L.A. Burdick Chocolates, Part II

Last year for Halloween, you may remember that my mother upped the ante in the Halloween box she sent me.  No mediocre Hershey, Mars, or Nestlé from her, which, from all my previous reviews, you probably realize I don't even really consider these brands "chocolate.  No, she sent me a box with handmade chocolates from L.A. Burdick, an east coast chocolatier with 3 locations: Boston, New York City, and, randomly, Walpole, NH.  Walpole is actually their main production facility, and also houses a restaurant.  The other locations all are just chocolate shops with "tea rooms", that serve their incredible "drinking chocolate".

This year, for Easter, I was also in for a treat.  Cadbury creme eggs?  Nope!  Another arrival from L.A. Burdick.  Just like selections she sent for Halloween, I appreciated the worksmanship that went into them, but I found them to be too pricey for what they were.  I'm a frugal gal, and can't quite justify these prices ...

Impressive Packaging!

Just like last time, I was impressed with the packaging, "packed in our Signature Wooden Box with a gold wax seal and tied with a beautiful seasonal ribbon."

It is clearly overkill, but there is something quite fun about untying the ribbon.  The wax seal is for looks though, you don't actually get to break it!

Signature Bunny Box. $26.

Inside lay my treasures: 6 Marzipan Eggs, 4 Chocolate Truffles, and 5 White Chocolate Bunnies.
Burdick's signature product is their hand painted little figures.  You may recall that for Halloween, my mom sent me some of the mice.  They also make seasonal varieties, such as snowmen & penguins for Christmas, ghosts & coffins for Halloween, and turkeys for Thanksgiving.  I have to admit, they are all pretty cute.  So I had to start with the White Chocolate Bunnies.

Just like the mice, the bunnies had almond slivers for ears, and I really appreciated the crunch.  The white chocolate mice I didn't love last time, as I thought the white chocolate was waxy, but it didn't bother me this time around.  The filling was a orange and hazelnut chocolate ganache, unlike the cinnamon chocolate ganache from the white mice.  It was more like the filling from the dark chocolate mice, that sadly I didn't like since I don't actually like orange and chocolate together.  But it was smooth and fluffy, almost like a mousse.

Bunnies are $4 when not part of a collection, which, while I respect the hand piped nature of them, seems a bit high for a two-bite chocolate.

The truffles looked like they were just solid chocolate, so I bit one in half, expecting just chocolate.  Caramel immediately oozed out everywhere.  It wasn't thin liquid, but it certainly had motion.  The filling was crazy sweet, too sweet for me.  But I did really like the chocolate shell.

I hesitantly bit into the next one.  It was slightly rounder, so I thought it might be a different type of truffle.  Turns out, I was correct.  This one had the same awesome slightly crunchy outer shell, but inside was a deep chocolate ganache.  Bitter, intense, very satisfying.  Certainly the winner of the box, and I'd gladly consume more of these.

The Marzipan Eggs I'll get to in a moment.

Marzipan Eggs.

Before we opened the wooden box, we opened the unlabeled little bag of treats.  They looked like soft gummy candies, covered in sugar, which I assumed would be tart, like Sour Patch Kids.

I was met with surprise and confusion.  They were soft, but slightly crumbly, certainly not gummy candy.  The coating was just sugar.  But ... what were they?  As I rolled one around in my mouth for a minute, I decided it must be marzipan (almond meal and sugar paste).  Very, very unexpected.  I couldn't figure out if I liked them or not.

Once I opened the bunny box, it had a card identifying the contents, and, as you saw, that included more marzipan eggs.  I figured it out!

The eggs came in three colors, green (pistachio), purple (lavender), and pink (cherry).  I'm somewhat guessing on these flavors.  The lavender was a bit too floral for me.  I was fascinated by these, but never really liked any of them.  A strange treat, for sure, but not one I'd like more of.

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SuniBrite, Australia

As you know, I like to try out assorted breakfast/granola/nut bars.  I rarely find ones I like, but they are so convenient to stash away in my purse when I'm out and about.  Most protein bars let me down, nut and fruit bars are generally pretty boring, and I never really like granola bars, but breakfast bars can actually make me pretty happy, like the Nature Valley soft baked oatmeal squares.

So I was delighted to discover SuniBrite "Muesli Slices" when I was in Australia.  According to the company, "Sunibrite Muesli Slices are delicious wholesome baked slices made from a combination of high quality ingredients such as whole wheat flour, oats and fruit."  I like soft breakfast bars, I like muesli, so these had potential.

SuniBrite has a decent selection of muesli bars.  The basic bars are muesli mixed with dried fruit, such as apricot or strawberry, and some are yogurt coated, but I never found those.  They also make a "Slim 'n' Trim" line, which seems to have been rebranded "Lite", which are 97% fat free, available in basic muesli, or banana.

SunBrite is owned by Mother's Nature Ltd, same parent company as the "Be Natural" bars that I also enjoyed.

Lite Muesli Slice - Banana.

"SuniBrite Slim'n'Trim Banana Slices are wholesome slices made from a delicious combination of cereals and banana. Not only do they taste great, but they are 97% fat free and large enough to eat when hunger strikes or share with a friend during a break."

They are right about the size, these quite large bars, certainly not wimpy little diet bars.

Ok, to be honest, I didn't expect to like this.  I was trying it really only out of curiosity, and, well, it had the word "muesli" in the name, and I love muesli, so I was curious to see how muesli translated into a "slice".  But I rarely like bars, so, I went into it quite apprehensive.

Even once I opened it, I didn't expect to like it.  The bar wasn't particularly soft (not that it was hard like a granola bar), and the bottom side was studded with flakes, I believe bran.  Like this would be good.  I don't even like fresh banana bread, why would I like this?

But ... it was good!  Inside were chunks of banana, large, somewhat dehydrated, super sweet, almost caramelized-like.  The base was actually softer than it looked, and reminded me a bit like a Nutrigrain bar, just studded with tasty bits of fruit, rather than a strange paste filling.  Even better.

