The Burlington, Matthew Kemp and Lela Radojkovic’s One Hatted North side restaurant is one that we are grateful for. Growing up in the East I took if for granted that there were lots of good restaurants around but when I moved North I found it was a little harder to find these gems. Prices are more reasonable here than the already reasonable-for-the-standard-of-food at Restaurant Balzac and this Saturday night my husband are scheduled for a romantic dinner, just the two of us, and of course the omnipresent camera.

Looks rather spooky upstairs no?

From the outside, it doesn’t look like anything much, quite plain with unadorned windows but the interior is warm, reminiscent of Balzac with a little less fancy in the front room, with a middle room and large back room for a large private table with a huge chandelier atop. My husband swears that it used to be one of those Haunted or Host a Murder party venues and indeed, looking at the top floor from the outside it looks a bit spooky. We’re given our menus but I already know what I want having scoured the website already on several separate occasions (yes I am obsessed). I order two entree sizes meals while my husband orders an entree and a main. We’ve asked about the Eton Mess, his famed dessert but it’s not on the menu tonight. Like Balzac, the service is friendly and informal except for our main waitress who lacks the warmth of the rest of the staff and is instead cooly polite.

The bread arrives, 2 slices of a rye sourdough loaf with butter, at a little too soft a temperature. The bread is very good however with a good crust on the outside.

Terrine of smoked ham hock and pork cheek, ear beignets and remoulade $12 (small size)

We’re not waiting long before our entrees arrive, mine is the Terrine of smoked ham hock and pork cheek, ear beignets and remoulade. I’ve ordered the entree size which is 1 slice of the terrine. On the website there are 4 slices pictured so I expected 2 slices with 4 slices being the main size. It’s wonderfully good, reportedly taking two days to make, the brawn consisting of soft meat melding together with the carrots, celery and herbs and bound together and suspended in gelatine.

The thin crunchy toast slivers are indeed very crunchy and the little pig’s ear beignets are crispily good. And remoulade is one of my favourite accompaniments and it goes oh so perfectly with the rest of this dish.

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When I published my blogpost on the Vietnamese rolls, I didn’t realise that a few doors down from VeeVee was a cake shop that specialised in Greek sweets and has been doing so, at various locations around Sydney, since 1955. I love Greek yogurt, Greek cheese and the Greek Almond biscuits so I figure I ought to give these cakes a try-all in the name of research you see.

This is apparently their newest store and it certainly looks that way. What has caught my eye are the cylindrical cakes, in a myriad of colours and flavours. I’m buying cake for 4 people for dessert so I figure one cake per person plus some biscuits will do and resist their seemingly over the top suggestion of 2 cakes per person as well as biscuits. I select the Continental (layers of vanilla sponge with layers of vanilla fresh cream and chocolate fresh cream finished with a fine layer of Belgian chocolate); Praline (layers of vanilla sponge layered with caramelised flaked almonds fresh cream); Mango and Coconut Fresh Cream (layers of vanilla sponge together with layers of mango and coconut fresh cream finished with a mango glaze) all $3.90 each plus a Chocolate Mud Cake $2.90 (layers of chocolate mud cake layered with ganache chocolate and finished with a spread of fine chocolate). Alongside these I choose a strawberry and lemon melting moment dipped in icing and some pistachio biscuits, some melomakaronas (traditional almond honey biscuit) and of course my favourite greek almond shortbreads liberally sprinkled with icing sugar (all $19 a kilo, my box of 8 cookies was $8.27).

Praline (layers of vanilla sponge layered with caramelised flaked almonds fresh cream) $3.90

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Mascot, Sydney. Home of the airport and errrmmm…let me think what else. Oh yes, Vietnamese rolls! On the same stretch of street, a few doors down from each other are two Vietnamese roll bakeries, Hong Ha and Vee Vee. Hong Ha is the one whose queues are stretching out onto the street, VeeVee by comparison does a more modest trade but has been there for years so it can’t be doing too badly.

The selection at Hong Ha

The selection at VeeVee

We decide to do a blindfold taste testing challenge to see who does the best a) pork roll and B) meatball roll. There are also chicken and salad and cheese rolls but pork is the traditional one and meatball is the preferred one from the tasters. We dutifully wait in line for 5 minutes at Hong Ha where the rolls are $4.50 each while there isn’t a wait at VeeVee where the rolls are $3.50.

Hong Ha rolls

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