Happy Chinese New Year 2011

Another year has passed and for the Chinese Lunar calendar this Thursday marks the new year for us. It is the year of Rabbit and one of my colleagues told me that Rabbit year is always a good year. People born in the year of Rabbit are (quoted from a site) "articulate, talented, and ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have an excellent taste. Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky". Now how I wish I was born in the year of Rabbit!

Living in Australia and being away from my family during Chinese New Year means missing the fun of family gathering during new year's eve and the big feast. Also not to be missed are the cookies and sweets that my Mum usually prepares(either bought or gift from friends) for the new year celebration.

So I decided to make pineapple tart since it is one of the cookies that my Mum prepares for Chinese New Year. I have adapted the recipe from GroupRecipes.

 

Ingredients

125g butter

125g margarine

50g icing sugar

3 egg yolks

400g all purpose flour

1 egg yolk extra for garnish

Filling: Homemade pineapple jam

2 pineapples, cut in chunks

1/2 tsp salt

12 tbs caster sugar

1 stick cinnamon

1 sachet vanilla sugar (I used 1 tsp vanilla essence)

Method

1. Blend the pineapple chunks in an electric blender.

2. Sift to drain off excess juice.

3. Cook pineapple, sugar, cinnamon stick, vanilla sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and let them simmer.

4. Stir until the mixture dry and thick.

5. Beat in egg yolks, icing sugar, margarine and butter with a high speed mixer for about 2 minutes.

6. Fold in flour.

7. Roll the dough and fill with pineapple jam.

8. Place on grease baking trays then brush the top of cookies with egg yolk.

9. Bake in preheat oven at 180C for about 20 minutes or until golden.

Happy Chinese New Year to all readers who are celebrating!
May the new year bring good luck and good fortune for everyone.

A Friday Afternoon of Overindulgence at Quay

 

I have a 'binge' eating buddy (Mr. Pad), okay maybe I am exaggerating a little bit, but the two of us will occasionally catch up over a long and sumptuous lunch. It started 3 years ago when we left the company where we met and went our separate ways. We always try to catch up once a month over Friday lunch where we ended up walking back to work feeling very full and sleepy, but with a big grin on our faces.

Crazily enough, Mr. Pad has recently joined my company and to celebrate our reunion he suggested that we should treat ourselves to Quay restaurant. We arrived at 12 noon and it was still very quiet, only us and another table at the far end corner.

The restaurant offers a contemporary and sophisticated, yet relaxed setting. Accompanied by a handful of very professional staff and knowledgeable sommelier; we knew instantly that it was going to be a very wonderful 'catch-up' lunch.

Once we have ordered our entrées and mains, we were immediately served with a selection of warm bread to choose from (wholemeal, white sourdough & unfortunately I forgot what the last one was).

Wholemeal bread with Butter

A complimentary Amuse Bouche of tuna with cucumber, apple and crème fraiche. The tuna was very soft and fresh, paired perfectly with the cucumber and apple to create a very refreshing starter.

Amuse Bouche

Sea Pearls 

Sashimi tuna, sea scallop, crab, smoked eel, octopus

Mr. Pad and I ordered the same Quay's signature entrée, the Sea Pearls. Each were delicately presented and have their own distinct taste and texture. We started with the sweet mud crab (my favourite of the four) wrapped in tapioca pearls and topped with edible silver leaf. Moving on to the second sea pearl was the smoked eel wrapped in octopus. The last two sea pearls, Sea Scallop and Sashimi Tuna were so delicate and soft, they were the perfect two to end our Sea Pearls journey.

Mains
1. Medium rare Angus Fillet on a bed of potato puree (own description)
2. Free range chicken breast cooked slowly with truffle butter, spring vegetables, young garlic cream, jamon & oloroso juices

When it comes to mains I usually go for steak or seafood but rarely chicken. However the word truffle butter caught my eyes and I made my decision there & then. Mr. Pad was kind enough to order the medium rare Angus fillet so he could share it with me. I thought I've made a huge mistake of ordering the chicken when I tried the steak. It was cooked to perfection; medium rare and delectably tender. But when I had my first bite of the chicken covered in truffle sauce, I was converted. The butter complimented the tender chicken, creating a pleasant melting sensation.

