Lindt Chocolat Cafe, Martin Place

I wistfully think back to those childhood times when I wouldn't have thought twice about having a thick slab of some generic chocolate mudcake for an after-school snack. These days, I tend to save my "chocolate allowance" for the more high-end stuff: a pretty choccy from Colefax or Belle Fleur, a square of Lindt Excellence 99%, a raspberry and chocolate mousse tart from Bourke Street Bakery etc. Remember, my friends - good food has no calories; only happiness :D

After spending half the day on my feet volunteering for a uni event, I was famished an in serious need of a sugar boost. My friend P., who was conveniently roaming the city on that day, suggested that we meet up for afternoon tea at the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place. Sounds good to me!

We chose a cake each as well as three scoops of Lindt ice cream to share between the two of us.

First up - the Opera cake. A firm favourite with my friend, who'd purchased the large version on numerous occasions for special events. In fact, she took home one on the day for her dad's birthday!

Looking at how beautifully thin and even each layer in the Opera cake was, it was obvious that the Lindt pastry chefs really were maîtres chocolatiers. According to the Lindt website, the gold leaf on top is 24-carats. Wow!

The cake I picked was the Chocolate & Pear Poire - milk chocolate mousse with a centre of caramelised pear and caramel mousse. Loved how everything was just melt-in-your-mouth, including the pear!

We were allowed to pick three flavours for our ice cream dessert. We decided on the Lindt Excellence 70% cocoa, Black Forest, and Cookies & Cream.

We both found the Excellence 70% to be strangely powdery in texture. The other two, however, were absolutely addictive. Especially the Black Forest, which tasted like it had pieces of chocolate sponge swirled into the ice cream.

Clearly our insulin response wasn't what it used to be, as we found ourselves teetering on the edge of a sugar coma after we licked the last dregs of melted ice cream from our spoons. Time was I could have polished off this whole lot by myself without feeling the least bit ill. Although, my heightened sensitivity to sugar may not necessarily be a bad thing :D

We had a quick wander around the shop.

Lindt chocolates.

Macarons known as "Delices".

Lindor Balls. Some of the flavours I've never come across before, like peanut butter (now my favourite). I brought home a bag of these.

Various cakes, in indiviual portions and the full-sized versions.

Lindt Excellence bars, including the 99% cocoa one(!!!). I've been looking for the 99% for ages. I bought it and tried a square later at home. INTENSE! Probably better suited to melting in a mug of hot chocolate or coffee (easy Mocha!) than eaten on its own.

Next time (and I do intend to return there), I'm going to try the waffles or a slice of the Wimbledon. Maybe both!

Lindt Chocolat Cafe

3 Martin Place (Cnr Phillip Street),

Sydney 2000 NSW
Phone: (02) 8257 1600

Opening Hours

Monday to Friday: 7.30am – 6pm
Saturday & Sunday: 10am – 6pm 

Sweet Infinity: A special brownie in honour of a special lady

Nigella Lawson is acting as judge on Masterchef Australia tonight! I had originally planned to bake a cake or something in honour of her appearance, but with exams looming and everything, I cickened out and went the store-bought route.

Well, if you call a $6 brownie from Sweet Infinity in The Strand Arcade "store-bought"!

I must have walked past the window of Sweet Infinity five times this afternoon before I gave up and just went in. It was the window display of brownies. There was literally a pyramid of them, cocoa-dusted chocolate bricks stacked sky-high. So in I went, resigned to the fact that this was the day that I will finally get my hands on Leanne Beck's renowned handiwork.

There was one customer before me, a middle-aged woman, dressed in full business attire. Take a guess on what she ordered :D That's right, it was the darned brownie. And, when I asked for one too, the lady behind the counter said, hilariously, "that's my afternoon...fetching brownies". Sounds like a fabulous way to spend one's afternoon!

I had a hard time waiting until after dinner to dig into the brownie. But I succeeded in the end, and the reward was all the sweeter for it. Served with a scoop of creamy Connoisseur vanilla ice cream, the brownie simply made my eyes roll to the back of my head...Nigella style! :D

And like Nigella once said, "everything in moderation...including moderation!" As much as I would have liked to gobble down the whole, giant slab, I knew I'd enjoy it more if I spread it out over the next few days. So into the freezer it went, to be microwaved and served with more ice cream tomorrow night, and the one after that...

And just in case anyone should think to lay their little, greedy paws on my brownie:

Sweet Infinity

Strand Store

Shop 18 Strand Arcade,
412 - 418 George Street Sydney
Phone: 02 9231 0472
Website: http://www.sweetinfinity.com.au/

Opening Hours

8:00 am to 5:30 pm Monday to Friday
8:00 am to 7:00 pm Thursday
9:00 am to 5:30 pm Saturday
11:00 am to 4:00 pm Sunday

The Eight, Haymarket, Sydney

There were originally plans to have pizza in Darlinghurst for Sunday night dinner, with a trip to Gelato Messina for dessert, but the weather was so cold and we were all tired from shopping, so we decided on trying out Zilver on Pitt St instead, having heard from various sources that it was 'the best' Chinese restaurant in Sydney. However, upon finding out that Henry Tang, the owner of Zilver, now had a new establishment on Level 3 of Market City called The Eight...well, why not?

