My friends and I were talking about cuisines that aren’t represented in Sydney. It was hard to pick one as Sydney is so diverse it seems that we have a restaurant for just about every cuisine.

“How about Kazakhstani?” I ventured as I recalled trying to brainstorm for a Kazakhstani dinner party and being at a loss to find the ingredients.

One cuisine that is a little more accessible taste wise and that isn’t represented in Sydney is Macanese cuisine from Macau near Hong Kong. The intriguing thing about this cuisine is that it was borne from Macau being a Portuguese colony and is influenced by the various foods in the areas that the Portuguese visited on their spice routes creating a unique cuisine. So Macanese cuisine is actually a blend of Portuguese, Cantonese as well as some African and Indian flavours. You can get bacalhau-the Portuguese dried and salted cod alongside coconut laced curries and African chicken. Their egg tarts are a cross between the classic Portuguese tart (pastéis de nata) and Chinese egg tarts. And for just one week ending this coming Friday the Four Seasons hotel has brought over two chefs from the Four Seasons Macau to cook traditional Macanese food for diners at Kables restaurant. And that is where we find ourselves one spring lunchtime.

Cod fish fritters with marinated olives, tartare sauce

Macanese food is traditionally served share style, similar to Chinese food. The cod fish fritters are up first and they’re small dark golden crumbed fritters with a thin, lightly crunchy coating with a salty kick from the salted cod. They remind me of the oven baked croquettes that I made recently rather than my image of a fritter and they’re combined with a thick tartare sauce and sharp, firm green and black olives.

Caldo verde – Portugeuse style potato and kale soup, extra virgin olive oil $16

I must admit that I wasn’t really won over by this soup which was a bit grainy. I did like the smoked pork pieces which didn’t get a mention on the menu (and fellow diner Heather doesn’t eat pork so that was a surprise). It is served with a basket of grilled bread.

Macanese prawns with chilli and garlic

The prawns are served with the shell on and the smaller ones are the easiest to eat as I ate them shell and all. And if you’ve never eaten a prawn head, eating a dish like this is the time to do so as much of the flavoursome chilli, ginger and garlic sauce and flavour is concentrated in the head and the smaller ones pack a lot of flavour whilst being soft too.

African chicken -curry roasted chicken, potato wedges and salad

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Ending the week on a sugar high, one of my favourite events every year for the Crave Food Festival is the Sugar Hit. This is where restaurants and hotels across Sydney put a dessert dish and a matching Brown Brothers dessert wine and open up their doors to diners from 9pm-11pm so that they can enjoy a sweet ending to their night for $20. Or you could be like me and enjoying a second, third or fourth dessert, I’m not judging! Here’s a sample of what’s on offer:

Azuma Kushiyaka – Sydney CBD

At Azuma Kushiyaki restaurant, at any lunch time chef Tetsuya could be the diner sitting next to you. In fact the first time I visited Azuma, he was sitting at a table across the room. Their kushiyaki (items grilled on skewers) are sublime but they also have a deft touch when it comes to desserts. Their Sugar Hit is a two tier Japanese lacquered box filled with lots of little tastes of Japan with traditional and modern Japanese desserts.

A selection of Eastern and Western-influenced desserts and sweets, created daily served with Brown Brothers Orange Muscat and Flora wine

There is a choice of green tea or Brown Brothers Orange Muscat and Flora wine and we opt to try both. The top layer of the sugar hit comprises of a Sake sample, a full sized green tea tiramisu where sponge fingers are generously soaked in shochu and the light cream and mascarpone layer is alternated with green tea. There is also a dark chocolate coated handmade chocolate filled with a nutty milk and dark praline and a little explosive surprise inside (pop rocks). There were also two petite butter cake bites filled with red beans and soaked in sake which I quite liked-and I’m not usually much of a sake drinker!

The second layer has a more traditional Japanese offering-anmitsu which I remember eating during the untenably hot Japanese summer. It is a mixture of sliced seasonal fruit, large bubble tea sized tapioca pearls, sweetened red beans, chewy shiratami rice dumplings coated in a kinako soybean powder (that looks like peanut powder and has a similarly nutty, sweet taste) finished off with a Japanese brown sugar syrup. It’s refreshing and chewy and I think back to my time warding off fatigue by eating this. And last but not least is the white sesame ice cream which is house made and tastes and has the lovely creamy texture of a rich egg custard based ice cream with the light smokiness of white sesame.

Catalina – Rose Bay

We drive up to Rose Bay’s Catalina and check out our fellow car park inhabitants. There are Porsches, Jaguars and Audis (and as a new driver I notice they are rather haphazardly parked across lines-I guess if you have one of those cars you need to show that you really park how you want!). We take a seat inside Catalina where the view of the lights reflects and sparkles on the dark, black water. Keen sailor Mr NQN whispers to me that the man sitting behind us owns one of the Sydney to Hobart winning super maxi yachts. My point? The crowd at Catalina is very chi chi indeed.

