre and main and then probably one dessert between us.
The three-course meal probably costs $100 per head and as a student I would never consider going here. The best thing though was because of the gift card, we only paid $13!!!! Such a great Christmas present, and thanks to Nick's sister for buying it for us. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
27.5.23
Today we celebrated the Birthday of Nick's mum, Liz. Nick and I arrived at Kareela shopping Village at 5.45 pm. We went into Coles to grab some Cherry Ripe's for her birthday (it's her favourite chocolate) and then went to the restaurant. Nick's parents were already seated with a couple of cocktails, which looked amazing!
Nick and I also ordered a cocktail each - Nick ordered the Scientist while I ordered a honey margarita. They were delicious! Like last-time, we ordered a garlic pizza for a starter along with our individual entrée. For my entrée, I ordered the pasta special of the week: a 3 cheese ravioli (Nick ordered this for his main). It was delicious!
After the entrée, we ordered a couple more drinks: for me a 2018 Cab Sauv, which was pretty good. Nick and Chris (Nick's dad) ordered a couple of beers and Liz had a white wine.
For my main, I ordered the cauliflower ritolo. It was crumbed and fried? It was like a basic main dish. It was delicious, but I don't think it was on the same level as other dishes that I have eaten from them. It tasted like something I could've cooked. Everyone else really enjoyed their dishes.
For dessert, we ordered one banana pudding between four of us. Liz got a birthday icecream. Everyone (aside from me) ordered coffees and then we headed home. It was an enjoyable night! ♥
Img caption. My entrée and main meals: (1) the 3 cheese ravioli, and (2) the cauliflower ritolo.