White Nectarine Snow Egg

Here comes the moment that I have been waiting for, dessert time! We ordered the two most talked about Peter Gilmore's desserts; the legendary Snow Egg and famous Eight Texture Chocolate Cake. This month's ingredient for the snow egg is white nectarine which I could taste all over the granita.We cracked open the sweet meringue and discovered the freshly made nectarine ice cream. At the base was vanilla custard made of vanilla beans, which was so fragrant. My advise is to try and scoop all the different ingredients together and have them in one mouthful.

Eight texture chocolate cake 

Featuring Amedei Chocolate

Once we made sure that there was nothing left for us to scoop from the snow egg, we moved on to the chocolate cake. To be honest by the time the waiter concluded her explanation of the eight different chocolates, Mr. Pad & I totally forgot what they were. All I could remember was that we were giggling all the way until the last spoonful. It was so rich yet surprisingly not overtly sweet. Did I taste the eight different texture? Perhaps, if I have taken more care and attention while eating it. The cake base was crunchy and I remember tasting hazelnut and caramel in the middle.

Petit Fours

To end our meal, Mr. Pad ordered a cup of coffee so we could get the complimentary petit fours. By this time we were too 'intoxicated' by the chocolate cake we paid no attention at all to the petit fours' description. The lighter colour was milk chocolate with a hint of hazelnut which tasted more profound than the dark chocolate (with crunchy-Ferrero chocolate texture).

I think it is your turn now to take on the Quay journey!

Mini Victoria Sponge Cakes with Lemon Curd & Cream

I am finally blogging again, well at least for today. I have to admit that the past few months my work has taken most of my time. And all I wanted to do on the weekends is to put my feet up and laze around at home. But I thought I resurface to say hello and Happy New Year! This year will be a very exciting year for me and my husband (lot of changes), the big Europe trip is one of them.

I am keeping this entry short and sweet, as I wanted to share my latest attempt in trying the recipe from the Delicious Sweet magazine. The reason for choosing this recipe was because I had all the ingredients at home and it looked simple enough to follow.

Makes 8

125g unsalted butter, softened
175g caster sugar
3 eggs
175g plain flour, sifted, plus extra to dust
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbs milk, plus extra if needed
1/2 cup good-quality lemon curd*
150ml thickened cream, whipped
Icing sugar, to dust

Preheat oven to 170C. Grease and flour two 12-hole patty pan trays.
Using electric beaters, beat butter and caster sugar until thick and pale. And eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each. Fold in flour and baking powder, then stir in milk to give a soft dropping consistency (add a little more milk if needed).
Divide mixture among cupcake pans and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove cakes from oven and cool slightly, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To assemble, turn one cake upside down, spread with 1 heaped teaspoon each of curd and cream, then sandwich with another cake (right way up). Repeat with remaining cakes, curd and cream, then dust with icing sugar.

*Lemon curd - available from gourmet food shops or you can use the following recipe to make your own.

Make 1/2 cup

1 egg
30ml fresh lemon juice (1 lemon)
1/2 tbs finely shredded lemon zest
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature

In a heat proof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water (careful not to boil), whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. Stirring constantly (to prevent from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick. This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Add the lemon zest and let cool. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Cover immediately (so a skin doesn't form) and refrigerate for up to a week.

Japanese Mango Cheesecake

10 things I love about summer in Sydney: the sun, longer days, a day at the beach, getting a tan, summer breeze, holiday season, X'mas parties, lots of eating & drinking, cherries and MANGOES!

Unfortunately we started the summer season with a very gloomy weather; lots of rain and the occasional glimpse of the sun peeking through the thick clouds. Apparently it is going to be a wet summer in Australia! Oh how I long for a trip to the beach and soak under the sun.

