Santa Catarina is an upmarket Oaxacan restaurant and Mezcal bar on Clarence Street in the city. The menu is made up of Oaxacan dishes like tlayudas, moles and chalupa. Find out what is a must order when you go!
A confession: I had never heard of Santa Catarina before my friend invited me to dinner there. Milpa Collective group that owns Santa Catarina also own Carbon restaurant and Taqiza and tequila is a staple at their restaurants. The interior of Santa Catarina is gorgeous with tall ceilings, dim and sexy lighting, tall arch mirrors and semi circular booths. I’m meeting my friend Karen from Daily Addict here. She’s already ensconced in a booth opposite the chef's pass.
We’re too busy talking and catching up as we haven’t seen each other for a few months – Karen with a spicy margarita and me with a Tea Time mocktail made with earl grey tea, lime juice, Orgeat, washed coconut and matcha powder on ice which I enjoy.
We are talking so much that the waitress asks if we would like to start with some corn chips and guacamole and we happily accept. The guacamole has tomato, toasted pepitas and black sesame with house fried corn chips to crunch on. Oaxacan guacamole is said to be a bit thinner than other guacamole, more like a sauce although this still has the texture to it to scoop up with corn chips.
We finally get down to business of ordering. There were some strong recommendations from our waitress that include all of the maiz menu. The Oaxacan cheese empanadas are nice but are basically a cheese filled pie. I wouldn’t say I would rush back to get them even though they were a recommendation.
The crab quesadilla looks like an empanada in this dim lighting but it's a folded over and sealed quesadilla. This is definitely something I would go back for. The pastry is crisp and thin and it is generously filled with crab and sits on a bed of celeriac slaw. It is fishy because of the crab but that’s not criticism you just really get the crab flavour. Make sure to get a bite of the pickled onion and coleslaw in every bite.
The third item is a layered three layered corn tortillas with shredded duck, red and green salsa and pickled onion. It’s tasty with the duck giving this much flavour. They also bring around three types of salsas: a tomatillo salsa, a jalapeño tomato salsa and a chilli habanero spicy salsa. I love the spicy habanero one which is perfect added on the chalupita.
But then we come to the number one item on the menu. I had dithered back-and-forth on whether to have this because I haven’t eaten octopus ever since watching "My Octopus Teacher" but it’s comes with a strong recommendation from pretty much everyone including the reviews I’d read online. Also Karen was trying it and there were two to a serve. I take a bite hoping that I won't like it but damn this is good. The octopus is so tender and comes with pico de gallo and crunchy little confit potato cubes that tastes like tiny pieces of crunchy pork crackling. We’re both completely enamoured by these tacos and we sit there nodding and eating in silence with the occasional "Mmmmm". Karen also tries Baja fish barramundi taco which she also loves (I’m allergic to barramundi so none for me) so it seems like the tacos are definitely where all the action is. Our waitress also recommended the pork belly tacos.
Mains wise we try the duck breast based on the recommendation. Neither of us really love duck breast because it can often be quite chewy and the fat is never rendered enough. The mole source is fruity,dark and strong.
The Clarence River prawns are good. They come as three gigantic head on prawns with the body peeled and coated in a jalapeno lime butter. They are well cooked but they don't really seem that distinctly Oaxacan. What we end up doing is adding some of the mole sauces and that really makes them pop. On the menu there is a mole tasting for $16 that includes 4 types of moles with corn tortillas. There is a white chocolate, pumpkin seed, dark chocolate and coriander mole. The white chocolate is intriguing but the pumpkin seed is the most accessible, reminding us both of a madras curry. This and the coriander mole go really well with the prawns.
When we sat down, we saw many of the cauliflower al pastor coming out looking like a giant brain so we ordered it based on that. Ours looks less like a whole brain and like half a cauliflower. I would personally have loved the cauliflower to be cooked down even more so that it was softer because it was quite crunchy inside. Still the flavours are good and we enjoy the textures from the smooth eggplant puree and chimichurri.
We both hone in on the creamy corn because we both love corn. It’s made with poblano chilli, cream, Oaxacan cheese, butter and corn and it is sweet, creamy and utterly luscious. We could have easily had double the size.
It's dessert time and there are three desserts on the menu. I love the sound of the crème brûlée, a dessert I don’t usually order but this one has some intriguing flavours from the Oaxcan rum infused ancho chilli and an option to add a churro (in life, always at the churro if offered haha!). The custard is so silky and the thinly sliced bananas with the crack of toffee are incredible. There's a pot of caramel that adds a sweetness that it needs and the chilli gives a latent heat on the tongue right at the end. And that churro is just fun especially dipped in the caramel.
We also tried the custard flan which is nice, but the crème brûlée is a hard act to follow. It’s creamy and firm with a nice crunch from the macadamias and a dark chocolate decoration.
So tell me Dear Reader, have you tried much Oaxacan food? Which dish sounded the best to you?
NQN was a guest of Santa Catarina but all opinions remain her own.
Santa Catarina
Shop 1/152-156 Clarence St, Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 8319 3042
Monday 5pm till late
Tuesday - Friday 12pm till late
Saturday 12pm till late
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