Centennial Park Sydney NSW 2000
OMG, no Turkish Gozleme!
SECOND VISIT
Free tastings and a Crown-free day
Saturday 13 March 2010 12-4 pm session
Today's visit was more focused on checking out the remaining restaurant dishes I didn't photograph on my first visit and to check out many of the producer stands — although I totally forgot to revisit Buon Ricordo dishes and Aria's dessert. After Nom Nom Nibblies and Leave Room for Dessert alerted me to 'free' tastings available at the New Zealand and City Tattersalls Club stands this became high on my agenda — a definite MUST! I was very impressed with the Omega Seafood mussels which are supplied precooked with no additives and tasted great and fresh. I'll definitely be looking out for these at the Sydney Fish Markets. Whitestone Cheese had plenty of choices on offer and I really liked the Windsor Blue which wasn't too overpowering on taste but still had enough characteristic bite. The NZ Regal King Salmon Pastrami was a delightful combination of flavours which I'll also keep in mind for canapés. The Kohu Road Ice Cream stand had seven choices and of course I had to try all seven — favourites were Strawberry, Cookies and Cream, Expresso and Dark Chocolate but all were deliciously creamy and good.
The City Tattersalls Club stand should be applauded for their lovely and vibrant service staff which made everyone visiting very welcome as they generously shared lots of excellent food. The Bramble Cocktail was very refreshing, the Wagyu Mini Burger well-presented and tasty, the Apple, Cranberry and Cinnamon donuts a huge crowd pleaser and the Tempura Soft Shell Crab cooked to crispy perfection — do not miss visiting. Gourmet Dinner Service reminded me of a gourmet meals on wheels. Their extensive range of high quality prepared meals are home delivered and seem reasonably priced. I was very interested in their bite sized canapés which would be a great idea for catering a birthday. The well-presented Chocolate and Orange Cassatta was a bite sized party for the taste buds. ThinkSpirits had some amazing looking liqueurs and the versatile Pomegranate Liqueur was my favourite. Baileys have recently released their coffee version which was very addictive — I think I might prefer it over the original now.
The City Tattersalls Club stand should be applauded for their lovely and vibrant service staff which made everyone visiting very welcome as they generously shared lots of excellent food. The Bramble Cocktail was very refreshing, the Wagyu Mini Burger well-presented and tasty, the Apple, Cranberry and Cinnamon donuts a huge crowd pleaser and the Tempura Soft Shell Crab cooked to crispy perfection — do not miss visiting. Gourmet Dinner Service reminded me of a gourmet meals on wheels. Their extensive range of high quality prepared meals are home delivered and seem reasonably priced. I was very interested in their bite sized canapés which would be a great idea for catering a birthday. The well-presented Chocolate and Orange Cassatta was a bite sized party for the taste buds. ThinkSpirits had some amazing looking liqueurs and the versatile Pomegranate Liqueur was my favourite. Baileys have recently released their coffee version which was very addictive — I think I might prefer it over the original now.
Bultarra Australian Saltbush Lamb were doing a simple pan fry of some Easy Carve Leg and it remained juicy and tender with lots of flavour — they have a great product. I tried a sample of the very tender Game Farm Portuguese Spatchcock in Piri Piri Marinade which was also just pan fried — keep your eyes out for this one. Now I'm an avid gin drinker (socially of course) and have always considered Bombay Sapphire as my preferred higher shelf choice but after sampling the smooth tasting Brocker's London Dry Gin from Pure Spirits stand I'll now be looking out for it. Try it straight and you'll be amazed how much nicer it is on the palate to Bombay Sapphire — I was shocked. It apparently won a Masters Award over Tanqueray, Bombay Sapphire and Beefeater at The Gin Masters London 2008.
