Sydney restaurant nel. is once again dipping into our childhoods for another run at a Disney-inspired full degustation, kicking off at the start of August after the pandemic shutdowns forced the underground eatery to close its doors for months. If the first chapter of this gastronomical adventure is anything to go by, expect flavoured bubbles, smoke and mirrors, and absolutely nothing being as it seems.
The 2020 edition of the ‘Once Upon A Time’ degustation was meant to kick off back in April but the pandemic shutdown forced Chef Nelly Robinson and his wild imagination to push it all back to the end of winter and into springtime instead.
Though Chef Nel likes to keep the menu pretty hush-hush so the surprised doesn’t get spoiled, the 11-course degustation is set to start with a return of the Alice In Wonderland-inspired cookies, which almost look too good to eat.
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I’m wildly suspicious of what these unassuming little bickies actually taste like, though. Because I know Chef Nelly has made eel ice cream before so it’s really a matter of expecting the unexpected.
Last time the nostalgia-heavy set menu dropped into the Surry Hills bucket list restaurant, it involved a dish ominously called “Bambi’s Mum”, which came with shotgun cartridges filled with little ingredients to sprinkle on top. Oof that one hits hard, I tell you what.
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Reservations for the second offering of the Disney-infused, and deeply extravagant, degustation at nel restaurant are available now on the website, and will set you back $135 per head for dinner, and another $105 for paired booze – or $50 for non-boozy drinks. It might feel like a bit of a spend but hey we’ve all been at home for so long, we deserve a little fancy treat for once. You’ve earned it.
