A newly opened taste of the Greek Islands
It’s apparently only been open for two months… so new that Zomato didn’t have a listing. We ran into friends who’d just eaten at Harumi on Victoria Street, and we were at a loss of where to eat. One of the cursed places on the corner of Liverpool and Victoria Streets (cursed because it’s changed hands so much) seemed closed; on the other corner, the new Japanese place, replacing the Argentinean grill, seemed like it was serving pretty regular food. We were searching.
Our pals told us to come here and that it would be like a little piece of the Greek Islands. That it was.
Very impressive how they’ve created this fun little tropical Mediterrean feel in the middle of Darlinghurst and it felt authentic, not tacky. Although our friends said the mezze meal is incredible, we ended up splitting the meat platter.
So, the thing is, and you can see this, it could have been a disaster. Meat platters usually have too much food on them, and there are so many things that the potential for mediocrity is great. How does a meat platter stand out? Well, the fries for one, were absolutely crisp and magically stayed that way for nearly the whole meal. And then, each and every piece of meat, from the meatballs to the skewers to the lamb and the sausages, were all delicious. Really.
It was cheap too. Matched with a bottle of white wine, and we were really pleased. Weirdly, that night I woke up around 3am, dry throat, soooo thirsty. And then had to drink more water at 6am. I SMSed my pal and said: great meal, but I had this weird experience. He said that he felt the same, drank a whole bottle of mineral and then couldn’t get to sleep until about 2am. So, Isle, loved your food but what is that secret ingredient?
The everchanging Newtown Hotel
Food to warm your cockles in the Blue Mountains.
As I lived in Brussels for two years, back in the days, I was curious to see what they would have. Mussels of course. Some very good fries. Also potato croquettes. And an excellent selection of very reasonably priced Belgian beer.
The dessert was impressive though, a chocolate-covered nougat with three different types of ice cream. Very tasty. It was busy enough and so the service was extremely charming and slightly erratic. If you’re craving Belgian food (or even if you’re not), this is a good option on for a meal in Leura!
How do they do that, anyways?
The fries were tasty and crisp. The dipping sauces OK. The faux seafood basket was slightly less successful than the fish. I thought the squid really tasted like squid. The crabstick tasted appropriately like fake fish, because that’s what crabsticks taste like. The prawn looked like a prawn but… didn’t have a variety of texture.
I suppose that’s my problem. I really did want to love this place, instead of just being impressed with the wizardry but on a cold Friday evening, with the open shopfront (chilly!), and plain tables and cutlery, this place feels like a bit downmarket, a bit too much like fast food. There’s also a bit of a headspin with the idea that the food is healthy for the environment (being vegan) but the perfect shapes feel processed, and the deep frying doesn’t feel so healthy.
Is a Scandiwegian food and drink trend sweeping Australia?
Just this week, I tried the fabulous Norsk Door in the CBD and now I stumble across the charming Nordic B. in Newtown which has only been open for two months. There are so many new restaurants and bars in Newtown that you have to actually walk down each side of King Street to figure out what’s the same and what has changed.
The menu here is simple; it’s really a place for some snacks and drinks. The cocktail menu is really interesting, using Scandinavian liqueurs. My Scandinavian version of a mojito had lime and mint, but matched with aquavit and something else. My pal had a tall drink with absinthe, so the flavour of anise seeds; he liked it. We were given a complimentary mushroom pastry, which was delicious; the Scandi-pastry is more like a shortcrust, slightly crisp and tasty.
Scandinavian fine dining comes to Sydney: Fantastisk!
Eating our way around Scandinavia was a pleasure and a surprise a few years ago, and I loved being introduced to the new Nordic cuisine: breads and grains, creams and butter, hearty root vegetables, and interesting proteins, along with some flavours and techniques which tasted unfamiliar to this tongue. There seemed to be a focus on a few key ingredients and elements, and often with some rather nice plating.
street like it could be anywhere in the world, really. There are kangaroo pelts made to look like deer pelts, slung over the seats and some lustworthy wooden bowls lining the bank of booths.
Norsk Dor has the sort of lighting which I knew wouldn’t make great photos with my iPhone so I didn’t take pics of everything… But rest assured: The oyster with an apple sorbet was delicious. A perfect grilled prawn. I loved the bone marrow to be scooped out on crisp crackers with a light salad of fennel and dill on the side (which seemed very Scandinavian in its flavour profile). Ah, and a mouthful of aquavit to wash it all down. A nice touch.
The salmon gravlax was beautiful, quite firm and flavourful. A light combo of goat cheese, some more crackers and a few vegetables was nice. For the main, I had the venison… which was beautiful, and my pal had the beef, and I didn’t even ask him what he thought of it.
But we both agreed, in addition to not having enough room for dessert, that it was a really, lovely meal, memorable and interesting. Highly recommended.
I have meant to try this little hole-in-the-wall eatery on Victoria Street for ages. And that, really, is its charm. That I don’t think there’s anything else like it in Potts Point, and that it’s small and humble with some outdoors seating.
What stood out was a technique used on the dumplings which I’ve never seen before, a bit of batter to make them all stick together. The extra crispy bits were indeed delicious, but otherwise, they were plain, not especially delicate or tasty dumplings. But it’s hard to find a dumpling that I don’t really like…
I should try the Xiao Long Bao, the soup dumplings, which seem to have some good reviews here on Zomato. But otherwise, it’s a good thing for Potts Point to have some authentic and humble Chinese food in their neighbourhood, though I don’t think the food is anything special.
This Sydney food phenomenon is still delivering
So, it was sad to also read about 
In any case, it’s been years since I’ve had MissChu’s and I was happy to find that it was as good as I remember. Basically, a perfect quick meal, packed with flavours, and even a surprise. The ‘special’ dumplings turned out to be stuffed rice rolls… and so delicious. The duck pancakes were perfect. The Vietnamese spring rolls also perfect. The afore-mentioned rice rolls, and we split two steamed buns, one pork and one vegetarian. We managed to grab one of the handful of tables on the footpath, and there was a nice buzz of people dropping by to grab food, mostly take-away. I think all up it was 30 bucks for the two of us, and for a good portion of yummy food.
Oh, how I love a food phenomenon.
Dear reader, what could I do but join in the queue?
I got my treasures home to split with the hubby. The madeleine, still warm from the oven, was light and crisp and not too sweet. It was, in fact, a perfect madeleine, though a different shape than the ones I’ve had from France (or Spain).
Now, the cheesecake!
Cutting into it, it is super light and fluffy. It’s certainly not like a heavy, creamy Western cheesecake. It has an interesting texture, delicate and light, and is hardly sweet at all. We quite liked it. It tasted different the next day after being in the fridge, a bit denser, but also nice.
In December 2017, I passed by and they had either a special promotion or a new menu item or something: Onigiri Crepes. A perfect crepe with a piece of cheesecake and whipped cream inside of it, wrapped up in a little package. I thought it was delightful.
A pleasant Saturday lunch with pleasant service, sitting in the sun in Darlinghurst.