I must admit that for the first two weeks of January I was in an unnatural state. I was mostly at home and not travelling. Which meant that I was cooking furiously and frantically and testing out dishes but it also meant that I was feeling a bit stir crazy cooped up at home. And I feel sorry for anyone that has met up with me during this time because I may have talked your ear off in excitement about being out and socialising. Oops, sorry about that!
One outing that had me excited all week, actually for several weeks ever since the invitation was issued was the Sydney Festival. Now I know events are popular and many of the ones that you want to go to sell out quickly. This evening we are going to see the performer Meow Meow in the incredible Spiegeltent (Queen Viv adores it and has described it to me in luscious detail). And before that we are going to hit one of the relatively new restaurants Sokyo, where Californian Japanese chef Chase Kojima creates modern Japanese food. Chase is the former worldwide chef of the Nobu restaurant chain.
Chase Kojima (left)
Part of The Darling hotel, the restaurant is dark, I was warned this although we are dining relatively early so that it isn’t pitch dark. There are lacquered surfaces, an expansive gleaming sushi bar where the freshest of fish glisten under the lights and ropes seem to be the predominant decorating theme. Service is very deferential as befits a Japanese restaurant and there is the requisite “Irasshaimase!!!” welcome greeting when we enter.
We’re dining from the festival menu and for $55 a head you get a choice of 2 courses out of a range of entree, main and dessert. A tip: desserts can be added for the a la carte price between $9-$12 each with the dessert platter at $25 so the best value is had by ordering the entree and main and adding on dessert if you want it. All come with a beverage, a wine from the festival sponsor McGuigan’s who are sponsoring the festival for the first time. The wine comes from their list of five premium limited release wines called “the Shortlist” or you get also get a bottle of still or sparkling Tasmanian rain water. The entree and main courses are from the regular menu whilst the dessert is created for the festival menu.
Tuna Umeshu served with McGuigan’s 2005 Riesling
The courses come out quickly to ensure that everyone makes their festival booking and we start with the tuna umeshu which has two parts to it-the tuna and a salad. The tuna has six luscious pieces of tuna sashimi topped with red vein sorrel and tiny cubes of lightly bitter choya umeshu. There is also “garlic soy umami” drizzled on top but the star is the tuna which is so lusciously good. I have an embarrassing time with the double ended chopsticks and struggle to pick up the jelly pieces. The simple mixed leaf salad with sesame salad dressing is another favourite at the table with many wondering how to make the dressing.
I always thought that everyone were red wine drinkers (or perhaps that’s just my friends) but here most people order the 2005 Eden Valley Riesling with the dark golden shade from the ageing process. So that we could try both, I ordered the McGuigan’s 2009 Barossa Valley GSM (grenache, shiraz and mourvedre) which is a popular Rhone Valley blend.
Lamb Chop Maple Miso
Now sometimes set menus are not good, as you don’t get to choose what you want to eat. However, sometimes they are good in that they offer you something that you wouldn’t necessarily order but you enjoy. This was a case of the latter. I don’t think any of us envisaged eating lamb chops that evening for dinner. These are given the Japanese treatment with a maple miso basting and they sit on a bed of silky smooth eggplant puree. Given that we only have a pair of chopsticks we just pick up the lamb chops with our hands, dip them in the eggplant puree and eat. The chops are buttery and soft and without a trace of muttony flavour. The eggplant is good enough to lick the plate for. It’s said to be burnt baby eggplant but it is to sweet and creamy to truly be burnt and I’d say more caramelised. On the sides are three colours of heirloom carrots thinly sliced and sweet braised.
Toro Toro purin Japanese flan
OK dessert time! We had a bit of a dessert ordering frenzy and we start with the dessert that is part of the festival menu. The pudding and to be honest I didn’t expect much, was my favourite dessert of the night. It was simple but the texture of the milk pudding and the caramel at the bottom was superb and slipped down the throat easily. The warm baked pumpkin madeleine in a financier shape accompanying it was a textural contrast sticking to the tongue and palate.
