the highest of high tea

From The Intercontinel Sydney through to Boronia Tea Room, Laduree High Tea and Vaucluse House Tearooms... I've done my fair share of Sydney's best high tea venues. However Mothers Day that just passed, we had 'Afternoon Tea with Wedgwood' at The Langham Sydney.

The minute you walk into the newly-renovated hotel you are surrounded by opulence. Well-dressed doorman. Handcrafted furniture. High ceilings. We're escorted immediately to Palm Court where high tea is held, and met by the epitome of modern-understated glamour. Simply stunning. Our waiter is quick to bring out our glasses of Laurent-Perrier Champagne. We're in heaven. For tea I ordered their recommendation of Peach Flower, which was soft in flavour and appetising.

What seemed like minutes later the incredible feast was upon us. The bottom was filled with homemade raisin and vanilla scones, and freshly made (every morning) cream and strawberry jam. I think they may have been the best scones I've ever had in my life. Soft and full of flavour.

The middle tier - my favourite of the three - held Beef sliders with smoked cheddar & onion relish; Butternut squash tartlet with spiced pepitas; Crab and avocado "ice-cream"; Smoked salmon roulade with caviar & cream cheese and Tuna Sandwich with capers, red onion & mayonnaise. All dishes were very well presented and tasted delicious. The ice-cream was an art piece, the tartlet was super tasty and the sliders were del-ish-ous. The type of meal that you only half eat so you can leave the other half for the last bite.

As much as I (and lets be honest my entire family) have a sweet-tooth, the top layer was uber sweet. The homemade pastries & tea cakes included the Blueberry frangipane tartlet with lavender Chantilly; Pandan leaf pannacotta with lychee jelly; Pistachio and cherry opera cake and Peach and oolong tea macaroon. The lavender Chantilly was a little too over-powering in flavour, opera cake was quite dense but had great flavour and texture, and the macaroon was scrumptios and cooked to perfection. Definitely leave the pannacotta for last. So so so so soooo yum.

Overall we left feeling relaxed, satisfied and loving our new no.1 position for High Tea in Sydney.

Restaurant: The Langham
Price (per person): $85 including a glass of Laurent-Perrier Champagne
Hours: Sun - Wed 10am - 11pm; Thur - Sat 10am - 12am; Mon - Sun 12pm - 5pm
Must order: High Tea!!

they're open for breakfast!

When one of my favourites The Greens North Sydney (read my previous review) announced a couple of weeks ago that they are now open for breakfast, I got my skates on. With Sunday being a sunny 17+ degrees, it seemed fitting. Expectations obviously high.

We got there around 11am and it was already busy - as it always is. We spotted a table in one of the booths, and had to flag down one of the waiters to clean the table. We ordered the Breakfast Burger with fried egg, double smoked bacon, American cheese, gem lettuce, tomato, cucumber pickle & pimento sauce; Scrambled eggs on toast with sourdough and Wild Mushroom & quinoa omelette with marinated feta, cress, white truffle oil and toasted sourdough. 

The burger was cooked to perfection (with just the right amount of egg yolk running) and tasted incredible. The scrambled eggs were... just that. I was kind of anticipating something a little different, so I was underwhelmed at the presentation. Still tasted good though. The omelette on the other hand, although a small serving, was more than I was expecting. Understated, lavish, and saporous.

For our drinks we ordered our standard lattes and caps (great taste) and fresh juices - Taste the Tropics: Pineapple, Ginger, Mint (not for my liking) and The Greens Cleanse: Cucumber, Kale, Coriander and Apple. A strong apple taste, also also the crowd favourite.

Although the entire experience wasn't on par with how it normally is, I do want to go back and try their 'Choc Crackle French Toast' and the 'Pork and Bacon Croquette'. I have promised my family that I'd go with them, so looks like I'll be heading back there soon!

Cafe: The Greens North Sydney
Price (for 3ppl): Food $104; Beverages $31.20
Hours: Sat - Sun 8am - 11.30am
Must order: Wild Mushroom & quinoa omelette
Coffee: Double Roasters

all sorts of japanese goodness

My husband surprised me for our anniversary, and took me to the newly opened Sake in Double Bay. Situated under the glamorous Intercontinental Double Bay, you can't help to be wow'ed as you enter the restaurant (you're surrouded by the likes of McLaren and Porsche when you enter). Oozing style and sophisocation, Sake Double Bay opened earlier this year and is yet another addition to Urban Purveyor Group.