I really enjoyed this.  It does indeed make a perfect on the go breakfast, or snack with a cup of coffee.  For once, I totally agree with marketing-speak!

Update review:
I've had a few more of these since my initial review.  Each and every time, I open a bar, and I think, "wow, I must have been crazy when I said I liked this before.  It is hard and dense, colorless, no aroma ... how could this be any good?"  And then I take a bite.  And I love it all over again.  Yes, it is dense.  No, there isn't much to it besides the grains and banana chunks.  But damn is it tasty.  It is the caramelized banana chunks.  Magic.

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Bécasse Bakery, Sydney

On one of my previous visits to Sydney, I dined at Bécasse, a fantastic French restaurant in the CBD.  It was one of the best fine dining experiences I had in Sydney, so it didn't surprise me that it was named one of the Top 10 Restaurants in Australian, and even counted amongst the World's Top 100 Restaurants.

When we returned to Sydney on this visit, I was thrilled to find that Bécasse had branched out, and now even had a Bakery, located in the Westfield mall food court.  Perhaps not normally where you imagine I frequent, except that it was really close to our hotel, and we found ourselves stopping by for easy meals a number of times.  When you are exhausted, sometimes, you just can't beat convenience!  Plus, the food court really is impressive, not just your classic selection of fast food, including an outpost of Din Tai Fung, which I reviewed previously, ChaTime, for bubble tea, and Chat Thai for fascinating desserts.

And of course, the aforementioned bakery, Bécasse Bakery.  Given how great the restaurant was, and my affinity for baked goods, it should not surprise you that I eagerly sought the bakery out, but of course, I still needed to do my research first.  After I noticed the sign for the bakery, I went back to the hotel to look it up.  I was stumped when I couldn't find a website, not for the bakery, nor for Bécasse restaurant either.  It turns out, there was quite a scandal.  The chef/owner has been banned from running restaurants for two years in Australia, the result of totally having failed to run, from a business side, a restaurant empire he built, including Bécasse.  Um, wow.  He really was a fantastic chef!

Anyway, the bakery has remained operational, because it was sold off to another owner, who didn't change the name.  The display cases were filled with just about every tempting item you could imagine, and I intended to return more times to try other treats, particularly the divine looking Salted Peanut Brittle and Banana Custard Tart, but sadly never found the time.

Marshmallow Cronut. $5.95.

Instead, I got a cronut.  Yes, a cronut.  I know, trendy, overhyped, blah blah blah.  I've had some crappy versions of cronuts in the past few years, like the mass produced "Croissant Donut" from Dunkin' Donuts.  I wasn't necessarily expecting anything great from this, but the item I wanted sold out before my very eyes, and I had to console myself with something.  I was going to get a custard brioche instead, but the helpful person taking my order told me that the cronut was the best.  So, cronut it was.

I had the choice of green tea, salted caramel, or marshmallow.  I immediately ruled out the green tea, because I wanted to share with Ojan who couldn't have caffeine.  I decided against the salted caramel, because that was just a double dose of trendiness, and I couldn't deal. So, marshmallow it was.

It was ... actually pretty good.  The top and outside were perfectly crisp, but inside was fairly moist.  It was absolutely coated in sugar, which was a bit much, and the extra icing drizzle on top really was too much sweet.  Ojan said he would have loved it if there was chocolate in place of the sugar and icing.  The fluffy colorful marshmallows on top were also pretty tasty.

Where it fell down was the filling.  There was a tasty cream filling, but literally only one bite contained any.  I felt a bit cheated.  Ojan felt more cheated since he didn't get any, as I choose the lucky bite.

So, there certainly were issues: not enough cream filling and too sweet overall.  But the dough base was better than expected, and it was nicely done.  I'd try other flavor next time.

$5.95 price however was a bit crazy, but, maybe that is the going rate for cronuts in Sydney these days?

Marshmallow.

I couldn't resist getting just a small item to take away with me, but, my options were a bit limited since I was going to be throwing it in my bag and not returning to the hotel directly.  When I saw a big fluffy marshmallow near the register, I couldn't resist ordering it.

Remember, say 3 years ago, how I claimed artisan marshmallows were the next big thing?  I stand by this claim, as Sydney seems to have also gotten the memo, just a few years behind us.

It was huge, it was fluffy and moist, pleasantly sweet.  But fairly plain.  Great in a hot chocolate perhaps, but otherwise not very interesting to just eat on its own.  They need to expand into flavored marshmallows next!

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Decaf Long Black.

I had a lot of very bad decaf coffee in Sydney.  The idea of treating decaf with some respect has not really hit there.  Not only are there no signs boasting Swiss water processed beans, but instead, you are met with visible distain and grimaces if you order decaf.

Yet ... the one from Bécasse was not bad.  It wasn't great, but it was one of the better decafs I had.  I didn't see any signs boasting the roaster, so I don't know more than that it was decent.  This was super shocking, since I tried the decaf at all the top coffee shops around town, and this was one of the best. Hmm.

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The Governor's Table, Sydney

On my recent trip to Sydney, I ate a lot of Thai and Vietnamese food, because, well, they just do it so much better than in San Francisco.  But after a week or so of solely dining on asian cuisine, we finally decided to take a break and selected something different: The Governor's Table.

The Governor's Table serves "modern Australian" cuisine, and is located inside the Museum of Sydney.  I didn't read about the full history, but apparently, there is historical context for the building (I'm assuming some sort of tie-in with a Governor?) and the materials used in the decor are all native "Australiana", highlighting the local resources.  They incorporate Australian ingredients throughout the menu as well, although I was disappointed to see that they didn't serve kangaroo.  We'd have to go elsewhere for that (stay tuned!)

