Today Sydney turned on a spectacular sunny day and despite the chill-factor, the siren call of alfresco dining was too loud to ignore. A couple of Grants and I lunched at Delicado, a gorgeous little tapas place on Blues Point Road, McMahons Point. The Grants had been here many times before, but I hadn’t, and as per usual with any new place, I was rather excited! Delicado instantly earned bonus points when I unlocked their newbie deal on Foursqaure and scored us free sangria.
Even before having any food, I was charmed by little things like Delicado’s alphabet wall and their china, as I’ve said before, white plates become mundane after a while.
For me, tapas always presents one problem: what do I choose? The menu here is no different. Everything sounded great. Bread and olives were a must, so after ordering those, we began with the Ceviche Scallops. The scallops were succulent and refreshing with a smack of paprika and sting of citrus.
The dish I picked was the Prawns with Squid Ink Risotto. The prawns were fat and juicy and were beautifully supported by the dense, inky risotto and caramelised shallots.
My friend has a soft spot for chorizo… or is it that he has a soft soft because of chorizo..? So, chorizo was a non-negotiable. We ordered the special mixed plate of chorizo, lamb cutlets and fish cakes. The chorizo was super-charged as it came with a generous dollop of chimichurri (a sauce whose name translates as “give me curry”, and is made from peppers and spices). The lamb had good flavour with its minted aioli, but was not rare enough for my liking. Lamb should always be pink. The fish cakes were golden and crunchy and not oily like some can be.
After watching a slicing competition of Serrano Jamon on television, my friend wanted to try some when he saw it on the menu. The charcuterie plate was your fairly standard plate. Particular shout out to the spicy salami.
I have never been a big churros fan, the only one I have liked was my first churros that I had at Disneyland in 1994. Every churros since has been a disappointment. They were ordered. Nyah. To me, they are just not my thing. They are not tasty enough or they’re too oily or not soft enough or not crunchy enough or something… I’d take an Aussie cinnamon donut anyday. I did enjoy the hunk of caramel they came with though. A naughty, hulking mass of amber heaven… Drool.
The wine list is good and glasses of Rose and Tempranillo put the finishing touches on a thoroughly delightful lunch: sunshine, tales of London adventures, people I love and authentic, hearty fare.
