Update Reviews, 2018
Longrain is one of my favorite Thai restaurants in Sydney (and now, Tokyo), where I generally visit with a large group, get the semi-private area, book the banquet menu, and have quite the feast (as you read in my original reviews, below).Their savory food is very good, the cocktails creative and tasty, and the dessert always stuns. I continue to return regularly.
February 2018 Visit
On my summer trip to Sydney, I didn't have time to fit in a full meal at Longrain, but I still wanted the signature dessert.I swung by, intending to get it to take back to hotel, but I was told that they couldn't do that. So I sat at the bar, and ordered just dessert. I was a woman who knew exactly what she wanted. And I got it.
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| Layered Longrain Special. $12. |
The signature dessert is always one that changes slightly with the seasons. It always has black sticky rice and tiny tapioca in vanilla sauce as the base, plus some kind of jelly cubes, diced seasonal fruit, some kind of sorbet, and some kind of foam, and is garnished with coconut shreds and a sesame cookie. I've had it with coconut jelly or passionfruit jelly, I've had it with strawberry or with kiwi, and I've had it with coconut or fruity sorbet.
This version came with young coconut jelly cubes, diced strawberry, passionfruit puree, coconut sorbet, and pandan foam. It should have had rockmelon instead of strawberry (or maybe, in addition to?), but I had it modified due to my allergy.
It was basically just as I remembered. I love the texture and chew from the black sticky rice. I like the creamy coconut and vanilla soupy pudding. The pandan foam was great, basically, whipped cream with a touch more going on. The strawberry bits were super flavorful and fresh, the passionfruit added some crunch, and the coconut jelly more texture. The coconut sorbet melted down nicely combining with everything else. The sesame cookie on top was crazy flavorful, so much sesame.
It was good. It was a play of textures and elements, and quite fun to eat. But ... it was a bit too sweet. It needed a touch more balance, which perhaps is normally there if you have the rockmelon, but for me, it just was a bit much. Even more sticky rice would have helped balance a bit.
Still, I enjoyed it, and polished it off in ... 2 seconds?
July 2018 Visit
When I returned to Sydney in the winter, I had a group dinner to organize, and Longrain was immediately the destination that came to mind. I was expecting a large group, and thus to book the private area and banquet menu, but my group dwindled to only 7, so we were seated in the regular area, just at a huge table, and ordered a la carte.
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| Dinner Spread. |
Everyone ordered their own desserts, which meant I got a chance to see/sample nearly the entire dessert menu, including the nightly special.
The service was fairly poor and neglectful and uninformed, the food only ok. It didn't live up to past visits.
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| Large Tables. |
One entire side of the restaurant is all very large tables, all round, with fun bench seating around half, and chairs rounding them out.
Our group had one of these tables, and it was the perfect fit, everyone able to see, and mostly hear, each other.
"Chilli-infused Don Julio Blanco tequila, vanilla, fresh lemon, soda."
I've always praised Longrain's cocktail program, but, this was not a success.
This drink was ... a punch in the face of tequila. All you could taste was tequila. It was a strong drink. A very strong drink. With a hint of chili.
I like tequila. I ordered this for a reason. But ... it was not balanced at all.
It did not get better with time, just, got different.
The last third of it though was just lemonade. The ice melted, and the whole (!?) lemon that was cut up inside really released its juice. And that left lemonade.
I did not enjoy this, would not recommend, and wish I hadn't tried to finish it.
"Betel leaf, smoked trout, green mango, cashew nuts."
I started the group with the betel leaf appetizer, because I know it is Longrain's signature thing, and no one had ever had such a thing. This is actually always one of the least memorable dishes for me, but, I wanted my guests to have the experience.
It came about 10 minutes after we ordered, and had settled in with cocktails, reasonable pacing.
And ... it was basically what I remembered.
A fun bite, yes. Crisp fresh betel leaf that you wrap around the filling and eat in a few bites. There was a nice combination of sour and sweet flavors. The green mango was fresh and juicy, the cashew added crunch.
The problem was the smoked trout. It was really mushy. Not in a pleasant way.
I didn't care for this. Things were not getting off to a good start.
"Green curry, braised beef brisket, Thai eggplant, baby corn."
10 minutes later, our two main dishes, and rice, arrived. Again, good pacing.
For our first main dish, I selected the green curry, the same curry on the banquet menu, as it is a crowd pleaser, and one I enjoy as well.
Since we had 7 diners, I wasn't quite sure how much to order. It comes in small or large. I asked our server for advice, explaining our hunger level, and that we'd get another main too, and a salad, and expected ... some guidance. He simply said "a large won't be enough". Ok. So I said, "What about a large and a small? What do you recommend?" And he simply said, "Ok, a large and a small is what you want?" It was very frustrating. I tried again, "How many people does a large normally serve?" "3", he said. Aha! Ok, so I'd get 2 large. I said that, and he said, "Ok, you want 2 large? But you are getting another main too?" Then I wasn't sure about anything. I gave him our whole order, and asked for help getting the sizes right. He didn't really ever offer much, and in the end, we did the large + small.
When the dish was placed on the table, it was immediately clear that it wasn't enough for 7 people, but, I assumed that was either the large or the small. I asked the person who set it on the table which it was, and he said it was 1.5 orders, that is, the large + small in one. Oops.
So, we all just got a few bites. Of course, we could have ordered more, but opted not to.
The curry was ... fine. The beef tender enough, not that chewy. The thai eggplant and corn decently cooked. Flavor overall very mild.
Just, fine. Nothing special. Not worth repeating. Not worth getting a full serving of. And ... $64 for this bowl of curry? Eh.
"Caramelised pork hock, five spice, chilli vinegar."
Our other main dish was the other main dish also featured on the banquet, my all time favorite caramelized pork hock. I've had this before many times, in both Sydney and Tokyo and it is always a highlight.
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| Acapulco Gold. $19. |
I've always praised Longrain's cocktail program, but, this was not a success.
This drink was ... a punch in the face of tequila. All you could taste was tequila. It was a strong drink. A very strong drink. With a hint of chili.
I like tequila. I ordered this for a reason. But ... it was not balanced at all.
It did not get better with time, just, got different.
The last third of it though was just lemonade. The ice melted, and the whole (!?) lemon that was cut up inside really released its juice. And that left lemonade.
I did not enjoy this, would not recommend, and wish I hadn't tried to finish it.
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| Betel Leaf. $7. |
I started the group with the betel leaf appetizer, because I know it is Longrain's signature thing, and no one had ever had such a thing. This is actually always one of the least memorable dishes for me, but, I wanted my guests to have the experience.