The Governor's Table is a strange mix of formal, casual, and rustic.  For example, many aspects of fine dining are included: our table was brushed off between each course, my napkin was refolded when I got up to use the bathroom, and our bottle of sparkling water was kept hidden away, our glasses only to be refilled by the staff.  At the same time, the service really faltered.  It took a long time for our order to be originally taken, and the lags increased as our meal continued.  The pauses between our courses grew so long, that I'm quite certain we had finished our main dishes, literally had not a single bite remaining on our plates for at least 30 minutes before I finally flagged someone down to ask about ordering dessert.  Part of the problem may have been that our waiter disappeared halfway through, and we never saw him again.  The staff were all dressed in formal uniforms, yet many diners were in t-shirts, again creating a strange casual/formal disconnect.

The food was well plated, and the menu was unique.  Dishes were expertly spiced and well executed, and I can't find a specific fault with anything we ordered, yet I didn't love it.  I can't quite pinpoint why.  The price also did just seem a bit high for pretty much everything, given that it wasn't actually high end dining.

Governor's Table serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, as well as all day brunch on the weekends.  I hoped to make it back to try their brunch sometime, since , like Bill's, they also serve ricotta pancakes with honeycomb butter, and I was curious to see another version of honeycomb butter, but alas, we ran out of time.  They also serve a $49/pp high tea, that you must book in advance.

I'd return for dinner if someone wanted to, as there were a number of other dishes I was interested in, but I wouldn't go rushing back.

Main Dining Room.

The theme of the space is wood and stone, and it is bright and open.  It is a huge restaurant, with several different seating sections.

Background: Bar Area.

There is a small bar in the middle of the room, with a few counter seats.  Other seating options included a private room and outdoor space, but it was raining, so we were inside.

In the foreground, you can also see the lovely "flower" on our table.  We all thought it was funny that a rather unattractive plant was chosen, but I'm told that all of the plants in the restaurant are native plants, again, highlighting the Australiana theme.

Pepper Mill, Sea Salt, Candle.

Once we ordered, a pepper mill and small bowl of large crystal sea salt were brought to the table, along with silverware for serving our shared dishes, and share plates.  I appreciated the thought behind providing sharing serving silverware, as many places neglect this.

Other decor on the table was a small candle.

The menu is broken up into several sections, starting with "Nibbles & Bits", followed by "Plates", followed by "Large Plates" and "Sides, and finally "Desserts".  Everything is designed to be shared, which explains perhaps why they thought of things like bringing sharing silverware.

Mocktail.

Ojan ordered a mocktail.  I didn't catch the description, but it was a sight to behold, one of the most impressive mocktails we have seen.  Frothy, garnished with a leaf of some sort, and a fresh sprig of mint.

Since the bar also makes fresh juices, and they juice watermelon, I wasn't able to try a sip, but he, and our dining companion, both loved it.  They said it was like "a fancy creamsicle", or "a pine-lime splice, but a cocktail", like "drinking melted ice cream".  I really don't know what was in it besides lime and cream, but whatever it was, they enjoyed it.

Seared Yellowfin Tuna, Grilled  Sweet Corn, Avocado, Prawn Oil. $24.

We skipped the "Nibbles & Bits" section, and moved right on to a "Plate": seared tuna.
The presentation was lovely, in particular, I loved the micro greens for garnish.  They were incredibly fresh and crisp too, not just for looks.

The portion of tuna was only 4 small slices, which was suitable for a smaller size appetizer-style dish.  The tuna had a very hard sear on the edge, yet was nicely rare in the center.  The corn was slightly charred, well spiced, and tasted fresh enough, presented as slices, with the kernels still held together by a bit of cob. A unique way to serve corn, for sure.

The avocado was also uniquely served, a mousse. I'm allergic to avocado so I didn't try that component, but the other two diners liked it, and said it was creamy and very mousse-like.

I'm not sure where the "prawn oil" was.

Overall, everything in this dish was fine, but nothing really popped for me.  The portion size was reasonable for an appetizer, but a bit small for the $24 price.

Wood Grilled Asparagus, Burrata, Hazelnut, Dukkha. $24.

We also selected the burrata small plate, because, well, burrata!

The burrata portion was generous, a sizable bulb.  It was certainly too much for one person to consume alone, so I was glad we were sharing it, even though I love burrata.  In this case though, I didn't love the burrata.  It was smooth and creamy, but ... too creamy, if that makes any sense.  It seemed to have more cream than usual perhaps, pushing the mouthfeel towards just spoonfuls of firm cream rather than cheese.  I can't quite explain it, but I didn't care for it.  The dukkha and hazelnut crumb on top however was really flavorful, and I liked the crunch it added.

The asparagus was nicely grilled, with visible grill marks, and a smoky flavor imparted by the wood grill.  There were also slices of radish for garnish on top, which also added a pop of color.

So again, nothing was wrong with the dish, and it was well prepared, but I didn't love it.  Maybe Australian burrata is just different from what I'm used to.  That is the case with yogurt and milk, yet I do love the yogurt and milk in Australia more, due to their higher fat content than in the US.  The price was again just a bit high.

Grilled King Prawns, Mojo Verde, Black Garlic Aioli. $26.

Next, we moved on to another small plate, this time, a warm selection of grilled prawns.

We all exclaimed audibly when the dish was placed in front of us.  Six huge prawns, sliced open and grilled, served whole, with eyes and legs still in tact.  Just like the asparagus, they had visible grill marks and a pleasant smoky flavor.  They were also just really nicely grilled, tender, not rubbery, and well seasoned.  Their grill master really does have some skills.

The prawns were a pain to eat though.  The shells were thin and broke apart as you tried to extract the flesh.  We all complained about how much work they were to eat, and moved on to other dishes.  When we returned to it later, it had cooled, and it actually seemed easier to extract the prawn at that point.  So, protip, eat this last?

The prawns were drizzled with the mojo verde, which I didn't really taste.  I wished they had provided some on the side as well.  On the side was a lemon to squeeze over the prawns for additional acid, plus a pool of black garlic aioli.  The aioli had a really strange taste to it; it wasn't bad, but it was strong and quite different.

