A familiar Taste of Sydney

Taste of Sydney, 13-16 March 2014, Centennial Park, Sydney

For its sixth year in Sydney's Centennial Park, Taste of Sydney once again battled with the weather gods to mostly prevail as one of our city's favourite outdoor restaurant and wine festivals.

The parklands were abuzz with stalls on the opening Thursday night with a host of familiar faces and a few new, with the Best in Taste Awards again hosted in the Taste VIP tent.

G.H. Mumm champagne in the Taste VIP tent

With bubbles on pour all night, it was a jovial forum to see the Best in Taste judging panel - including Gourmet Traveller's Pat Nourse, television cook Lyndey Milan, Time Out's Myffy Rigby and Broadsheet Sydney's Sophie McComas - award their picks of the festival.

The Best Dressed stall was deemed to be Rojo Rocket from the rotating Destination Dining restaurants; with the award accepted gleefully by the Taste first-timers. Another festival newbie, Aki's Indian Restaurant, took out third in the Best in Taste, with their poori offering.

Perennial favourites Porteño placed second with their charcoal grilled wagyu skirt steak, and the Best in Taste award went to old-but-new Taste participant Chow Bar & Eating House, with ex-Claudes' owner and chef Chui Lee Luk's 'Beggar's Chicken'.

Taste of Sydney - opening night

While I managed to taste two out of three of the judges' Best in Taste, my Sunday plans for Taste round two were scuppered by a pretty epic storm that's becoming all to common in Sydney town these days.

Porteño's tent kitchen charcoal grill

Luckily we got to crowd-favourite Porteño on the first night; unmissable with all the "faces of" and a huge, open kitchen tent stall that sent charcoal smoke signals direct to Taste's hungry stomachs.

Charcoal grilled entrana - wagyu skirt steak with BBQ peppers and chimichurri from Porteño

Grabbing silver in the judge's awards, Porteño's charcoal grilled wagyu skirt steak was a smoky-flavoured and tender delight of a cut of beef, sliced and topped with a zingy chimichurri herb sauce and settled upon soft cooked red capsicum.

Charcoal grilled lamb rib with marinated eggplant, anchovy
and rosemary pound from Porteño

But it was the charcoal grilled lamb rib, with crunchy pieces of skin and smoky fat covering soft lamb flesh, that had my attention; perfectly spiced and served with meltingly soft eggplant and creamy squiggles of a sauce of anchovy and rosemary.

Porteño's woodfired asado

The beauty of the Porteño approach is that they bring the restaurant to Taste, not just a festival-friendly sample. Four asado woodfire grills were set up around a pit next to the main tent, just like they have at the Surry Hills restaurant, except all lambs splayed for Taste.

Woodfired lamb from the asado with potato salad and chimchurri from Porteño

Having not tried Porteño's woodfired lamb from the asado before, it was the perfect opportunity to have their Taste Icon Dish, served atop a creamy potato salad with the same chimichurri sauce.

The succulent cuts of lamb (leg?) were tender if not a bit one-dimensional, although I did spy various other cuts of the Icon Dish, as it is in the restaurant, that offered more colour and varied texture.

Crispy pork belly with chilli caramel, aioli and mint slaw from Chur Burger

Over at 'Taste veteran but in a new guise' Warren Turnbull's Chur Burger stall, it was a range of miniaturised burgers, also ubiquitously known as sliders.

The pork belly was a winning combination of a crisp hunk of roasted belly with crackling, cabbage and mint slaw, aioli and a sticky chilli caramel; somehow all balanced within a cute, little burger bun.

Kinkawooka mussel fritter with spiced remoulade and dill pickled cucumber
from Chur Burger

The same buns also held two unique-sounding Kinkawooka mussel fritters; a little pikelet-like and floury but lifted by ribbons of dill-scented pickled cucumber and creamy remoulade as a sauce.

Crispy king prawns, green chilli, lime from Longrain

We moved on to Taste (and festivals generally) long-timer Longrain and their irresistible whole fried king prawns, dressed with a refreshing lime and mild green chilli sauce.

With very well-trimmed heads (no dangerous, sharp bits), it was much like eating whole fried school prawns but better, with a crisp, well-seasoned flour coating and that fabulous, firm texture of large crustaceans.

Hay smoked chicken legs - cured and smoked chicken, corn and local garlic creme
from Biota Dining

We continued on the large, fried things path with Biota Dining's cured and hay smoked chicken drumstick.

It was an impressively large chicken specimen with a crunchy crumb coating and soft yellow cream of corn and garlic that's right up there as one of the most expensive chicken drumsticks I've ever had.

Dahi sel poori - crispy wheat pockets with spiced potato and yoghurt from Aki's Indian Restaurant

I knew I wanted to try the podium-winning dish from Aki's Indian Restaurant: dahi sel poori hollow fried wheat pockets, filled with a mix of fragrantly spiced potato and natural yoghurt, garnished with coriander.

