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 

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I’m terrible at remembering dates.  In fact I need a website to remind me when people’s birthdays are so that I don’t seem like a terrible friend. Stores remind me, sometimes months in advance that Valentines Day and Easter are coming up . Then there are my parents who remind me every year when Chinese New Year is going to be. In my weak defence the date does change every year (I know, not a great excuse there). And since tomorrow is Chinese New Year and it seemed appropriate to celebrate with a Chinese restaurant post.

We’re at Chef’s Gallery, where dumplings and noodles feature on the menu alongside other slightly different offerings than your usual Chinese restaurant. Mr NQN and I are dining with with Queen Viv and Miss America, both complete dumpling addicts (and survivors of our dumpling race around Sydney). You’ve got to love friends that can face dumplings after a repetitive onslaught of the little buggers. This post is made up of a few visits there.

There’s a single voice that yells out “Welcome!” when we walk in and then the rest of the staff join in with a collective “Ni Hao” in the Chinese version of the Japanese “Irasshaimase!” welcome greeting. This repeats itself every time someone enters. We sit down at the banquette which is very low and I feel as though I need a cushion-in fact the woman next to us asks to move because she feels too low compared to her dining companion sitting opposite her! We order based on dumpling lust and the little chef’s hat which designates an item as the specialty. The people cooking the food wear what appear to be upside down plastic sun visors over their mouths. “It’s all very Darth Vader” Queen Viv says and we nod in agreement.

Pork belly Roll $8.90

BYO is $10 per bottle here (wine only) and Queen Viv and Miss America start pouring. The food comes out furiously fast and we start with the pork belly roll which is a cold dish. There are thin, tender slices of roasted pork belly wrapped around batons of cucumber and carrot and topped with a finely diced garlic Asian vinaigrette (like one of those oil free Japanese dressings). We all enjoy this dish as it’s refreshing and crunchy.

Steamed prawn Dumplings $7.90

We happily devour the steamed prawn dumplings which are filled with fresh prawns and bursting with flavour. In fact I make motions to order another few lots of these but digress as I realise that with all of the changes as some items are unavailable, we have unwittingly ordered a mountain of food.

Cabbage and pork pan fried dumplings $9.90

These came out looking just like the spring rolls my late grandma used to make me so I get all happy inside. They’re crispy on the outside being pan fried mainly on one side and filled with a flavoursome and slightly crunchy cabbage and pork filling.

Chicken pan fried bun $9.90

I had expected these to be more…well pan fried but they appear as entirely steamed buns filled with chicken mince, much like steamed bao buns.

Chef’s Own Golden Snowflake chicken noodle $14.90

Now a name always suckers me in (call me a marketer’s dream) and the idea of a golden snowflake chicken excites me. It comes out on a separate plate and it is a very thin fillet made up mostly of panko breadcrumbs. The taste is oily and we remain nonplussed. The soup is like a very watery light pumpkin soup and we remain nonplussed by this too. It’s hungry Mr NQN that finishes it but Queen Viv, Miss America and I leave our share in our bowls uneaten.

Chilli chicken noodle $13.90

The noodles are all handmade and they are springy and very good indeed although they are also very slippery and transporting these from the bowl to our individual bowls proves a task. The chilli chicken isn’t too bad but it’s a little bit one note. I prefer dipping the noodles in the sauce from the sweet dark pork ribs below.

Chef’s own handmade egg tofu , lightly pan fried topped with preserved vegetables $16.90

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Rising early is not a natural thing for me. I often wish I was one of those people that only need six hour’s sleep. For me I’m barely functional unless I get eight or nine hours. So when the alarm goes off at 6am I am not a happy person. But when you bribe me out of food with food…well that doth soothe the savage, growling beast within.

I’m tracking backwards a little so please bear with me but before we leave Port Macquarie, we must sustain ourselves with breakfast-not that we need it after the gluttonous feasts as we’ve been well and truly spoilt. Breakfast this morning is downstairs at Milk Bar which is the cafe at the front of the Observatory Hotel. My travelling companion Julie from Gourmet Getaways and I take a seat and be warned it gets furiously busy come 8am on a weekday so we quickly snare a bench at the front. Customers order and pay at the counter and we ask for a recommendation from the staff.  ”Anything with the sourdough bread is good” they say and so we order items that include the sourdough from Hearthfire Rustic Bakery in Bellingen.

Milk bar brekkie with bacon $15

The milk bar brekkie has bacon and two baked eggs with gooey runny centers, basil tomatoes, halved button mushrooms and wilted spinach. As recommended, the toast which is excellent and the whole plate is a nice upmarket take on a big breakfast.

Organic fruit and macadamia sourdough toasted with apricot and vanilla jam $6.50

The toast comes as three pieces of lightly toasted fruit and nut bread with plenty of chunks of macadamia and a thick apricot jam which is light on vanilla and slightly tangy.

French toast with sweet ricotta, marinated figs and maple syrup $12

The French toast has two slices of the bread very lightly dipped in egg. It is then fried and topped with cinnamon scented sweet ricotta, sweet marinated figs, fresh strawberries and maple syrup and the cinnamon ricotta in particular is very moreish. And it is pretty indeed!

Caramel tart $3

Oh my, these little tarts were heaven! I know tarts aren’t you usual breakfast food but when they’re this rich and with a buttery coconut base and thick, silky caramel you just have to make an exception…

Before we go, we take a little peek at the store next door called For Good which is full of Scandinavian goodies and covetable props and then we’re off on our next stop!

Gaian Poultry & Game

Gaian’s client poultry list is impressive, notwithstanding that Gaian Poultry is a family business headed up by two school teachers that still teach. Their free range muscovy and pekin ducks and pigs end up on some rather stellar dining tables including Rockpool Bar & Grill and Berta among others. Started just two years ago by Beth and Lleyton McMillan, the business started because Lleyton loved to eat duck!

They contacted Hudson Meats through the Essential Ingredient and every week Rockpool’s Neil Perry buys half a dozen Muscovy ducks and Berta buy ducks and about two pigs a week (they have Tamworth, Wessex saddleback and black Berkshire pigs) and Bells at Killcare also order from them. The pekin ducks are much quicker to be ready at 8 weeks while the muscovies take 5 months until they are ready.

They follow the Joel Salatin model at detailed in his book “Pastured Poultry Profit$” and followed the principles laid out within. The farm is also sustainable and only uses solar power. The rabbits, and Beth tells us that these are the only animals on the farm that aren’t free range because they don’t actually like to be free ranged, are tended to by their 16 year old son Zane who is paid to tend to them for 1-2 hours a day. He knows all about rabbits and he tells us of their breeding cycle and to never put a male in a female’s cage because “they get really protective of their space and will kill it.” Eeek!

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