Taste of Sydney pre drinks: Mesha by Eau de Vie

Edit: The Thursday night session of Taste of Sydney is not going ahead due to weather conditions. The organisers are anticipating to open as planned for the 12.00pm Friday session. Regular updates on Twitter.

It's fantastically exciting that it's Taste of Sydney time again, despite the miserable Sydney weather and forecasts for a prolonged month, at least, of further miserable weather. Nontheless, I'll be there with gumboots and a poncho as Taste of Sydney hits its fourth year at Centennial Park.

This year brings a bunch of new event features and a restaurant line-up that has a lot of familiar faces but new names to the fold. One stall of which I'm particularly excited to see is the Eau de Vie crew presented by Ketel One vodka.

Mesha by Eau de Vie
(Image courtesy of Behind Bars)

The stand will be manned by the Eau de Vie team, including Ketel One's National Brand Ambassador, David Beatty. The stall will feature five of Eau de Vie's signature cocktails featuring Ketel One vodka, including their best seller, the Mesha - see recipe below.

See you at Taste of Sydney - rain, hail or shine with a cocktail in hand. Get your tickets and Crowns (1 Crown = $1) at the door or here.

Mesha (by Eau de Vie)
Ingredients:
50ml Ketel One Citroen® vodka
20ml fresh pineapple juice
20ml fresh lime juice
15ml triple sec
15ml Falernum
5 fresh raspberries

Cinnamon Sugar Rim:
Combine equal parts of white sugar and cinnamon powder. Use a lime quarter to moisten the rim of the glass so the mixture sticks.

Method:
Muddle the fresh raspberries in your shaker, then add all ingredients with ice. Shake vigorously and double strain in a chilled cocktail glass, ready with the cinnamon sugar rim.

Seeing The Forresters for the trees

The latest ownership change at The Forresters in Surry Hills (once renowned for its $5 steaks) has seen the pub take on an Italian bent, thanks to the same guys behind the revamps of the Norfolk, Flinders, Carrington and Abercrombie pubs.

From Central Station, The Forresters is the third pub you'll see heading up Foveaux Street, and requires quite a serious uphill hike past the Merivale-owned Excelsior/El Loco. A quick bevvy at the rather dodgy KB's - the first pub - might be needed to steel the nerves of the stiletto-heeled up that incline.

The Forresters dining room, corner Foveaux and Riley Streets, Surry Hills

I'd never been to The Forresters regularly in the past, even when it was one of the work locals, but this revamp has seriously upped the ante.

In addition to the front bar and booth-lined diner style room, there's an outdoors-y section and a newly opened third level for "sit down dinners"; although the same menu of Italian hits is available throughout the venue.

Even when sharing among three, the one-page menu of snacks, salads, rotisserie of the day, pizzas, pastas, mains, sandwiches and sides makes choosing an appropriately sized meal a little difficult.

Smoked mozzarella arancini

Easy enough to share are the arancini of smoked mozzarella served on a river of a tomato-based sauce. Well sized and perfectly golden, the forks in the tin cans on the tables are deemed the cutlery of choice for the arancini, although we could have gone with either the knife or spoon as well.

Smoked mozzarella arancini

While some of balls didn't quite ooze with melty smoked mozzarella, the smoky flavours were certainly present amid the creamy risotto; although some of the rice was on the undercooked side and crunchier than desired.

Poppers - pork and sage stuffed fried peppers

I'd never imagined that the battered and deep fried combination of capsicum and pork mince with sage could be so eye-openingly scrumptious; helped along with a flavoured aioli of sorts.

These, designed to be 'popped' into the mouth in one go, had some quality filling and were unexpectedly juicy - most likely with juices from the cooked capsicum - hence, the unglamourous shove-it-in-in-one-go approach.

Balsamic ribs

The quite-generous portion of ribs from the snacks part of the menu was a pleasant surprise, and it was these that had the table in a finger-licking lull. Beneath the tangy glaze was a familiar array of spice flavours, giving depth to the soft pork that nudged easily off the bone.

