Ad Lib Bistro, Pymble

Let's be perfectly honest - the Upper North Shore is a bit of a dead zone when it comes to food. Aside from a few decent cafe-style restaurants, there's not many places that you can go for a nice but affordable dinner (if I'm wrong feel free to provide suggestions!). That is, until Dietmar Sawyere's Ad Lib Bistro moved onto the Pacific Highway in Pymble with classic French food served in a casual Parisian-bistro atmosphere. It's clearly a favourite around here since we had to book 3 months in advance for a Saturday dinner.

Onion soup gratinée

We start with the onion soup, which I had high hopes for after reading other reviews. The cheesy gruyere crouton covers the top of the soup tureen and eating our way through it reveals a rich, fragrant brown broth. It is sweet from the caramelised onions, though a little heavy handed on the booze which isn't to Charm's taste. I can't pinpoint exactly what I don't like about the dish but I find it a little underwhelming - but that may be because I hyped it up too much in my own head!

Sugar cured salmon, toasted brioche, herb and shallot mascarpone - $19

Peking Inn, Pymble

Hot and sour soup (Peking style) - $5.80

The great thing about big family dinners at Chinese restaurants is that you end up ordering lots and lots of dishes and getting a taste of everything, which is the way I like it. Sharing is caring, after all ;)

Pigs' ears

Being new to this whole foodblogger thing, I went to dinner with my camera but also with some trepidation about taking photos of food with half my extended family waiting for me to finish before they could eat. I told Mum about my hesitations and upon arriving she annouced to the whole table, "Everyone, Jacqui said to not eat the food until she's taken photos of it!". As such, I did manage to get my photos but not without someone asking me every 10 minutes or so whether it was ok to eat yet. Ah, the life of a foodblogger.

Vegetarian bean curd rolls