So yes, another dish where the execution was fine, but I somehow didn't love it.

Large Plate: Linguine, Calamari, Longaniza, Coriander, Chilli Crumb. $29.

I wanted to try more small plates, like the chicken liver parfait with peach butter and cherries, and the salmon gravlox that I read many rave reviews of, but alas, we moved on to a large plate next instead.

The linguine was just standard linguine, not fresh pasta, but decently cooked, not too mushy, not clumped together.

The calamari was the star, an assortment of different size and shaped pieces, that also seemed to have been grilled.  They were tender and not remotely rubbery or fishy.  If you've been following along with my Sydney adventures, you know we ate a lot of calamari/squid/etc on this trip, and I'm particularly a fan of the grilled version (although the fried calamari in the Qantas First Class lounge is pretty epic).

The longaniza was a delight, basically slices of fancy, flavorful pepperoni.

This dish was a bit spicy from the chilli crumb, which I appreciated, but the sauce of just oil was fairly boring to me.  I'm more of a sauce girl.  Everything was well seasoned though.

I didn't love this dish either, but I can't fault anything about it in particular.

Tippity Tea, Rooibos.  $4.

To go with dessert, Ojan also ordered a rooibos tea.  He was served a full teapot of loose leaf tea, along with little jugs of milk and sugar.  Cute.

Lemon Myrtle Burnt Custard, Fresh Berries, Granita. $15.

Finally, moving on to my passion: dessert!  And in particular, a category of dessert that always appeals to me, pudding!

I expected the "burnt custard" to be like a cream brûlée, but it was much runnier.  I wish I took a photo once we broke in.  It was far looser than a cream brûlée, or even a basic pudding.  The flavor was nice though, which I guess was the lemon myrtle, another Australian ingredient.  The top also had a good crisp layer, and it was clearly freshly brûléed to order, as it was still hot.  The slightly burnt, caramelized, flavor was nice.

It was topped with a berry flavored granita, which I found a bit strange, as I don't think I've ever had an icy component with custard before, and it was a bit odd to have a cold melting item alongside a hot topped custard.  There were also fresh berries (strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries), all of which were fresh and quite flavorful.

I really liked the flavors in this, and enjoyed it, but did wish the custard was a bit more set.  $15 was a bit high for a dessert.

White Chocolate Cream, Puffed Black Rice, Mango, Lime Sorbet. $15.

We also selected a more adventurous sounding dessert.

On the left was a scoop of lime sorbet, perched atop a crumbly butter cookie.  It was quite tangy, and probably refreshing if you like this sort of thing.  The cookie was hard to cut into with a spoon though, and I'm not sure how you were supposed to eat this effectively.

On the right was a scoop of white chocolate cream, very thick, with a somewhat odd mouthfeel.  I didn't really taste white chocolate.  It was perched atop crispy black rice, which added a nice crunch and texture, but was a bit odd.

In the center were two very small slices of fresh, ripe mango.

This was not a cohesive dessert.  I'm not sure how the pieces were supposed to come together.  I'm usually all about finding a magic "perfect bite", but it wasn't possible with this.  And again, the price was a bit high.

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Rabbit Hole Bar and Dining, Sydney

During my time in Sydney, I arranged a slew of meals, for groups of varying sizes, catering to all different styles.  We ate a lot of casual Thai food at all the Sydney classics (Home Thai', Chat Thai, or our favorite, Sailor's Thai Canteen), we went for mid-range cuisine at Lumi and Sokyo, and we visited a lot of cafes for brunch (Trio, Devon Cafe, Bill's).  But I also arranged a few far more casual outings, more focused on the drinks than the food, for larger groups.  We had fantastic bar food at Pocket Bar.  We experienced a full on tiki bar at The Cliff Dive.  And ... we also went ... down the Rabbit Hole!

Rabbit Hole Bar and Dining is located in the CBD, quite convenient for our large group staying at a slew of hotels around the city.  It is located, truly, down the hole.  You enter on street level, and immediately go downstairs.  Rabbit Hole isn't just a bar, it is ... a molecular gastronomy bar!

The space is broken up into two rooms.  The first is a large bar and lounge, which is the focus of the establishment.   The cocktails are all high quality, using tons of fresh produce, house-made syrups, spices mixes, and flavored sugars.  But they also have fun with molecular gastronomy in the bar, incorporating foams, jellies, spherification, and even using sous-vide to infuse some liquors.  The food isn't quite as molecular, but this is no normal bar food.  Yes, there are fries, but they are hand cut chips coated in truffle oil and parmesan.  The burger is made from wagyu, served on a brioche bun, topped with brie, and housemade tomato relish.  Instead of wings, you can munch on crispy pork belly bites.  I had seared scallops for my main, and someone else in our group had roasted lamb shoulder.

I think you can see why we wound up here.  It sounded like the perfect fit - fun drinks for the large group, and potentially good food for me.  And, even better, they were easily able to accommodate our large 20+ person reservation, same day!

The drinks were indeed fun, and it worked well for our group, but the food wasn't nearly as good as I was hoping.  I'd go back for drinks, but wouldn't really be excited to eat there again, even though the menu sounds so tempting!

Second Bar Area.

The other side of the space is the more formal dining area, with classic tables and chairs, and a second bar.  It wasn't that busy when we were there, so the second bar wasn't ever used.  I imagine during peak times it is used for drinks to service the dining room?

We were seated in the dining area, since we indicated that we wanted a full meal, not just snacks.  The same menu is available in both rooms.

Since we arrived on the early side, we had the entire dining room to ourselves for the first 20 minutes or so, but it quickly filled up.  Since our party was more than 20 people, they broke us into two tables, to help control the ordering.  Service was fairly good, our needs were mostly met.

Water was provided on the table in old gin bottles, a cute touch.

Interesting decor.