It came about 10 minutes after we ordered, and had settled in with cocktails, reasonable pacing.
And ... it was basically what I remembered.
A fun bite, yes. Crisp fresh betel leaf that you wrap around the filling and eat in a few bites. There was a nice combination of sour and sweet flavors. The green mango was fresh and juicy, the cashew added crunch.
The problem was the smoked trout. It was really mushy. Not in a pleasant way.
I didn't care for this. Things were not getting off to a good start.
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| Green Curry (Large + Small). $26 + $38. |
10 minutes later, our two main dishes, and rice, arrived. Again, good pacing.
For our first main dish, I selected the green curry, the same curry on the banquet menu, as it is a crowd pleaser, and one I enjoy as well.
Since we had 7 diners, I wasn't quite sure how much to order. It comes in small or large. I asked our server for advice, explaining our hunger level, and that we'd get another main too, and a salad, and expected ... some guidance. He simply said "a large won't be enough". Ok. So I said, "What about a large and a small? What do you recommend?" And he simply said, "Ok, a large and a small is what you want?" It was very frustrating. I tried again, "How many people does a large normally serve?" "3", he said. Aha! Ok, so I'd get 2 large. I said that, and he said, "Ok, you want 2 large? But you are getting another main too?" Then I wasn't sure about anything. I gave him our whole order, and asked for help getting the sizes right. He didn't really ever offer much, and in the end, we did the large + small.
When the dish was placed on the table, it was immediately clear that it wasn't enough for 7 people, but, I assumed that was either the large or the small. I asked the person who set it on the table which it was, and he said it was 1.5 orders, that is, the large + small in one. Oops.
So, we all just got a few bites. Of course, we could have ordered more, but opted not to.
The curry was ... fine. The beef tender enough, not that chewy. The thai eggplant and corn decently cooked. Flavor overall very mild.
Just, fine. Nothing special. Not worth repeating. Not worth getting a full serving of. And ... $64 for this bowl of curry? Eh.
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| Caramelized Pork Hock (Large + Small). $23 + $34. |
Our other main dish was the other main dish also featured on the banquet, my all time favorite caramelized pork hock. I've had this before many times, in both Sydney and Tokyo and it is always a highlight.
It too came as the combine large + small order, which wasn't really enough, and was pricy at $57.
It was better than the green curry, but a considerable letdown for me, given that I've had this dish before, and it is usually much, much, much better.
The sauce was still fantastic. Sweet, sticky, absolutely delicious. Great with the pork, great on rice, great by the spoonful (albeit, a bit too sweet to really do that way). I loved the garlic chips strewn throughout.
But ... the pork was not as well cooked as usual. It is usually insanely crispy on the outside, and the fat all nice rendered and melty. My chunk (yup, just one, because, #portions), had one tiny bite of crisp, otherwise, just kinda chewy. And inside? Just fat. Not rendered properly at all. Not melty. Just, fat. It was smothered in sauce, so I could kinda ignore it, but it wasn't really pleasant, and wasn't magical in any way.
Serious disappointment. At least the sauce was good.
"Filled eggnet, pork, prawn, peanuts, cucumber relish."
The eggnet has been a staple on the banquet menu for as long as I can remember, but was recently replaced with the papaya salad, which I opted to do on this visit too to try something different.
But once we saw our portions and realized we needed more food, I quickly asked to add on the eggnet to boost up our food quantity. Another signature dish, and one I thought my guests would enjoy.
Since we didn't order this until we had our mains, it took another 15 minutes to arrive, but that was understandable.
Folks didn't love it, mostly just commenting on how many bean sprouts it contained.
"Durian panna cotta, sweet coconut cream, mango, lemonade fruit meringue."
So, dessert. You know how much I love dessert. And how much I love the Longrain signature layered dessert. I've never managed to not get that dessert (its the only one available on the banquet menu), but also, just the only one I've ever picked (besides in Tokyo where we got multiple desserts).
For dessert, we all ordered individually. I was torn, for the first time ever though. They had a nightly special. A panna cotta. I love panna cotta. It had coconut cream and mango. I love those things. It also happened to feature ... durian.
Oh my. I was sooo curious. I've only had durian twice in my life before, both times in Sydney, once at Chat Thai for durian sticky rice and once at Martabak Cafe for durian filled martabak. I did *not* enjoy it either time. But, I've loved Longrain desserts so much, and I really wanted to give durian another chance.
I quickly polled the table, hoping to find someone who would split the durian and a layered special with me. No takers. Out of the 6 others, 5 had never had durian before. The other had, and didn't mind it, but had his eyes on other things. We decided to order one for the table to split, so everyone could try a taste. And one diner decided to order his own too.
Our server came back soon after we ordered though, apologetic. "Uh, somebody stole the durian."
This is literally what he said to us. My brain tried to understand. Did he really just say that? Yes, yes he did. He said that only one order was available. We said that was fine. And spent the rest of the time talking about stolen durians, joking about it being mistaken as trash, etc. Also, a bit confused ... they weren't possibly breaking down a durian and making a panna cotta to order. Does that mean someone stole the finished panna cotta? Or, that they stole it long ago, and he just found out because no one else had ordered it? Who knows.
Anyway.
It arrived more beautiful than any other durian dessert I have had. A beautiful panna cotta, set in a glass, topped with several other layers, and meringues. I was the first to go for it. It did not have a strong odor at all. I couldn't smell durian really much at all.
I took a big spoonful, making sure to get plenty of the panna cotta in the bottom. It was ... mildly durian flavored decent panna cotta. Well set, creamy, just, decent panna cotta with a bit of a funky flavor. Not horrible durian at all. Very mild. Not exactly pleasant per se, but, not nearly as bad as one would expect. Lots of sugar and cream can indeed tame a durian, it turns out.
The mango layer was sweet and fruity, a nice compliment. The meringue added crunch. Really, this was a well done dessert.
I still preferred my selection, but, I didn't mind this at all, and appreciated their pastry team for doing it.
The others though weren't quite as impressed. The one person who had durian previously also felt it wasn't very strong, and volunteered to polish it off when no one else opted for a second bite. The others compared it to rotten mango. If only they had any idea how truly horrible durian normally is ...
I'm glad we ordered this, for novelty, and a chance for Longrain to actually redeem itself a bit!
"Banana fritter, coconut sorbet, tamarind caramel, cocoa crumb."
