Taste of Sydney Festival

The Taste of Sydney Festival was on this weekend at Centennial Park, and boy, did we taste Sydney.

The Taste of Sydney website describes the festival as a "stunning celebration" of the city's best cuisine which showcased the signature dishes of the city's finest restaurants including Longrain, Danks Street Depot and Berowra Waters Inn.

It was hard to decide what to eat from the many dishes on the menu, so many things took my fancy. For entree, I chose the etli borek from Ottoman Cuisine while my husband had the Wagyu beef bourguignonne with truffled cauliflower and onion rings from Restaurant Balzac.

While I waited to be served for what seemed an eternity in the Ottoman Cuisine line, my husband had lined up, ordered, received his food and made it back to me where we ate his entree while still waiting in line. The beef bourguignonne was a wonderful dish, the truffled cauliflower was really sweet and heady with truffle.

When we finally made it to the front of the line and got our food, we realised it had so definitely been worth the wait.

The etli borek were fresh and crisp and the veal melted in your mouth. The contrast in textures was great. However, the highlight was the pomegranate and yoghurt sauces which really turned the dish into something truly special. One thing's for sure - we will definitely be visiting the Ottoman Cuisine restaurant in the near future!

Etli Borek - Crisp homemade filo rolls filled with braised veal shank, currants and pine nuts, served with pomegranate and yoghurt sauce. From Ottoman Cuisine

Next up I ordered the loin and crumbed belly of lamb with basil mayonnaise and tomato olive jus from Assiette. While the loin pieces were tender and flavoursome, the crumbed belly was overcooked and rather dry. There was only a smidgen of basil mayonnaise which was also a little disappointing.

To compound my disappointment, I got home and saw a picture of the same dish as served on Thursday night! The dish as served on Thursday looked amazing, the portions were bigger, the crumbed belly was thicker and the inside was soft rather than dry. Bummer!

Loin and crumbed belly of lamb with basil mayonaise and tomato olive jus. From Assiette

My husband ordered the roast Kurobuta pork neck with fennel and witlof salad. The serving was huge - much bigger than the 'taste' size portion we were expecting! The fennel and witlof salad was rather bitter, but teamed beautifully with the pork which was soft and tender - this dish was definitely a winner!

Roast Kurobuta pork neck with fennel and witlof salad. From Centennial Parklands Dining.

Finally came dessert - I ordered the sponge roulade of goat's curd with Persian figs poached in verjuice from Bird Cow Fish. It was so wonderful - I couldn't hold myself back when I first tasted it, so there are no photos! I picked this dish because I love goat's curd and I love figs. Together they were delicious.

My husband - a tiramisu fiend - ordered the Dolce Sardo from Pilu at Freshwater. He again picked a dish with a monster serve and we were given two big pieces to share. While it was a beautiful dessert - my dish certainly won (not that it was a competition at all!)

Dolce Sardo - Savoiardi biscuits layered with fresh ricotta, Amedei chocolate and mirto liqueur. From Pilu at Freshwater

Overall, we had a fantastic day - lots of sunshine, great food and some lovely beer from Redoak brewery too. But it was also a rather pricey outing - it was $25 per head, just to get in the door, and then we had to pay for all the food. We were being served by some of Sydney's best chefs so (apart from my disappointing dish from Assiette), I think it was worth it.

And on our way home, a lovely little girl pointed out this sweet fella to us!