Author Archives: Not Quite Nigella

Saks Espresso & Wine, Surry Hills

saks surry hills sign

Friends in high places, they mean a lot of course but friends in the right places means a lot too. My friend M was just the person that I needed to speak to about a very important topic and she suggested that we meet up at Saks Espresso & Wine in Surry Hills as she works nearby. I did my due diligence (i.e. looking up reviews) and it all looked good. There’s a selection of arty books resting against the banquette near the window and inside is all red and it’s full with patrons.

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Baroque Bistro & Patisserie, The Rocks

baroque bistro logo

baroque bistro inside

It’s coming up to crazy season, that’s right, Christmas is almost upon us! December is a hectic time and Christmas meet ups with friends seem to happen in November as December fills up months in advance. When Kath asked our group whether we’d like to go to Baroque Bistro, the brand spanking, new and shiny thing on the block owing to some miracle of planning there was a date we were all free in November. Baroque Bistro is by the same people that own La Renaissance, the lovely patisserie in The Rocks and rumour had it that you could watch all the chefs baking all sorts of goodies  in the window and on the other side, there was a beautiful view of the harbour. It’s open 7 days a week from 8am til late and given the location and view, the prices are a veritable steal.

baroque bistro entrance

Our waiter explains that there is only the duck leg available in the duck dish tonight which is usually duck done two ways making it a duck done one way only so we bypass it. Trish, Kath and I are eager to share so that we can try more so we order a few things that we all like the sound of or are curious about. The waiter is a tad confused about our need to share as he wants to assign each position in the table with a dish and this results in a main going missing a little later.

baroque bistro bread

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Belgium Biscuits & Fairy Godmothers & A Kitchenaid Domestic Goddess Giveaway!

belgium biscuits 1-1

Queen Viv has been my friend for years, almost 2 decades to be precise. She has always been my fairy godmother. She watches over me and along with my darling Mr NQN was the first person to encourage me to start this blog two years ago. Ever since she has been one of my most loyal supporters and is a fantastic cheerleader whenever I have doubts and along with Mr NQN comes up with great ideas. She is like a big sister or mother figure to me (and her son Michael is about my age too).

belgium biscuits 3

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Quay Restaurant, Overseas Passenger Terminal

quay restaurant menu

“Excitement! Dinner at Quay :D All dressed up. Mr NQN in sneakers and sailing shirt love it lol” I tweeted one Saturday night. As a way to celebrate moving into our new place Mr NQN and I thought we’d do it with a dinner out at Quay. It had been years and I mean literally years (the last visit was B.B. aka Before Blog) since I had last dined there and when I called up a couple of weeks before moving in I was told that the next table for two on a Saturday night was 6 weeks away (owing to the Restaurant of the Year accolade no doubt). It looks like I’d have to keep waiting.

quay restaurant view 1

View at 6pm

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Watermelon Cake and Julie & Julia

watermelon cake 1-1

Last Wednesday was crazy. It was a day on which I’d scheduled myself three things to bake. I only had myself to blame really but the problem, and it wasn’t a problem at all you understand only so far as my insane scheduling practices was concerned – was that I was going out to dinner with Liss and Chantelle. And somehow I was thinking that I would whip up a Watermelon cake based on the one I had at Black Star Pastry a few months back.

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