My Time in Sydney

Part II: My Australia Trip - Sydney

Feb 09, 2023

Hi Friends,

I’m back home in L.A. Whoever first said that “a holiday to recover from another holiday is essential” spoke the truth. I’ve been mildly jet-lagged but, for the most part, just tired and in need of a proper nap.

Let’s first get this week’s newest recipes out of the way. I’ve got two recipes for you this week, my aunt Elaine’s chicken vindaloo recipe (her original recipe uses the traditional pork, but I tweaked it to work for chicken) and one of my favorite new lettuce salads that contain dates and smoked almonds along with a shallot vinaigrette. With the vindaloo, you’ll need plain rice or bread (I love the sweeter taste of Hawaiian rolls with it) to finish and grab every bite of the bright red gravy.

Chicken Vindaloo

Lettuce Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette

From Melbourne, we left my family, flew to Sydney, drove about 2 hours away, and spent a few days at the beach with our friends and my godson, Gus at the New South Wales Jervis Bay National Park. I’ve never seen white sand before and always imagined it would be a lighter shade of yellow. I was wrong. It was white as snow, and this sand was as fine as sanding sugar. I finally got my wildlife fix at the beach. One foggy morning, we woke up to two kangaroos eating the grass at a neighboring house. As someone terrified of snakes, I always seem to run into them wherever I go. This trip was no different; I came across two snakes – a sea snake washed up on the beach and saw a kookaburra eating another while on a branch. Australia has a lot of beautiful birds. The black and white cockatoos at the beach were magnificent and elegant, and their conversations seemed to dominate the sounds coming from the eucalyptus forests. Blue tongue lizards are everywhere; they are smaller than monitors but look fat and extremely slow. Oh, and the dolphins! One afternoon, the dolphins came out to play, circling the shoreline for a good hour. I watched them the entire time from the deck.

Our splendid hosts at the beach introduced me to my first Balmain bugs, a type of clawless lobster that’s very easy to prepare. One of our hosts, James grilled them with a bit of olive oil and served them with a gremolata. This crustacean’s meat was succulent and tender, and one of the interesting things I noted is that it doesn’t overcook as easily, and leftovers can be easily repurposed. I used some to make a kuku sabzi for breakfast the next day, and the meat remained tender, just as good as the previous day it was grilled. On this part of the trip, I also checked the Aussie burger off my list of things to try, and it was worth it. The Aussie burger, with its defining slices of pickled red beets and a thick slice of grilled sweet pineapple, add a nice layer of extra juiciness and flavor to the meat. Michael and our friend Damien are both seafood platter and towers aficionados, and they made sure to try one. They let me try one or two things…. On our way back to Sydney, we stopped by The Imperial Hotel in Clifton for lunch, where I sampled their superb fruit-loaded pavlova and the famous fairy bread -- in ice cream form.

Balmain Bugs, Chips with Short Ribs, Sea Food Platter, Aussie Burger, Pavlova, and Fairy Bread Ice Cream

Sydney is a beautiful city. It is composed of many hills that provide breathtaking views of the bays and ocean. It reminded me a little of San Francisco. Like Melbourne, the public transport system is fantastic, but Sydney also has ferries. One of the ferries we took even had a bar! One of the things I learned about Australia on this trip is that in addition to its coffee culture, there’s a significant bakery presence too. Croissants and pastry shops are all over the and often more than one on the same street. You will never run out of good coffee and something to eat along with it. I highly recommend taking a walk through the Royal Botanical Gardens in the city and a stroll by the Opera House on the same day; they’re adjacent. The gardens were a treat; right within the busy city is this little quiet oasis filled with plants from all over the world.

Sydney Opera House and The Royal Botanical Gardens

At the recommendations of our hosts, we ate lunch at the Iceberg Dining Room and Bar at Bondi Beach. This might have been one of the most spectacular restaurants I’ve eaten at. This spot is all about enjoying the views of the beach while eating. The Tiffany blue painted walls work beautifully with the backdrop of the blue waves crashing against the beach. Like many of the restaurants we visited, the menu is seafood focused. Some of my favorites from the tasting menu were the tuna tartare crostini on potato ciabatta with fermented chilli, the crudo piatto (one of the options came with dried ants that provided a nice pop of acid to the fish), and the trout with garlic chives and oregano butter. The finish to the meal was lovely, a splendid passion fruit sorbet and an amaretti cake with rosemary crème caramel – they singed a thin sheet of caramel shaped like a leaf at the table which was a fitting dramatic way to end this spectacular feast.

Some of the other spots in Sydney that I loved are.

The Cookery Book

A gorgeous cookbook store with helpful and friendly people who guided me in the right direction. I picked up several books on Australian cooking by Women’s Weekly and Gourmet Traveller and can’t wait to cook from them.

Black Star Pastry

I tried the mango yuzu cake and their strawberry watermelon cake; the latter also is the world’s most Instagrammed cake. Was it worth it? Absolutely! I’m not a big fan of watermelon and dairy together in a dessert, but this cake changed my mind. Besides an ice cream cake, this is the only other cake I might want to eat in summer.

Rollers Bakehouse

Right in the heart of Manly, this bakery specializes in croissants. My one regret is forgetting to try their hummus and eggplant croissant. The quiche and morning bun were some of my favorites.

Koko Black

This store quickly became one of my new favorite chocolatiers. Their milk and dark chocolate bars are smooth and creamy. They’ve also got an entire selection of chocolates made with native Australian ingredients like lemon myrtle and Davidson Plum. I hope they ship internationally because until then, I’m going to get all my family and friends from Australia to bring me a big stash of their bars whenever they visit.

Margaret

This is one of Australia’s most talked about restaurants run by Chef Neil Perry. Their twice-baked potatoes are heaven in a bowl (I can be honest enough to admit that I didn’t want to share them with my dinner companions). The anchovy salad with potatoes and smoke tomatoes and the Whiting with lemon and olive oil were the highlights of my dinner.