The lunch menu is quite large and we automatically went for some of our favourites - Pacific Oysters and Wagyu tenderloin. To our dissappointment they were out of stock... Go figure! We ended up ordering the Chilli Spanner Crab Salad with picked cucumber, udon, tosazu & chilli oil; Popcorn Shrimp  - prawn tempura morsels with creamy spicy sauce; Jidori Chicken Negima with tokyo scallion and shishito relish; Braised Shortrib with akamiso, shaved truffle and spring onions; and the Duck Bincho-Yaki with beetroot, candied yuzu, watrecress and sansho.

The crab salad was the first dish to come out and it's quite a small serving, but wow does it pack a punch. It's fresh, has great texture and very more-ish. Yum, yum, yum! Next out was the chicken negima and braised shortrib. For me the chicken was dull (especially compared to the other dishes), whilst the braised shortrib was mouth-wateringly declicious. OMG! Get me more!

We then had the popcorn shrimp which was super tasty. Very creamy and crunchy, but in my opinion would have been better served with veggies or leaves, or even one of the other dishes to break up the creaminess. The duck was the perfect dish to finish on. Incredible technquie. Incredible flavours. Incredible texture.

Sake Double Bay, apart from the two dishes which weren't available I was impressed. Looking forward to trying to rest of your menu!

Restaurant: Sake Double Bay
Price (for 2ppl): Food $124; Beverages $9
Hours: Lunch Mon - Sat 11am - 3pm; Sun 10.30am - 3pm; Sushi Bar 3pm - 5pm; Dinner 5pm - late
Must order: Chilli Spanner Crab Salad

childhood memories with one of my faves

When I was younger I used to come to Shelley Beach every weekend with my family, so it always sparks up special memories every time I go back. This weekend I decided to go back to my roots, and tried The Boathouse Shelley Beach, which opened three weeks ago.

We all know my love and affiliation for The Boathouse cafes (see my review on Palm Beach and Balmoral Beach), so to try the Shelley Beach cafe was absolutely on the cards. My husband and I got there at about 8.30am on Saturday and were lucky enough to score a table out the front, and in the sun. Best seat in the house in my opinion.

The Boathouse Shelley Beach is surprisingly big, and I would guess is their new flagship. As you would imagine the interiors, menu and vibe are on par with its sister cafes, but it feels much more spacious, with a variety of areas where you can sit - by the beach, on the side amongst the garden, the large open plan inside, by the coffee bar or on more intimate tables. It's also perfect for people watching!

We ordered the obligatory coffees - double shot skim cap and a skim latte. As the coffee beans are from Single Origin, there were obviously no complaints. And as silly as it sounds, I love the chocolate anchor that comes on the cappuccino. The best looking cap in town...

For breakfast we ordered the Coconut bowl, nut crunch, coconut panna cotta, coconut chia pudding, with dates, apple & fresh berries and the Avocado, tomato and poached eggs on charred toast with goats curd and basil. I am obsessed with anything coconut so I was in my element and scoffed the coconut bowl down fairly quickly. It was exquisite, but could have done with more nut crunch to fill me up more. The avocado and poached eggs were nice, but we probably wouldn't order it again. The bread was a little too thick (too hard to cut/chew), the avocado was too 'lemony', and too much goat curd for my husbands liking.

I'm still perplexed as to the fact that you need to line up for a good 20 minutes to order and there is barely any service needed, yet we pay premium prices. But... it works. And I loved it. And I shall be back.

Cafe: The Boathouse Shelley Beach
Price (for 2ppl): Food $36; Beverages $8.50
Hours: 7am - 4pm; 6pm - l0pm (Tue - Sat)
Must order: Coconut Bowl
Coffee: Single Origin Coffee Roasters

the dish you have to try (that isn't on the menu)

My husband is an avid coffee drinker, and always turns to The Beanhunter for the best coffee finds. So, when we were in Dubbo their app happened to be my new best friend, because I came across this incredible little gem called Brigade Espresso. Not only is it built in an old fire station, but it happens to have the highest rating in Dubbo.

Small and quaint with plenty of super-friendly staff, Brigade Espresso's interior has a warehouse contemporary feel and looks as though there is space out the back for pop-up art galleries (they were packing up when we were there). The perfect place for any social outing!

The coffee beans are sourced from Ethiopia and Kenya, but roasted in Dubbo. You don't get any fresher then that, and you can taste it in the coffee. Delicious.

