Dandelion

The hardest thing about watching Masterchef is seeing exceptional budding chefs have bad days in the kitchen.  Well I'm pretty sure the chefs at Dandelion in Elwood were having one of those days. Despite some excellent reviews and the glory of a hat, Dandelion's food was expensive and disappointing.

To eat we ordered the steamed shredded chicken with Vietnamese slaw, peanuts, crispy shallots and nuoc cham ($22),  duck braised in coconut water and orange with Thai basil ginger and candied orange rind ($37) and the beef ribs ($38).

The chicken Vietnamese slaw was not a good start to the night.  The chicken was gristly, the slaw was predominantly red onion, and the dish lacked in flavour - a few more herbs and bit more dressing would have gone a long way in improving this dish.

The duck was cooked perfectly - juicy and full of flavour.  Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the rest of the dish. The taro dumplings that sat under the duck were inedible, and no, you're not imagining the picture below, they actually served bread with the curry - and not even fresh bread. I worked at a bakery for 10 years and this bread was either poorly cooked or days old.

 

 

The parts of the beef that I had were juicy and flavoursome, but a fellow diner said that her portion of meat was chewy.  There was also a lot of fat to the meat, even for a beef rib.  The accompanying salads and dipping sauces were one dimensional and uninspiring - the best part of the dish definitely was the sauce that sat under the beef ribs. 

Whilst Dandelion may have just been having a bad night (surely they must pull out the big guns on some occasions to deserve a hat), for the prices that it charged, I was expecting a deliciously satisfying meal.  Three bad dishes down - Dandelion, you were a disappointment.

Food: 1.5/5
Service: 3/5
Venue: 3/5
Total: 7.5/15
Verdict: Don't bother - not worth the calories.