Eaten in one or two mouthfuls, the poori was an intriguing sensation of warm and cold, soft and crisp, spice and sourness that was gone all too quickly.

Ceci e tria alla Pugliese - pasta strips cooked two ways, chickpeas, pecorino mousse
from Popolo

The only pasta offering at Taste this year was Popolo's ceci pasta strips, served as a crisp wafer with sharp pecorino mousse, and more classically with a creamy, not-necessarily-photogenic chickpea sauce.

Taco de Cochinito - pulled pork taco, corn puree, salad and salsa rojo from Rojo Rocket

The Avalon-based Rojo Rocket put up tacos, including a pulled pork one that didn't quite look like all the other ones around town.

With a puree of corn, watercress leaves and tasty namesake salsa rojo, the tortilla didn't get a chance to go soggy, scoffed within a minute or so.

Suckling pig on the spit at 4Fourteen / Four in Hand

Otto Ristorante's head chef Richard Ptacnik in the Taste Kitchen

Country Kitchen seating area

The usual Taste features - Taste Kitchen, chefs' talks, wine masterclasses, cocktail classes - were all present as too a few cooking class demonstrations and the new Icon Park restaurant/bar crowdfunding concept, making it an increasingly familiar Taste, with an annual twist. See more photos on my Facebook page.

Food, booze and shoes attended Taste of Sydney as a guest. All food and Crowns were paid for independently.

A taste of St Paddy at the Cat and Fiddle Hotel

Posted by Nik - keen eater and part-time writer; providing an Irish perspective.

In Ireland St Patrick's Day marks the end of winter. It is a day for putting on the green and tasting a few pints of the black. Like my birth, it is a day that I know I have been to but don't remember.

In celebration of the day recognising Ireland's most commonly-recognised patron saint, the Cat and Fiddle Hotel in Balmain are putting on their own long weekend, from Saturday through to Monday's St. Paddy's Day (17 March).

Dining area at the Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Darling Street, Balmain

A specially-designed Irish menu by Irish-born chef Padraic Kielty is on offer just for the weekend, with new versions of Irish classics as well as some inventive new dishes.

In the completely newly-renovated pub with an indoor Garden Room, we were seated in the middle of the large dining area behind the bar, where a vast skylight let in the last of the day. Punters came and pints and food were ordered.

Fried seaweed snack

While a half-poured Guinness rested on the bar, waiting for the top up, we started with a snack of fried seaweed. Picked from the bowl like chips, the sea grass was fresh and crunchy, like lettuce and seawater without the salt.

Pint of Guinness

The Guinness was rich and well formed. We are a long way from the Liffey, but this antipodean cousin is worth a nudge. Choosing our mains from the Irish menu was tough. More pints were required to fully evaluate the options.

Crispy spud skins, Red Leicester, 100-year old brown sauce recipe

Next to arrive were potato skins with melted Red Leicester cheese and a brown sauce that has been in chef Kielty's family since his grandmother "borrowed" the recipe from her time in the Queen's kitchens at Buckingham Palace.

Crisp but not greasy, the generous skins cupped the melted orange cheese; both lifted by the fruity, chutney-like tang of the sauce which is one of the best brown sauces I've ever had.

Irish boxty, pickled eggs, black pudding, whiskey and pear

Boxty is an Irish potato pancake that is often served in place of bread. Here, it was matched with a just-sharp pickled egg, a puck of creamy black pudding and sweet whiskey pear puree in a subtle and sophisticated layering of flavours, which was consistent throughout the rest of the Irish menu.

Corned beef, Irish soda bread, pickles and West Cork feta

With a modern plating, the richness of the corned beef was unexpected. Infused with cloves and clementine, the beef was sweet, spiced and salty on its own.

It was served with a light, soft soda bread with flavours balanced by crunchy pickled vegetables and moist, salty West Cork feta cheese which is no doubt, rightly, a little bit fond of itself.

Dublin Coddle, white pudding, salt and pepper spud

Dublin coddle is traditionally a pot of leftovers boiled in a pot. The dish at the Cat and Fiddle has been somewhat polished and updated, served dry atop a pastry base with broth on the side.

The sausage was a perfectly spiced Irish breakfast sausage, while the pancetta added salt and crunch on top of buttery mashed potato and prettily presented vegetables.

Mini chips with Irish curry sauce

Curry chips are the 2am kebab of Ireland. The side of chips were perfectly cooked - crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside - while the curry sauce was honest and peppery. These were easily the best, if not the only, curry chips I can remember eating.

Irish railway cake, clotted cream, butterscotch

Dessert maintained the subtle and thoughtful approach to Irish flavour. The Railway Cake with a faintly citrus clotted cream and shards of crunchy butterscotch was airy, luxurious and just a little bit sweet.

Chocolate Guinness cake, Bailey's jelly

The Bailey's cream whiskey jelly in the bottom of a cute jar was a creamy softener for the richer, moist square of Guinness chocolate cake which sat atop a crumble with pastry flags sticking out the top.

