eatshowandtell » Sugar Hit

SIFF Sugar Hit 2010: InterContinental Sydney, Sydney

squishies — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 13:00:26 +0000

One of the other Sugar Hits that caught our attention was from The Cortile at the InterContinental.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to The Cortile and I had forgotten that it looks like there’s an outside façade on the inside; I had also forgotten how much I liked it!

As we were seated, we were quickly attended to and before we knew it, our dessert with the wine had arrived.

Homemade Amarena Cherry, Triple Chocolate Gateau with Orange Honeycomb and Bailey's Macaron

I loved how each chocolate layer of this dessert was decadently sumptuous and so smooth. I also loved its Brown Brothers’ Muscat wine pairing.

This rich, chocolate-layered dessert has a secret up its sleeve: the dark cherry gelee layer. The gelee layer and the amarena cherries helped cut through the incredible rich layers of chocolate with their sweet-sour flavour. The other ace is the shards of honeycomb that added a different texture and sort of sweetness to the dessert.

Bailey's Macaron

I think I have a weakness for macarons – I’m forever scoffing down Linda’s macarons whenever I’m over at hers and heaven forbid if F starts to make them. That said, I adored the Bailey’s macaron. Its creamy filling was a delicious break from the decadentness of the chocolate cake.

And look at how big it is! So hectic.

This is what I’d call a Sugar Hit and a must-try for any chocolate (or macaron) lover.

InterContinental Sydney
117 Macquarie Street
Sydney, NSW, 2000
Ph: 0292401396
Web: http://www.sydney.intercontinental.com/

SIFF Sugar Hit 2010: Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney

squishies — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 14:27:23 +0000

On a bummy Friday evening, F suddenly raised the question, “Are we going to SIFF this year?”

“You know I can’t do the ‘Let’s Do Lunches’ because of where I work,” I replied with a sad panda face. And somehow that led to us locking in two Sugar Hits to visit the following night (weird I know).

Our first stop saw us at Shangri-La Hotel. Forgetting what was on the menu for the evening, we were promptly seated and served the matching wine for the evening.

F was surprised to see the colour red in his glass this year, as throughout the previous year, every establishment we had visited served the same white dessert wine. The dark plum-coloured liquid turned out to be Cienna from Brown Brothers.

Black Forest Cocktail - Vanilla Panacotta, Cherries in Kirsch, Chocolate Bonbon, Cocoa Sponge and Chocolate Cream

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SIFF Sugar Hit 2009: Tony Bilson’s Number One, Sydney

squishies — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:00:07 +0000

In fond rememberance of Onde‘s pear and frangipani tart, I thought I should see how well Tony Bilson’s Number One’s version stacked up.

Tony Bilson’s Number One wasn’t where I expected it to be. For some reason, I thought it was located in Customs House and when F asked me where I was going, as I veered away from him towards the building, I said, “Going to Number One of course! Aren’t you coming?” A bit of a minor verbal tussle ensued, where in the end, I yielded to Google Maps and someone’s 20/20 vision.

I realised afterwards that I was thinking of the cafe “Young Alfred” that’s established in Customs House, though I’m not sure how “Young Alfred” and “1 Alfred St” correlates in terms of address. Sigh.

I apologise for the terrible photo. I struggled with dim, warm lighting from inside the restaurant and being seated right next to the window, a bright, bluish light from outside the restaurant. I really did try, but then my ice cream started to melt, forming miniture riverlets amongst the pear slices, and so I gave up…

Pear and Frangipani Tarte Fine

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SIFF Sugar Hit 2009: Shangri La Hotel

Howard — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:00:45 +0000

Having spent too much money on food lately, I wasn’t intending on going to Shangri La for a Sugar Hit this Friday night. To be honest I’m not really a big sweet tooth , I’m more a savoury person. If I had to choose between a pierre herme macaron or some fried chicken, I would pick the fried chicken.

