A weekend in Sydney - Day 1

Disclaimer: I was offered a complimentary meal at Spice I Am. All other meals and food I paid for.

One weekend in March, I left a perfectly warm and sunny Melbourne, for a cold and rainy Sydney.

It was glorious. 

Although really, the weather just happened to be a bit of a coincidence (I don't have that kind of money to just escape weather when I want to!), as I had really gone to Sydney to spend some quality time with one of my best buds, Ben. 

Ben and I have been friends since high school, which to me, is a very long time, as I'm not much in contact with many friends from high school anymore. We are very close, which led to many friends often asking if we were going out, but he's one of those guys who's more like a brother to me, so I often pushed him around. But that's what friends do right? Even when he went to Sydney for uni, we stayed frequently in contact, lamenting to each other often about our love lives. Or lack there of. Or trouble because of.

However, in the past year or two, we sort of dropped contact, as he started working life in Sydney and it wasn't until recently, due to a rather turbulent time on his side, that we started getting in touch again. 

He made a few visits down to Melbourne for family, where I'd catch up with him for a brunch now and again, and then I figured, when I had some Jetstar vouchers (since they kept cancelling all my flights to and from Tasmania!), that I should spend time with Ben. 

And man what a weekend it was!

I got into Sydney on Friday, and had the afternoon to myself since Ben was still working, like most regular people. So I hopped on to the airport train (which is so good, stupid Melbourne making contracts with MetLink and stuff), made my way into the city, up a couple of escalators…and to Sushi Hotaru! 

Aww yeah, I love me some sushi train. I was ravenous by the time I got off the plane, so going somewhere where food is just paraded by you? Yes please. 

I was pretty impressed with what Sushi Hotaru had going on, everything was an incredibly affordable $3 a plate, and although the portions might have been a little bit smaller, they didn't skimp on the quality. Less novelty, more delicious fish. It was all good to me. 

This might've happened in about 20 minutes.

 

After soothing my crying tummy with food, I hauled my bags around Sydney and did a little exploring, even if it was absolutely pouring and windy out. So I naturally took myself up to Kinokuniya, and lost myself in the photography books and the manga for a few hours, before wandering around the Strand Arcade, which is really such a beautiful Victorian building. The details in here are just so intricate, and the shops are all a little bit of eye candy really. 

Eventually, my Louis Vuitton golf bag (which I had borrowed from mum) and I, found our way to Laduree in Westfield. I mean, Laduree was a must visit, I have incredibly fond memories of visiting the one in Paris, back when I was on exchange in Germany in 2008. I brought a box of 32 back to my dorm and ate them all within 3 or 4 days. Hum de hum. 

In a corner of Westfield that housed plenty of shiny brands, Laduree's parisian, pastel chic stand fit in quite nicely. There's a display cabinet out front, showing off the lovely macarons and adorable cakes, and around the back a small seating area with a couple of tables and rather comfy chairs. At 3pm on a Friday, there were already several tables sipping back champagne, decked out in tutus and suits, in a boozy high tea!

For me however, it was just to be myself, my book and a cup of tea. Oh and macaron. But my lord, I think my eyeballs must have nearly popped out of my head when I saw the prices! A single macaron priced at $4 a pop and a pot of tea at $7.50? Ouch. But nevermind, it worked out well as I spent about an hour and half there reading my book anyhow. 

I ordered the Earl Grey Fleurs tea, which was actually really quite lovely. I loved the bergamot and spiciness of the tea. It was perfect for warming the body on a cold day.

 

My macaron on the other hand, a chocolate one, for classic's sake, was a little bit of a let down. There was no gentle crunch in the shell, instead the whole thing was really kind of soft, and a bit one dimensional in texture. For $4, and being a bit smaller than the typical macaron you get around here, it was a quite disappointing. 

But that's okay, because I finished reading 'The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking' by Oliver Burkeman, which was a great read. Highly recommended!