The decor in the dining room is ... different.  Crazy mirrors, candlesticks, and assorted other trinkets were strewn about everywhere.  We did have a mishap with one diner knocking over a candle (yes, a real candle with flame) that was perched on a ledge, spilling hot wax all over himself and his brand new shirt.  Doh.  But um, I can't really blame the restaurant for this, he DID run into the ledge.

Doug Laming’s Margarita $14, Jellied G&T $11.

We started with the most ridiculous sounding drinks, listed on the menu as "shots".

First, the uh, "margarita".  This is the "drink" that I think makes them most famous, and is certainly the most showy of all the cocktails.  Yes, that is it, little pearls, served inside a finger lime.  The full description: "We start with carefully prepared, spherified pearls of Souza Gold tequila and simple syrup matched with Cointreau Caviar. Finger limes add the sour and a small dusting of salt completes this take on the classic. "

I didn't actually try the margarita, but went straight for the jellied gin & tonic instead, because, well, it sounded way too fun.  Basically jello shots?  No better way to get the evening started ...

They describe it: "Eben Freeman of NYC created the original recipe for this. We use No.3 gin to elevate this recipe and serve it on burnt orange oils with candied citrus zest. Take a bite and let this solid alcohol fizz on your tongue like its original namesake."

It was indeed quite fun, and there was something strange about having a jello shot-esque item in a restaurant.  I thought I left these behind in my college dorm!  The flavor wasn't great though, and it was pretty watery.  I think we were all a bit disappointed by this, but were glad to have tried it.

We moved on to some of the more normal cocktails next.

You’ve Gone Nuts. $19.

"Tonka bean infused Sierra Millenario Gran Anejo tequila is shaken with Disaronno amaretto, lemon and our house made peanut and cashew syrup. This drink is finished with Fee Brother’s Walnut bitters and fine strained into a nutty cocktail glass. "

I went for the "You've Gone Nuts" because it sounded unique, but also filled with things I really like.  I've been on a tequila kick lately, not really sure why, but I really wanted a tequila based drink.  Peanut and cashew syrup sounded fascinating, as did the "nutty cocktail glass".

It arrived in a martini glass, with a piece of gold painted chocolate sitting on top, with what I think were shimmery blue coated tonka beans delicately perched inside.  Points for the artistic presentation.

Overall, the drink was fine, but a bit too sweet, and I didn't taste the tequila as strongly as I wanted.  Probably in general, you don't want to taste tequila very strongly, but given that I was craving it, I wanted to.

$19 was right in line for hand crafted cocktails in Sydney.

P B & B.

"Mt Gay XO, peanut brittle, banana, vanilla & lemon"

I also tried a few sips of one of my fellow dining companion's P B & B because it sounded totally amazing.  Peanut brittle? In a drink?  Yes!

This drink was more complex than mine.  The banana was really quite strong on the nose, but the finish was all boozy.  But, like mine, it was also a bit too sweet.  My second favorite drink of the night however.

Interesting drinks for sure, but I wasn't quite happy with them.  I imagine if we'd been at the bar, we could have expressed the desire to have them less sweet, and our asks would have been accommodated, but since we were in the other room, we had no relationship with the bartender.

Hand cut fat chips with house made tomato relish. $10.

We started with a bunch of appetizers, all designed to be shared.  The first selection? Chips.

Australians seem to eat a lot of potatoes.  My potato consumption went up drastically during my time in Sydney.  Thin fries, thick wedges, mashed potatoes, etc, it seemed like potatoes were part of nearly every meal.  Not because I picked them, but because it seemed impossible to everyone else to not order the potato product.  Maybe this was just my peers, or maybe it is an Australian thing?  Some classic meat and potatoes British influence still around?

Anyway, the chips were huge wedges, ridiculously crispy, kinda too oily for me.  The other table also got an order of the parmesan and truffle version ($12), which I greatly preferred, as they had a lot more flavor.  Both were fine, and more exciting than soggy limp regular bar fries, but I was pretty sick of potatoes, and it was my second to least favorite dish of the night.

Crispy, twice cooked pork belly bites, maple syrup & pomegranate. $19.

Next up, pork belly bites, another appetizer.

The plating was impressive, served on a slate, with the maple and pomegranate sauce in puddles, and pomegranate seeds strewn about.  But the pork was really fatty, which I know pork belly is obviously, but normally I like pork belly.  This just wasn't cooked well, so the fat wasn't rendered down at all, and it was just flabby and off-putting.

It also was a bit difficult to serve and share.  We were instructed that all the dishes were intended to be served family style, but we were not brought any serving spoons, and, how do you share something that has sauces on the plate like this?

Anyway, my least favorite dish of the night.

Seared halloumi, pomelo, caramelised lemon, tomato & basil salt. $17. 

Another appetizer: halloumi!

I adore halloumi, and really wish it were available more places in the US.  Luckily for us, we were in Australia, where it was everywhere, apparently including bar menus.

The accompaniments were a bit odd, although, I guess somewhat like a caprese salad, with halloumi in place of mozzarella?

The tomato was the weakest element.  It looked decent, but really wasn't ripe at all.  Since we were visiting in the middle of Sydney summer, this was surprising.  They should have had awesome tomato!

The pomelo was really quite tart, and quite strange to pair with tomato.  I'm not really sure what they were thinking with this, although it makes sense to have some acidity with the cheese?

And finally, the halloumi.  It was fine, but I preferred the grilled halloumi I had at brunch at Trio Cafe a few days prior {LINK}.  This halloumi didn't have quite the sear on it that I like, and it was overly salty.

Overall, just not great, and out of balance.

“Rabbit Hole” wagyu beef burger on brioche with brie cheese and house made tomato relish. $19.

Ok, moving along to main dishes.  Ojan went for the burger.  Apparently it has been ranked in the top 5 burgers in the world by ... someone, I forget who, but it was on a list somewhere.

This had all the makings of an awesome burger.  Wagyu.  Brie.  Brioche.  But ... it was cooked well done, was rather dry, and the brie was just a big clump, and didn't melt at all.  Several others also ordered the burger, and were equally not impressed.