Fret no more as the sun has come out & play this week, and hopefully it will stay for a little longer. Inspired by this lovely weather I suddenly had the urge to share my latest attempt at baking. One of my friend generously shared this recipe with me over a year ago and I have since baked the cheesecake every time I crave for one.

This recipe is very easy to follow, but what is more rewarding is the fact that it taste light - not like the typical heavy/thick cheesecake you get from the shop. With the abundant supply of mangoes during summer, I decided to 'modify' the recipe slightly by adding fresh mangoes. I really love the combination and would highly recommend not to layer it with thick cream.

Fresh out of the oven

The original recipe is only for the cheesecake. I decided to layer it with thick cream (which I regrettably think it was unnecessary) and topped with fresh mangoes.

 

Ingredients

1 block Cream Cheese

300g Sour Cream

80g Sugar

1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence

3 Egg Yolk

50g Cornflour

3 Egg White

1 tbs Lemon Juice

Method

- Preheat oven to 160C. Grease cake pan and line with baking paper.

- Mix cream cheese and sugar (with fingers), add sour cream, mix well.

- Add vanilla essence, mix well.

- Add egg yolk, mix well.

- Add cornflour, lemon juice, mix well.

- On a separate bowl, beat egg white until firm and stiff. Mix 1/2 of the egg white into cream cheese mixture, mix well. Then mix the other 1/2 egg white into mixture, but 'fold' into mixture (to keep mixture foamy).

- Pour mixture into cake pan, then sit cake pan onto a larger tray. Fill tray with boiling water (80% full). Bake in over for 1 hour.

You can have the cheesecake as it is or topped it with your favourite fruits or even ice cream. Enjoy!

Sweet Infinity, The Strand

I have fallen into my own trap, I call it the lazy trap. As you can see the last blog I posted was more than a month ago when my family was here visiting. So this week with much hesitation I forced myself out of my laziness and start blogging again.

Last week when I was looking for a camera strap at The Strand, I stumbled upon Sweet Infinity. I have been wanting to go to Sweet Infinity at Woolloomooloo for quite some time now, but I can't see to find the time to do it. I was quite disappointed to find a limited selection of cakes, nevertheless I still managed to leave the shop with a box of goodies.

Sweet Infinity is famous for its brownies, they make around 400 a week. As a chocolate lover, this is one treat not to be miss! Unfortunately I was not entirely satisfied with the brownie, to be honest I've tasted better ones. The outer layer was almost too crispy and crumbly for my liking, however the texture inside was soft. Mostly it just tasted of sugar, which overpowers the chocolate flavour.

My two(2) favourites would be the custard berry tart and lemon meringue tart. They come in two(2) sizes, small and regular. Since I wanted to try both flavours, I opted for the more reasonably (less greedy) small size. The custard berry tart, which was topped with fresh blueberries has a milder flavour compared to the lemon meringue. However if you are a HUGE fan of lemon meringue like myself, then you will love the burst of citrus flavour as you bite through it.

When it comes to tarts, I love the pastry to be just crumbly enough to bite and not overly sweet custard filling. I have to admit that both tarts delivered the same excellent consistency in the pastry and filling.

The chocolate wafer mousse was such a delicious treat. Its small bite size made it so innocent for me to have more than just one. Crunchy chocolate wafer filled with soft dark chocolate mousse that was sweet enough and topped with a blueberry for a touch of freshness.

Head over to Sweet Infinity at The Strand or Woolloomooloo for an afternoon tea indulgence. You can also grab a quick lunch - delicious selection of pies and sandwiches to choose from.

Sweet Infinity
53 Riley Street
Woolloomooloo
NSW 2011

tel 02 9331 2448

Opening hours
Mon - Fri: 7am - 4pm
Sat: 7am - 1pm

Black Sesame Macarons

 Black Sesame Macarons

After what seems like my 100th attempt, I finally managed to bake a decent batch of macarons. Ever since my successful baking experience of the Green Tea Macarons beginning of this year, I have been trying without much luck. What did I do right last time? Was it the ingredients or the temperature of the room or maybe it was the folding process? I guess I just have to keep trying, a lot harder!