Dessert sampler
The dessert sampler had four of the desserts included including one that was made up on the night. There is a green mochi sticky rice dumpling folded over like a won ton and filled with strawberry milkshake ice cream. There is also a black sesame dessert which I liked for the contrast in flavours, moderate sweetness and rich black sesame aroma. The Yamazkai caramel macchiato is a light dessert with a caramel espresso flavour to it and I didn’t really go for this as the predominat flavour was unsweetened coffee and it was given bitterness from the cocoa nibs and whisky foam and the texture was a bit wet. The last one was one that was done for the night a fluffy cheesecake that was light but had an unusual accompaniment-the darkest of dark chocolate pieces that looked hard but melted in the mouth.
Chocolate Peanut Butter fondant $13
We both love the chocolate and peanut butter combination so we try out the fondant. I’m presuming that the chocolate peanut butter combination is within the fondant itself and while it has a lovely oozy chocolate centre there isn’t much of a peanut butter flavour to it. It is mostly just the chocolate which is a bit disappointing as I really like the peanut butter and chocolate combo. It comes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream with some peanut brittle on top.
We can’t resist looking at the regular menu before we leave. Everything seems quite reasonable (the online menu doesn’t have prices which led me to believe that things might have been rather scarily priced (you know that old adage, if you have to ask, you can’t afford it).
We make our way to Hyde Park and the famous Spiegeltent which are magnificent travelling tents that travel the world. Originally made in Belgium in the late 19th centruy they are a sight to behold and are perfect for smaller, more intimate performances. Like Meow Meow’s Little Match Girl!
Even Mr NQN enjoyed this-it was his first cabaret show and I was worried quite frankly! Meow Meow is a Melbourne cabaret artist known for her delightfully quirky shows. Her show “Meow Meow’s Little Match Girl” is a mixture of intentional but charming chaos (a blackout complete with audience members helping her light herself), singing and dancing. There are themes of environmentalism and street kids (aka the real life match girls and boys).
And of course no night is complete without someone coming out of the enormous chandelier!
So tell me Dear Reader, have you attended any Sydney Festival events? And do you like set menus or do you prefer to order a la carte?
Image removed at the request of Meow Meow who wants to surprise patrons with her show.
NQN and Mr NQN dined at Sokyo and saw Meow Meow’s Little Match Girl as guests of McGuigan’s Wines
Sokyo
The Star, The Darling
Level G, 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont NSW 2009
Mon to Thu 6pm – 10:15pm
Fri to Sat 6pm – 11pm
Tel: 1800 700 700
Meow Meow’s Little Match Girl
Plays at the Sydney Festival until January 29th, 2012
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39 Comments | Add your own
Nice
I haven’t gone to a Cabaret before either ~
And wow the chef was in charge of the Nobu chain that’s quite impressive!
I really like the look of the dessert sampler hahhaa I always look at dessert first hehe
Hmmm as for set menu or a la carte…depends how hungry I am and if the items on the set menu look appetising to me
The Spiegeltent was in Adelaide for the Fringe Festival last year and I saw a circus there. It was great! The style of the tent and the show made me feel like I had gone back in time:)
I don’t know which I like better. I usually try to convince one person to do the pre-fix and another to order off the menu so I can try the most stuff.
What an evening! That plate of tuna spoke to me, arranged in a perfect row just asking to be eaten.
Beautiful photos…beautiful food. The Japanese, no matter if it is fancy or humble, always manage that perfect, artistic touch, don’t they?
I just love to sample lots of taste sensations, so whichever option offers the most possibilities works best for me!
what a wonderful event! I have never been to anything like that!
I also attended that night – we went to the Steel Bar & Grill first and had a fabulous meal. And it was great to stand in line and be able to hear Tim Finn singing – almost made the wait to get into the tent worthwhile. And the show was fabulous – hysterical, sad, thought provoking and highly entertaining.
The Spiegeltent looks amazing, I’d love to go to a real cabaret. The food looked fabulous. GG
Ooohh, I want the lamb chop maple miso and the peanut butter fondant – fabulous night out!
Food at Sokyo looks amazing. Can’t wait to try it out for myself!
Love sydney festival and really wanted to see meow meow. Have heard such great things about the show.
Yes, a night out is not complete unless someone drops out of a chandelier. What a fun night you must have had. I love the Sydney Festival. I do prefer to choose what I’m going to eat from a complete menu. Set menus can be a bit restrictive for a fussy eater!
looks delicious! Sokyo is now on my to do list
I much prefer a la carte unless I know for sure the chef is just amazing and that I would be happy with anything on the menu.
I do like the look of those chops with eggplant, and its not something I would expect to find at a Japanese restaurant.