Pizza with nduja, tallegio and mashed potato

We skipped over the $50 Pay Day pizza option (with lobster, truffle and truffle salami) and went with one of the white based options (as opposed to tomato's red base). While I was immediately drawn to the nduja salami paste topping, I hesitated at the carb-on-carb action that was mashed potato on pizza.

The bubbled and burnished thin pizza base had been spread lightly with a layer of creamy mashed potato; dotted with not-quite-enough nduja bits; and then sprinkled with Spanish onion and tallegio cheese.

With cheese melted all over the creamy mash, it was actually an ideal combination that didn't feel too heavy and which smoothed out the quite spicy hits of the nduja. That's a win for carb-on-carb.

Salt cod parmigiana with Italian slaw and potato salad

Less of a win but most alluring to my fellow diners was the salt cod parmigiana, served with sides of lightly dressed cabbage slivers of Italian slaw and creamy, dill-heavy (just the way I like it) potato salad which also come as sides with the daily rotisserie plate.

Looking every bit the classic parmigiana with a golden crumb, tomato sauce, melted cheese and diced parsley, the thick fillet of salt cod was, unsurprisingly, salty and a bit dry, and unfortunately not much more.

Lemon tart thickshake (left) and tiramisu knickerbocker glory (right)

It may have been a couple more bottles of the reasonably priced Italian Falesco Est! Est! Est! di Montefiascone white wine before we contemplated desserts. With just two options on the menu, the choice was easy - both.

The lemon tart thickshake was the one that intrigued me, and the lightly citrusy, airy and creamy, pastel yellow concoction did not disappoint, especially with its biscuit crumble garnish. The tiramisu knickerbocker glory was essentially a tiramisu in a tall glass, albeit a very well made one with a decent coffee hit in the sponge fingers.

As we departed the dining room through the still-packed front bar, it was clear that the cool pub vibe had been instilled almost immediately in the venue. And despite some menu misses, we would have to see The Forresters for the trees and hike back up that darned hill again for poppers, pizzas and lemon tart shakes.

Japan via the Sokyo Bar cocktail list

I have my eyes peeled for the next ridiculously cheap, low-cost carrier airfare deal to Japan. In the meantime, I'll just have to make do and immerse myself in Japanese food and drink. But then, drinks and dinner at the Sokyo Bar at The Darling/The Star isn't too shabby a consolation prize.

AKA Collins at Sokyo Bar, The Star / The Darling, Pyrmont

Last time I was at Sokyo with friends, it was all about the food (okay, and sake too). This time, with a drinking companion in tow, it was going to be all about the cocktails, many of which feature Japanese ingredients and flavours. After enough drinks, I would probably be able to pretend I was in Japan anyway.

The thought of blood orange sorbet in a cocktail was irresistable, so the AKA Collins of both Plymouth and sloe gins, lemon juice, soda and said sorbet was the first refreshing cab off the rank.

The boozy hit was hidden under the slight bitterness from the blood orange, while the flourishing candied orange wheel garnish was a fantastical and glossy fruit chip, with even the peel rendered edible.

Nashi Pear

I started with the Nashi Pear, as I'm a sucker for any liquor that involves fat washing to instil flavour. This cinnamon fat-washed Havana Club 7 Year Old rum was shaken with Poire William pear liqueur, pear puree, lime and aged bitters for an uncommon fruit cocktail with warming spice undertones.

Yamamomo Sour

Round two brought out the whimsical side with a very Japanese concoction of both Choya umeshu plum wine and sake, shaken up as a typical sour cocktail with lemon juice and egg white, and the fun and furry Japanese mountain peach, or yamamomo. The miniature preserved peach added both a visual and textural aspect to this not-too-sweet cocktail.

Shiso-jito

Getting cheeky with mojitos now, the Shiso-jito toes the same line with Havana Club Blanco rum, lime and soda, but adds an intriguing kalamansi lime and shiso leaf sorbet to the fold. The underlying herbaceousness almost makes this feel like a healthy drink; the rum, not so much.

Nihon Mai Tai

The cinnamon Havana Club rum makes a reappearance in the Nihon Mai Tai, which shouldn't be all that strange a concept given the melding of Japanese culture in Hawaii.