Like most Asians, my mum loves black sesame. She never had black sesame macarons before, however when I mentioned that I want to bake something with sesame in it she was ecstatic. Part of the baking process was to ground the roasted sesame seeds; the aroma immediately filled up the room and my mum couldn't be happier.

Leaving the piped cookies sit for 1/2(half) hour before baking to develop a shell.

Unfortunately not all of the cookies developed that perfect smooth shell with the little feet. Most of the shells were actually cracked with no feet, however they still taste pretty good!

Recipe for the cookies was obtained from here. I did not use the Swiss Meringue Vanilla Buttercream recipe for the filling.

For my Black Sesame Macarons filling, I used the following recipe which was too sweet for my liking:

- 125gr of White Chocolate, chopped finely

- 50gr of thickened cream

- 50gr of sesame paste

- 60gr of unsalted butter, room temperature

Method

1. Whisk cream and sesame paste together in a bowl.

2. Add the white chocolate into the cream mixture.

3. Melt the butter in a pot and add into the white chocolate/cream mixture, whisk until smooth.

4. Cool it down at room temperature.

Note: you can make the filling overnight and refrigerate to keep it fresh. Leave at room temperature before putting it onto the cookies.

What flavour should I try next?

Green Tea Brûlée

Spring has finally arrived in Sydney, well almost. The weather is still changing, with lots of rainy days and strong winds. I love spring, it is my favourite season of the year. Longer days, cool weather and gorgeous blooming flowers.

It has been raining the whole day, so the best way to make full use of this weather is to stay at home and bake. I am not in the mood to bake something that I have never tried before, but at the same time I still want to experiment with new dessert. Crème Brûlée is one of the easiest dessert to make and you can either make the classic vanilla flavour or be creative by mixing your own.

When I invited MyDateWithFood over for dinner a while ago and served her Passionfruit Crème Brûlée, she mentioned that her talented sister made Green Tea Brûlée using matcha (green tea) powder. So I steal her idea (I know she won't mind) and use my Passionfruit recipe to make the Green Tea flavour. I replace the passionfruit with one(1) teaspoon of matcha powder and add vanilla pod* into the milk/cream mix.
*Split open the vanilla pod and use the non-sharp side of the knife to extract the tiny black seeds.

I have fallen in love with this Green Tea Brûlée! The strong vanilla and green tea flavours blend perfectly and the taste reminds me of Japanese Green Tea ice-cream. I feel less guilty having it from the mini ramekin; a very light and refreshing dessert to end the night.

Indonesian Pineapple Tart

Pineapple tarts, small bite-size pastries filled with pineapple jam and shiny finishing top. They are very popular in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, and are usually consumed during the Chinese New Year season.

I grew up eating this buttery tarts and was once involved in the process of baking these with my 'pastry chef' aunt. They are not on my 'must have' hometown food list, but occasionally I do crave it. My beloved mum is here visiting me and she brought some pineapple tarts along with other goodies!

There are a lot of recipes on the net and different variation according to the country of origin. However the main ingredients for the pastry are butter, egg yolk and cornstarch. The pineapple jam filling is usually made by slowly reducing and caramelizing grated fresh pineapple that has been mixed with sugar and spices.

Warning: These rich, tender, melt-in-the-mouth and not overly sweet tarts are so addictive. The tiny bite-size does not help either as I can easily eat five(5) tarts without feeling guilty.

A Weekend of Self-pampering

Every now and then we deserve to pamper ourselves, give our mind and body a relaxing treatment. Last week I received a gift voucher, free footbath and facial at Endota Spa. I decided to use it on the weekend and treat myself to an hour of pampering. It was a really nice and relaxing treatment, so much so that I fell asleep towards the end.