I met Mark Best from Marque Restaurant who organised sample dishes for me to photograph and then generously let me have them complimentary — oh wow. The well-presented Cured Ocean Trout and Slow Cooked Lamb Rump were soft and tender, and the Sauternes Custard with Caramel was so silky smooth and well balanced on taste. Next I met head chef Jodie Wallace from Flying Fish who also organised dish samples for me to photograph. Their signature dish of Yellow Fin Tuna was nicely presented with melt in your mouth tuna. I enjoyed the taste of the purple herb on top with it. Longrain stand provided their refreshing Tapioca pudding for my photography and free sampling which had a nice balance of flavours although nothing too experimental in this dish. I revisit Restaurant Balzac to have a quick chat with Yasmin Williams and chef Matthew Kemp who provided a complimentary sampling of their tasty Suckling Pig with Garden Peas with a fairly rich Smoked Bacon Jus. The meat was moist and juicy although I was really hoping the skin was going to be more crispy and crunchy in texture. They're running a Bastille Day competition worth $350 I think so be sure to add your entry.
I leave Taste of Sydney totally full. A day of plenty of delicious food which I somehow managed to get through without paying anything :-)
—
FIRST VISIT
Scouting for shots of the dishes
Thursday 11 March 2010 5.30-9.30 pm session
This is the first time I've been to a food festival and not spotted one of those Turkish Gozleme stands — thankfully this must be a real 'gourmet' event :-) So for those of you who are planning to check out Taste of Sydney this weekend here's some of the dishes you can expect to find — I hope you find this a helpful guide. This was mostly a scouting mission to see what's available and I'm planning to revisit this Saturday to take more photos of the dishes and hopefully try a few of them too.
Thankfully the generous Ferrero Rondnoir stand was giving out free yummy chocolates to keep my sugar energy levels high. I've highlighted below the dishes that seem to be the most appealing for me to try in terms of interesting flavours and generously sized which hopefully ends up being good value — although I'd love to try them all.
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Menu:
Check out the full Taste of Sydney 2010 menu.
Dates and Times:
Thursday 11th March: 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Friday 12th March: 12 pm - 4 pm
Friday 12th March: 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Saturday 13th March: 12 pm - 4 pm
Saturday 13th March: 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Sunday 14th March: 12 pm - 5 pm
Friday 12th March: 12 pm - 4 pm
Friday 12th March: 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Saturday 13th March: 12 pm - 4 pm
Saturday 13th March: 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Sunday 14th March: 12 pm - 5 pm
Other food blog reviews:
• Almond and the Hazelnut (Unseen TV promo video)
• Migraphy
SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: A taste test of Sydney's top quality restaurants, Meet the chefs in person
CONS: Can end up being quite expensive if you want to try a lot of dishes, Weather permitting, Time limit, Can get crowded and quite overwhelming
MUST TRY: Checking out the other dishes I didn't get to see
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FREE TASTINGS
New Zealand stand
New Zealand King Salmon
Salmon tartare canapé
Smoked salmon ceviche
NZ Regal King Salmon Pastrami canapé
Mussels
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
Whitestone cheese
Double Cream Brie, Brie
Vintage Cheddar, Camembert
Windsor Blue
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
Vanilla
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
Cookies and cream
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
Bramble Cocktail
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
Mini Wagyu Cheese Burger with capsicum relish
Apple, Cranberry and Cinnamon donuts with white chocolate or sour cherry
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
Dulce de leche and Chocolate Panna Cotta
Tempura Soft Shell Crab with Lime and Ginger Aioli
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
Friendly service team
Smoked Salmon Roulade
Chocolate and Orange Cassatta
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
ThinkSpirits
Pama Pomegranate Liqueur
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
Bultarra
Australian Saltbush Lamb Easy Carve Leg
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
Game Farm
Portuguese Spatchcock in Piri Piri Marinade
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
Pure Spirits
Broker's London Dry Gin
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
The charismatic Andy Dawson (director) signing customer purchased
RESTAURANT DISHES
Etch
Executive Chef - James Metcalfe
Dish 1: Prawn cocktail (Etch) $10
Executive Chef - James Metcalfe
Dish 1: Prawn cocktail (Etch) $10
Bécasse
Executive Chef - Justin North
Executive Chef - Justin North
SFF Note: To really appreciate this dish I think you're better off going to Plan B and get it freshly cooked for only $10.
