10
of Sydney’s Best – June 2006
In no particular order, by Franz Scheurer
‘Involtini di
Quaglia’ - Otto Ristorante
Chef: James Kidman
This rolled sausage of quail with apple mustard fruits, balsamic and olive toast is an amazing and generous dish. You need three quails to make two portions and the amount of work and kitchen-craft that goes into this is dish is astounding.
$23 per serve.
For more information or bookings:
Otto Ristorante Italiano
Area 8, 6 Cowper Wharf Road
Woolloomooloo NSW 2011
Tel.: 02 9368 7488
Chicken Laksa - rd’s
Café
Chef: Daxa Chauhan
Sydney’s best Chicken Laksa is served in an unlikely location: a small café at the Harbour Bridge end of Kent Street. The dish is full of flavour, hot and spicy and texturally sublime. Very fresh greens, succulent chicken, fried tofu, terrific, crunchy vegetables and gelatinous noodles, all in a fragrant, coconutty broth, allure your senses and make you want to come back for more.
$8.80 per serve.
For more information:
rd’s Café
167 Kent Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel.: 02 9252 5284
Grilled Wagyu Beef
with Asian Mushrooms & Lime Jus – Tetsuya’s
Chef: Tetsuya Wakuda
A long, seared strip of paper-thin Wagyu is rolled up and presented like a modern ‘beef olive’. The textures shine, gelatinous, layered and firm to the bite yet meltingly tender, and the flavours are rich, dark and moreish. No doubt in its simplicity one of the most adventurous ways to serve Wagyu; it is a memorable dish!
Served as part of the degustation.
For more information:
Tetsuya’s Restaurant
529 Kent Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: 02 9267 2900
Seared Quail Breast
with Sofrito Calamari and Boudin Noir – Bentley Restaurant & Bar
Chef: Brent Savage
This is a feast for the eyes, the nose and the palate. Beautifully plated the quail’s aromas almost make you cry and once you dig in you’ll find this is both a challenging and terrifically enjoyable dish, full of flavour and contrasting textures. Easily the best Boudin Noir in town, too! Love it!
$21 per serve
For more information:
Bentley Restaurant & Bar
Cnr. Crown and Campbell Streets
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Tel.: 9332 2344
Pork Belly Pizza with
Sweet and Sour Onions – Hugo’s Bar Pizza
Chef: John Lanzafame
John knows all the rules to make traditional pizzas; that’s why he can break them. This pizza is one of the few non-traditional pizzas that work. He attains a perfect balance of crisp dough and succulent, gelatinous pork belly with the crowning acid of the onions. More!
$24 per serve
For more information:
Hugo's Bar Pizza
19 Bayswater Road
Kings Cross NSW 2011
Tel: 9332 1227
Sauternes Custard
with Caramel – Marque Restaurant
Chef: Mark Best
This would be on my list of last meal dishes; incredibly rich, incredibly sweet and indescribably fabulous and NO, I won’t share!
Part of the degustation
For more information:
Marque Restaurant
355 Crown Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Tel.: 9332 2225
Goats Cheese
Tortellini with Pine Nuts and Raisin – Rockpool
Chef: Neil Perry
It’s amazing to see that this dish has weathered years of fickle Sydney diners’ tastes, withstood all attempts at culinary fashion changes only to emerge as one of the all-time winners of the Australian dining scene. This is not just a good dish it’s pure artistry.
Part of the degustation
For more information:
Rockpool
107 George Street
The Rocks NSW 2000
Tel.: 9252 1888
Curry Chicken and
Roti – Chinta Ria
Chef: Donnie Pang and Simon Goh
Simon’s roti is legendary and pairing it to Donnie’s succulent green curry chicken is attaining Malaysian culinary bliss. Chinta Ria, the ‘Temple of Love’ is certainly a place where everyone is happy and the food really is finger-licking good.
$26.90 per serve
For more information:
Chinta Ria – Temple of Love
Rooftop
Cockle Bay Wharf
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel.: 02 9264 3211
Huevos Rancheros –
The Chelsea Tea House’
Chef: Lucienne Francisco
Combine a hearty, crisp corn tortilla with black beans, soft-fried eggs, tomato-chilli salsa and chilli butter and some avocado for good measure and you have a breakfast dish that will cure any hangover. Lucienne’s version is the best in Sydney and it’s a generous serve to boot (sorry George).
$15 per serve
For more information:
The Chelsea Tea House
Shop 2 / 48 Old Barrenjoey Road
Avalon NSW 2107
Tel.: 02 9918 6794
‘Hoy Tod’ – Spice I
Am
‘Hoy Tod’, or pan-fried mussel omelette with bean sprouts and chilli is a dish that although spicy and reasonably fiery doesn’t ever lose the essence of the mussels and reminds me of Chiang Mai: it’s rich in its heritage but very much insists on its own character.
$15.90 per serve
For more information:
Spice I Am
90 Wentworth Ave
Cnr Campbell Street and Elizabeth Street
Sydney NSW 2010
Tel.: 02 9280 0928