Samosorn by Chat Thai – Thai for food hall

The Asian concepts of street food and hawker stalls are yet to develop in Australia but with the opening of Samosorn Thai Local Food Hall in the Myer food court in Pitt Street Mall last Saturday, we're a step closer.

Entry sign at Samosorn Thai Local Food Hall at Sydney Central Plaza food court
(beneath Myer), Pitt Street Mall, Sydney

The latest venue from the people behind Chat Thai, Samosorn – Thai for 'food hall' – brings a Thai street food vibe to one of the city's busiest food courts; or at least as much of that vibe as Sydney's relatively strict food safety regulations allow.

Seating in Samosorn

Display cabinets filled with vintage Thai packaging

But don't expect your average food court experience – Samosorn has gone all-out on recreating a Bangkok streetside styled with hawker stall signage, authentic wooden stools, vintage decorations and even a mock roadside sewer.

Mock sewer

Samosorn "food stalls"

Designed to take the rat racer out of the Sydney CBD, if only for an hour lunch break, Samosorn offers atmospheric, escape-from-a-food-court, in-restaurant seating that really is worlds away from the fluorescence of the rest of the food court, which seems to be slowly picking up its game.

Seating in Samosorn

The food hall concept focuses on fast, fresh Thai food prepared from a number of stations. Diners order from the front register, find a table and wait for food to be delivered to their upright spatula table numbers.

Noodle station

There are plenty of dishes that will be familiar to Chat Thai diners – there's no escaping from our national favourites of padt thai and chicken satay skewers, and Chat Thai crowd-pleasers like grapao mhu grob stir fried crisp pork belly with rice.

Items for the grill

Pork skewers on the grill

But with dedicated grill and salad sections in Samosorn's open kitchen, it's hard to go past dishes like the tender mhu bing grilled pork skewers or the north-east Thai Issan-style som dtum taardt; a Samosorn signature dish that you're unlikely to find anywhere else in Sydney at the moment.

Shredded green papaya

Som dtum salad station

A variation of the som dtum green papaya salad that the Thais like so fiery hot, the som dtum taardt is served to share, "family style" on a colourful round platter.

It features a freshly mortar-and-pestle mixed som dtum variety – ours a Thai favourite of som dtum thai-bpu with pungently pickled and fermented small whole black crabs – surrounded by an array of sides to be eaten with the salad.

Som dtum taardt

The pickled crab papaya salad comes with house made pork and fish skin crackling, thin rice noodles, a hard-boiled egg, blanched choy sum, raw cabbage, Thai basil, bean sprouts, peanuts and firm tofu.

It becomes a DIY salad that never loses interest, with the spicy, fishy som dtum thai-bpu playing star to a cast of supporting and contrasting ingredients, most of them pretty healthy.

Som dtum thai

We also had the normal som dtum thai salad, served without the fishy crabs and plenty of green beans, cherry tomatoes, peanuts, dried shrimp and fresh chilli in what was probably considered a "medium" level of heat for Thai diners, but a little painful for me.

The accompanying woven basket of warm sticky rice is ideal to temper the chilli heat of the som dtum.

Gai yaang - Char grilled marinated chicken

After the som dtum there was tender, moist relief in the whole char grilled chicken, served with a sweet dipping sauce of smoked chilli and tamarind.

The chopped pieces of the whole chicken had a delectable smokiness from the char grill and sweetly marinated, crisp caramelised skin.

Lodt Shong Singapore drink

Also helping me cope with the spice was a dessert-like drink of coconut milk and chewy green pandan noodles – much like Malaysian cendol – and some jackfruit or mango, I think, cooled down with loads of crushed ice in a giant glass mug.

There's also a range of quite traditional crushed ice drinks and herbal teas on offer, including the nahm buoy sweet pickled plum iced tea and the nahm krachiap iced hibiscus drink.

Condiments and seasonings

Deep fry station

With a pretty extensive menu of noodles – stir fried and in soup – grilled items, spicy salads and one-plate-rice dishes predominantly sub $14, food court lunches are taking on new meaning at Samosorn, which is taking on the streets of Bangkok in the heart of Sydney CBD.