We had just finished our meal at the Night Noodle Markets, when Kathness somehow managed to get us a booking for 8 people just 1 hour before the Shangri La Sugar Hit would start. I didn’t hold much hope for a table as a few hotels have been booked out for their Sugar Hit sessions. As the night was young, I couldn’t knock back an opportunity to increase my blood sugar levels.

Last year, squishies wasn’t too excited about what Shangri La had to offer for their Sugar Hit. Apparently they had a change of hands in the Head Pastry Chef department and the offerings were a bit more different from previous years. I guess each person has different expectations from a Sugar Hit. For me, since it is a month long celebration of food I expect something which makes me go ‘wow’, something which really showcases the talent of the Pastry Chef of the establishment. But at the same time, I understand how difficult it would be to come up with a dessert which appeals to everyone while charging $20.

Hazelnut torte, lemon curd, sugar coated popcorn, and lemon jelly ($20)

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SIFF Sugar Hit : Sir Stamford at Circular Quay Hotel, Sydney

squishies — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:00:41 +0000

I love lazy weekends – I’ll admit I would happily sleep in til late in the afternoons sometimes (especially if it’s miserable outside). So when we were lazing around, idly discussing what we should do, F offhandedly put forward: “Why don’t we do a Sugar Hit?” Why not indeed.

Seeing that Azuma and the Hilton was booked solid that night (boo), Sir Stamford at Circular Quay Hotel’s Sugar Hit sounded like a nice, simple dessert alternative – and really, how can you go wrong with strawberries and cream?

Trying to be classy with the Cognac

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SIFF Sugar Hit 2009: Sheraton on the Park, Sydney

squishies — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:00:28 +0000

When F wanted to go to Sheraton on the Park’s Sugar hit, I was reminded of my last time there (from the lack of photos, I would presume this was before my food blogging days). I had a wonderful Alaska Bomb that I raved about to Minh, who did not quite share my enthusiasm for the same Sugar Hit when she went.

However, remembering fondly of the dessert buffets I’ve had there (and that Alaska bomb!), I figured that F most probably would like it and agreed to be his Sugar Hit partner in crime.

Going by memory, we went upstairs where the buffet tables were for our Sugar Hit, only to have the wait staff inform us that it’s being served downstairs in the lobby. Puzzled, we went back downstairs and as I sat down, my puzzlement grew. I was quite sure that it wasn’t near the lobby last time, but doubts started to creep in and I thought perhaps I remembered wrongly.

Funnily enough, Teresa was also there with her group of friends for the Sugar hit! Small world =) Hehe She also remembered the Sugar Hit being served upstairs and that it kind of felt weird to have it in the lobby. Sorry, it wasn’t quite in the lobby, it was more off to the side in a small room, which in a way felt a little odd. (Perhaps I’m thinking too much into it.)

Warm Chocolate Pudding with Golden Almond Splinter, Honeycomb Ice Cream and Chantilly Cream

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SIFF Sugar Hit 2009: The Westin, Sydney

squishies — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:00:59 +0000

Note : Thanks to Alex in the comments he has advised that the Sugar Hit starts at 6pm!

Slightly overwhelmed by the choices at hand of where to go for our Sugar Hit, I remembered that the Sugar Hit at The Westin last year was pretty decent and the wild rice pudding sounded really interesting. I can’t remember the last time I had rice pudding, let alone wild rice pudding, so I figured it’d be a different and, hopefully, tasty experience.

Wild Rice and Cinnamon Pudding with Cranberry and Rhubarb Jam with Poached Blueberry Meringue

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SIFF Sugar Hit, Perama

linda — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:57:58 +0000

This sugar hit will be hard to beat

My first encounter with Perama was precisely one year ago. It was on one fateful evening that a friend of mine organised a group dinner, which introduced me to a whole new world of Greek food. A world where a greek salad was not the only entree available, a place where lamb was not the only protein in the mains option, a moment where baklava was not the only dessert offering. I was so impressed by that night that one year on, I’m still raving about it to anyone who cares to listen. So imagine my excitement when I found out that this year, Perama chose to offer themselves to the euphoria that surrounds SIFF Sugar Hits.