Ah, fried bananas, a fairly standard thai dessert, that I never have any interest in. It has been on the Longrain menu as long as I have gone, and we've never given it a thought, but I know it is popular, and have seen many photos of the green coated bananas.
One diner ordered it, and only wanted a little, so he quickly offered it up to the table. He seemed ot only like the cocoa crumb on the plate.
I tried a bite, just to try it, because it was going untouched.
The bananas were well coated in something crunchy, I'm not entirely sure what it was, or why it was green. The banana inside was hot. And mushy. And ... just banana.
Meh. Not a dessert for me, nor, for anyone it turned out. One person volunteered to finish all desserts, but after a couple bites of this one, he too discarded it.
"Taro pudding, sweet coconut cream, praline cashew nut ice cream."
I do love taro, and pudding, and coconut cream, and praline ... so you'd think I'd be first in line to order this. Which I was, in Tokyo when we visited Longrain. There, I discovered that it was a "pudding" in my American sense of pudding, not a creamy dish to eat with a spoon from a bowl, but rather a British style pudding, more like a cake. I wasn't thrilled with it there, and, although I had some interest in seeing if Sydney did it differently, it was pretty easy for me to rule this out.
It looked fairly identical to what I had in Tokyo a few months prior, same components and everything.
Those who ordered it did finish it, and didn't offer up shared bites, so, clearly successful for them.
I, as always, went for the Longrain special, a layered creation of assorted components, textures, temperatures, flavors. Always fun to dig into.
The base of slightly al dente chewy sticky rice, topped with a layer of creamy vanilla tapioca pudding were pleasant as always, good textures, comforting. The little cubes of coconut jelly in there added a bit of soft chew.
The seasonal fruit this time around was unfortunately watermelon and passionfruit. I asked to have it modified of course due to my allergy to watermelon. Usually, the kitchen substitutes another fruit in its place, often strawberries, lychee, or anything else they have on hand. This time though, they just left it out, replacing it with nothing. I'm not sure if that was a communication issue with my server, or they had nothing else to offer, or just didn't care. That left just the very sweet passionfruit in this section, and the result was fairly unbalanced sweet and tartness, just above the pudding, that even when mixed in, just didn't quite work out great.
Scooped on top was some kind of light sorbet (lemon perhaps?) that melted in a bit, added a cool (literally) aspect, and a bit of lightness. The whipped cream this time around was purple, I believe likely taro infused, although it wasn't strong enough to really distinguish. It was pretty though.
And finally, large shreds of toasted coconut for crunch, and a sesame tuile that I saved until the near end, to dunk in, and enjoy as a "last great bite", which, I did. Sweet, buttery, crispy.
Overall, it was fine, but I think perhaps I am actually a bit sick of this dessert, or maybe it was just the lack of fruit substitute that made it come out a bit too one note for me. I'm still glad I ordered it, it was the best of the bunch I tried, but, I would have been happy sharing it, which is something I've never said about this dessert before, where I normally want more than one for myself!
When I'm in Sydney, one of the cuisines I tend to gravitate towards is thai. It was Sydney where I really discovered how good thai food could be (and, where I subsequently was ruined for thai food in San Francisco!). These days, I generally stick with the casual establishments in thai town, like Chat Thai or Home Thai, or the always classic Sailor's Thai (and canteen) in the Rocks. |
| Eggnet (Large). $34. |
The eggnet has been a staple on the banquet menu for as long as I can remember, but was recently replaced with the papaya salad, which I opted to do on this visit too to try something different.
But once we saw our portions and realized we needed more food, I quickly asked to add on the eggnet to boost up our food quantity. Another signature dish, and one I thought my guests would enjoy.
Since we didn't order this until we had our mains, it took another 15 minutes to arrive, but that was understandable.
Folks didn't love it, mostly just commenting on how many bean sprouts it contained.
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| Papaya Salad. $16. |
"Green papaya salad, peanuts, sweet corn, tamarind, chilli, lime."
Remember that papaya salad I keep talking about? Yeah, it came a full 8 minutes *after* the eggnet, the eggnet that we ordered when we had our mains. I'll spare you the math, yes, the papaya salad took 50 minutes. We certainly expected it either before, or at least alongside, the mains.
I selected this mostly because I wanted us to have a vegetable dish (this was before ordering the eggnet) and out of curiosity since they replaced the eggnet on the banquet menu with papaya salad, so, I thought it might be a crowd pleaser, or at least, interesting in some way.
It was ... a basic papaya salad. Oh, except that it had corn in it. I haven't ever seen corn in a papaya salad before. It had ok spicing.
This was fine, but totally unremarkable, and not something I'd order again.
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| Special: Durian panna cotta. $16. |
So, dessert. You know how much I love dessert. And how much I love the Longrain signature layered dessert. I've never managed to not get that dessert (its the only one available on the banquet menu), but also, just the only one I've ever picked (besides in Tokyo where we got multiple desserts).
For dessert, we all ordered individually. I was torn, for the first time ever though. They had a nightly special. A panna cotta. I love panna cotta. It had coconut cream and mango. I love those things. It also happened to feature ... durian.
Oh my. I was sooo curious. I've only had durian twice in my life before, both times in Sydney, once at Chat Thai for durian sticky rice and once at Martabak Cafe for durian filled martabak. I did *not* enjoy it either time. But, I've loved Longrain desserts so much, and I really wanted to give durian another chance.
I quickly polled the table, hoping to find someone who would split the durian and a layered special with me. No takers. Out of the 6 others, 5 had never had durian before. The other had, and didn't mind it, but had his eyes on other things. We decided to order one for the table to split, so everyone could try a taste. And one diner decided to order his own too.
Our server came back soon after we ordered though, apologetic. "Uh, somebody stole the durian."
This is literally what he said to us. My brain tried to understand. Did he really just say that? Yes, yes he did. He said that only one order was available. We said that was fine. And spent the rest of the time talking about stolen durians, joking about it being mistaken as trash, etc. Also, a bit confused ... they weren't possibly breaking down a durian and making a panna cotta to order. Does that mean someone stole the finished panna cotta? Or, that they stole it long ago, and he just found out because no one else had ordered it? Who knows.
Anyway.
It arrived more beautiful than any other durian dessert I have had. A beautiful panna cotta, set in a glass, topped with several other layers, and meringues. I was the first to go for it. It did not have a strong odor at all. I couldn't smell durian really much at all.