That tuna looks magnificent! Yum!
Appetizing food, more American Japanese than classic Japanese to me! The lamb chops with maple miso certainly was a new dish to contemplate! The choice of set menu or a la carte would entirely depend on the restaurant for me. In a really good restaurant I actually prefer a table d’hote to really be able to assess the chef’s capabilities. This year no Sydney Festival for me, but very much appreciate the event generally: being an opera/symphony/chamber music freak, more on the classical side
!
I have to say I prefer a la carte most of the time. I like to be able to pick and choose.
Nope I’ve never been to Sydney festival but it sounds like fun.
Lorraine, once again, I am living beautifully vicareously thru your dining adventures.
Talk about a FAB date night!
–the Dessert sampler looks grand & artsy. Mmmmmm.
PS. I have a request for a post: Can you tell us what you do on your nights off? What do you eat while watching tv? Pop Corn? Do you cuddle on the couch? What series are you into now? Dexter? Give your readers the scoop w/ photos. Xx
Meow Meow is wonderful. I hope you enjoyed her performance as much as we have in the past. I adore her dramatic entrances as I’ve seen her climbing over rails and get herself caught up on a man’s shoulders (crotch to nose) and the audience was in hysterics before the show had even begun.
The Sokyo menu looks beautiful, Lorraine; thank you for sharing!
Caberet’s are always about a bit of fun,
Most times are whimsical, sometimes overdone!
Like in life, I prefer to choose a wide variety of foods that I eat, as opposed to “pre set”,
McGuigan’s 2009 Barossa Valley GSM is always a good bet
I actually prefer to order ala carte over set menus. Most ala carte dishes are far more interesting. heheheh
Hello naughty NQN ! Glad you loved the show – thanks for posting such a lovey article . It would be great if you could take down the final image of Meow, though, as the Aust tour, NY and London seasons of this show haven’t happened yet – we’ve been really strict with Press photographers and would love to keep the show fresh and surprising for real-life audiences – bit of a spoiler otherwise ! that’s why we’re so finicky with folks photographing the show ! It would be lovely if you’d do this for us for the moment – so new audiences can savour in rela-time, unadulterated ! thanks !
I’m always feeling cooped up at home, my boyfriend isn’t such a going out person so I always need to drag him out or find another friend to go out with.
I only like to order set menu items if I like the sound of them and am feeling too lazy to order anything else…usually I don’t mind it if it’s a good restaurant and it’s omakase (chef’s choice) or degustation type food. The food looked lovely, especially that tuna!
I’ve only ever been to the Sydney’s Light Up show, that was so beautiful
Sokyo foods look so very delicious to eat. It will be my very lucky day if i have a chance to eat there with my family.
I’m an a la carte girl, but would put up with all kinds of ordered-for-me meals if I could get all of those desserts. Oh, the love in my heart!
I am well jel you got to go to Meow Meow! This looks like a perfect night out!
Sydney has so much to be proud of! …… Yet again, another great post with beautiful photos!
do you think I could just order dessert dessert and then an extra dessert?
I’m SO envious of the evening you had! Wow!
Oops
! None of us will tell 
! Promise!!
Wl I do hope your put of your funk, Lorraine; I usually get mine in February. That evening looks incredible and the show looks like it would have been really fun.
Sorry, a couple of typos in that set! Darn auto correct. I meant: well, I do hope you’re out of your funk, Lorraine;
You had me at Meow, Meow.
This looks amazing, especially the dessert platter
I love to be able to choose what I order, but set menus always challenge me to try new things, so I’d have to say that I like a bit of both!
Aw yummm my best friend has been raving about Sokyo.. I am still yet to go! And I went to see Meow Meow last Friday night. It was a surprise, but I actually quite enjoyed it, she was definitely not what I was expecting!
Of course, my eyes are on Toro Toro purin Japanese flan!!! I wish to be able to eat this! Can you recreate this dessert, Lorraine?
Depends on where the set menu is! Some can be awesome, and this one certainly looks like it fitted the bill!
Makes me want to live in Sydney
but as I don’t, no, I haven’t been to the festival.
I always assume a place is too expensive if they don’t list prices too so it’s nice to know that’s not always the case!
The tuna looks fabulous
The restaurant looks good. Youv’e inspired me to go to more things next Festival
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