Nel Restaurant: The Story of Christmas

Walking into Nel for our Christmas was so exciting, this was the last time we would see the restaurant like this before the renos coming!! Christmas songs were the playlist for our Sunday lunch with all the best Christmas tunes. My drink for the night was the:

Watermelon Spritz Poor Toms Sydney Dry Gin, Basil & Watermelon Cordial, Soda - this I wanted to bathe in!! It was so good, Tim tried it then ordered one himself haha I want to drink this again and again

Next day dinner 

The story behind the dish is on Boxing day, whatever is left over from Christmas lunch you can turn into a curry!

· Pani puri – indian street food, semolina dough puffs 

· Coconut curried red lentils 

· Mint coconut water 

Every time there is a dish served with the test tubes we never know whether to do the shot first then the food haha we had the mint coconut water to Chas the food this time, it was very festive bright green. The curry had a pop of flavour perfect way to start this beautiful lunch.

Coming over to the table smoking, Smoked Salmon. In Denmark, they love their smoked salmon but especially at Christmas time. 

· Hot Applewood smoked salmon 

· Dill powder 

· Dill pikelets – fluffy pancake 

Salmon fillet seasoned with lemon myrtle powder and smoked salt, mixed with lime and sour cream, served on an ice-cold rock and topped with dill powder, served on a rocks and moss with liquid nitrogen.

I loved the mini dill pikelets they were so cute and such a nice way to enjoy this dish.

Next up on these beautiful rose gold skewers, Left over ham named something that happens at everyones house after xmas.

· Slow braised pork hock 

· Aerated buttermilk doughnut batter 

· Confit orange and mustard emulsion 

This was such a rich, beautiful burst of flavour. The aerated buttermilk doughnut batter was so cool!! Such a nice way to celebrate a xmas ham the next day.

I LOVE a bread dish at Nel, they should open their own walk up bakery window it is THAT good. This was the most beautiful Christmas wreath with our bread dish as the centrepiece, Stuffing brioche.

They took the flavours from a traditional turkey with stuffing and bacon and turned this into the bread course. 

· Traditional butter brioche with flavours of xmas stuffing 

· Bacon butter 

· Crispy bacon 

Mini brioche loaves flavoured with caramelised onions, sage, bay leaf and lemon zest. Served with a bacon butter and crispy bacon.

The whipped bacon butter was so light and airy it glided onto the warm brioche and every bite was magical.

The prettiest dish of the night was the Christmas crab 

In my family we have a massive seafood feast on xmas eve. We actually did a version of this too, delicious!!

· Umeshu poached crab and prawn 

· Toasted almond puree 

· Smoked almond floss 

· Spiced vinegar marinated plum 

· Cucumber and elderflower

Throughout the whole menu we kept saying “this is my favourite” haha this was one of those dishes, the freshness of the seafood with the plum discs onto with the cucumber and elderflower sauce - just wow!

Next up was a plate of white with green powder ontop but underneath was a neat dish called the humble spud. This dish is homage to the chef Nel’s favourite vegetable - the potato!

· Baked, hollowed out, fried and dehydrated potato shell 

· Cauliflower, fried bread and olive oil 

· Butter braised potato discs 

· Potato and crème fraiche foam 

· Cavalo nero powder 

· Truffled cauliflower bubbles 

· Fennel fronds

The amount of detail that went into this dish then opening it to see the rest of the dish, wow!! It tasted like potato heaven, baked, fried, crispy, soft, delectable this dish had it all.

I love Elf and I have too made my own dessert from inspiration to this movie. But a savory dish? Hats off to Buddy the elf 

We all know the scene from one of the great Christmas movies ELF, when Buddy pour maple syrup and adds candy to his Spaghetti.

· Poached, blowtorched and glazed murray cod 

· Spinach linguine in miso oil 

· Miso and toasted nori meringue 

· Shaved caviar ‘sprinkles’ 

· Fennel Oil 

· Murray cod and lemon butter sauce

The amount of love that went into the fish, you could taste it with every bite, I closed my eyes when eating this dish haha. All the different elements with the caviar and the linguine it was just as fun to eat then it was to look at. Definitely my favourite dish of the menu.

To finish of the savoury dishes was Stuffed chook 

Did you know? Chestnuts stuffed in a chicken is an alternative to Turkey in the UK, this was the Inso behind this dish.

· Chestnut and chicken mousseline stuffed chicken crown 

· Chicken skin, chive and yesterday’s brioche crumb 

· Guanciale and smoked speck braised cabbage 

· Nashi pear aigre doux 

· Salt and vinegar cabbage leaves 

· Smoked chicken wing sauce

Tim loves chicken and LOVED this dish, me I have a weird relationship with chicken haha I did appreciate the smoked chicken wing sauce I thought that was so cool. The salt and vinegar cabbage leaves were dehydrated and crunchy so cool!! The chicken skin, chive and brioche crumb was yummy!! I was very full by this point so Tim helped me finish my chicken.

How beautiful is this dish? Every little element. Festive trifle 

Did you know? The Earliest use of the name Trifle was in a recipe for a thick cream flavoured with sugar, ginger and rosewater in Thomas Dawsons book in 1585 and originated into a Christmas dessert in the UK. 

· Whipped mascarpone and orange 

· Cranberry Jelly 

· Spiced White chocolate crémeux 

· Spiced cake 

· Cranberry Sorbet 

· Anise Hyssop

I loved this, the white chocolate cremeux was the best part, and the little what looked like brown sugar cubes was spiced cake, so cool.

Up next we had been naughty and got coal this was Naughty Child 

· Coconut Charcoal shards 

· Black Sesame Caramel Sauce 

· Charcoal Smoked Crème Pattiserie 

· Fried leavened dough 

· Puffed rice flake with charcoal sugar

Such a cool dish, I don’t love black sesame but Tim loved this. I would’ve loved a black velvet cake or something mmm. I loved the reveal again with the charcoal shards to uncover the dish inside.

The best way to finish Christmas lunch is with a burning Christmas pudding, A little pudding 

· Xmas pudding spiced marshmallow with dried peel, currants/raisins

The fire wasn’t lit for long and I like my marshmallows COOKED haha but this was a cool way to finish the meal, a bonding experience of cooking our spiced marshmallows <3

I wouldn’t celebrate xmas with my love any other way than at Nel. Cannot wait for their refurb and the long time coming Once Upon a Time menu: Chapter 3!