And shortly after, I met up with Ben who whisked me off under his big businessman like umbrella to the Baxter Inn, where whiskey is everybody's best friend. We enter through what feels like a fire escape and descend into the basement, to find a cosy, dimly lit bar, with a wall of whiskey. It's pretty intense. 

We find ourselves some stools at the bar and proceed to start our evening with a glass of wine each, and a complimentary bowl of pretzels, before moving on to the main contender, whiskey. After letting the barman know my liking for Glenmorangie, he recommends the 15 year old Dalwhinnie, which does goes down a treat on the rocks, or rock in my case. It looked like I had the iceberg that sunk the Titanic in my glass!

I felt like I should have been on the set of Mad Men as Ben and I swirled our glasses about, attempting to be dapper and what not. 

From there, we made our way to Spice I Am in Darlinghurst, as I had kindly been offered a meal there, which worked out well, as I had wanted to visit too!

I had been to House before in Surry Hills, and although it was tasty, it was pretty casual and laid back, so I was quite surprised upon entering Spice I Am, how upmarket it felt. It felt dark and sultry, with some funky rattan furniture, brick walls and pots making a feature wall as well. 

The smiley and polite waitresses were the epitome of Thai-style hospitality, and we were well attended to the whole night. 

After boozing it up at Baxter Inn, I decided to keep it simple (and hydrate the body) with a coconut water, which was sweet and refreshing. Just perfect. The little slices of  coconut flesh was definitely a nice addition.

We were recommended the fried betel leaf entree, which did not disappoint, crunchy with bright flavours and a little bit of sticky sweet chilli. Made for a lovely start to our meal.

We kept our meal pretty simple, going for a salad, noodle and curry. Our salad of choice was the Som Tum, green papaya salad with dried shrimp peanuts and chilli. We asked it for medium spicy…but wow, I didn't expect them to be doing the spice levels by Thai standard! Loved how authentic and spicy the salad was, with Ben and I gulping at our glasses frantically, but enjoying it all at the same time. So fresh, cool..and obviously, spicy!

The Pad Thai with prawns was very enjoyable. It had been a while since I had had a pad thai, as I couldn't really bother with the mediocre stuff we were getting in Melbourne. But this was great, the right amount of sweet and salty, the right type of noodles and plenty of peanuts. Lots of flavours and incredibly comforting. 

For curries, we went with the Panang curry, a thick, coconut red curry with kaffir lime leaves, with chicken. Again, a total winner with Ben and I. I always take it as a good sign if I just want to have the gravy over rice, which I did fairly with no shame. Thick, rich and warming, just delightful. 

To finish, it just had to be the BTS, Better Than Sex. Toasted brioche served with pandan gelato, topped with Thai caramel sauce and roasted black and white sesame seeds. 

Now really, it's probably not better than sex...but it comes pretty darned close. I'm not sure how all the flavours go together, but they do. They do to make a moreish dessert baby that you just want more and more of. The crunch of the buttery brioche alone is so sinfully delicious, but it just mixes so well with everything else. Really guys, if you're in Sydney it's worth going for if your'e a sweet tooth. 

With that, Ben and I concluded our first day and evening in Sydney, and decided to head back to his for a chilled out evening (and watch videos of screaming goats all night), since we had crafted a rather intense eating itinerary the next morning….

…so stay tuned for the next Sydney post! 

Sushi Hotaru

Shop RP1/ 500 George Street 
Sydney, NSW 2000

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Laduree

100 Market St Level 3 Westfield 
Sydney, NSW 2000

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Baxter Inn

Basement, 152-156 Clarence St 
Sydney, NSW 2000

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Spice I Am

300 Victoria Street

Darlinghurst, Sydney NSW

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Bluebird Espresso

Bluebird Espresso was one of those places I saw a lot, but never got around to popping in to. It's on my bus line (which I don't ride as often anymore) and so I would always pass it, but never take the time to get off the bus and check it out as I always heading into the city for something (probably work...when I was waitressing, once upon a time).

When I finally did get in for the first time, with mum on a day of op shopping, to have a coffee, I felt so silly that I hadn't bothered earlier, quickly becoming smitten with the cosy little cafe. 