Disclosure: Food, booze and shoes dined as a guest of Samosorn, and is acquainted with staff and owners of Samosorn and Chat Thai.

Food is Fashion at Westfield Sydney

Adding weight to the theory that the current obsession for all things food is a fashionable trend, Westfield Sydney – that epic homage to both fashion and food on the end of Pitt Street Mall and Market Street – is presenting a free photographic exhibition that features fashion style of real shoppers with signature dishes from the restaurants in Westfield Sydney.

Happy :ab for Food is Fashion photographic exhibition at Westfield Sydney,
Pitt Street, Sydney

Launched earlier this week at Cloudy Bay Fish Co. and on until Thursday, 15 August 2013, the ‘Food is Fashion’ exhibition was curated by fashion blogger Nicole Cooper of confidentliar.com who talked about the great fusion between food and fashion.

Din Tai Fung for Food is Fashion exhibition

The photos and styling were done by food stylist and food photography duo, Janet Mitchell and Tanya Zouev, with the photos currently on show across the food Level 5 at Westfield Sydney.

Sydney Tower Dining for Food is Fashion exhibition

The photographs highlight intricate connections between food and fashion; ranging from colours, textures, cuts and overall presentation.

Jones the Grocer for Food is Fashion exhibition

"It was an incredibly creative process where we took the fashion ‘look’ and then carefully crafted the most popular dishes to match. We paired a classic dish of mango sticky rice from Chat Thai with a vintage yellow shift dress, and a beef tartare with edible flowers from Cara & Co was teamed with a digital floral print dress," said Zouev.

Reuben & Moore for Food is Fashion exhibition

The ‘Food is Fashion’ collection showcases pairings from Chat Thai, Xanthi, Cloudy Bay Fish Co., Via Del Corso, Ragu Pasta and Wine Bar, Victoria Room Tea Salon, Reuben & Moore, Chinta Ria … Mood For Love, Ippudo, Snag Stand, Jones the Grocer, Din Tai Fung, Cara & Co, Sushi Hon, Happy Lab and Sydney Tower Dining.

Sushi Hon for Food is Fashion exhibition

For some of the photos, there’s a bit of a stretch of the imagination required whereas others, like my favourite one featuring Sushi Hon tuna and salmon sashimi, seem to capture the colour, texture, cut and draping of the outfit/dish completely perfectly.

Ragu Pasta & Wine Bar for Food is Fashion exhibition

As part exhibition, Westfield Sydney shoppers have the chance to win one of four ultimate dining experiences in the centre by taking a picture of their favourite dish on Instagram, tagging it with #foodisfashion.

For more 'Food is Fashion', keep an eye out for my next post on Cara & Co winter menu.

Singapore slinging - part 5: Newton Food Centre

This is the final post on my Singapore trip of late last year. After days of feasts of celebration, chilli crab, fine dining and more, as part of a large group we made a beeline to a locals' favourite outdoor food centre in the Newton area.

Newton Food Centre, also known as Newton Circus, offers extensive under cover seating and row upon row of hawker stalls, all plying their specialty fare.

Food stalls at Newton Food Centre, Newton, Singapore

It was a relatively cool, rainy night which may have deterred the usual crowds so we had no trouble finding a table for our large group and subsequently cover it with impossible amounts of food.

Food centres in Singapore tend to be filled with hawker-style stalls that specialise in a particular type of cuisine, much of it Singaporean and/or Malaysian.

Cage of crabs on display

As per Malaysian hawker stalls, you order food at a stall - or indeed, a number of stalls - then give them your table number (which you should 'bags' or reserve first before wandering off to order food), wait for the food to be delivered to you at which point you pay for it (cash only). It's not exactly a logical system to the Westernised diner but it seems to work quite seamlessly.

We had three separate groups disperse to make food orders and on return, it appeared double orders and eyes bigger than stomachs had completely filled our table with plastic plates of food - I'm not sure I've ever seen so much food outside of a buffet, and certainly not all on plastic plates.

Cockles

There was a rush on the cockles when they arrived, simply boiled and served with a kumquat or kalamansi lime like citrus fruit.