I don't consider myself an expert in Chinese cuisine (especially Southern Chinese cuisine), but I feel that I've been to enough Chinese restaurants in Sydney to give a somewhat balanced review. But, by all means, take this with a grain of salt :D I wish I could say that I have a 'cultured palate' (whatever that means), but the truth is, I'd pretty much eat anything put in front of me when I'm hungry. And, oh boy, I was so hungry when I stepped into The Eight that I gulped down two bowls of the complimentary starter broth and a handful of peanuts...and immediately regretted it when I felt my appetite wane.

When we dine at Chinese restaurants, we very rarely consult the menu; instead, we ask the waiters for recommendations. On this occasion, our waiter did an exemplary job of picking dishes which showcased what The Eight had to offer. However, I did make it a point to ask for the roast suckling pig and crispy pork belly platter.

I had to stop myself from drooling all over the table cloth when the waiter set this down on the turntable. GAH, I'm salivating just thinking back on it now. The horribly-lit photograph really doesn't do justice to the perfectly crisped pork skin, and the tender, succulent, fatty meat underneath. The pork came atop a bed of pickled jellyfish (also a favourite of mine), and plates of various condiments: granulated sugar, mustard, and hoisin sauce.

Next to arrive were the gigantic steamed oysters with XO chili sauce and vermicelli. There was plenty of sauce, which meant that the vermicelli was thoroughly infused with the XO and chili flavour. Cooked oysters don't sit well with some people, but I personally enjoy both the raw and cooked variety. These ones were cooked quite well - very tender!

I think this next dish is the braised vegetables in clay pot. It had edible fungi, carrot, snow pea, fried bean curd and tofu skin.  A nice, vegetarian touch to an otherwise animal protein-heavy meal.

And then all the rest of our dishes seemed to arrive at once! Not that I was complaining. Why is it that the more I eat, the hungrier I get?!

There was The Eight's special fried rice with crab meat, fried scallop and salmon roe. It was "special" all right. The price was very "special" too :D

The deep fried crispy duck topped with minced taro was my second favourite dish of the night (the favourite being the pork platter). The crispy duck was covered by a thick layer of buttery taro mash, and then the whole thing was coated in what tasted quite similar to tempura batter, and then deep fried. My dining companions all complained about how rich and fatty it was, but I tuned it all out and simply savoured each, blissful bite.



When we dine out at a Chinese restaurant, we always get one fried rice and one noodle dish. Yet another of our many idiosyncracies, I suppose. For tonight, we chose the stir fried ee fu noodles with mixed mushroom in abalone sauce. Wish there was more mushroom.

The sweet and sour pork with pineapple and lychees is another 'must'. The glaze was beautifully caramelized, and the pork underneath pleasingly fatty. The lychees were nowhere in sight, though. Maybe it was used in the sauce? Or, er...metaphorical???

The wok seared diced beef fillet with foie gras paste was recommended to us by our waiter, and I'm now recommending it to all you out there! Beautifully cooked beef, rich, flavourful sauce, and crunchy string beans providing a nice, textural contrast.

We were so stuffed at this point, but who can refuse complimentary dessert? :D It was the standard fare: fruit platter, dessert soup, and various Chinese pastries.

I walked out of The Eight with the waistband of my skirt cutting uncomfortably into my now rotund midriff. I try to practice mindful eating in life, but when the food is good and all your dining companions are chowing down...well, it's hard not to eat until you feel like a little porker yourself :D

The Eight

Level 3, Market City, 9-13 Hay Street

Sydney NSW 2000

Tel: (02) 9282 9988

Website: http://theeightrestaurant.com.au/

Meet Fresh, Chinatown

I've been staying at a friend's place in the city for the past few days, and the whole time I was there, not once did I have a craving for Meet Fresh, situated a mere minute's walk away. And then I come home and - BAM - I start thinking about the darn place 24/7, to the point where I actually contemplated buy a hunk of taro to make some taro balls myself, in order to recreate the dessert at my own humble abode.

(Of course, I would also have to make a block of ice, purchase an ice shaver, make the herbal jelly, cook the red/green beans, and prepare whatever goes into that bowl of icy goodness. In which case it'd probably be quicker to fly to Taiwan and eat at one of the Meet Fresh outlets there.)

Guess it's time to whip  out the food porn collection.

Ughhhhh...

I think I may have inherited my dad's preference for chewy textures, in addition to his sweet teeth. My mother simply cannot stand anything sugary food, yet my dad would quite happily eat cake any time of the day. And myself? Well, let's just say that if I were left to my own devices, I'd probably be eating cookies and cream yoghurt for breakfast, lunch and tea. Or a bowl of the amazing taro and sweet potato balls from Meet Fresh. This was the Taro Balls Dessert No. 3, which had taro and sweet potato glutinous balls, red beans, tapioca pearls, and sweetened boiled peanuts atop a bed of shaved ice, and all drenched in some sort of sweet syrupy soup. And, you know what? It wasn't all that sweet, so even my mum would have liked it!

My friend ordered Taro Balls Dessert No. 2, which had the same glutinous balls and tapioca pealrs, in addition to green beans and sweet potato. Refreshing!

Hmm, going through my Meet Fresh 'porn' seems to make me crave it even more. I can't believe I want shaved ice this much in winter! Looks like I'd have to remedy this...and soon!

Meet Fresh, here I come :D


Meet Fresh

13 Goulburn St, Haymarket NSW 2000

Phone: (02) 8339 1031

Website: http://meetfresh.net/