The menu isn't extensive by any means but certainly has enough variety to cause confusion as to what to order. We went for the Homemade Banana Bread, Mascarpone & Honey; Avocado & High Valley Feta on Wholegrain Sourdough and Roast Pumpkin, Spinach, Spanish Onion with High Valley Feta & Balsamic.

The meals came out fairly quickly - surprising as they have a tiny kitchen behind the service bench that they cook from. Each meal was beautifully presented, tasted amazing and was substantial in size. I would have loved to see a little more texture used in their dishes though...

And just as I thinking this, the staff brought out a sweet dish for us to try. Nothing but an absolute feast for the eyes, and literally ticked all the boxes. This dish isn't on the menu, but I'm sure you can request it... in fact, I highly recommend you ask for it - Apricot and Caramel Biscuit with Mascarpone, Honeycomb, Caramel Popcorn, Pistachio Fairy Floss, Mint and a drizzle of Honey. Absolutely ridiculous. I would drive all the way back to Dubbo (it's 5 1/2 hours from Sydney!) this weekend just to eat it again. It's pure perfection.

I'm in Dubbo a couple of times a year, and it's safe to say I'll be swinging past here again! What a great little cafe.

Cafe: Brigade Espresso Bar
Price (for 3ppl): Food $35; Beverages $13.30
Hours: 8am - 2pm
Must order: Apricot & Caramel biscuit, Mascarpone, Honeycomb & Pistachio Fairy Floss
Coffee: Suburban Coffee Roasters

two doors to tapas in dubbo

I spent the June long weekend in Dubbo visiting one of my best friends. It's always such a great trip going there, and to witness how their food scene is ever-evolving. There are a couple of 'go-to' restaurants and cafes, one of which is Two Doors Tapas and Wine Bar. Opening mid 2008, the restaurant combines recycled stone and brick interiors to bring Spanish-style tapas to the NSW countryside. The ambiance is relaxed yet busy; the staff a combination of laid-back, frantic and unfortunately rude.

Our booking (for three and a toddler) was 6pm - 7.30pm on a Saturday night, however they asked us to come at 5.45pm as they were expecting a busy night. The wine menu was fairly decent and sourced worldwide - we opted for the Maude Pinot Noir from Central Otago, New Zealand. We didn't get to 'taste' the wine, but luckily it was delicious!

As the restaurant is Tapas style, we ordered all our dishes at once and they came out in piecemeal. Our first dish was a half serving of the "Carnivore Board" - a share board that houses prosciutto, thinly sliced pancetta, gourmet salami, Danish fetta and sundried tomatoes. Nothing too special here. The meat was nice quality, but we only received the prosciutto and gourmet salami, and one sundried tomato each... The biscuits were traditional water biscuits you can get at the supermarkets.

Next up is one of my favourites, a full serving of Potato skins deep fried and seasoned in Two Doors spice, served with a herb and tomato sauce. Every time I come here I order this, or a variety of these (the menu changes each season). If you like salty chips, you will love these. Super tasty, big enough serving, and you can have on its own or with the tomato sauce.

We then had the full serve of the Seafood paella with tiger prawn, vongole clam, green muscles, peas and spicy chorizo sausage. This was an absolute disaster. We had to ask the staff whether we received the full serve, that's how tiny the dish was. Would hate to see what a half serve looks like! On top of that the paella was gluggy, had absolutely no taste, and unfortunately we didn't receive one piece of chorizo. Needless to say, this meal was not finished.

With mixed feelings, we were provided with our final fish for the evening. The full serve of Spice rubbed chicken breast with mild spiced chorizo sausage, roasted chickpeas and spanish onion, finished with sweet pedro sherry was actually really nice. The chickpeas were questionable, but I really liked this dish. Not much texture, but the flavours and serving size were great.

At 6.45pm we were asked by the owner whether "we needed the high chair for much longer as the family who had the 7.30pm booking had come early". Personally I thought this was the height of rudeness. We were still well within our booking time, we have a 15 month old baby with us sitting in the high chair still eating, our meals still hadn't been cleared and we had been trying to get their attention to order dessert. We told her we were almost done, and asked if we could order desserts to ensure we were out for 7.30pm... 30 minutes later, I went to the front desk to ask whether we could order our dessert (note our plates still hadn't been cleared). We didn't get out desserts until 7.40pm.

