During summer in Sydney, everyone loves a rooftop and there is a new Yucatán Rooftop bar and restaurant in Sydney. Sweethearts Terraza has coastal vibes, a great cocktail menu and delicious Mexican food as well as DJ on Friday and Saturday nights playing from 6pm til midnight.
It's a warm Saturday night when Mr NQN and I head to Sweethearts Terraza, up several flights of stairs to the rooftop bar. We can hear the music from the DJ as we walk up the stairs. After a huge refurbishment, Sweethearts Terraza has opened as a Yucatan rooftop bar with Chef Roberto García from Alpha and Saffire Freycinet and cocktails by Neilson Braid formerly of Maybe Sammy.
The vibe at Sweethearts Terraza is coastal, energetic and friendly and it is busy this Saturday night even though it is very new. There's a group of people dancing and lots of people here enjoy the cocktails during sunset. The food here is inspired by the food from the Yucatan peninsula located in southeastern Mexico. The Yucatan Peninsula has with the Gulf of Mexico to the North and West and the Caribbean Sea to the East.
The cocktails are their spins on popular ones. I love Palomas and the Playa Rosa is a version of the Paloma made with Sesion Blanco, Campari, strawberry and pink grapefruit. But my favourite is the Sol Fuego or Fire of the Sun, their take on a spicy margarita made with Sesion Blanco, habanero, chipotle, chilli, coriander and spiced agave which is wonderfully spicy. Often I find that spicy margaritas lack the essential spiciness required of them but not this one.
Because I am allergic to barramundi, I can't eat some of the signature dishes like the ceviche and roasted barramundi but there's still plenty of other options. We start with the totopos which is the house made hand-pressed blue corn tortillas. These are served with a creamy guacamole with a centre of minced chorizo with a fresh citrus and habanero pico de gallo. The dip is finished with crunchy sunflower seeds and pepitas. It's a delicious version of guac and chips that is perfect for sharing.
One of our favourite dishes of the night are the oysters with three types of granita. The hibiscus or pink granita is slightly sweet but refreshing, while the orange citrus habanero granita has a lovely strong kick of habanero and a light sourness from the sour orange. And the tequila and habanero is sublime. My only advice? Order a dozen.
The kibbeh is made with golden bulgur and beef shaped into three parcels in an incredible mint and habanero sauce with pickled onions, fresh mint and dill. Make sure to get some of the herbs and that sauce in every bit. The sauce is made with onion, Worcestershire sauce, mayonnaise, mint and pepper blended into a creamy texture and really goes with everything.
The pork skewers are marinated with citrus and served with a honey glaze with dill and fresh mint and charred tomato salsa. Against the more flavour-forward and spicy elements, this does take a bit of a backseat as it is more subtle. I also prefer this dipped in the sauce from the kibbeh.
The beef short rib is braised in sour orange and honey which gives it a gorgeous glaze. It doesn't pull away as softly as other short ribs, but the flavour and lusciousness is exactly what you want. It comes with pickled onion and crispy kale chips in a bed of a mole style of sauce. It actually goes perfectly with the citrus salad, especially the bits of segments of citrus and the citrus and cabbage salad.
The citrus salad is made with thinly sliced red cabbage with orange, grapefruit, pickled onion, avocado, mint and toasted pumpkin seeds. It's the great side to go with the short rib - my only suggestion would be more citrus in the salad as you want some citrus in every bite.
The Palomitas is described as an Old Fashioned vibes but great to have as dessert as it is made with Buffalo Trace, charred maize and chocolate mole bitters.
The Tres Leches is a Yucatan inspired vanilla sponge cake that comes as a tall slice that could easily serve 2. The sponge cake is covered in cream and served in coconut orange syrup with a hint of orange, strawberries and roasted almonds flakes. It's lightly sweet so perfect to end off a meal with.
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried food from Yucatan? Do you seek out rooftop bars in summer?
Sweethearts Terraza
Level 3/33-35 Darlinghurst Rd, Potts Point NSW 2011
Phone: (02) 9368 7333
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