ARIA
Executive Chef - Matt Moran
[NO PIC]
Dish 3: Strawberry jelly with Champagne foam
Pilu at Freshwater
Executive Chef - Giovanni Pilu
Executive Chef - Giovanni Pilu
Dish 2: Risotto with Crystal Bay prawns and zucchini $12
Executive Chef - Matthew Kemp
Dish 3: Warm Chocolate Fondant with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream $10
Longrain Restaurant & Bar
Executive Chef - Martin Boetz
Dish 2: Longrain Yellow curry of Byron Bay Berkshire Pork with pickled mustard greens $12
SIMON WISHLIST TO TRY :-)
Dish 3: Tapioca pudding with poached jackfruit & lychees $8
Danks Street Depot
Executive Chef - Jared Ingersoll
Dish 1: Organic Chicken Liver Parfait with Sweet Vinegar Raisan and Dressed Baby Herbs $10
SIMON WISHLIST TO TRY :-)
Restaurant Assiette
Executive Chef - Warren Turnbull
Executive Chef - Warren Turnbull
Dish 1: Sydney rock oysters with Vietnamese dressing cripsy shallot and baby coriander $10
Dish 2: Miso glazed Malborough king salmon with Japanese radish salad $12
SIMON WISHLIST TO TRY :-)
Dish 1: Terrine of Berkshire pork with 'Grain Organic Bakery' white sourdough and a remoulade dressed salad $12
Dish 2: Braised Cape Grim beef cheek and galzed onion pie in a sour cream & puff pastry case, red wine veal jus $12
Dish 3: Tiramisu roulade - chocolate sponge rolled around a Paesanella mascarpone and Marsale sabayon $8
Berowra Waters Inn
Executive Chef - Dietmar Sawyere
SIMON WISHLIST TO TRY :-)
Executive Chef - Colin Fassnidge
Dish 1: Dashi and soy marinated tuna with spicy avocade puree and pickled cauliflower and garden radish salad $10
SIMON WISHLIST TO TRY :-)
Dish 3: The 4's dark chocolate Cherry Ripe $8
Jonah's at Whale Beach
Executive Chef - George Francisco
el Toro Loco
Executive Chef - Miguel Maestre
Executive Chef - Miguel Maestre
Me mixing Paella a la Maestre
Dish 1: Manchego and Serrano Montaditos with sourdough and extra virgin olive oil $8
Dish 3: Grilled vanilla stone fruit with sangria $8
Marque
Executive Chef - Mark Best
Executive Chef - Mark Best
Dish 1: Cured Ocean Trout with Coleslaw, lemon & Dill Jelly $10
Dish 2: Slow Cooked Lamb Rump, Confit Capsicum, Eggplant caviar & Black Olive Oil $12
Dish 3: Sauternes Custard with Caramel $8
Flying Fish
Executive Chef - Peter Kuruvita
Executive Chef - Peter Kuruvita
Dish 1: Yellow fin tuna with sweet pork crackling and ruby grape fruit $10
Dish 2: Grilled king prawns with black pepper and curry leaf sauce steamed rice and curry leaf malum $12
Dish 3: Sri Lankan Love cake with raspberry tea coulis $8
Guillaume at Bennelong
Executive Chef - Guillaume Brahimi
Executive Chef - Guillaume Brahimi
Buon Ricordo
Executive Chef - Armando Percuoco
Executive Chef - Armando Percuoco
[NO PIC]
Dish 1: Pasta e piselli: Tubetti pasta with peas, onions and bacon $8
[NO PIC]
Dish 2: Fagottini di carne: Homemade sausage bound with parmesan and truffle egg, served with rucola $10
[NO PIC]
Dish 3: Braciolette Napoletana: Veal rolled with parsley, pine-nuts, sultanas and garlic cooked with fresh tomato $12
The Festival grounds
Entrance
Crown Bank lineup — look out for sellers walking around as well.
SMEG stand - cool retro coloured fridges
Plenty of stands
Opera Bar stand
Chandon stand
Victor Churchill stand
King Island Dairy stand
Planet Cake stand
