023. Lyrebirds nest together for a beautiful meal: Uccello

First of all, you may have seen the post below was a little out of the ordinary in terms of formatting and whatnot. That's because I've just downloaded the Blogger app for my phone so I will be posting more via computer and phone. So please, excuse the formatting and lack of numbering :)

***
[Editors Note: alas, my blog as been corrupted by Internet gremlins and thus my photos have disappeared :( ]

My visits to Sydney without a doubt, ALWAYS include a new food adventure. I visit Sydney quite often and it is always surprising me with new gems. On my most recent trip a few days ago, I had dinner with a colleague at one of the Ivy's many restaurants, Uccello. 

I love the Ivy. I've only ever been to the main bar a few times but it never fails to impress. It certainly is a place of prestige among the suits of Sydney with their flashy bars and expensive drinks. So I definitely had high expectations for their restaurants, especially as Uccello is a 'hatted' restaurant. Boy did Uccello deliver.

Firstly, I felt sooo bad for being late to the reservation. Our flight had landed a tad late therefore resulting in us being late to check into the hotel and late to arrive at Uccello. But the maitre d was so lovely and ushered us straight to our table without a look of judgement or disgust (as I would expect a classy establishment would). The waiter was exceptional; warm, friendly and catered to our needs very efficiently. 

As we had pretty much just stepped off a plane, we were starving and went straight for the mains. I ordered the Roasted spiced Pyrenees lam rack, Sicilian minted cous cous, almond and currants and my colleague ordered the Pan roasted Kurobuta pork cutlet, brussel sprouts, pancetta, pumpkin puree and sage jus. First of all, both dishes came out so much quicker than expected. The restaurant itself was probably at half capacity, even still I expected a longer wait. Secondly, lovely presentation. The food looked inviting. As I went for my first bite, my colleague was over the moon about her dish. "Best pork ever" she exclaimed and I think she only had one bite so far. It certainly looked and smelt awesome. Although my lamb was superb, I take my hat off to the minted cous cous. It was divine. So many flavours, it complimented the lamb so so well. I just wanted to keep eating the cous cous. Beautifully fluffy with an array of textures from the soft, sweet currants to the crunchy almonds, it was a perfectly balanced meal. 

So by the time we were finished, we were actually quite stuffed (the started bread and a glass of bubbly usually help with that). But there's always room for dessert. Unfortunately, we were way too excited for dessert to take photos but you will just have to try for yourself. I ordered the Rhubarb strawberry tiramisu with almond praline and it was phenomenal. Not your average tiramisu, this was a fountain of flavours. Loved every bite. I think I nearly cried when I physically could not finish it. We were intrigued by the biscuit-y base of my colleagues dessert and the waiter was even kind enough to ask the chef for us. Wonderful service!

Uccello in Italian translates to bird. Lira Uccello is lyrebird. This beautiful little lyrebird of a restaurant can surely take you away to a far away food heaven. 

Website: http://merivale.com.au/uccello/

I don't even know what number post this is but i just had to blog: the best sausage I've ever had in my life so far: The Snag Stand

Okay, so I'm in Sydney for the weekend and I've just stopped my shopping for a bite to eat. Usually when I come to Sydney, I make myself try new places to eat because that's what you do right, when you're away from home. So, I walk into the Westfield Pitt St food court and am completely overwhelmed by the choices. I've been here a few times but never end up having anything because I usually have reservations elsewhere. First of all, this "food court" is pimp. I put food court in inverted commas because this is like the Kings food hall or something. It's quite fancy. I have a hard time deciding on what tl eat because when I'm hungry, I want to eat everything. In situations like this, I opt for classics. In this case, a hot dog place called The Snag Stand catches my eye. A sign on the wall says "gourmet sausages and haute dogs" aka fancy hot dogs. So I go for it.
The hot dog has come from humble beginnings to become a haute dog. Different variations in flavour, spice levels and even textures take the classic pig-in-a-blanket to a gourmet meal fit for royalty (you totally imagined the Queen downing a hot dog didn't you?).
So I'm now faced with the dilemma of what kind of hot dog to get: the Americano, the Greek, the this, the that. Overwhelmed but also rushed by the people in line behind me, I order a Spicy Chorizo dog (and a side salad of half rocket and balsamic and half potato salad). The hot dog is a Chorizo sausage with sundried tomatoes, rocket, grated goats cheese and an aioli type sauce. It was heaven in a soft brioche bun. I, then and there decided I was moving to Sydney due to being sick of mediocre food. The goats cheese compliments the sauce which affectionately smothers  the sausage which is hugged by a soft bun that sandwiches this heaven in a food item together. In one word, amazing. It's a little pricey at $9.50 for a hot dog but the quirky ingredients that go on top of said hot dog are well worth the cash.  I think I would be a very wealthy lady if I had enough business sense to take some of these Sydney chains and restaurants up north.
Check out The Snag Stand. Just do it.