Posts Tagged ‘One Hat’

In the heart of the CBD, we find ourselves tucked away in one of my favourite restaurants in Sydney – Pendolino.

Awarded a “One Hat’ out of a possible Three Hats from the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, I am always shell shocked as to why Pendolino is only given the one.

Being the veteran that I am, I became quite vocal of what we should order. I go in and advocate that we must try the beef carpaccio and the hand made ravioli with burnt butter sage sauce.

beef carpaccio

The first thing that immediately impresses upon you is the beautiful scent of truffles when the beef carpaccio is placed in front you. To taste every single morsel of flesh is phenomenal with its melt in your mouth texture. It is so tender it doesn’t even require so much as a chew, only a gentle slip into your mouth. The aromatic notes of the truffle, the saltiness of the testun barola cheese and soft crunch of the rocket cress deliver a delicious and sensory overload.

four cheese ravioli

This is a dish I simply can not do without. The hand made ravioli is expertly tended to and made to perfection. Resulting in the perfect thinness of pasta that is tightly wrapped around a delicious filling of spinach, parmigiano reggiano, gruyere, buffalo mozzarella.

The filling is beautifully plump and strikes the perfect balance between the mixture of cheese and the burnt butter and sage sauce. And the experience of the buttered sage leaves disintegrating along the roof of your tongue feels incredible.

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The one dish you must try. Sake’s most celebrated dish. The sashimi tacos.

Eat ’em and weep.

sashimi tacos

2x tuna & salmon sashimi baby tacos with chilled tomato salsa matched with Kozaemon Junmai ‘sake shots’ $17

The minced morsels of sashimi flesh, the taco Jap inspired shell with the excruciatingly microscopic salsa beads is truly legendary. It’s enough to bring tears to your eyes.

bocconcini tempura

bocconcini tempura w reduced balsamic and lemon salt $10

bocconcini tempura 2

The thing I love most about this dish, is that the tempura bocconcini is remarkably stringy. This made for fun, long sweeping arm movements in order for us girls to firmly get the damn thing under control and safely into our mouths. You are left bound by your moral imperative to channel your inner child and play with your food. So, forget mum!

scampi tempura

tempura scampi tails with sweet ponzu, coriander & jalapeño slices $36

The tempura scampi tail was wonderful thick, plump and super sweet. The ponzu sauce made it even sweeter and the tempura batter liberally drank the sauce from the bottom up, leaving it positively dribbling with the sauce. The scampi tempura crossed between both crunchy and soggy territory. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed it!

sashimi tacos 2

sashimi tacos $17

I couldn’t resist it, fight it nor withstand it and thanks to good old fashion gluttony, we indulge in another round of the sashimi tacos with absolutely no shame.

kingfish double crunch

kingfish double crunch $15

The sushi roll looks simple enough but this baby is loaded with crunch, textures, layers and flavours on the inside and out. One bite and everything implodes.  It’s pure perfection and I’m somewhat confused, overwhelmed and even a little ecstatic by this little humble roll.

dessert bento box

dessert bento box – chocolate cup cake, yuzu sorbet, nashi pear gyoza, passionfruit dipping sauce with matcha apple mousse sticks $22

We thought the dessert bento box was the perfect way for the pair of us to go out on the finish. The bento box is ideally paired for two and a great way to sample sweet Japanese inspired flavours along our palette.

The highlights were the Yuzu sorbet which served  us with a refreshing hit and the apple mousse sticks was a crumbly and a creamy ensemble with this glorious goo spilling from the inside. The chocolate cupcake was too rich for my taste but Emma practically hoovered the poor thing down, apple floss also didn’t stand a chance while the nashi pear gyoza remained as the weakest link.

buttermilk pannacotta w raspberry coulis

buttermilk pannacotta w raspberry coulis – $12

Just to top things off, we were fortunate enough to receive a complimentary tasting of the deconstructed Russian cream. I’m not sure why, but who am I to refuse Sake and my god, it was absolutely delicious.

Welcome to Sake Restaurant & Bar, for cutting edge Japanese food sitting firmly at the fore.

Saké Restaurant & Bar on Urbanspoon

Saké Restaurant & Bar

02 9259 5656

12 Argyle St
The Rocks, NSW 2000

sakerestaurant.com.au

Quarter Twenty One is now closed.

This is Chefs Club, where 6 Chefs offer six set menus (with wine) for $30, every Tuesday.

Note: the entree and main shown here is not available on the al la carte menu.

cured beef

cured beef, picked mushroom, smoked celeriac & madeira

It was a stunning start with the beautiful slivers of cured beef laying there with its bright blushing red centre.The delicate droplets of smoked celeriac was a creamy and buttery touch that softened the intensity of the cured beef.

roast pig

roast leg of suckling pig, parsnip, brussels sprouts & honey clove jus

What makes a perfect roast pig? Tender pieces of pork? Check.

Crackling that’s crisp and that beautiful blubber of fat that lines it. Check, check.

What a glorious little piece of suckling pig. There are no words other than, you have lived and served me well piggy.

bombe

Passionfruit & vanilla bombe, yoghurt, candied macadamia, rhubarb sorbet $17

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Ad Lib Bistro has since closed its doors. 

With an impromptu reservation I found myself dining at Ad Lib Bistro in Pymble on a Monday evening. Recommended by a fellow foodie, it was described to me as fanastic French fare that is reasonably priced for a one hat restaurant. As a result of this recommendation, Ad Lib Bistro was in the pipeline for quite some time and when we eventually made our way through the doors I noted that even for a Monday it was almost filled.

Hmmm… a sign of good things to come I hope!

Potato, leek soup with truffles $12

Truffled potato and leek soup $12

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