The fun part is that, in addition to a tropical pineapple syrup and lime as is fairly typical in a Mai Tai, the cocktail features Japanese Calpico - a Japanese bottled drink made from "high quality non fat milk". It doesn't add too much of a creamy flavour to the cocktail at all and is one of my favourites of the night.

Citrus Orchid

The other one on the podium for me would probably be the Citrus Orchid, featuring Ketel One vodka, Japanese shochu spirit, lemon juice and vanilla, shaken with egg white for a foamy head.

I think it might have been the curious and uncommon combination of lemon and vanilla that piqued my interest, as the cocktail had me thinking lollies, flowers and other sweet things.

Kingfish miso ceviche, green chilli, crispy potato

And in respect of the very important Responsible Service of Alcohol, we shared some food from the Sokyo kitchen. The full menu is available and can actually be eaten at the bar, without a reservation.

The food at Sokyo, while delicately handled and presented, actually has quite robust flavours so as to stand up to the equally flavourful cocktails, so food and cocktail matching is quite achievable.

We started with a new ceviche style kingfish dish, that sang with citrus notes beneath the thinnest threads of crispy fried potato. I was very tempted to polish off the entire small serve, but my drinking partner unfortunately had her wits about her still.

Moreton Bay bug sashimi, burnt butter mayo, passionfruit jelly, Vegemite croutons

One of the 'wow' dishes from my previous visit, the sashimi of Moreton Bay bug was just stunningly fresh on its own, though the jelly and miniscule Vegemite croutons add a bit of fun.

Tuna umami, Choya umeshu, garlic soy umami

This tuna sashimi dish matched the others in quality and also featured a firm jelly, presumably of the umeshu plum wine.

Baby capsicum relleno, King crab, feta, spicy tuna, yuzu soy sauce

Tempura dishes are generally satisfying but this particular one has not failed to thrill me on both occasions. I think it's the combination of spicy sashimi tuna and King crab flesh, with the yuzu-strong dressing just the icing on the cake.

Beef short rib, caramelised eschallots, BBQ teriyaki

But the surprise dish of the night for me was the beef short rib robata. You could smell its char-grilled goodness metres away and in the mouth, it was incredibly tender and velvety. The alternate skewering with sweet, caramelised eschallots was simple but hit the spot so very well.

Tsukune chicken, shallots, pineapple ginger sauce

The beef didn't leave much of the spotlight for the tsukune chicken meatball, which was shiny with its sweet pineapple and ginger glazed sauce.

Queensland roll - spanner crab, spicy avocado, soy paper

There's no holding back when it comes to the sushi part of the menu - head chef Chase Kojima has taken the best from a few worlds for some deliciously unseen varieties of sushi.

The Queensland roll, featuring spanner crab from that state, is wrapped in a delicate soy paper rather than nori seaweed, and filled with lots of naturally sweet spanner crab flesh. Avocado comes in a spicy puree form while rice puffs add an unusual aspect of texture to the rolls.

Spicy tuna crispy rice nigiri, truffle salt, spicy mayo

One of their most popular dishes is the spicy tuna crispy rice nigiri, which features a block of golden, crunchy deep fried rice. Who would have thought that crisp fried rice would pair so well with soft, raw tuna? The truffle salt and spicy mayonnaise no doubt help the cause.

Japanese BBQ roll - Karubi short rib, gochijang sauce, white kimchi

And in another hit of impressively grilled beef short rib, the Japanese BBQ roll filled with some decidedly Korean flavours was my drinking partner's pick of the night, even though we were both at that point very full with both booze and food.

The softly pink beef just worked so well with the spicy sauce and rice, while the white pickled daikon on the side was a zingy palate cleanser.

There was no room or inclination for dessert on this visit. Thanks to the comfortable stools at the bar, it wasn't an issue to linger over the last of our cocktails, pretending that we hadn't eaten too much. And as for Japan, I think the posh Tokyo bars and their cocktails can wait.

Disclosure: Food, booze and shoes is acquainted with staff at Sokyo and sampled the cocktails as a guest. All food items were paid for separately.