I took a big spoonful, making sure to get plenty of the panna cotta in the bottom. It was ... mildly durian flavored decent panna cotta. Well set, creamy, just, decent panna cotta with a bit of a funky flavor. Not horrible durian at all. Very mild. Not exactly pleasant per se, but, not nearly as bad as one would expect. Lots of sugar and cream can indeed tame a durian, it turns out.
The mango layer was sweet and fruity, a nice compliment. The meringue added crunch. Really, this was a well done dessert.
I still preferred my selection, but, I didn't mind this at all, and appreciated their pastry team for doing it.
The others though weren't quite as impressed. The one person who had durian previously also felt it wasn't very strong, and volunteered to polish it off when no one else opted for a second bite. The others compared it to rotten mango. If only they had any idea how truly horrible durian normally is ...
I'm glad we ordered this, for novelty, and a chance for Longrain to actually redeem itself a bit!
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| Banana Fritter. $17. |
Ah, fried bananas, a fairly standard thai dessert, that I never have any interest in. It has been on the Longrain menu as long as I have gone, and we've never given it a thought, but I know it is popular, and have seen many photos of the green coated bananas.
One diner ordered it, and only wanted a little, so he quickly offered it up to the table. He seemed ot only like the cocoa crumb on the plate.
I tried a bite, just to try it, because it was going untouched.
The bananas were well coated in something crunchy, I'm not entirely sure what it was, or why it was green. The banana inside was hot. And mushy. And ... just banana.
Meh. Not a dessert for me, nor, for anyone it turned out. One person volunteered to finish all desserts, but after a couple bites of this one, he too discarded it.
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| Taro Pudding. $17. |
I do love taro, and pudding, and coconut cream, and praline ... so you'd think I'd be first in line to order this. Which I was, in Tokyo when we visited Longrain. There, I discovered that it was a "pudding" in my American sense of pudding, not a creamy dish to eat with a spoon from a bowl, but rather a British style pudding, more like a cake. I wasn't thrilled with it there, and, although I had some interest in seeing if Sydney did it differently, it was pretty easy for me to rule this out.
It looked fairly identical to what I had in Tokyo a few months prior, same components and everything.
Those who ordered it did finish it, and didn't offer up shared bites, so, clearly successful for them.
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| Longrain Special. $12. |
"Layered Longrain Special, black sticky rice, young coconut jelly, vanilla tapioca, seasonal fruit, sorbet."
The base of slightly al dente chewy sticky rice, topped with a layer of creamy vanilla tapioca pudding were pleasant as always, good textures, comforting. The little cubes of coconut jelly in there added a bit of soft chew.
The seasonal fruit this time around was unfortunately watermelon and passionfruit. I asked to have it modified of course due to my allergy to watermelon. Usually, the kitchen substitutes another fruit in its place, often strawberries, lychee, or anything else they have on hand. This time though, they just left it out, replacing it with nothing. I'm not sure if that was a communication issue with my server, or they had nothing else to offer, or just didn't care. That left just the very sweet passionfruit in this section, and the result was fairly unbalanced sweet and tartness, just above the pudding, that even when mixed in, just didn't quite work out great.
Scooped on top was some kind of light sorbet (lemon perhaps?) that melted in a bit, added a cool (literally) aspect, and a bit of lightness. The whipped cream this time around was purple, I believe likely taro infused, although it wasn't strong enough to really distinguish. It was pretty though.
And finally, large shreds of toasted coconut for crunch, and a sesame tuile that I saved until the near end, to dunk in, and enjoy as a "last great bite", which, I did. Sweet, buttery, crispy.
Overall, it was fine, but I think perhaps I am actually a bit sick of this dessert, or maybe it was just the lack of fruit substitute that made it come out a bit too one note for me. I'm still glad I ordered it, it was the best of the bunch I tried, but, I would have been happy sharing it, which is something I've never said about this dessert before, where I normally want more than one for myself!
Original Reviews, 2017
But several years ago, when I was living in Sydney, I frequented Longrain, in Surry Hills. Longrain is an entirely different type of restaurant, more upscale, far more trendy, with a vibrant bar scene in the front. We weren't ever really into the scene of it all, but, it was on the way home from work, so we would often stop by just to grab a bite in the bar area. We went a few times for regular meals too, where everyone is seated at a massive large communal table, and all dishes are made to share. Like I said, trendy.
I recall it being pretty good back then, but it was before I wrote a blog or took notes, so I didn't recall much besides the fact that their signature item is the betel leafs. On my recent visit (February 2016), I had the opportunity to join a large group of co-workers in the private room for a Banquet meal, so I gladly accepted, even though it was my first night in town and I was crazy jetlagged.
I'm glad I joined, as it was a good experience, particularly for large group dining. The cocktails were creative and tasty, the food was good, the dessert was swoon-worthy, and the service was shockingly on top of things, for group dining and for Sydney, not exactly known for great service. You can read all about that in my first review.
Fast forward a few months, December 2016, and I had a large group dinner to arrange with co-workers. Longrain was an easy choice, and I was thrilled that the semi private room was available. We had another fantastic group meal, which you can read all about, and I highly recommend this for anyone looking to do group dining in Sydney (our groups have been 15-20 people).
Our group the first time was 19 members, 15 the second, and we had the semi-private room on the backside of the restaurant. I say semi-private because it was behind a divider, but not actually noise isolated from the main room.
The decor was similar to the main restaurant, with a long wooden table, wooden floors, and wood on the walls.
Our server was friendly and attentive, and did an impressive job handling our large group. Food came out hot and fresh.
The drink menu had the expected beer, wine, and cider offerings, plus a slew of fairly creative cocktails. I appreciated the names of the cocktails, and Ojan appreciated that many of them were available virgin, as indicated by stars on the menu.
"Don Julio Blanco Tequila, lemongrass, kaffir lime, house made grenadine, ginger beer, lime."
I went for the Surly Temple, mostly because I wanted something different, and tequila sometimes hits the spot for me, particularly when I'm traveling (I can't explain this, I blame it on my trip to Tokyo ...)
The Surly Temple was a pretty drink, a lovely pink color, with a giant stick of lemongrass sticking out, and garnished with a kaffir lime leaf.
It was a refreshing, balanced drink, not too sweet, not too strong on the tequila. I quite enjoyed it.
"Lime leaf, holy basil & lemongrass infused Tangueray Gin, Campari, Sweet Vermouth, chilli bitters."
After watching Emil drink "Longronis" all night next to me, I finally ordered one myself. I wanted a not-sweet drink, and this is the one the server recommended. Yes, I wanted a not-sweet drink. It happens sometimes.