A few people also opted for the lamb sliders instead.  They were slightly better, topped with emmenthal that did melt a little, and a flavorful beetroot and onion relish, plus creamy aioli, but, no one was thrilled with the sliders either.  Likewise, the charcuterie platter didn't draw any rave reviews, although I enjoyed the caperberries plated alongside.

Finally, one person opted for the roast lamb shoulder.  I somehow didn't get a photo, but it was a massive, massive serving.  Which the waiter warned, saying it was meant to be shared by several people, but still, one guy ordered it.  It was the last dish to arrive, long after the others, and since we had so many assorted appetizers, and everyone ended up sharing their other dishes too, everyone was pretty stuffed with this ridiculous hung of meat showed up.  The server said it was 1.2 kg on average.  I don't like lamb, so I didn't try it, but everyone seemed to like it.  What I did try was the caponata on the side, which turned out to by my favorite thing, besides the drinks, all night.  Crazy flavorful.  At $42 though, this was a bit of a pricy dish for "bar food".

Seared scallops, pancetta caramel and green apple. $24.

And finally, the dish I was most excited for: scallops!  Sure, I've never had scallops in a bar before, but this was clearly not a regular bar.

The scallops were technically an appetizer, but, given how many other dishes we were sharing, I knew I was fine just ordering the scallops as my main dish.  After fries, halloumi, pork belly, a few bites of burgers, and assorted other bits from everyone sitting around me, I was totally right.

Sadly, the scallops, like all of the food, weren't great.  Everything looked pretty good, but just wasn't.  The scallops were barely seared.  I really like a hard sear on my scallops, and these didn't really have any crust or coloration whatsoever.  Each scallop was perched atop a slice of apple, which I really didn't care for.  Mushy apple under scallop?  Why?

I did of course adore the pancetta caramel, because it was sticky, sweet, and slightly bacon-y, but overall the dish was a flop for me.  I somewhat wished I'd just eaten more of the chips instead.  $24 for 4 scallops was reasonable I guess.

Elder Mother's Elixir.

"No. 3 gin, St. Germain, coconut, malic acid & orange blossom."

For my final drink, I decided to go for a gin based drink, because, besides tequila, I've also been really into gin lately.  I blame my trip to Tokyo with a few co-workers a few months prior.

Anyway, this drink turned out to be the real winner.  My tasting notes just say "holy crap delicious!"  I could leave this review at that, but, I'll give you a bit more detail.

The most remarkable aspect was the foam, coconut flavored.  It was so light and frothy.  I adored it.  The whole drink was infused with orange blossom, which gave a depth from the slight orange flavor.  The drink was sweet, but not nearly as sweet as the others, and with the froth, the sweetness made more sense, more like a dessert drink than something I'd have with my meal.  And since the only desserts available were cheeses, I did exactly that.

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Chinatown Noodle Restaurant, Sydney

On one of my first visits to Sydney, a co-worker brought us to a tiny Chinese restaurant that he called “Hole in the Wall”.  This was not actually the name of the restaurant, but it turns out, he didn’t even know the name of the place.  Hole in the Wall it was, and, the name was apt.

This experience was years ago, but I still remember it vividly.  Swarms of people.  Huge wait for a table.  Ridiculously cramped.  Plastic grapes hanging from the ceiling.  Awesome dumplings.  It turns out, the place is called “Chinese Noodle Restaurant” and there is a sister establishment, “Chinese Noodle House” just a few doors down.  They are both packed all the time.

On my recent trip, we wanted to get good noodles and dumplings, but didn’t want to deal with the craziness that is these locations.  But we heard rumors that there was another branch, in Pyrmont … just a few blocks from our office.  And, even better, it wasn’t supposed to be crazy busy.

We had to check it out.  So, one day for lunch, we sought out “Chinatown Noodle Restaurant” (yes, the names of these restaurants are amazing).  The dumplings were indeed great, and we returned a few days later.

Inside.

The decor was more modern than the Chinatown locations, and sadly, no grapes were hanging from the ceiling.  It was spacious, light filled, and airy.  Fans were set up around the room to provide some airflow.  A very different ambiance from the Haymarket locations!

But, definitely the same place.  Service was pretty awful, once our original order was taken, we weren’t ever paid another moment’s attention.  I wasn't able to order more water.  I was never able to get a share plate.  But the food was delivered immediately as it was ready, piping hot, as it should be.

Condiments.

Chinatown Noodle Restaurant is a very casual place, complete with a plastic menu.  They are cash only, and you pay at the register when you are done.  Simple.  And, it turns out, delicious.  The menu is Northern Chinese, and fairly extensive, but we had eyes only for the dumplings and noodles, the two famous items.

Condiments on the table were soy sauce, vinegar, and chili, to make up your ideal dumpling dipping sauce, which I of course did.

Silverware was real chopsticks, not flimsy wooden disposables.

Pan-fried Pork and Chive Dumplings (half order).  $6.

We started with the signature dumplings.  Available in 4 varieties: pork and chive, pork and Chinese cabbage, beef and shallots, or egg and chives.  Then you have the choice of preparation: steamed, boiled, or pan fried.  We started with the classics, pork and chive, pan fried.  Go big or go home.

They were piping hot, delivered immediately out of the pan.  Even after a few minutes, biting into one squirted liquid that would burn you if not careful.

The dumplings were fantastic.  Doughy, but in a good way.  Perfectly crispy on one side.  Yes, they were oily.  No, they weren’t healthy.  But wow they were satisfying.  The filling inside was generous, minced pork and tons of chives, probably about in equal proportion, which made them quite flavorful.

We returned a few days later, and ordered the pork and Chinese cabbage and the beef and shallot, also pan fried.  Except, they gave us pork and chive again instead of the beef and shallot.  The pork and cabbage were nearly indistinguishable from the pork and chive, except the flavor was more muted since cabbage isn't as sharp as chive.

