Have you ever watched Masterchef and wondered what it would be like to be one of the judges and have to decide how to score someone’s dish? If so, then Sage’s Taste and Test evenings are for you.

Sage has been one of my favourite restaurants ever since my first visit there last year, but I’d never been to an event like this. The premise is pretty simple—Sage is developing its new spring menu, and wants its diners to help decide what dishes it should serve. So for $60, you get to try five of its new dishes. The catch is you have no idea what you’re going to get until it arrives at your table.

While my friend and I understood this, we had no idea how Sage was expecting people to help it pick dishes. We got a bit of a hint when we arrived and noticed that there was a glass with pencils in it sitting on the table.

Then a waiter came round with a big rubber stamp and asked us if we were left or right-handed (very considerate, I thought), and, once we’d answered, proceeded to stamp the paper tablecloth, one for each of us. He explained that this would be the scorecard for the night, and that we should give each dish a score out of 10, as well as writing any comments we might have.

My friend and I really liked the big rubber stamp, as well as the whole idea, and had a feeling we were going to be in for a bit of fun. While we were waiting for our food, my friend examined the bread plates, which were wonderfully patterned and assymetrical. She’s a student at the Canberra Potters’s Society, and was wondering if the plates were made by local potter Chris Harford. Upon checking with the waiter, we were told that her guess was correct, and that Chris had specially made the plates (as well as other dinnerware) for Sage.

The waiter then placed pieces of homemade sourdough on the aforementioned plates, as well as putting an intriguing knob of butter on our table. One of the things I look forward to at Sage is what kind of bread and butter they’ll serve, as it’s different every time. On this occasion the butter was garlic with charcoal salt and cypress. It was light and fluffy and delicious.

We didn’t have to score the bread and butter, but the scorecards on our table had got us thinking about how we might rate things. Then the first course arrived—the first dish we’d actually have to taste and then come up with a score for. The waitress placed large bowls in front of us, on which were arranged little eggplant dumplings and enoki mushrooms. She then produced a teapot, and proceeded to pour mushroom consomme into our bowls.

I really liked this dish. It was pretty, and I really like mushrooms so I enjoyed the taste. The dumplings were a nice surprise, I wasn’t sure what to expect but they were really quite tasty, and, as my friend described them, had an earthy, nutty and kind of smoky flavour. While we were eating, we discussed the dish and what score we might give it, and whether our proposed scores might be too harsh or too generous.

Writing down our scores, and comforted by the fact we had erasers at the top of our pencils in case we changed our minds, we eagerly awaited the next dish. This turned out to be cuttlefish with chopped chorizo and eggplant puree (we think, we weren’t quite sure). While nice, it didn’t have the wow factor of the first dish, and we both agreed it deserved a lower score.

Next up was a serving of trout with broccoli puree, coconut and something else we couldn’t quite figure out. My friend really liked this dish, declaring it on par with the first one. I wasn’t quite so convinced, but that’s probably because I don’t really like coconut (except in Cherry Ripes and on lamingtons). This led to a discussion about how subjective the scoring could be, given people’s particular likes and dislikes.

However, upon trying the fourth dish, it didn’t take us long to agree that it was our favourite—spatchcock served with buffalo mozarella and asparagus, and sprinkled with some kind of crumbly deliciousness, which my friend aptly described as being like really good stuffing that had been fried.

There was a bit of a break between the spatchcock and the last dish (which we were hoping was dessert), which gave us a chance to revisit our scores and decide whether we still agreed with what we’d written. We also noticed that the restaurant had filled up and the noise level had risen considerably, as the other tables were also undoubtedly discussing their meals. This actually made for a really good atmosphere, as the energy of the rooms was high and people were clearly enjoying themselves.

Our last dish finally arrived and we were pleased to see that it was indeed a dessert. Our waiter described it to us as white chocolate mousse with dark chocolate sponge and caramel, and it was wonderfully presented with a splash of gold and a streak of dark chocolate. When we tried it, we found the description of the mousse was spot on, but the sponge turned out to be more like an incredibly dense, fudgey chocolate brownie. We also couldn’t taste caramel, but rather some kind of citrus, like orange or mandarin.

Although my friend and I are both big dark chocolate fans, we actually preferred the white chocolate mousse, and found the dark chocolate component to be a bit too heavy and rich (yes, even for a chocoholic like me) and couldn’t finish it. We both really liked the citrus accompaniment.

When our waiter came to check on us, we discussed the dessert with him, and he told us that we should write down comments as well as our scores, as it was important that dishes were properly described in the menu, so people wouldn’t order something then be disappointed if it turned out to be completely different to what they were expecting.

With this in mind, we then decided to go back and write comments on all of the dishes. This ranged from whether we’d order it again and what we thought of the presentation, to what we thought the description should have been. This was a lot of fun, and we both agreed that this kind of event was a great idea and that the scorecards provided good conversation starters for the night. One of the things we wrote down is that we hoped that Sage would hold Taste and Test evenings on a regular basis.

So, if you want to play Masterchef judge and have a delicious and fun night out with friends/family, I highly recommend you book in for a Taste and Test session. They’re being held every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday until mid-October 2014, and bookings are essential. Take note that the menu won’t be the same every time—I’ve already booked in for another evening and I can’t wait to see what I get to try on my next visit.

The essentials
The place: Sage Dining Rooms
Where: Gorman House Arts Centre, Batman St, Braddon
When: Lunch 12pm – 2.30pm Saturdays, dinner 5.30pm – 10pm Tuesday – Saturday.
Highlight: Taste and Test dinners Tuesdays-Thursdays until mid-October 2014. $75 per person
Food: Modern Australian
Drinks: Wine and Mint Garden Bar cocktails. Matching wines also available for the Taste and Test degustation.
Contact: Call 02 6249 6050 or visit the website or Facebook page.