A slice of dark Valrhona chocolate and date tart with rose-petal ice-cream served with Brown Brothers Tawny Port

If you want to have a taste of a dessert at Catalina, their Sugar Hit is a nice introduction (although I have very fond memories of meals here B.B. Before Blog and it’s worth visiting for the savouries too). The dessert is a slice of dark Valrhona chocolate and date tart with rose-petal ice-cream with a glass of Brown Brothers Tawny Port. The tart is rich and gooey and the occasional medjool date imparts an even richer texture rather than a flavour against the dark Valrhona chocolate. The rose petal ice cream with texture from the rose petals is ambrosial and there is also some rose petal syrup lacing the tart. And the pairing with the Brown Brothers tawny port is excellent cleansing the palate when the tart gets too rich so that you’re eager to begin the chocolate feast again. This dessert is also on the regular menu for $19 so the sugar hit is a very good deal.

Hilton Hotel Glass Brasserie – Sydney CBD

The Hilton Hotel’s Glass restaurant by chef Luke Mangan seems to be buzzing with diners this Tuesday evening and we take a seat at the wine bottle lined room and have a look at the dessert offering. It’s actually a dessert on their regular menu although for the sugar hit it is presented in a different shape.

Milk chocolate bavarois, tonka bean creme brulee, caramel sorbet and salted beans served with Brown Brothers Patricia Noble Riesling

There is a two layered milk chocolate bavarois covered in a thin layer of sponge in a dome shape and there is also a layer of tonka creme brulee which is similar to vanilla bean and there is a slight hint of cinnamon in this moussey, light dessert too. It is topped with some toasted peanuts, silver leaf and milk chocolate curls and a slightly tangy caramel sorbet and a peanutty crumble. Mr NQN likes the Brown Brothers Patricia Noble Riesling wine here (although I’m driving so no drinkies for me!) with its many awards stamped on the label.

Inter Continental Cortile Lounge - Circular Quay

I seem to have made it to the Inter Continental’s Sugar Hit for the last few years in a row despite the constant battle for a parking spot nearby. The Sugar Hit is as always on the ground level Cortile lounge where there are high banquette seats to hide behind or tables, lounges and chairs. This year’s sugar hit is said to be a tribute to Spring with the use of blood orange.

Pistachio and bitter chocolate vacherin with blood orange custard served with Brown Brothers Moscato

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When we dine out with a particular group of friends, friends of nearly 15 years, I get a bit nervous. Because one of my  friend’s husband’s is called Hot Dog. He has a Grizzly Adams beard and as I say on my dining companions page, for a waiter he can either be your best friend or your worst nightmare. And we’re just hoping that we get a waiter with a sense of humour because when dining at expensive restaurants, Hot Dog likes to play it up. It’s hard to explain 15 years of friendship with his wife to restaurant staff, so we just hope that they play along and realise that he is only joking.

The six of us are booked into Quarter 21 which is one of Justin and Georgia North’s new restaurants. The quarter in the name represents the four quarters of the business; Becasse, Etch, Quarter 21 and Le Grand Cafe. The twenty one is a reference to twenty one grams or what has purported to be the weight of the soul. The restaurant slogan says “eat for the soul” and I almost expected slightly different food to reflect this although the offerings are very much in line with their other restaurants.

We decide after some dithering to go with the degustation for the whole table, $90 for seven courses or $130 including wine per person.

Amuse bouche

The amuse bouche is thin slices of bresaola (air dried beef), feather light with some anchovy mayonnaise. It is a lovely salty start to the evening and of course Hot Dog starts on our poor waiter where he asks if he had to pay for this course. The waiter is well versed in people like Hot Dog and has him firmly in his crosshairs charming him. Relief!

Salad of beetroot and endive, Bellingham blue, hazelnut and pear

This salad has beetroot in a few incarnations: pickled, raw and confit with small endive leaves, some Bellingham blue cheese mousse, hazelnuts and lightly poached pear. It comes together perfectly with the slightly sweet beetroot, rich blue cheese mousse, a contrast from the slightly bitter endive leaves and the toasted hazelnuts give the dish a lovely warmth.

Cured kingfish, citrus, radish and black pepper

When they sat this down I exclaimed that this was one of my favourite dishes. I’ve had it at their sister restaurant Etch a couple of times and I’ve had it at a recent dinner where Etch chef James Metcalfe cooked it for us. It’s a fillet of kingfish that is marinated in aromatic Asian spices like star anise and coriander and it is then cured with salt. Although this time it wasn’t my favourite dish as it just tasted predominantly of citrus from the sour pink grapefruit. I much preferred it when it had ginger and sesame on it which also gave it a lovely sheen and glossiness whereas the kingfish is comparatively more matte on top.

Civet of ocean jacket, prawn and mussels, scallop tortellone, lemongrass and ginger

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