And as such, dragged Brad back that weekend to get the full brunch experience. 

Located on Johnson Street, a little closer to Hoddle and away from the busy thoroughfare of Smith Street, Bluebird Espresso is a narrow little cafe that still exudes a bright, cheery and carefree atmosphere. Friendly and easy-going staff, pops of fresh flowers and a whole lot of blue, naturally. 

Brad's coffee looked lovely and dark, my orange juice was served fresh and cold in a cute little brown bottle. No chai this particular day as it was hot, hot, hot out and the air-con inside struggled against it. So a cool beverage was definitely in order!

Baked eggs for Brad, typical boy. Forgot what was in them, but the serving was modest (in the best way possible, enough to be filling but not stuffed) and scrumptious. 

When we were looking at the menu, I was quite quick to pick this and Brad just responds with: "I knew you were going to choose that one." Sigh, we're both just getting far too predictable!

My fried Mexican eggs with tortilla, beans, corns and all that latino flavour was just divine. Yolks, dusted with salt crystals, that were just heaving and begging to be burst, were paired with plenty of spice and a whole lot of hearty. Great flavours all around. 

I loved how reasonably priced the menu was, the selection (I really wanted to eat everything), the flavours and taste and the overall feel-good this place had. I just felt like I was tingling with soulful and joyful feelings. It's hard to put into words. 

I was very disappointed I didn't get to try the sweet special that happened to be on that day, but certainly hope a second visit will be happening in the near future (although we all know as bloggers that second visits to ANYWHERE are so rare these days)!

Bluebird Espresso

134 Johnson Street

Collingwood 3066

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Mama Baba

Why doesn't Calombaris like us food bloggers? Really, for the most part we're pretty friendly people and I don't think we enjoy belittling restaurants (or at least most of us?) and are quite handy in spreading the word about if we like something. 

But that's okay, because that was back in 2009 I guess and he can't stop us checking out his places anyway. Nyeh! 

It can be so easy for some restaurants to fly under the radar, not because they're not good, just because the Melbourne restaurant market is so saturated and I guess, being in the blogger circle, it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of restaurants that tend to be 'hyped up'. 

Which is a shame, because there are still so many great restaurants that maybe don't get as much air time as they could. 

Take Mama Baba, one of Calombaris's joints. It's one of those restaurants that have been on my lists as the menu does look pretty tasty, but I've tended to give it the 'I'll check it out later' as I haven't heard a lot about it.

But this changed when Adrian and myself got to try some of their tortellini at the Taste of Tennis event. One bite and we were convinced we needed to check this place out. And invite Wince along. Of course!

Mama Baba is a cute concept, the menu and it's flavours are inspired by Calombaris parents, his Greek Mama and his Italian Baba. As such, you have a varied menu, although still with a distinct personality and vision. The food here is all heart, all love, all home. And freshly made pastas. 

Located in a slightly awkward spot to get to, down the road from The Olsen, it's actually a very cool space. Below street level, it feels like a large warehouse, with loads of seating space. Utilitarian decorative details (pipes as bookshelves?) are offset with fun and quirky prints with warm colours, striped cloth napkins and warm wood tables. 

Although much of the room was concrete, the high ceilings seemed to do the job of abolishing a fair bit of the noise, fortunately!

To start, although it was pouring rain out, we all decided we'd have a summery cocktail. For me, it was the House Pompelmo that spoke to me, with gin, Aperol and pompelmo, which is grapefruit. Oh. Dangerous. Light, spritzy, summery. I could have downed it in 10 minutes, but I was driving. So had to make it last the night. Sigh!

As we were enthusiastically chatting about trashy reality shows (we discovered we all have a secret love for them!), the bread bag arrived, with lavosh and a few varieties of bread…and little packs of Western Star butter. I guess if you endorse a butter brand, it's got to trail all the way back into your restaurants too hey?

Fortunately it was the only endorsement we saw that night and although the bread came out cold, the rest of the food was an absolute treat that night! 