I really enjoyed these, and would certainly get more, and would love to try another variety, perhaps even the veggie ones?  I’m curious how the healthier steamed or boiled options are, but, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be nearly as delicious.

Available in a half order (6) for $6 or full dozen for $9.80, very reasonable.

Steamed Pork and Chive Dumplings (half order).  $6.

On our return trip, we decided to get the same pork and chive dumplings, but steamed this time, to compare the styles.

The filling was the same, the wrapper was the same, but, because they were just steamed, the wrapper was a bit gummy, and I didn't really care for it.  Yup, it turns out, crispy and fried is really just so much better.

I'm glad I tried these to see how the cooking method effects the taste, but I'd certainly go for pan-fried in the future, unless I was really wanting a lighter, more healthy dish.

Steamed Northern Style Pork Buns (half order). $6.

We also ordered pork buns.  Available steamed or pan fried, we went for steamed.

I was expecting something entirely different.  It turns out, all I know of Chinese buns is BBQ pork buns.  These were pork, but ... not BBQ!

Pork Buns: Inside.

The dough was fluffy and light, but not sweetened like I am accustomed.  The filling was … porky.  It was just pork.  Overall they were fine, but really not what I was expecting, or, wanting at the time.  Maybe the pan fried ones would be better?  I really can’t picture what those would be like.

Ojan and the other diner both said that these were fairly authentic.

Available as a half order of 5 for $6 or a full order of 10 for $9.90.  Again, reasonable price.

Bejing Spring Pancake, beef. (half). $6.60.

"w/ egg, sprouts, Chinese cabbage, and beef"

Next up, Spring Pancakes, available in chicken or beef.  Ojan and the other diner picked beef.

I didn't actually have this, as I was stuffed at this point, but it was also totally not what I was expecting.  For starters, I thought that a pancake would be ... flat.  Like a pancake.  Ojan summed this up quite nicely as a "Chinese burrito".

I did try a bite of the pancake wrapper, and thought it was like a thinner version of naan. It had a nice sweetness and chew to it.  I could imagine liking this, if they had non-chicken or beef options.

Price was $6.60 for this "half" order or $9.90 for a full order, which seemed quite good, as these were sizable wraps.

Stir-fried Handmade Noodles w/ Pork. $10.80.

And finally, noodles.  I don’t really care for noodles, so I opted to just split Ojan’s and have a few bites.  He had the choice of chicken, beef, pork, lamb, veggie, or seafood.  He went for pork.

The noodles were hand cut, all assorted sizes and shapes.  They were well cooked, soft and tender, not gloopy, etc, but as expected, not really my thing.  The dish was fairly oily in my opinion, but Ojan said it wasn’t quite authentic, as it wasn’t oily enough.  I did like the variety of other ingredients in the dish, including cabbage, onions, peppers, celery, and tomato.  The tomato is super strange to me in a stir fry, but Ojan said that was authentic too.

The noodles, like everything, were delivered piping hot.  Ojan’s dish of noodles came several minutes before our dining companion’s, which can be awkward etiquette-wise as you want to dig in and not let your noodles get cold, but not be rude, but really, this is how it should be.  Wok to table in seconds can’t be beat.

I think that these were good, if you like this style of dish. I don’t, so it wasn’t my thing, but Ojan said he was very satisfied.  Price was $10.80, which was fine for a huge dish like this, although he pointed out that in China, this would be $0.50.

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Pocket Bar, Darlinghurst

One night on our recent trip to Sydney, we were looking for a place to hang out, have a few drinks, and nibble on some food.  It had been a day filled with eating, so we weren't looking for a huge meal.  Of course, I had done research into just about every category of meal possible, and had a list of interesting sounding bars to check out, ones that would serve great cocktails and have good food.

I quickly selected Pocket Bar, located just a few blocks from the hotel I was staying at.  It seemed like the perfect fit for the evening - convenient, casual, but promised to satisfy our tastebuds.  And indeed it was.

The cocktail menu was several pages long, encompassing all different styles of drinks.  The drinks were on the pricer side, about $20 each, but they were all well crafted and made with fresh ingredients and garnishes.

The food menu is themed around "street food from around the world", so it spans just about everything from fish tacos to ceviche to tamales to gyros, all appropriate finger food, but far more interesting than your standard bar menu, so there was certainly an appeal for me.

The service was friendly, although a bit lacking.  We often ran out of water, or fresh drinks.  The food came out as it was ready, which is great, as it was all very hot when it arrived, but the timing was a bit crazy.  One dish arrived, then it took at least 10 minutes for another, then perhaps 20 more minutes for the next, and our final dish, though it had been ordered right when we first sat down, took well over an hour.

The vibe was certainly hip, and the servers were some of the trendiest people I saw in Sydney.  I tried to get interior photos of the unique space, but the low lighting made it impossible.  Although it was full, it was never annoyingly crowded, and our group was able to set up shop on a large couch, a thrown-like armchair, and assorted stools, a comfortable semi-private area.  It really was perfect for lounging, which is what we needed after a long day.

Overall, it was perfect for the night we wanted to have, and both the food and drinks impressed.  Not fine dining obviously, and everything was pricey, but I'd return.

The Ginger Scot.  $22.

"From the isle of skye we take talisker 10yo, full of dried fruit, pepper & smoke, and mix it with apricot brandy, lillet, & a touch of lemon juice."

My first drink, selected because, well, I wanted whiskey, and the ginger sounded refreshing.

It was good, but not nearly as smokey as I was hoping.  It was quite drinkable, nicely balanced, but I wasn't in love with it.  I appreciated the huge slice of ginger as garnish.  $22 seemed very pricey though.

Mocktail. $10.

Ojan asked for a non-alcoholic drink, and the server asked what flavors he liked, and this appeared.

We aren't really sure what it was, and when he asked the person who brought it to us, she had no idea.  It was fruity, and we were worried it might have watermelon, so I didn't try it.  The garnishes were sure impressive.