As a dessert lover, self-pampering also means an afternoon of cake indulgence. I went to La Renaissance for lunch, sat at the backyard and enjoyed the warm and sunny day. I ordered the Baguette Saucisson et Crudités and Lemon Tart.

I really love the Baguette, fresh and crunchy. The salami was not too spicy and it was complimented with fresh mixed salad, a light and refreshing meal.

Hungarian salami with mixed salad and cornichon mayonnaise $9

The lemon tart was a real delight for me, it was the perfect dessert to complete my meal. The tart was of the right texture, almost crumbly when you bite it. The lemon custard is probably not for everyone's tastebud, but if you love lemon or sour flavour then you will love this. It was soft and creamy, I just kept wanting more and more. The only complain I have about the cake is the size, it was way too small for me!

Lemon Tart $6

Now it's your turn to pamper yourself!

Poh's Orange Chiffon Cake

One of my all-time favourite childhood cake is the Pandan Chiffon Cake. At my hometown, this cake can easily be found from any of the local pâtisserie and it is so cheap that my mom usually buys the whole cake. I believe it is the soft, light and spongy texture which makes it so addictive.

To relive my childhood memory, my friend recommended me to use Poh's Orange Chiffon Cake recipe. It is relatively easy to follow and I managed to bake both the original (orange flavour) and improvised (pandan flavour) version. If you want to bake the Pandan Chiffon Cake, follow the recipe below and replace the orange juice & orange zest with 1/4 tsp of pandan paste or pandan essence and 1/2 cup of pandan juice (extract from pandan leaves).

Ingredients
5 egg whites (at room temperature is best)
1/2 tsp of cream of tartar
75g caster sugar (I reduced it to 50g)
5 egg yolks
7 tbs of coconut milk
5 tbs of vegetable oil
75g caster sugar (I reduced it to 50g)
5 tbs of orange juice
1 tbs of orange zest
150g self raising flour, sifted

Method
1. Preheat oven at 180 C.
2. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer till soft peaks. Add sugar one tablespoon at a time a beat thoroughly after each addition till you achieve stiff peaks. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl whisk egg yolks with caster sugar till fluffy. Add coconut milk, vegetable oil, orange zest and self raising flour and whisk until combined. Gently fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture 3 batches.
4. Pour into a 22cm baba cake tin (do not use non-stick and do not grease). Bake 30 mins at 180 C, or till skewer comes out clean.
5. When cake is out of the oven, immediately invert the cake still in the tin, and place on a cooling rack and leave to cool completely (about 1 1/2 hours).

La Renaissance Journey Continues

For the past few weeks I have been planning for my Europe trip next year, deciding on which countries and cities to visit. Choosing the countries/cities is probably one of the hardest task of my planning process as there are so many beautiful places all around Europe. Paris is definitely on my travel list! How can one resist the temptation of French butter, wine, baguette, cakes and macarons?

Unable to contain my excitement further, I visited the local French pâtisserie La Renaissance. I went during office lunch break and there was a long queue. While I queued impatiently, I kept hoping and wishing that they still have a good selection of cakes and macarons. To my surprise and excitement, there were quite a number of cakes for me to choose from.

I happily chose the Goya and Fleur De Lys, both have the same round shape and shiny, smooth surface.

Goya $8

The Goya was filled with light creamy mixed berry and passionfruit mousse. Topped with a slice of passionfruit, blueberry, raspberry, and 2 half of macaron shell on each side. The taste was not overly sweet due to the slightly sour and refreshing passionfruit flavour.

Fleur de Lys $8

If you are on the hunt for a really sinful, thick and dark chocolate cake then you definitely have to try the Fleur De Lys. Filled with Valrhona "Guanaja" 70% chocolate mousse with a creamy "Guanaja" centre, crunchy praline and chocolate biscuit base.