Like the Surly Temple, the Longroni also had a big stalk of lemongrass sticking out of it. It was indeed not sweet, as requested, but perhaps a bit too bitter for me. As in ... crazy bitter. I did like the lemongrass flavor in it though, surprisingly.
Because of our group size (19!), we were given the banquet menu, a fixed, family-style menu, for $65 per person. The menu was:
Starters:
3 appetizers, 2 main dishes, 2 side dishes, and dessert, all for $65, really a good deal, particularly given their regular pricing.
One of the main courses had the choice between beef or duck, but that was a decision our host had to make in advance, for the entire group (he picked duck). I appreciated that the banquet menu is composed of dishes available from their regular menu, rather than toned down versions for large group format. The lineup was mostly their signature items too.
We did have one vegetarian, and he was given a vegetarian betel leaf instead of the trout one, salt & pepper silken tofu instead of the main duck/beef course, and a veggie curry instead of the pork. Those came in individual, albeit quite large, portions.
The dishes were all served family style, with several of each dish placed on the table. Dishes came one by one, with a new course arriving every 10 minutes or so, a good pace.
The first dish to arrive was oysters. Since I don't really care for oysters, I skipped this one.
I recall it being pretty good back then, but it was before I wrote a blog or took notes, so I didn't recall much besides the fact that their signature item is the betel leafs. On my recent visit (February 2016), I had the opportunity to join a large group of co-workers in the private room for a Banquet meal, so I gladly accepted, even though it was my first night in town and I was crazy jetlagged.
I'm glad I joined, as it was a good experience, particularly for large group dining. The cocktails were creative and tasty, the food was good, the dessert was swoon-worthy, and the service was shockingly on top of things, for group dining and for Sydney, not exactly known for great service. You can read all about that in my first review.
Fast forward a few months, December 2016, and I had a large group dinner to arrange with co-workers. Longrain was an easy choice, and I was thrilled that the semi private room was available. We had another fantastic group meal, which you can read all about, and I highly recommend this for anyone looking to do group dining in Sydney (our groups have been 15-20 people).
The Setting
Longrain is in Surry Hills, a little bit off the beaten path on a side street.
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| Semi-Private Room. |
The decor was similar to the main restaurant, with a long wooden table, wooden floors, and wood on the walls.
Our server was friendly and attentive, and did an impressive job handling our large group. Food came out hot and fresh.
Original Review, February 2016
Our first meal was not arranged by me, but it was a large group of nearly 20.Drinks
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| Drink Menu. |
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| Surly Temple. $17. |
I went for the Surly Temple, mostly because I wanted something different, and tequila sometimes hits the spot for me, particularly when I'm traveling (I can't explain this, I blame it on my trip to Tokyo ...)
The Surly Temple was a pretty drink, a lovely pink color, with a giant stick of lemongrass sticking out, and garnished with a kaffir lime leaf.
It was a refreshing, balanced drink, not too sweet, not too strong on the tequila. I quite enjoyed it.
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| Longroni. $19. |
After watching Emil drink "Longronis" all night next to me, I finally ordered one myself. I wanted a not-sweet drink, and this is the one the server recommended. Yes, I wanted a not-sweet drink. It happens sometimes.
Like the Surly Temple, the Longroni also had a big stalk of lemongrass sticking out of it. It was indeed not sweet, as requested, but perhaps a bit too bitter for me. As in ... crazy bitter. I did like the lemongrass flavor in it though, surprisingly.
Food
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| Banquet Menu. |
Starters:
- Betel leaf, smoked river trout, peanut, green papaya, mint
- Freshly shucked oysters
- Filled eggnet, pork, prawns, peanuts, caramelised coconut, cucumber relish
Mains:
- Red Jungle curry of grilled beef rump, wild ginger & holy basil OR crispy twice cooked duck with sweet tamarind sauce
- Caramelised pork hock, five spice, chilli vinegar
Sides:
- Steamed Chinese broccoli, oyster sauce
- Thai jasmine rice
Dessert:
- Young coconut jelly, vanilla tapioca, seasonal fruit
One of the main courses had the choice between beef or duck, but that was a decision our host had to make in advance, for the entire group (he picked duck). I appreciated that the banquet menu is composed of dishes available from their regular menu, rather than toned down versions for large group format. The lineup was mostly their signature items too.
We did have one vegetarian, and he was given a vegetarian betel leaf instead of the trout one, salt & pepper silken tofu instead of the main duck/beef course, and a veggie curry instead of the pork. Those came in individual, albeit quite large, portions.
The dishes were all served family style, with several of each dish placed on the table. Dishes came one by one, with a new course arriving every 10 minutes or so, a good pace.
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| Starter: Freshly shucked oysters. |
On the regular menu, these are $20 for 6.
Next up, the famous betel leaf. These are the item I remember from my visits to Longrain years ago. You eat it by wrapping the leaf around the filling, like a taco.
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| Starter: Betel leaf, smoked river trout, peanut, green papaya, mint. |
On the regular menu, these are $6 each. They also make a vegetarian version with pomelo, coconut, chilli, and mint.
The leaf itself was fresh and crisp. On top were crispy bits (peanut?), that I also liked. But, the smoked trout was really quite mushy. The textures didn't do it for me at all, just way too mushy. And the trout was a bit fishy as well.
This was disappointing, as I know it is one of their signature dishes, but it really didn't work for me this time. My least favorite of the savory dishes.
The first non-bite sized dish, but still an appetizer, to arrive was the filled eggnet, a cold dish, a salad of sorts. This is the other dish I remembered from my visits years ago. As you can see, it is a looker.
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| Starter: Filled eggnet, pork, prawns, peanuts, caramelised coconut, cucumber relish. |
The outside is a cage made from egg, and inside is a filling of ground pork, chopped prawns, peanuts, bean spouts, crispy coconut, and tons of herbs. On the side is the cucumber "relish", basically, just cucumber in a vinegar with red onions, to help cut the other flavors.
This is $34 on the regular menu.
Here you can see into the eggnet.
I'll be honest, the first few bites of this were disappointing to me. Emil turned to me and said, "I thought I remembered this being good?" Clearly, I wasn't alone in feeling this way.
The eggnet itself isn't something I care for, since, well, egg. And, there seemed to be way too many bean sprouts. Most bites were almost entirely bean sprouts, plus some peanuts. Where was everything else? The sprouts were fresh and crisp, the peanuts added even more crunch, but, there was just not much flavor.
