Taste of Sydney Festival

Taste of Sydney has begun! Sydney’s best chef’s will be preparing their signature dishes for you to customise your own degustation menu. Be prepared and bring your extra stomach and comfy walking shoes!


There is parking available at the Centennial Park but you can also take the bus and walk thru the park passing signs like this which had the exact same distance on all of them…


Helen and i are joined by Billy and Yas and we’ve pooled our ‘resources’ and bought a whole stack of crowns- the currency of the festival which can be bought at the door and inside from the pink hatted ladies. It’s pretty much $1 for 1 crown with books of 10 crowns and food priced around 8-14 crowns. Most stalls selling stuff like biscuits etc you can pay in both crowns and $$$ but not all will accept the crowns. The menu can be found here. We also bump into Lorraine and Christie who have brought their other halves in order to secure tables heh good move =P


We make our way inside the grounds passing a sexy shiny yellow car


As we walked past the restaurant stalls i spot a pannacotta sitting on its lonesome at the Jonah’s stall and as i excitedly point it out to billy, chef George Francisco comes rushing up “are you chocolatesuze? i love your youtube video! i’ve been sending it to all my friends!” lol im laughing but i am immediately mortified at the thought of such an incredible chef seeing this crazy video from the media launch so of course i had to ask for a more ‘normal’ video:


im still debating whether or not i should put crazy music on this video heh altho there is one other video i took later on so scroll down to see!


There were ‘classes’ to watch and learn like the James Squire beer masterclass and the Taste wine tent


Chocolate to taste from Zokoko


Awesome creamy delicious buffalo cheeses from Vanella Cheese Factory


Loved this sign from Aga


hee retro dishwashers!


i somehow managed to forget to take a photo of all the restaurant stalls lined up hmm my bad but onto the food!


Jonah’s at Whale Beach: Tempura ricotta filled zucchini flowers with basil pesto sauce (10 crowns). Yas has been patient with us as we are crazily taking photos of stalls but he spots a lady with a tray of vivid green zucchini flowers and has immediately handed over a wad of crowns.


Restaurant Balzac: Saddle of suckling Pig with Crackling and Baby Garden Peas (12 crowns). Heh somehow this wasn’t what i was expecting presentation-wise but the meat was soft and tender and the crackling thin and crispy


Assiette: Loin & crumbed belly of lamb with basil mayonnaise & a tomato olive jus (12 crowns). Two thumbs up to the crumbed lamb oh boy was it tasty with its golden crunchy outer layer giving way to melty soft lamb- I suffered from food envy aww


Restaurant Balzac: Wagyu Beef Bourguignonne’ with Truffled Cauliflower and Onion Rings (10 crowns). We had tried this previously at the launch but Billy cant resist getting it and we are so very glad when Yas also gets this because it means more to share hehe it’s a thick golden roll filled with shredded juicy wagyu and the combination of the truffle sauce is too awesome for words. Get it. i command you.


Bloggers eat! Even tho we had arrived pretty early at the festival it filled up quickly and tables were scarce so we ended up eating at an empty SMH stall…


Jonah’s at Whale Beach: Vanilla pannacotta with lavender honey and fresh pomegranate (8 crowns). first dessert has got to be the famous jiggly pannacotta! oh how it wobbled! George gave this to me on the house yay but wait want to see a crazy video?


Ahem. Yeah I had a bit too much sugar that night.


Berowa Waters Inn: Dark Chocolate Tart, End of Season Berries, Mascarpone Sabayon (10 crowns). The tart looked so rich but apparently my stomach can conquer all and it was gone in a flash leaving me thinking huh that was a nice chocolate tart was it really dark chocolate tho because the tastebuds arent crying from being fed dark chocolate.


Buon Ricordo: Semifreddo Montegranelli – Semifreddo with crushed torrone and nuts (10 crowns). Presentation wasn’t that pretty but i loved the little nougat-y bits hidden inside. Yeah dividing this into 4 was a fail and we (unhygienically) dipped in heh we’re family now right guys?


Centennial Parklands Dining: Goat Cheese Marshmallow with strawberries and basil (8 crowns). i really liked the texture of this! The marshmallow had been toasted giving it a nice caramelised taste like a smore and the goats cheese flavour wasnt too overpowering unlike the basil granita which i wasnt too fond of. Oh and i reckon if the marshmallow was on a stick i’d prolly like it more…


Flying Fish: Love cake with cinnamon cream (8 crowns). Our last dessert was pretty delish and i love all things cinnamon!


This is how foodbloggers roll share. heh thanks to our awesome planning skills we managed to use up every single crown = win! The festival ends on Sunday so hope you guys managed to make it and make sure you try the wobbly pannacotta!