With our table of 10, we promptly booked the earliest available session, which was 10pm. With all my constant bragging, I think everyone had very high expectations of what the chef, David Tsirakis had to offer.

Left : Caramel baklava ice cream - Vanilla ice cream, chopped mixed baklava nut filling and caramel sauce Right : Choc nut tahini gelato diples - Gelato piped into crispy honey pastry Middle : Quince Melamakarona Crumble - Layered spoon sweet quince w/ cinnamon creamed ricotta and crumble

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Sugar Hit : The Westin, Sydney

squishies — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:00:16 +0000

Farewell Sugar Hit 2008

I love how the lounge bar of The Westin is laid out; we always get a table on the “outside”, where I personally love the whole feeling of “a building inside a building” (quoting Sam, as he’s pretty much hit the nail on the head with that description) – looking up at the soaring skylight framed by the rough sandstone walls and high arches never ceases to make me wonder what and how the GPO was like back in its heyday.

Berry and Quinoa Trifle with Oat Almond Filo Pastry Roll and Pistachio Custard

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Post tags: Dessert, good food month, sugar hit, Sydney

Sugar Hit : Shangri-La, The Rocks

squishies — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:00:48 +0000

Plenty of sugar, but no hit

During last year’s Good Food Month, the dessert on offer at the Shangri-La was easily the best of the bunch. Each component of the platter complimented each other and was scrumptious on its own as well. I was pretty excited about going to Shangri-La this year with high expectations and a hint of anxiousness that the Sugar Hit may not be as good.

Cream Fraiche Ice Cream, Strawberry and Rhubarb Mascarpone Dacquoise, Strawberry Shortcake (?); accompanied by Licorice-infused Strawberries

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Sugar Hit : Four Seasons, Sydney

squishies — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:00:35 +0000

Chocolate goodness

This year, the Sugar Hit at Four Seasons is served upstairs. We got a bit confused as to which side it was on – there was no waiter that came out to greet and usher us to an available table. After awkwardly walking back and forth a couple of times, one of the waitresses spotted us and showed us to a table.

It seemed that it took a little longer than usual for the desserts to arrive, but when it did my friends admired the deconstructed sachertorte, while I stared at it rather baffled, swivelling my rounded triangular plate this way and that, not sure how to best get a shot of it. A couple of the more photography-geek friends helpfully gave some suggestions and I ended up with the shot below (thanks Minh and Sam!). In hindsight, I should have taken a “back” shot as well, but the temptation to taste the delicate morsels were just too much to resist and I had to dig in.

Deconstructed Sachertorte with Chocolate Ganache, a Chocolate something, and Apricot Jelly

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Sugar Hit : Galileo, The Rocks

squishies — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:00:16 +0000

A good start to Good Food Month

Good Food Month is finally here (for some reason I thought it was last month and was so excited until I was informed that I had it wrong and that broke my heart… just a teensy bit), so we decided to start off our Sugar Hit expedition over the next month at Galileo.

Galileo is located within The Observatory Hotel – a very posh place, where it even smells posh; its decor is that of old Victorian mixed with subtle modernism. I love the feeling you get when you walk into the restaurant (though in a way, it’s not quite your typical restaurant set-up), you can easily imagine the high society ladies in their fashionable dresses drinking tea with pinkies delicately extended and conversing in hushed, evenly modulated tones; the men wearing monocles and brightly polished Hessian boots, chomping on their cigars – but still being rather civilised.

But I digress…

Orange Bavarois, Dark Chocolate Mousse, with Mandarin Sorbet and Redcurrant Sauce

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Post tags: Dessert, good food month, sugar hit, The Rocks