This is definitely hands-on food, with a trick to opening the quite pretty, small, textured shells: give the hinge-end of the shells a squeeze, pinched between two fingers. The shells seem to magically spring open, and the sea-sweet, just chewy cockle meat can be picked out easily with a toothpick.

Deep fried baby squid

I'd never seen baby squid before, let alone baby squid deep fried to a crunch and covered in a caramelly sweet sauce. Their crispness gave them an air of snack food crisps and they were downright delightful and odd.

Oyster omelette

There's something mysterious about the oyster omelette; quite possibly in relation to the source of the oysters. Freezer, jar or shell, it doesn't matter all that much as it's about the texture within the golden cooked egg which covers most of the soft, squishy molluscs, while the tart, spicy sauce is the dominant flavour.

Char kway kak - radish cake

Also cooked with egg was the char kway kak radish cake dish: wok fried and diced pieces tossed to a near scrappy but deliciously moreish pile.

Grilled chicken wings

Simply but perfectly executed were the grilled chicken wings: sticky and tanned brown on the outside - easily making the skin the best part - with meat full of spiced, marinated flavour.

Rojak

We thought we'd add a rojak fruit and vegetable salad to up the nutrient count of the meal, and did it ever in a huge serving size.

Apple, cucumber, pineapple and fried tofu all came slathered thick in dark, sweet sauce pungent with belacan shrimp paste and a hint of chilli, garnished with thin, dried squid or cuttlefish ribbons.

Hokkien mee

The plainest dish on the table of almost 20 plates was easily the Hokkien mee: soft Hokkien noodles in a simple sauce flavoured with soy, tossed with bean sprouts and a couple of prawns, and with a fiery sambal chilli on the side. This was pure comfort after quite the evening's gorging on big flavours and exotic food.

But while Singapore does have the exotic, it's the simple stuff that's most pleasing and the source of most cravings. Fine dining would struggle to challenge a good Hainan chicken rice in satisfaction and comfort, but Singapore certainly makes the best of both worlds.

So long, Singapore, I look forward to returning for the cheap-as-chips chicken rice, balmy nights on rooftop bars, more chilli crab and a Singapore Sling.

Designer dessert: Adriano Zumbo Pâtissier launches at The Star

Food and fashion have a lot in common: they're both trend-driven; come down to individual taste; have broad categories and varieties; can be luxurious or comforting; and are hopefully satisfying.

Always one to take things a step further, Adriano Zumbo has introduced the idea of seasonal collections to his desserts. And given his sweet creations are as colouful and complex as any haute couture runway, it makes some sense that he's using a dessert-inspired fashion show to launch his newest patisserie at The Star, which opens this very weekend.

Adriano Zumbo launching Adriano Zumbo Pâtissier at The Star, Pyrmont

In collaboration with Mossée, Farage, im Boutique lingerie, and in conjunction with the launch of his new book Zumbo, the well turned-out crowd sipped Moet and cocktails and munched on sushi and sashimi canapes in anticipation of the "AZ Summer Collection 2011". Candy pink lights illuminated the space and runway outside the wide, white-curtained new shopfront, soon to be revealed.

Caramel popcorn martini by The Star

I was drawn to the cocktail in the martini glass which was garnished with caramel popcorn on a skewer. Designed by bartenders of The Star and in keeping with the Willy Wonka quirkiness, the caramel popcorn martini was smashing.

The vodka was infused with popcorn via the fat washing method, where presumably popcorn is cooked in lots and lots of butter which is then added to the booze. After setting and straining out all the fat, the popcorn taste miraculously pops into the vodka, in quite a strong fashion too compared to some bacon-infused booze I've tried.

Mixed with a dash of caramel sauce and coconut water, this is definitely what Willy Wonka would be serving if he could get a small bar license in Sydney.

AZ Summer Collection 2011 - Caramelised pumpkin seed Zumboron - clothes by Mossée
(image courtesy of Hausmann)

The fashion parade started fashionably late and it was a little difficult to make out some of the desserts. The show featured a few stunners in terms of the Gateaux de voyage - larger cakes that wowed the crowds as much as the first lingerie-clad model (see more fashion parade photos at my Facebook page).