Adrian and I just picked this dish because we both love figs, but what I hadn't really realised was that when we ate at Mama Baba, it had just hit fig season. So the figs, served with burrata, vincotta and smoked almonds, were just giant, colourful and so sweet! There's really nothing better than having figs served in a fairly minimal way, as they are just such a stellar product all their own. 

The moussaka arancini and polpette followed. The moussaka arancini, with lamb, eggplant and mashed potato was almost a perfect blend of Greek and Italian…I mean, it just makes so much sense! Small, but golden, with a crunchy exterior and a piping hot interior, these were just a treat. The polpette, pork and veal meatballs with tomato and parmesan were, slightly on the flipside, wholly rustic and homely. Just a perfect warming delight as the winds howled passed outside. 

Then our plates were whisked away and it was time for the main event. Bring on the pasta kiddos! 

For me, I ordered from the 'Mama' menu, the Gnudi, which is a the of gnocchi made from ricotta cheese with a bit of flour, pumpkin, sage, honey and mitzethra. Oh my gosh, this was almost like dessert! The honey and pumpkin were definitely the starring flavours here, rolling their sweetness around the creamy gnudi dumplings…it was almost too much! Fortunately I am a sweet tooth, so I quite enjoyed this, but if you were looking for a heartier main? This probably wouldn't be it, definitely not everyone's cup of tea! I did like the texture of the gnudi, it wasn't too mushy and there was a lightness to it, despite looking quite heavy. Loved the crispy sage leaves for a little bit of texture in there. 

Chris kept it old school and went with the spaghetti carbonara. Classic. Says on the menu. Serves what they say. Garnished simply with a bit of porky goodness on top, I snuck a bite and found it just delightfully rich without being creamy or heavy. So velvety and so good. 

So it's normally food blogger sin to have two of the same dish at the table, but Wince and Adrian couldn't help but both order the orecchiette with braised wage, peas, lemon and pangrattato. When placed in front of the boys, I couldn't help but have slight food envy, as the aroma wafted over and tingled the senses. It smelt amazing. And tasted amazing as well. The meat so tender and rich, falling apart, but balanced out by the fresh peas and a hint of citrus. Gorgeous. Kind of wanted to switch. Should have. Damn it hindsight!

I seriously love eating out with these guys, the four of us don't really seem to have much of a concept of using an 'inside' voice when together, with many loud and boisterous bursts of laughter often had. Sorry neighbouring diners. We love you. Really. 

Before long, the very important business of dessert happened. And like, it's real serious with us. With three dessert sub menus, sweets from the trolley, sweets from our kitchen and ice-cream and gelato, it took us a while. I don't think we've all ever been so perplexed over which ice-cream flavours to order!

But we ended up with a milk and milo and a crunchy peanut butter and salt. The milk and milo was subtle, easy, but I would have easily preferred a richer chocolate ice-cream any day. The crunchy peanut butter and salt was the bees knees though. Rich and salty, this is exactly what we all wanted. Needed. Exactly.

From the trolley we ordered a peach trifle…which kind of underwhelmed us all. I don't normally come across a dessert I don't like, but this just was not my cup of tea. It was kind of warm, which I think threw us off, and just not as enticing as I thought it would be. This was the only dessert left unfinished, between a bunch of people who love their sweets. Think it says enough.

Fortunately though, our last dessert was an absolute home run. We initially approached The Italian Mess cautiously. I mean, there's some watermelon (I think) and pear , healthy lashing of marscapone, meringue, pistachios…girl, she was a mess. But totally delicious as all the components just worked together to create an incredibly playful dessert with truckloads of texture, smooth, crunchy, crispy and flavour. It wasn't too sweet either, making it feel not so naughty at the end of a rather filling night. Loved it. You will too. 

The four of us had an amazing evening, although we did have to battle the elements to get to our dinner, it was all worth it at the end. Company that never has trouble moving from one topic to another, ab-inducing (one can dream) laughter and food that was hearty and homely, with a couple of unexpected and slightly different twists. I like what's happening here and I want more of it. 

Mama Baba

21 Daly Street

South Yarra 3141

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