Crave Sydney Itali-Anna Dessert Degustation at Bather's Pavilion

We rushed to Bather’s Pavilion after work for the one-off Crave Sydney dessert degustation dinner. Bather’s is one of my favourite places to eat and this meal was a special treat. I enjoyed all the starters especially the vanilla panna cotta with little mango caviar giving the sudden burst of sweetness. The ‘main course’ with goat cheese with cannoli and beetroot gave us a break from the sweetness. My favourite was the very smooth chocolate crema cake with a hint of peach from the sorbet.

I will save the citrus crackling bar for later.

Details:
Bathers' Pavilion Restaurant
4 The Esplanade
Balmoral Beach
NSW 2088
http://www.batherspavilion.com.au/
Crave Sydney 2012
http://cravesydney.com/event.php?intid=3299

Crave Sydney Luke Mangan Pop Up Restaurant at Thomas Dux

We made it to Luke Mangan’s pop-up restaurant at Thomas Dux Crows Nest as part of the Crave Sydney festival. The deli section of the grocery was bracketed for 40 diners with Chef Mangan and his team working behind the counter.

The meal was served tapas style and all the dishes were accentuated by different spices “from Morocco to Mexico”. My favourites were the curry spiced tempura prawns in steamed buns (served like a taco), and the succulent BBQ rubbed baby chicken.

Confession: we took an extra chocolate doughnut dessert home for later (sorry!)

Details:
Luke Mangan Pop Up Restaurant
Crave Sydney 2012
Thomas Dux Grocer Crows Nest
http://cravesydney.com/event.php?intid=3581

Crave Sydney Night Noodle Market

We paid a visit to the annual Crave Sydney Noodle Market on an unusually warm evening. It was packed with the after-hour crowd when we arrived. Struggled to get a table, we started the evening off with my favourite pork belly with rice from La Mint. We also sampled a variety of dishes from Pad Thai, fish cakes to mini pan cakes. You will find the big queues at the familiar names such as Din Tai Fung and Mamak despite paying a premium for the food. It is worth going once a year given the atmosphere (I suppose?)

Details:
Crave Sydney Night Noodle Markets
Hyde Park North
For 2013, October 3-5, 8-12, 15-19; 5-10pm
http://cravesydney.com/content/night-noodle-markets/gjoc54

Pilu at Freshwater (Sydney)

I was treated to a Sunday lunch by my partner at Pilu at Freshwater (thanks babe). The weather was stunning that day and we had a lovely view from the table, accompanied by equally great service.

The food was fantastic throughout starting from the crispy bread with truffle honey ricotta. Speghetti with sea urchin was full of flavours from the sea. The highlight was the roasted suckling pig – soft, succulent meat with perfect crackling. We barely had room for our pistachio frangipane and mandarin tortino pannacotta desserts.

Details:
Pilu at Freshwater
"On the beach”
 Moore Road
Freshwater NSW 2096
http://www.piluatfreshwater.com.au/

Ventuno (Sydney)

It was the boss’ shout at a work dinner with overseas guests and he took us to Ventuno Pizzeria Birreria Enoteca at Walsh Bay. The dining room may be a bit too dark for business.

We ordered plenty of anti-pasti to start with and I particularly enjoyed the mozzarella with tomato. For main course I had the fazzoletti pasta (or the ‘handkerchief’ – think extra-large size ravioli) with a sausage and pumpkin filling and burnt butter sauce. The sweetness of the pumpkin worked very well with the sausage. Despite the generous serving I polished the 3 handkerchiefs in no time.

Details:
Ventuno Pizzeria Birreria Enoteca
21 Hickson Road
Walsh Bay NSW 2000
http://www.ventuno.com.au

Bao Dao (Chatswood Sydney)

We went to Bao Dao (Treasure Island, a nickname for Taiwan), a newly opened casual dining place at Chatswood, for dinner on a Friday night. The menu was very simple with all the classic Taiwanese street food in night markets – salted fried chicken, stewed pork knuckle, noodles... I particularly enjoyed the rice bowl with pork crackling. The greasy pork fat mixed well with the streamed rice. It is probably not good for your health, but certainly will satisfy your taste buds.

Details:
Bao Dao
Shop 8, 376 Victoria Avenue
Chatswood
http://www.baodao.com.au

Clareville Kiosk (Sydney)

We arrived at Clareville Kiosk for Sunday lunch. It was a nice drive along to northern beaches but the restaurant was not easy to find.

Aiming for a long enjoyable lunch, we went for the 6 course degustation. The meal was consistently good throughout. The seafood chowder at the start was my favourite. The eye fillet main course was extremely tender. And the pre-dessert apple crumble goat cheese ice-cream was a fantastic cleanser prior the carrot cake dessert. Portion of dessert should be bigger for a satisfying meal.

The newly awarded Chef Hat is well deserved.

Details:
Clareville Kiosk
27 Delecta Avenue
Clareville Beach
Avalon NSW 2107
http://clarevillekiosk.com.au/

David Jones Noodle Bar (Sydney)

I was brought by work colleagues to the Noodle Bar at David Jones Food Hall for a quick lunch. We got there early to avoid the queue which quickly built up over lunch time.

Menu prices are much higher than the normal food court, but the quality of food was reasonably good. My Thai chicken curry was sufficiently hot and the colleague’s Pad Thai looked appetising. And it was nice looking at the open kitchen to see the dishes being made.

Details:
Noodle Bar at David Jones Food Hall
65-77 Market Street
Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.davidjones.com.au/stores/Market-Street-Sydney