For dessert we ordered House-made churros, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, accompanied by rich dark chocolate ganache. These are hands down the best churros in Australia. Absolutely delicious. Huge serving, thick churros, however the 'sprinkling' of cinnamon sugar was way over the top. I had to scrape some of the sugar off as it was a little too much. We also ordered the Two Doors renowned rocky road, served with vanilla bean ice-cream and the Sticky Date cheesecake special. The Rocky Road was nice, but a little too rich. The cheescake? Not quite sure this could ever work together, and unfortunately it didn't. One bite and the fate was sealed... they should never be combined again. Especially without the sticky date sauce.

This review is a tricky one. Two Doors has a unique position where it is the only decent restaurant in Dubbo. The buzzing atmosphere is only great if the staff can keep up, and unfortunately they simply can't. It's also worth noting that our table didn't get any water, despite asking for it. We had a terrible experience in both the food and wait staff, however I have been here a couple of times prior and had a great time. All I can say is that yes I would come back and eat here again, but I don't have high expectations. There is a perfect opportunity for another fantastic restaurant to enter the Dubbo scene, and fight for the competition. Until then...

Restaurant: Two Doors Tapas and Wine Bar
Price (for 3ppl): Food: $152; Beverages: $63
Hours: Lunch Tue - Fri from 4pm; Dinner Tue - Fri from 6pm; Sat from 10am; Closed Sun & Mon
Must order: Potato skins & Churros

not your standard fish & chip shop

If you're looking for an ordinary fish and chip shop, Flippin Fish is not your place. However, if you're looking for a seafood restaurant with a difference, then make your way to Dural to try out this new restaurant. Opening in March this year, owners Domenic Lombardo and Inge Pirrie have brought a new concept to the area - a fish market come seafood 'cafe'.

Flippin Fish lives at the back of Dural shops - it's not exactly something you would normally walk or drive past and has had some pretty harsh online reviews, so I was interested to see what it was like. Especially on Mothers Day, with a fairly large group. Unfortunately we had to wait outside (lucky it was a beautiful day) for at least 30 minutes while they sorted out our table. Very disappointing seeing as we made a booking, and were with a group of 13. We eventually made our way inside, and to be honest, felt a little bit like sardines squashed in a can. There was so many people in there!

As it was Mothers Day, we had a three course set menu to choose from (choosing from three dishes within each course). I chose the Port Kenny King Prawns with alfalfa & mung bean salad for my entree and it was really yum, fresh and light. Slightly on the bigger serving side for entree, but I still ate it all. The entree ordered by majority of the table was Spanish style squid with chorizo, corn & garlic. This was slightly heavier from a meaty and flavoursome perspective, but was delicious.

  

For my main I ordered the Crispy skin Barramundi with tahini yoghurt and spiced carrots. I love ordering white fish (and can never say 'no' to Barramundi) and it didn't disappoint. Cooked perfectly with the right balance of flavours. Also, how can you go to a 'fish and chip' restaurant and not order seafood as a main!? Not me! Another favourite main on the table was the 300g grass fed sirloin with roast portabellos & parsnip puree. This was cooked to perfection with great taste, but unfortunately had so too fat on the steak (felt like 30%)....

Sides were ordered separately, and at $6 a pop. We ordered the Kale and Pear Salad (fresh but overrated) and the chips (ah-maz-ing)!

For my dessert I genuinely couldn't decide... Cadbury Milk Chocolate mousse with shortbread and honeycomb or Classic Sticky Date Pudding with butterscotch and vanilla gelato. What to choose....!? I left it up to the waitress, and she nailed it. The chocolate mousse was a winner and worked perfectly with my entree and main. It was creamy, light, more-ish and the perfect serving. Although I definitely could have nailed another one. The sticky date serving was quite big, but looked a little dry and didn't have enough sauce in my opinion.

Would I come back? Yes, I honestly would. You've got to give them a little slack. The fit out is great (if you don't mind walking up stairs to the restaurant), the service was fantastic and friendly, and the meals were tasty and on the larger size. Do I think the prices were expensive for the area? Yes, but it's a fantastic restaurant. And I certainly would pay the same (if not more) if it were located closer to the city. Would love to come back in a couple of months time to see how they've progressed... On a side note, they interestingly have some of their recipes on the website. I shall pass these on to my husband :)

Restaurant: Flippin Fish
Price: Food approx $65pp; Beverages approx. $35pp
Hours: From 11.30am
Must order: Crispy skin Barramundi with tahini yoghurt and spiced carrots