 Coffee & Honey and Dark Chocolate Macarons $2.50 each

My last treat of the night was the Coffee & Honey and Dark Chocolate macarons, the only available flavours at the store as they have sold out. Both macarons have the same shell consistency; crispy, soft and chewy on the inside. Surprisingly I enjoyed the Coffee & Honey more than the Dark Chocolate due to its intense coffee flavour. The Dark Chocolate macaron was still too sweet for my liking.

 

Pecan & Chocolate Tart

I finally had the courage to invite two of our closest friends over to our place for dinner. For most natural cooks, having two guests is hardly a challenge but for me it's like cooking for a major event. My cooking style is very simple or in my own definition 'lazy'. I use condiments to a bare minimum and prefer to throw everything in the oven.

Knowing the fact that I can never prepare a feast as good as my guest(mydatewithfood.blogspot.com) and her husband, I kept my menu to a simple 3-course meal. However, I promised myself to put a lot more effort in making the desserts. Mixing the known with the unknown, I made Passionfruit Crème Brûlée (you can get the recipe here) and Pecan & Chocolate Tart.

So here comes my real challenge, baking the perfect Pecan & Chocolate Tart.

To bake the perfect tart is to get the right texture in the pastry. Too hard and you are left with a chipped tooth or flying pastry like what our guests and myself experienced that night. Or if it's too soft, you are basically eating uncooked pastry. A perfect pastry should be crumbly enough to hold its shape when you cut through it without making a mess.

Unfortunately my pastry was almost as solid as a rock. It would have been a disastrous dessert if not for the perfect combination of the pecan & chocolate filling and the crème fraîche. 

Recipe adopted from Delicious Sweet edition.

Serves 8

50g unsalted butter, softened
125g light brown sugar (I reduced it to 100g)
150ml golden syrup (I replaced it with maple syrup)
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g milk chocolate, melted
200 pecan nuts, chopped, plus extra chopped pecans to serve (optional)
Icing sugar, to dust
Thick cream or ice cream, to serve (I used crème fraîche)

Pastry
1 2/3 cups (250g) plain flour
110 icing sugar, sifted
110g chilled unsalted butter, chopped
1 egg

For the pastry, place flour and icing sugar in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add butter and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add egg and process until mixture comes together and form a ball. Enclose in plastic wrap, then chill for 30 minutes.
Roll pastry out on a lightly floured workbench and use to line a 23cm loose-bottomed tart pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to chill.
Preheat oven to 180C. Line tart with baking paper, then fill with pastry weights or uncooked rice and blind-bake for 10 minutes. Remove paper and weights, then return the tart to the oven for a further 5 minutes until golden and dry.
Meanwhile, place butter, sugar and golden syrup in a bowl and beat until smooth. Add egg, vanilla, chocolate and nuts. Pour into tart case and bake for 30 minutes or until set. Set aside to cool.
Dust with icing sugar and serve at room temperature with cream or ice cream. Garnish with extra nuts, if desired.

Lost in the World of Bacco Pasticceria

Ever since my blogger buddy (My Date With Food) posted her mouth-watering blog of Bacco Pasticceria, I have this urge to have my own Bacco experience.

Finally the day has arrived! Like a child lost in a candy world I was ecstatic, giggling all the way to Chifley Square at the prospect of indulging myself in a tempting selection of pastries. As soon as I was in front of the window display I knew straightaway that I was in trouble. Which one should I try? After what seems like an eternity, I made up my mind on the Rose Macaroon and Caramelised Pear Butterscotch Mousse.

Too excited to notice/check the receipt that one of the order was wrong, I happily walk away with my Bacco box. Only after I arrived home and open the box (to salivate over the cakes) had I realised that the lady behind the counter has mistaken/misheard the Caramelised Pear for the Panna Cotta. However, this sweet mishap does not bother me at all as I will be coming back for more.

Panna Cotta $6

 I am not a big fan of panna cotta as it is usually very sweet and firm in texture. However, Bacco's panna cotta was softer more like a custard texture. I love the fact that they used vanilla beans in the panna cotta, strong aroma and not overly sweet. The berries were great contrast to the vanilla panna cotta, bursting with sour flavour, leaving me feeling contented.