Front bar

The Cat and Fiddle is like a good pub straight out of Ireland, but the food is infinitely better. In keeping with the kindness of the welcome, the food is quietly and confidently Irish, and come St Paddy's Day on Monday, will probably be a little louder and patriotically Irish.

The Cat and Fiddle will offer the St Patrick’s Day Culinary Irish Menu from Saturday 15 to Monday 17 March, lunch and dinner. Irish Breakfast will be served Sunday and Monday. On St Patrick's Day there will be all-day live Irish music and entertainment along with a pub filled with Irish craic.

Food, booze and shoes dined at the Cat and Fiddle Hotel as a guest.

Waterlife Lunch at Ludlow Bar & Dining Room for Melbourne Food & Wine Festival

The Melbourne Food & Wine Festival is in full swing and for once, I found myself in the Victorian capital city at the right time. Not that food and wine indulgence isn't had all year round in Melbourne, but it was good to see another city celebrating of some of my favourite things.

Melbourne skyline from the Yarra River, Southbank, Melbourne

This year's festival revolves around the theme of water, with various events, masterclasses and installations taking all manner of perspectives on one of our most important natural resources.

Raingarden at The Immersery, Queensbridge Square, Southbank, Melbourne

The Immersery: Festival Kitchen, Bar and Raingarden at Southbank's Queensbridge Square comprised a feature meeting and discussion place with a purpose-built kitchen, floating bar and intricate raingarden aside the Yarra River.

Plants and raingarden at The Immersery

Wines by the glass at The Immersery

Floating barge bar at The Immersery

With various Melbourne chefs and bartenders on rotating feature throughout the festival, it's an impressive showcase for Melbourne's food, wine and cocktails in a pretty special, picturesque space.

Yabby Lake Chardonnay at Ludlow Bar & Dining Room, Riverside Quay,
Southbank, Melbourne

On Saturday, 8 March 2014 the expansive, waterside Ludlow Bar & Dining Room hosted its Waterlife Lunch as part of the festival, with a focus on locally sourced seafood and produce. It was a great opportunity to check out Victorian seafood offerings as well as dining waterside at Southbank.

It was a gorgeous, sunny day to be enjoying the outdoor tables at Ludlow, with plenty of buskers and passers-by to entertain as we started with a glass of seafood-appropriate Yabby Lake Chardonnay.

Bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

The Waterlife Lunch comprised a three-course savoury meal, which suited non-sweettooths like me to a tee, starting with excellent crusty white bread served with plenty of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Light nettle smoked Port Phillip Bay snapper on hot pickled mushrooms, chive chlorophyll

Our first course was a very local snapper from Port Phillip Bay. Lightly smoked, the snapper fillet had a faint smoky, savoury aroma and a gorgeously moist texture, served with grilled cos lettuce leaves and a lemon cheek.

While the fish fillet was excellent, it was the "hot pickled" shimeji mushrooms that stole my heart. Pan fried with a very subtle, well-balanced addition of vinegar, the mushrooms were a surprising match to the snapper and added a surf-and-turf charm.

Paupiette of Victorian garfish, River Basin flathead, poached Portarlington mussels,
confit of garlic, saffron rouille

I was intrigued about the garfish paupiette on the menu but even more impressed when it arrived. Basically three separate seafood components, the dish came together beautifully with a creamy bisque, saffron rouille and salty samphire garnish.

Alternate view of garfish dish

Most stunning was the garfish, of which I scored the head section and a few thin bones, wrapped around a creamy, dill-spiked, firm mousse filling of blitzed flathead.

As if that fish-on-fish paupiette action wasn't enough, both the parsley-coated flathead fillet and plump poached mussels were executed to perfection in an eye-opening and innovative dish.

Grilled Grampian duck breast, olive oil poached Daylesford potatoes, wild fennel, Yarra Valley crème fraîche, white truffle

Taking an alternate view on the water theme, the kitchen cleverly produced a duck dish as the third and final of the lunch: an entire medium-rare grilled duck breast, brown skinned with perfect grill marks.

The pink duck flesh with a layer of fat was an autumnal delight with soft, grilled wild fennel and Brussels sprouts, lightened with a dash of crème fraîche and a slightly odd, bitter spherified coffee sauce.

Despite getting pretty full by this stage, I couldn't leave the spring roll of confit duck, nor the adorable, tiny olive oil-poached whole potatoes topped with white truffle shavings. Along with a side of dressed mixed leaves, it was an overly generous dish that could have been a standalone main.

Salad leaves

Too full to contemplate dessert, we ended Ludlow's Waterlife Lunch with a stroll along the Yarra River, probably as intended. It was a very well considered lunch with plenty of technique and thought on every plate of this seemingly underrated riverside restaurant.

If this is Melbourne waterside dining, Sydney may need to pick up its game. More Melbourne posts to come and more photos on my Facebook page.

Food, booze and shoes attended the Waterlife Lunch at Ludlow Bar & Dining Room as a guest.