God’s Creation is a new café on Darling Street Balmain. Whilst Balmain is a place that is spoilt for choice, with so many cafés and restaurants aligning the streets, it’s hard to imagine another restaurant is needed. However, this restaurant is like nothing that exists in the area. It is an Italian restaurant, with an Asian influence, ran by a lovely couple reigning from Hong Kong. The restaurant was easy to spot, in a beautiful heritage style house painted turquoise green, and I love the colour!
As soon as we entered, we were met by the beautifully charismatic host, Helen who greeted us with a warm hug and air of excitement about our visit. We enjoyed chatting to her, hearing her story of working and living in Hong Kong and then Australia, with her husband, the chef who has had significant experience in Italian restaurants in Australia.
We began with drinks and opted for a few cocktails. We tried both the sweet pink cocktail, reminiscent of a cosmo, topped with a dried orange and blended nicely. We also tried the cucumber and gin cocktail which was lovely. Both a sweet and refreshing start to our dinner.
We discussed menu options with Helen and decided on the scallops for entrée – beautifully cooked scallops and presented with a garlic and almond crust and sweet home made tomato sauce. Other choices include calamari, arancini, prosciutto e melon and salads.
For the mains, we could not go past the lamb and duck. We were presented with three amazingly cooked cutlets of lamb, crushed with macadamias, sitting atop mashed potato, roasted dried vegetables and a zesty drizzle of sauce. The duck was also divine – cooked to perfection with red wine jus, sauteed onion and what looked like potato, but was infact pineapple. A lovely combination of flavours and the chef is certainly skilled at cooking as well as his plate presentation.
There are a good range of seafood dishes, risottos and pastas as well. We had to try a pasta too, being at an Italian restaurant and within two seconds of looking at the menu, we knew that had to be the Triple cheese gnocchi (blue, brie, mozarrella and parmesan). Topped with crispy sweet potato and radish. This may not be great for the waistline but is certainly amazing for the heart and mind.
We could not fault the food or presentation and it was also a lovely experience. The ambience was wonderful and it was a joy to dine at God’s Creation. However, If you’re after a few drinks and tapas, there’s bar tables and stools outside, and you could order a meat platter, (chacutterie) and some smaller bites. Not to end off the meal without dessert, we were delighted by a small glass of fruit and ice cream, topped with pistachios.
Make sure you pop by and check the new kid on the block! Thanks to God’s Creation for the hospitality and food and to Trina from Dr Social for arranging our invite.