In the Black (by Ezard)

I’ve been to The Star as many times in the last six months as I have been in my entire life before the multi-million dollar renovations at the casino, which has attracted a wealth of magnetically attractive operators.

Black by Ezard is fairly removed from Teage Ezard’s Asian-leaning Melbourne establishments: it's a glitzy and expansive steak house looking out to Pyrmont Bay, where the high rollers feed before dropping said rolls of cash.

The fitout is pretty amazing, incorporating a stunning wine cellar in full view of anyone passing the casino’s front entrance and a classy bar area where serious cocktails are had. It was particularly difficult to resist the bar food menu while perched at the bar perusing the cocktail list ahead of a dinner reservation.

Wagyu sliders at Black Bar, The Star, Pyrmont

The wagyu sliders would have to be the best burger of the year. Not to mention it’s the only burger/slider I’ve had so far this year, but its juiciness and richness surpasses any burgers I might have had last year too.

Just one bite through the buttery mini brioche bun, the flavours of rich, melty cheese and ridiculously juicy wagyu beef pattie meld and party on the palate. Pickles join the affair at the peak, and it starts all over again at the next bite.

Dripping all over my hands as I sipped a Charlie Chaplin (my new favourite cocktail with apricot brandy, sloe gin and lemon), I didn’t want the slider to end; the combination of tastes and textures was just naughtily divine.

Chicken wing

Somewhat less impressive than the sliders was the chicken wing dish consisting of three drumettes, pickled celery and an airy blue cheese dip. This take on buffalo wings, on top of the sliders, gives the bar menu a distinctly American feel.

The chicken was saucily spicy, a little salty with the blue cheese, and the softened celery an interesting twist. It was possibly not the best dish with the Bobby Burns cocktail of Pig’s Nose Scotch whisky, sweet vermouth and Benedictine.

Brioche, butter and black volcanic salt flakes at Black by Ezard, The Star, Pyrmont

Come dinner reservation time, our drinks were taken to our window table overlooking Pyrmont Bay. The main part of the dining room is surprisingly expansive and open, with the open kitchen behind, and more intimate banquette seats heading towards the bathrooms.

It’s easy to draw comparisons to another city steak house, but I try not to, especially as the glossy brioche loaf arrives with a pat of butter and black volcanic salt flakes apparently from Hawaii. The richness of the brioche doesn’t need any more butter, but my excuse is that it helps the salt flakes stick.

Perusing the iPad wine list, there’s incredible variety in wines by the bottle and somewhat less so by the glass. I selected my glass of Malbec without advice, but it turned out to be a fabulous match to the steaks.

Organic farm egg, potato cream, truffles, iberico ham, herb salad

The organic egg dish is the priciest entrée on the menu, topped with shaved black truffles that don’t really fill the air or palate with its expected aroma. The nest of potato hides the slow cooked, runny yolked egg, with a bowerbird-like collection of goodies on top.

The foamy potato cream and strip of iberico ham laid aside add a little more substance, but I think you have to be a real egg lover to be enthralled by this dish.

Prawns butter poached, wood grilled watermelon, corn salad

The prawn entrée turns out to be a beautiful construction with three large prawns, watermelon, corn kernels and a puree and what I think could be corn bread, thinly sliced radish and herbs.

The flavours were fairly subdued but all the components matched well enough, particularly when smothered in the creamy corn puree. I enjoyed the varied textures, especially the vibrantly red and juicy watermelon strips.

One thing I noticed about the Black by Ezard menu is that provenance of ingredients is not highlighted, so I’m not sure where my prawns were from, nor from where the steaks are sourced. I wonder if it’s just a Sydney restaurant trend, but it might be nice to know where my cow comes from.

Flat iron, grain fed wagyu, MBS 9+, 200g

I thought I would be accustomed to the presentation of meat, alone, on a large white plate by now but it still makes me laugh every time. The perfect portion of the flat iron steak is kind of tender with an impressively rich mouthfeel at every chew, and more so with truffle butter as a sauce.

I wonder if this small-ish cut, cooked medium-rare, still receives the sous vide treatment which all Black by Ezard steaks apparently do, which is more than justifiable on the man-sized steak that I ordered.

Rib eye, dry aged grass fed angus, 400g

I felt a little Flinstonian with my rib eye on the bone, hence the lighter, ‘healthier’ choice of Argentinean chimichurri as a sauce.

A few edge parts of the steak were a little tough and more medium than my requested medium-rare, but the main game was satisfyingly juicy and meaty – my preference over the luxurious creaminess of high marble-scored wagyu beef.

There was a nice level of spice in the chimichurri to keep the 400 grams of beef interesting, but despite my valiant attempt, I conceded defeat many, many, many minutes into the game, when I couldn’t take another mouthful of cold steak.

Cos, chorizo, piquillo pepper, heirloom carrot

Given the protein-heavy meal, a salad came highly recommended as a side dish although we elected the cos lettuce salad with chorizo based primarily on the latter protein.

