Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney

So all my visits to sugar hit have been spur of the moment. If I find myself with nothing to do at night I’d drop by one and hope there’s a table. As a result they’ve all been taken with my iPhone camera :(

So just in case any one was wondering what was in the Shangri-La sugar hit, here it is.

 Lemon macaron, Pistachio rice pudding, opera cake, chocolate bavarois and chocolate, whisky candy bar, and cherry tart

I started with the pistachio one, thinking that I wouldn’t like the taste at all, but I was wrong. It would be hard to pick a favourite from this, I’ve thought about it over and over since I visited 2 weeks ago. I often find myself trying to find the time and dedication to trek up that huge hill to go back and order this sugar hit again. I’ve been to 5 thus far, and this was my first and favourite one. I loved the red Brown Brothers dessert wine it was paired with. None of the other sugar hits I’ve been to has served that wine, even though they really should have. It went perfectly with the chocolates on the plate.

yum :)

Shangri-La Hotel
176 Cumberland Street
The Rocks, Sydney
T: (02) 9250 6000

Baroque Bistro, The Rocks

A few weeks ago I had the luxury of attending a client lunch with my colleagues at Baroque – a Bistro owned by the same family that runs “La Renaissance” – a patisserie at The Rocks with fancy cakes and colourful macarons enough to make you salivate just by looking. The interior is pretty much the reflection of a classy French dining but with a slight modern and casual touch. On one side of the restauraunt is a wall-sized black board listing their specials of the day. Situated just on the other side of the Overseas Passenger Terminal, our window seat had a nice view, albeit only a small glimpse of the Opera House and surroundings of Circular Quay.

I arrived early just as they were preparing for lunch bookings and so took a seat whilst mums and bubs were finishing off one of many leisurely brunches of the week. The staff were absolutely lovely and fun – the waiters fooled around behind the bar, mixing thier own drinks and the waitress came over to chat with me about the restauruant, food, photography, work and pretty much life in general.

Slow cooked corn fed chicken breast, celeriac, roasted corn, kipfler potatoes

This was my dish and I absoletely loved it! I don’t normally order chicken when I eat out as I tend to find they are usually overcooked but this dish was heaven! The meat was so succulent and tender and the corn on the side was quite an unusual combination but the different textures really heightened your senses. Highly recommended and I would definately go back to have this again!

Confit Berkshire pork belly, heirloom carrots, tarragon, silverbeet

This was the client’s dish so I didn’t have the honour of tasting any. However I have to say I really liked the presentation – the mix of vegetables just made it look like a paint palette ready to be used (in this case, eaten)!

Vanilla crème brulée, pistachio ice cream

Creme brulee is my all time favourite dessert. Where there is creme brulee on a dessert menu, I will have ordered it. However, being so excited after the mains I decided to try something different this time (refer to next dessert) so I gave the creme brulee a pass this time round. Three out of the five people at the table ordered creme brulee and almost ended up licking their plates so I have to assume it was fantastic!

Riz au lait, candied hazelnut, hazelnut ice cream, raspberry sponge

‘Riz au lait’ – French for Rice with Milk. I’m a bit disappointed as I have to admit, it looks much better than it tastes. I was already full from the main course I guess choosing a rice pudding dessert wasn’t the best choice. The flavour was a bit bland even with the raspberry sponge which I found a bit dry and not very flavoursome. The candied hazelnut on the other hand was quite unique and I guess that helped save the dish a little.

Jasmine Macarons and Strawberry and Vanilla Macarons

I’ve tasted macarons a few times but never been sure what the expectation was. There seems to be a huge craze going on about macarons (fuelled further by the Adriano Zumbo Macaron Tower on Masterchef) but now I finally understand why. In a nutshell, the texture was crispy yet soft and fluffy but not too sweet.

Overall a brilliant experience not with my usual crowd. I’ve raved about this place to my friends and definately hope to go back again some time soon!

Baroque Bistro
88 George Street (corner of Hickson Road)
The Rocks, Sydney 2000
T: (02) 9241 4811