After finishing the portion I had originally served myself, I did not intend to have more of it. But then ... much later, we still had a ton left, and I tried a little more. And suddenly ... it was great. The sprouts and herbs soaked up all the sauce, and it was suddenly crazy flavorful. This was what I remembered from Longrain, wonderful flavors and texture combinations.
I kept nibbling on it the rest of the night, until my tablemates told me to just take the whole platter as my plate. Ooops.
So, in the end, my favorite savory dish, although it started off really not great.
I skipped the rice, but we were provided with several giant bowls. We didn't even make a dent in the rice.
I didn't intend to try the duck, since I don't really care for duck, but, after everyone around me raved about it, I had to dig in.
And I must say, this was impressively well cooked. The skin was crazy crispy, as were the greens that seemed to maybe be fried? The sauce was sweet and tasty.
But, at the end of the day, it was still duck, which was a bit too gamey for me. My second to last favorite savory dish.
Speaking of insanely crispy, the caramelized pork hock was also super crispy on the outside, yet moist and melty inside. The sauce for this was even better, sweet, yet balanced by vinegar.
This is $34 on the regular menu.
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| Another view of the eggnet. |
I'll be honest, the first few bites of this were disappointing to me. Emil turned to me and said, "I thought I remembered this being good?" Clearly, I wasn't alone in feeling this way.
The eggnet itself isn't something I care for, since, well, egg. And, there seemed to be way too many bean sprouts. Most bites were almost entirely bean sprouts, plus some peanuts. Where was everything else? The sprouts were fresh and crisp, the peanuts added even more crunch, but, there was just not much flavor.
After finishing the portion I had originally served myself, I did not intend to have more of it. But then ... much later, we still had a ton left, and I tried a little more. And suddenly ... it was great. The sprouts and herbs soaked up all the sauce, and it was suddenly crazy flavorful. This was what I remembered from Longrain, wonderful flavors and texture combinations.
I kept nibbling on it the rest of the night, until my tablemates told me to just take the whole platter as my plate. Ooops.
So, in the end, my favorite savory dish, although it started off really not great.
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| Side: Thai jasmine rice. |
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| Main: Crispy twice cooked duck with sweet tamarind sauce. |
And I must say, this was impressively well cooked. The skin was crazy crispy, as were the greens that seemed to maybe be fried? The sauce was sweet and tasty.
But, at the end of the day, it was still duck, which was a bit too gamey for me. My second to last favorite savory dish.
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| Main: Caramelised pork hock, five spice, chilli vinegar. |
Some others said that their pieces weren't great, but, I clearly lucked out, and my pieces were cooked perfectly. I couldn't get over how perfectly crisp the exterior was. My second favorite dish of the night.
Our token vegetable side dish was steamed Chinese broccoli and snow peas. The greens were fine, crisp, not too overcooked, but the oyster sauce was very salty. It was nice to have a vegetable, but this came long after the other items, I would have preferred to have it arrive earlier, perhaps alongside the first meat dish? Unless that is more traditional Asian style to serve greens after the meal?
After that feast, we were all stuffed. We had tons of savory food left over. I think most people would have opted to skip dessert (myself included actually). But, it was part of the banquet.
So, time for dessert. I'm glad I mentioned my watermelon allergy to the server at the beginning of the meal, even though I didn't see any watermelon anywhere on the menu, because the dessert indeed had watermelon.
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| Side: Steamed Asian greens, oyster sauce. |
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| Dessert: Young coconut jelly, vanilla tapioca, seasonal fruit. |
So, time for dessert. I'm glad I mentioned my watermelon allergy to the server at the beginning of the meal, even though I didn't see any watermelon anywhere on the menu, because the dessert indeed had watermelon.
As I reached for one, the server came running around the corner to stop me, a separate one for me in hand. She caught me just in time!
This dessert was ... incredible. One bite in and I instantly regretted polishing off the eggnet dish. I never expected this dessert to be so amazing, given the description.
So, what was it? It was many, many things, but, at the core, a pudding of sorts, one of my favorite types of dessert. But a pudding with a slew of elements, each bringing a different texture and flavor to it.
For one, you can't really see it in mine, but you can see in the earlier photo, there was black sticky rice. The rice was awesome, nicely chewy, and added a great texture to contrast with the tapioca that was a bit softer. There was a icy foam on top, I think pandan infused, adding a colder, fluffy element too. And then thick slices of crispy coconut, and a sesame wafer, sticking out of the top, providing a lot of crunch.
Down with the sticky rice was chunks of pineapple in mine, plus watermelon in everyone else's.
I absolutely adored this, and polished it off even though I was quite full, and these were sizable portions. We had two go entirely unclaimed, and many half-finished, since everyone was full, and honestly, if they didn't have watermelon in them, I'm sure I would have finished those too. So many flavors, so many textures, really quite fantastic. My only criticism is that it was a bit too sweet overall, the black sticky rice was the only non sweet element in the mix. I'd get this again in a heartbeat.
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| Dessert: Young coconut jelly, vanilla tapioca, seasonal fruit ... sans watermelon. |
So, what was it? It was many, many things, but, at the core, a pudding of sorts, one of my favorite types of dessert. But a pudding with a slew of elements, each bringing a different texture and flavor to it.
For one, you can't really see it in mine, but you can see in the earlier photo, there was black sticky rice. The rice was awesome, nicely chewy, and added a great texture to contrast with the tapioca that was a bit softer. There was a icy foam on top, I think pandan infused, adding a colder, fluffy element too. And then thick slices of crispy coconut, and a sesame wafer, sticking out of the top, providing a lot of crunch.
Down with the sticky rice was chunks of pineapple in mine, plus watermelon in everyone else's.
I absolutely adored this, and polished it off even though I was quite full, and these were sizable portions. We had two go entirely unclaimed, and many half-finished, since everyone was full, and honestly, if they didn't have watermelon in them, I'm sure I would have finished those too. So many flavors, so many textures, really quite fantastic. My only criticism is that it was a bit too sweet overall, the black sticky rice was the only non sweet element in the mix. I'd get this again in a heartbeat.
Update Review, Dec 2016
This time, our group size was 15. We again had the semi-private area, and again did a family-style banquet.
Our group had several dietary constraints, and Longrain handled them better than anywhere else I've ever seen, with custom dishes prepared when necessary.
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| Our Feast! |
The banquet is a ridiculous amount of food, far more than any group can possibly finish, and it was amusing to watch people realize just how much more food was still coming, when we were halfway through and they were stuffed. Those with dietary constraints seemed to receive full size portions of their custom dishes, in addition the regular banquet feast, which created even more abundance than normal.