Lemon verbena Zumboron - clothes by Mossée

Berry Bag (feature item not on menu) - clothes by Mossée

Pecanne: Blackcurrant jelly, blackcurrant ganache, chocolate almond cake, pecanpraline (Gateaux de voyage)  - clothes by Farage

Water My Melons: Orange creameaux, watermelon jelly, compressed watermelon,yogurt crème légère - clothes by Farage

Lemon Carpet Crush: Crème citron, flourless lemon cake, lemon crush liquid, vanillaChantilly, lemon crush jelly, lime marshmallow - underwear by im Boutique

Lemon Meringue: Flourless lemon cake (Gateaux de voyage) - lingerie by im Boutique

Eu-Genius: Caramelized puff pastry, chocolate crunch coconut jelly, violet gel,blackcurrant crème légère - lingerie by im Boutique

As the designer (Zumbo) came out at the last round of the show, the curtains covering the shopfront fell dramatically to the cheers of the appreciative crowd, revealing the confectionary pink and yellow wonderland of Zumbo's creations, with full view of the pastry chefs and ovens too.

Adriano Zumbo Pâtissier at The Star
(image courtesy of Hausmann)

Designed by Luchetti Krelle, there is a definite Willy Wonka feel about the space. I overheard The Star managing director Sid Vaikunta talk excitedly about the conveyor belt in the patisserie, offering sushi train style service, which could be very, very dangerous.

Berry Bag (feature item not on menu)

On the other side, there were displays in the front window, as any designer shopfront would have, featuring the season's collection under bright lights and glassed in away from hungry hands.

Man Goes Peanuts: Peanut butter crunch, mango compote,
mango burnt honey mousse, pain de epice

Ssnowmanorr: Pâté a choux, bubble tea custard, lychee coconut crème légère,
lychee gel, coconut crunch

Eu-Genius: Caramelized puff pastry, chocolate crunch coconut jelly, violet gel,
blackcurrant crème légère

Water My Melons: Orange creameaux, watermelon jelly, compressed watermelon,
yogurt crème légère

NYC Eclair: Pâté a choux, sour cream légère, shortbread crunch, compressed custard

Xiwt: Chocolate Bar Tarts

Lemon Meringue: Flourless lemon cake (Gateaux de voyage)

Pecanne: Blackcurrant jelly, blackcurrant ganache, chocolate almond cake,
pecan praline (Gateaux de voyage)

And next to the bathtub filled with packed chocolate goodies, there are playful cabinets within housing bright, multi-coloured macarons, or indeed as they seem to have been renamed, "Zumborons".

Macaron cabinets

Flavours in this summer collection include coconut, lavender and green chilli (delish!); lime and mint mojito; blood peach; lychee; cola; milk chocolate, chilli and cinnamon; and tonka bean and passionfruit. We were also treated to the collection cakes, some considerately miniaturised so we could fit more in.

Lemon Carpet Crush: Crème citron, flourless lemon cake, lemon crush liquid,
vanillaChantilly, lemon crush jelly, lime marshmallow

Berry meringue tarts (name unknown)

Ssnowmanorr: Pâté a choux, bubble tea custard, lychee coconut crème légère,
lychee gel, coconut crunch

Lychee gel centre

While the relaunch of The Star might have kept cynics at bay, the impending openings of Sokyo and Momofuku Seiobo are only going to add to the hype that Zumbo will create as his loyal legion of fans descend upon the casino.

Fans might also go crazy for Zumbo's long-awaited book, Zumbo, which we got in the goodie bag and is filled with so many recipes it makes my teeth hurt just looking at it. It's sectioned into "Zumborons", chocolates, pastries, gateaux de voyage, cakes and desserts - the latter two chapters of which look like so much fun for at-home designer desserts too.

Pages from Zumbo (by Murdoch Books)

Pages from Zumbo (by Murdoch Books)

 Food, booze and shoes attended the launch of Adriano Zumbo Pâtissier at The Star courtesy of Hausmann.