I have always been a fan of Cafe Sydney, and have dined there several times. Their great track record though came to a halt tonight. The food wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination it just wasn’t amazing. The dishes lacked finesse and detail and left me feeling underwhelmed. Sigh.
Baby beetroot and goat cheese tart, caramelised onion, walnut, watercress, cabernet vinegar. Completely unbalanced, the cheese punching on through and knocking out all other flavours, which was such a shame. We were not off to a good (s)tart.
Grilled Queensland prawns, goat cheese ravioili, butternut pumpkin, pine nut, raisin, sage brown butter. The prawns had good flavour but were tough. I couldn’t taste the sage or butter. A slap-dash dish not worthy of its $39 price tag.
Warm pear tart, raspberry, honey cream, raspberry ice cream. This was the saving grace of the meal. If I ignore the slightly burnt edges, the tart was rich and worked beautifully with the tartness of the raspberries.
Spiced quince cheesecake, poached apple, ginger crumble, vanilla ice cream. Mum loves quince, but was disappointed at the amount of real quince in the dish itself. I had never tried quince. I liked its spice and mystery.
I am reluctant to go back to Cafe Sydney, even though it has been so wonderful every other time I’ve been there. In today’s culinary scene places cannot afford to drop the ball as there are just too many fabulous places to eat at.