The $65 per person price is ridiculously reasonable.
Overall, it was a good value, the food was incredibly flavorful, the cocktails were fun, and the dessert again fell in my top 10 desserts of all time.
Highly recommend.
Drinks
Our group started with a round of cocktails, given how fun the cocktail menu was.
I was looking forward to another Longroni like I had last time , but ... it was no longer on the menu. I picked a backup drink, but still asked my server if it was possible to get a Longroni. She said she wasn't sure if they had the chili bitters anymore, but assured me that if they did, she'd sent a Longroni my way.
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| Longroni. |
And .... our server made it happen!
I enjoyed my Longroni as I did on my previous visit, but the lemongrass stalk in it was incredibly annoying. I didn't comment on this in my last review, so maybe it somehow didn't bother me, but it drove me absolutely crazy this time, it kept hitting me in the face and made it hard to drink. I quickly removed it.
Food
Since we were a large group, we were required to order the banquet menu, as I had on my previous visit. As expected, it was a ridiculous feast, all served family style, with 3 starters, two main dishes, two side dishes, and dessert.
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| Banquet Menu. |
Our menu was:
Starters:
- Betel leaf, spanner crab, mango, chilli, mint.
- Freshly shucked oysters, red chilli nahm jim.
- Filled eggnet, pork, prawns, peanuts, caramelised coconut, cucumber relish.
Mains:
- Green Curry beef, Thai eggplant, baby corn, basil OR Aromatic spiced yellow curry, pumpkin, cauliflower, sweet corn
- Caramelised pork hock, five spice, chilli vinegar.
Sides:
- Stir fried Asian greens, garlic, oyster sauce.
- Thai jasmine rice.
Dessert
- Black sticky rice, passionfruit jelly, vanilla tapioca, seasonal fruit, sorbet.
The menu was nearly identical to my previous visit, the only changes being the curry dish (last time we had the choice of red jungle curry with beef or crispy duck), and the side dish of greens (this time Asian greens, last time Chinese broccoli and snow peas).
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| Starter: Freshly shucked oysters, red chilli nahm jim. |
We had one diner who doesn't eat seafood, and he was given the vegetarian version of the betel leaf instead of an oyster.
The betel leaf is probably Longrain's most popular dish, although ... it changed! For years, they always had a smoked trout version (and a vegetarian version), but on this visit, it had spanner crab instead. I've visited Longrain many times over the past 6 years, and had never seen this before. Very curious what inspired the change.
Anyway. The members of my group who bothered look at the menu all asked me what a betel leaf was. I told them to just wait and see, but explained that it was indeed a leaf. I enjoyed watching everyone's faces when the dish was served, again, one each. "Uh ... what do I do with this?" echoed up and down the table. My answer was simple: "Pretend it is a taco". That seemed to work, and my group quickly figured out that they could grab it, wrap it like a taco, and devour.
This version was the least successful Longrain betel leaf I've had. The leaf itself was still crunchy and fresh, very refreshing. And I liked the spice and kick from the slivers of chili. But ... it was way too sweet. The mango overpowered. Maybe the smoked trout usually does a better job of balancing the sweet mango, and the delicate, slightly sweet, spanner crab couldn't do that? Or maybe the kitchen just went too heavy on the mango? For a dish they have made so many times it seems like they would have perfected this though.
I thought perhaps it was just mine that turned out unbalanced, but the moment I mentioned mine was overly sweet, others agreed. This was sad, because, really, this item usually is a great start to the meal and showcases the flavor combinations their kitchen is capable of.
Still, 3 members of my party rated it the best dish of the night, but I imagine that is somewhat out of novelty.
Next was the final cold starter, this one more substantial, the eggnet. On my last visit, this was the dish of the meal for me, so I was seriously looking forward to it. Plus, I was excited for everyone to see what this was, because, just like "What's a 'betel leaf'", "What's an 'eggnet'" was echoing up and down the table.
The answer of course, is this stunning dish.
The main component is a chilled salad with bean sprouts, cilantro, peanuts, little prawns, pork, caramelised coconut, and more. It is topped with the eggnet, yes, made of egg, and served with a side salad of a refreshing cucumber relish.
Sadly, I didn't love it quite as much this time. The flavors just didn't pop. The prawn was a bit too fishy. I did like the refreshing herbal quality to the salad though, all the crunchy elements, and appreciated a light dish given the heavy pork belly coming up.
As with last time, this dish got much better near the base, where the flavors really soaked in.
This is the dish where the kitchen really impressed us with attention to our dietary needs. We had one person with a peanut allergy, one no shellfish, and one no cilantro. Those are all ingredients in the dish, so they each received a personalized version with their respective allergens/dietary preferences removed. The individual portions were HUGE, and came plated just like the full size ones, with their own cucumber salad and eggnet. Everyone at the table agreed that the "individual" salads would make more than a full entree sized meal for anyone normally, let alone as part of a banquet, and we still received 3-4 of the full size ones for the table too, so, uh, we had way too much of this. Sadly, it wasn't something you could box up for later, since it depends on fresh crispiness. I don't want to complain though, the kitchen really was ridiculously accommodating here.
This was the top choice for 2 of my group.
The main dishes were served with big bowls basic rice, which I didn't try. We were provided tons of rice, far more than the group needed even if we were big rice eaters, but I think we all barely touched the rice, opting to fill up on the other dishes instead.
The first main was finally a new item for me, green curry beef.
The flavor of the green curry was great, although it was very rich. It was pleasantly spicy and quite flavorful. The beef itself however wasn't very good, it was very chewy, very fatty. The flavorful curry made up for it though, and most people opted for rice only to lap up more of this sauce.
The most successful dish so far, with 4 diners ranking it their top.
The second main was caramelised pork hock, another dish I was looking forward to, as it was crazy crispy last time, and I loved the sauce.
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| Starter: Betel leaf, spanner crab, mango, chilli, mint. |
Anyway. The members of my group who bothered look at the menu all asked me what a betel leaf was. I told them to just wait and see, but explained that it was indeed a leaf. I enjoyed watching everyone's faces when the dish was served, again, one each. "Uh ... what do I do with this?" echoed up and down the table. My answer was simple: "Pretend it is a taco". That seemed to work, and my group quickly figured out that they could grab it, wrap it like a taco, and devour.