Rose Macaroon $6

The rose macaroon was my first pick, its beautiful tower of macaroon and the delicate rose petal perched so elegantly on top won my heart instantly. The almond meringue macaroon was very light and chewy, with sprinkle of crunchy crushed almond nuts on top. It's filled with fresh strawberries, fruit jam in the middle and subtle rose flavour infused ganache.

Bacco Pasticceria
Chifley Plaza
2 Chifley Square, Sydney
Tel: (02) 9223 9552

Le Manifique Astral

Astral, located on the 17th floor of the Star City Hotel Tower, it has one of the most magnificent harbour & city views that we Sydneysiders take for granted. Dining at Astral that evening I felt like a tourist, re-discovering the magical Sydney city through Astral's floor to ceiling glass wall. Its modern interior with a touch of elegance and dim lighting are the perfect setting for fine dining.

Unfortunately we were slightly disappointed with the level of service that evening. Even though we were immediately ushered to our table upon arriving and presented with the wine list, it wasn't until a good 15 minutes later when we finally had one of the waitresses attention. She came with her pen & notepad ready to take our order, but soon realised that no one has even shown us the menu! Thankfully her professionalism shined through & we had her full attention all night.

My first dish was the light and aromatic Smoked Salmon, one of Sean Connolly's signature dish. The dish arrived covered with a smoky glass and as soon as the cover was lifted, the smoked chamomile aroma fills up the room. The thinly sliced salmon was very fresh & soft, and it had that subtle smoky taste.

Marinated king salmon, Isigny crème fraîche, pea tendrils, chamomile pearls, chamomile smoke

My husband had the Mandagery Creek Venison two ways, tartare and carpaccio. Initially I was slightly afraid that the venison might have a strong smell, but the dish proved me wrong. Wonderfully lean and freshly cut tartare, it just melts in my mouth. The carpaccio was marinated long enough to soak the vinaigrette flavour, complimenting the raw venison taste.

 Tartare & Carpaccio with crisp potatoes, grebiche vinaigrette

We paid an extra $40 for one of the mains, the Australian Marron Tail. Such a delicate dish, we were definitely paying for the quality instead of quantity and it was worth every dollar. The marron had that crunchy fresh texture and mildly sweet taste. The bisque & parmesan froth was creamy yet light, I kept soaking the perfectly cooked ravioli into the froth and savour every moment of it.

Slow cooked marron tail, open ravioli, creamed leek, bisque, parmesan froth

The other main was the Beef Cheek with potato puree & sauteed mushrooms. A generous serving of beef cheek, cut thickly but cooked long enough to achieve a very tender result. This tender meat was paired with the soft & creamy potato puree that has soaked up some of the beef jus.

Potato purée & sautéed mushrooms

To end our meal we ordered one dessert each, but of course I had most of mine and some of my husband's. As a chocolate lover I ordered the Chocolate Dacquoise. An interesting layer of sweet & sour passionfruit and coconut cream flavour, covered in tempered chocolate and topped with champagne foam. The coconut sorbet was like a palate cleanser, very refreshing and not too overpowering with coconut flavour.

Passionfruit, coconut & champagne foam

Surprisingly, I enjoyed my husband's dessert more than mine. Having had 2 meat dishes for his entree & main (venison & beef cheek) he went for the light & refreshing Mandarin sorbet. The mandarin sorbet was served with fresh mandarin juice, jelly and the most interesting ingredient: pop rocks candy. Pop rocks candy creates a fizzy reaction when it dissolves in the mouth. So imagine eating the sweet mandarin sorbet & juice and suddenly you have this sparkling sensation.

Sorbet, compressed segments & soup; lemon balm & hibiscus jelly

Another spectacular dining experience that was full of flavour & creativity. Where to next?

Astral Restaurant
Level 17, 80 Pyrmont St
Pyrmont, Sydney

Pre-Theatre
2 course $70
3 course $85