His next drink was much better, another mocktail, and that time he asked for something grapefruit inspired.  It came with a huge slice of grapefruit and a sprig of basil on top.  It was a bit too sweet and fruit-juicy though; it would have been a great brunch drink, but wasn't quite right for the night.  A little more soda water, or perhaps ginger beer, and it would have mellowed out nicely.  I think the bartender was used to having alcohol to cut the sweet better.

??

Two others ordered this, I didn't catch the name.  It had gin and cucumbers, and came served in this huge vessel.  They were asked how many glasses they wanted, told that it could easily serve 1, 2, or 4 people, depending.  2 seemed just right, as they were both able to have a couple glasses.  I didn't try it, but they loved it.

Crispy Mac n' Cheese Balls with housemade bourbon and bacon jam. $12.

The first item to arrive, before the drinks even: crispy mac n' cheese balls.  With bourbon and bacon jam.  Fried. Cheese. Bourbon. Bacon. Yes.

This is the sort of thing that sounds like it should be amazing, but generally never is.  It was ordered by one person, who intended it to be his meal.  But, it arrived so much ahead of the rest of our food, that everyone else ended up uh, helping him eat it.

It really was quite good.  Inside was very creamy, oozing mac and cheese.  Far more successful than I ever imagined.  The outside crust was cripsy, crunchy, and although very oily and fried, it worked.  This was heavy, and cheesy, and fried, in all the best ways.

As you can imagine, the balls were gone in seconds, and a subsequent order was aptly placed.  Everyone agreed they were far better than expected.

The star however was the bourbon bacon jam.  OMG.  Again, something that SOUNDS like it should be good but never lives up.  But in this case, it lived up.  And then some.  Super bacony, loaded with chunks of bacon.  Slightly sweet and mapley.  It was, hands down, the best thing we had that night.  I wish they'd bottle it up, I'd certainly buy it, and slather everything in it.

Cassava Chips with Salsa Huancaína.  $9.

I have a thing for cassava, so I was thrilled to see cassava chips on the menu.  They arrived piping hot.  As in, one person claimed he burnt his finger tips in picking one up.

The "chips" were Australian chips, aka, thick fat fries, not thin crispy chips.  They were clearly quite fresh, but they didn't have quite the starchiness I was hoping for.  Somehow not really enough cassava flavor for me, they really just seemed like large fries.  And, they were quite oily.  Good bar food, yes, but not quite what I was wanting.

The huancaína salsa wasn't the right accompaniment.  It seemed like just slightly spicy cream cheese.  I would have liked a rich aioli, or a thinner mojo sauce perhaps, but just not this.

Luckily, we had plenty of bacon jam, since we ordered multiple rounds of the mac and cheese balls, and we had vegetarians amongst us.  The cassava chips dunked in bacon jam were tasty, but still not exactly what I wanted.  But a great excuse to eat more bacon jam.

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Brioche Grilled Toastie. $18.

"Slow cooked beef short rib, blue cheese sauce, sesame, chives, sriracha, rocket and caremelised onions, served with fries"

Another dinner ordered the brioche grilled toastie, which came with a generous serving of fries.  We all devoured the extra fries, dunking them into the bacon jam.  Really, I dunked just about anything into the bacon jam.  And once I ran out of things to dunk, I just ate it by the forkful.  Did I mention that it was seriously tasty stuff?  I was addicted.

Anyway, the fries were thin style, not really that crispy, a tad bit soggy, and somewhat reminded me of McDonald's fries.  I don't mean that in a bad way, just in that they were thin and salty, and although they didn't seem like anything special, they were tasty enough.

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Pork Steamed Buns: caramelized pork belly, cucumber, hoisin, and shallots. $16.

Another dinner ordered the pork steamed buns.  For some reason, these took forever to arrive.  We had consumed everything else, and even ordered, received, and finished another order of mac and cheese balls, and his buns still hadn't turned up.  We enquired about them several times.  Finally, they appeared, a large order of 3.  Since he had been munching on everyone else's food, he wasn't all that hungry at this point, and offered them up to the table.  He said they were good, but they didn't taste like they looked.  Ojan had a few bites, and agreed.  They both kept saying how they just didn't taste as expected.  Finally, even though I was stuffed, I tried a few bites too.

Indeed, there was something strange here.  The bun was soft, fluffy, good enough.  There was something that seemed like an onion tomato jam.  And some other strange sauce that I couldn't identify.  And there was a lot of baby spinach.  And the "pork belly" didn't seem crispy, nor fatty really.  Since I didn't order the buns, I hadn't read the description, and didn't realize how off it was.  I pulled out the menu to re-read it, confused as to what I was tasting.  Where was the hoisin sauce?  There was a sauce, but it certainly wasn't what I'd think of as hoisin.  And cucumbers?  Hmmm.  And why was there spinach?

About this time, I saw another item on the menu: Vegan Tempeh Steamed Buns.  The description: bourbon tempeh, smoked vegan cheddar sauce, baby spinach, shallots and tomato chilli jam.  Doh.  We clearly had the vegan buns.  The "pork belly" was tempeh, and all the other toppings matched up.  Within moments, a server came rushing over with a new set of buns, saying "those are the vegan ones!"  Doh.  The strange sauce was the "vegan cheese", and even once I knew what it was, I kept trying it to figure it out, and never liked it.

So now we had 6 buns, and everyone was stuffed.  Yet we had to try the new item too, right?  The new ones had the same fluffy buns, but this time, were actually filled with crispy pork belly.  Nicely prepared.  Smothered in hoisin sauce, perhaps a bit too much, but, it seemed fitting.

We all liked the pork ones more, but agreed that the tempeh ones were tasty, and both Ojan and I said that it was probably the best tempeh we ever had, generally being tempeh haters.

Of course, you can probably guess what I did with the extra buns.  Yes, I removed the tempeh, and stuffed them with bacon jam.  Now THOSE were the winning buns!

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