This version was the least successful Longrain betel leaf I've had. The leaf itself was still crunchy and fresh, very refreshing. And I liked the spice and kick from the slivers of chili. But ... it was way too sweet. The mango overpowered. Maybe the smoked trout usually does a better job of balancing the sweet mango, and the delicate, slightly sweet, spanner crab couldn't do that? Or maybe the kitchen just went too heavy on the mango? For a dish they have made so many times it seems like they would have perfected this though.
I thought perhaps it was just mine that turned out unbalanced, but the moment I mentioned mine was overly sweet, others agreed. This was sad, because, really, this item usually is a great start to the meal and showcases the flavor combinations their kitchen is capable of.
Still, 3 members of my party rated it the best dish of the night, but I imagine that is somewhat out of novelty.
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| Starter: Filled eggnet, pork, prawns, peanuts, caramelised coconut, cucumber relish. |
The answer of course, is this stunning dish.
The main component is a chilled salad with bean sprouts, cilantro, peanuts, little prawns, pork, caramelised coconut, and more. It is topped with the eggnet, yes, made of egg, and served with a side salad of a refreshing cucumber relish.
Sadly, I didn't love it quite as much this time. The flavors just didn't pop. The prawn was a bit too fishy. I did like the refreshing herbal quality to the salad though, all the crunchy elements, and appreciated a light dish given the heavy pork belly coming up.
As with last time, this dish got much better near the base, where the flavors really soaked in.
This is the dish where the kitchen really impressed us with attention to our dietary needs. We had one person with a peanut allergy, one no shellfish, and one no cilantro. Those are all ingredients in the dish, so they each received a personalized version with their respective allergens/dietary preferences removed. The individual portions were HUGE, and came plated just like the full size ones, with their own cucumber salad and eggnet. Everyone at the table agreed that the "individual" salads would make more than a full entree sized meal for anyone normally, let alone as part of a banquet, and we still received 3-4 of the full size ones for the table too, so, uh, we had way too much of this. Sadly, it wasn't something you could box up for later, since it depends on fresh crispiness. I don't want to complain though, the kitchen really was ridiculously accommodating here.
This was the top choice for 2 of my group.
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| Side: Thai jasmine rice. |
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| Main: Green Curry beef, Thai eggplant, baby corn, basil. |
The flavor of the green curry was great, although it was very rich. It was pleasantly spicy and quite flavorful. The beef itself however wasn't very good, it was very chewy, very fatty. The flavorful curry made up for it though, and most people opted for rice only to lap up more of this sauce.
The most successful dish so far, with 4 diners ranking it their top.
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| Main: Caramelised pork hock, five spice, chilli vinegar. |
This one lived up to my memories. The pork was remarkably crispy on the outside, moist, perfectly melty fat inside. Sooo bad for you, but oh so good.
The sauce was again a flavor powerhouse, sweet and spicy and sticky and fantastic. On the side was fish sauce chilli vinegar, also a bit spicy, and quite tasty.
This was my favorite dish of the night, and the overall winner for the group too, racking in 6 votes for #1.
The mains were also served with a side of stir fried Asian greens. Last time, I referred to these as "token vegetables". I didn't give them a second bite then. But this time? Shockingly good.
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| Side: Stir fried Asian greens, garlic, oyster sauce. |
The gai lan was perfectly prepared, crunchy, succulent, bitter in all the good ways. I adored the oyster sauce, salty and ridiculously tasty.
Somehow, this dish, of simple stir fried Asian greens, something I'd never order or give a second glance, was my second favorite dish of the night. I raved about it, but I couldn't really convince anyone else to try it. Several bowls of it went untouched. They missed out, I'm telling you.
And then ... dessert. Oh, man.
Last time, I raved and raved about the dessert, lamenting that I had filled up on all the delicious savory food. This time was no different, except that my entire group was in the same boat. Everyone was stuffed after the banquet feast. I did remember thinking, while taking "just one more piece" of the caramelized pork hock, "hey, self, remember how much you loved dessert last time? Maybe stop?" But ... the pork hock, and those damn asian greens, were just too good. I was stuffed. I couldn't stop.
And then dessert came. As before, a special one was prepared for me because watermelon was part of the "seasonal fruit', and I'm allergic.
And as before, this was fantastic, although a slightly different version of the parfait than before. I think this is a dish that evolves with the seasons. It still had the same black sticky rice and tapioca in the bottom, but this time the young coconut jelly was replaced by passionfruit jelly, an overly sweet element, but I did like the seeds in there for some crunch. The fresh fruit was kiwi rather than strawberry (and watermelon for everyone else), which I liked more, just because I have kiwi less often than strawberries in California.
There were two sorbets on top, the white one that I think was coconut, and another fluffy pink one that I couldn't quite identify. The toasted coconut and sesame cookie on top may have looked a bit haphazard, but I still liked the crunch they added too, and that sesame cooke straw was really tasty even on its own.
So, overall, a fantastic dessert, with lots of fun textures and flavors. Creamy, chewy, crunchy, yum!
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| Dessert: Black sticky rice, passionfruit jelly, vanilla tapioca, seasonal fruit, sorbet. |
Last time, I raved and raved about the dessert, lamenting that I had filled up on all the delicious savory food. This time was no different, except that my entire group was in the same boat. Everyone was stuffed after the banquet feast. I did remember thinking, while taking "just one more piece" of the caramelized pork hock, "hey, self, remember how much you loved dessert last time? Maybe stop?" But ... the pork hock, and those damn asian greens, were just too good. I was stuffed. I couldn't stop.
And then dessert came. As before, a special one was prepared for me because watermelon was part of the "seasonal fruit', and I'm allergic.
And as before, this was fantastic, although a slightly different version of the parfait than before. I think this is a dish that evolves with the seasons. It still had the same black sticky rice and tapioca in the bottom, but this time the young coconut jelly was replaced by passionfruit jelly, an overly sweet element, but I did like the seeds in there for some crunch. The fresh fruit was kiwi rather than strawberry (and watermelon for everyone else), which I liked more, just because I have kiwi less often than strawberries in California.
There were two sorbets on top, the white one that I think was coconut, and another fluffy pink one that I couldn't quite identify. The toasted coconut and sesame cookie on top may have looked a bit haphazard, but I still liked the crunch they added too, and that sesame cooke straw was really tasty even on its own.
So, overall, a fantastic dessert, with lots of fun textures and flavors. Creamy, chewy, crunchy, yum!
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| Decaf Long Black. |
To go with my dessert, I opted for a long black, decaf. Well, I intended it to go with my dessert. It was horrible, extremely bitter, leaving me with notes that simply said: "awful". I couldn't take more than a few sips before just giving up.
The only real miss of the night.
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