The salad ended up being a bit of a surprise in that chorizo wasn't easy to find; the finely diced sausage barely registering its presence in sight or taste.

More abundant were thin rounds of what I thought were radish, but the white-inner, purple-outer root vegetable turned out to be heirloom carrot. With our meaty mains, the light dressing on the crunchy cos lettuce was most appreciated.

Parsnip fritters, coconut, turmeric caramel

I would never have thought to order the parsnip fritters as a side, if not for a staff recommendation. Deep brown quenelles of soft parsnip and coconut were sweetened by a caramel spiced with turmeric and topped with dried slivers of red chilli/capsicum. It was probably good enough to be served as an entrée itself.

There was no room for dessert after, essentially, three substantial savoury courses. The Black by Ezard experience was much like what I would imagine dining in a Las Vegas casino would be: decent food, slick service, lots of action and for The Star, a very good bet.

You're invited... to a World Class cocktail event

On a boat. In Sydney harbour. This Sunday afternoon. That's right, this Sunday 22 January, nine of the country's top bartenders will be shaking and stirring up a few drinks as they compete in the first World Class 2012 semi final; a cocktail competition where bartenders angle for the crown of Australia's best bartender.

Image courtesy of World Class organisers

With cocktails to feature Tanqueray No. TEN, Ketel One Vodka and The Singleton of Glen Ord, attendees not only get to taste the competitors' best efforts, they also get to vote for their favourite drinks and bartenders in three different judging categories:

Gentleman Cocktail
with competitors Jason Williams from The Loft, Sydney; Collin Perillo from Zeta, Sydney; and Phil Gandevia from Eau de Vie, Sydney.

Punch
with competitors Thiago Santos from The Loft, Sydney; Sarah Miller from I know a place, Melbourne; and Perryn Collier from The Laneway, Brisbane.

Seasonal Cocktail
with competitors Adam Smith from Press Club, Brisbane; Anita Strother from Malt Dining, Brisbane; and Fred Siggins from Kodiak Club, Melbourne.

The entry ticket gets you on the 3-hour cruise on Sydney Glass Island, tasting and voting on your favourite cocktails ahead of the June finals, as well as canapes and non-alcoholic refreshments for mostly RSA reasons, I presume. See more details and get your tickets here.

The cruise/semi finals/party starts with Sydney Glass Island pick-up at Campbells Cove (near Quay Restaurant and the Park Hyatt) at 2.45pm on Sunday 22 January. Semi finalists will be chosen after the appropriate three hours of drinking - and showmanship, I'm sure. May the best drink win!

No fakes: Sydney's own Petaling Street

I'm not sure why I given the recommendation to go to Petaling Street when I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last year. For starters, I was feeling particularly ill on the day and by the end of the short-ish market walk through Petaling Street, the sight of another fake Jimmy Choo bag was going to make me physically sick.

But there are no fakes nor illnesses to worry about at Petaling Street on Sydney's George Street. Put off by a 11.30pm queue outside Mamak one night, we headed up to the new Malaysian contender which was on the quiet side of steady trade.

(Front to back) Hot teh tarik, iced teh tarik and Ribena with lemonade from Petaling Street,
George Street, Haymarket

The restaurant is long and narrow like many Chinatown eateries, with seating all up the right side as you enter, passing the glassed kitchen to the other side. It seems all the tables are set for four people, so I'm not sure how larger groups cope.

The menu is significantly larger than that of the aforementioned long-queued Malaysian eatery. While I can't resist a teh tarik, even if it does taste like it has come from a packet, others can't resist the allure of Ribena cordial with lemonade in what I can only imagine is a liquid sugar hit.

Chicken laksa

We had decided to share mains across the group and I'm sure glad we did. The laksa was epically sized and the kitchen had no problems taking out an ingredient or changing the noodles to rice ones. I'm no laksa expert but I thought there was a good kick of heat in the thick and creamy coconut-heavy soup.

Hainanese chicken rice

Hainanese chicken rice is more my kind of dish; here served with delicately poached boneless chicken doused in a quite sweet soy sauce alongside sliced cucumber and finished with fresh coriander.

I didn't try the soup served with it, but was kind of wanting the mild chopped red chilli sauce or pickled green chillies which never came. Nonetheless, I thought the rice, flavoured with chicken stock and the bird's fat, was well done although there were comments about its sweetness.

Mi goreng

My attention was most firmly placed on the huge plate of mi goreng in front of me; a giant pile of Hokkien noodles in a rather spicily seasoned sauce with goodies at every grab of chopsticks. I remember fish cake, bean sprouts and other Asian vegetables, but the rest is mostly a spicy blur.

Late dining customers continued to take tables in the narrow restaurant as we left, so it appears the word is slowly getting out - there's a new Malaysian player in town and it ain't no fake.