Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Stickier & Sweeter Sydney Tour, One Night Sugar Hit!

The annual Good Food Month is in full swing again this year in Sydney and everyone is talking about where to eat, and what to eat. There is something for everyone in this year’s event, from street festivals to cooking classes, farmers’ markets to lunches and dinners. And of course, the popular Sugar Hit is back this year for those who have a sweet tooth.

When the good people at Foodbuzz was running the 2nd round of 24,24,24 – I grabbed the opportunity and submitted my proposal – an idea that is crazy enough that no one has ever attempted before. Who would have thought the Foodbuzz people is as crazy as I am and have chosen me to be one of the 24 foodbloggers! Hence, our mission to set our foot down in foodblogging history – 3 foodbloggers, 1 night Sugar Hit, 5 restaurants, 14 desserts! Yes, you heard me right and We DID IT!

I’ve chosen my Santa little helpers – Helen from Grab Your Fork, and Christie from Fig & Cherry to help me out to make this post even more salivate by sharing their thoughts on what they think about those desserts. So prepare to have a sugar rush with us!

Crossroads Bar – Swissotel

“Three Treats with Chocolate” Milk chocolate velvet cheesecake; Dark chocolate with caramel & pear; White chocolate with coconut sorbet Served with a glass of “Sparkling Brown Brothers Muscato”

9.00pm – The battle formation to achieve our mission – start from the restaurants at higher ground, then roll ourselves down the hill to the other Sugar Hit venues near the Quay. Hence, Swissotel is our first stop for a long night sweet sensation. We arrived 15 mins early and no doubt we were the first group there for the Sugar Hit. The waitress led us to the best seat in the house, a petite dim-lit room, tucked in a corner. The anticipation quickly builds up at our table, and everyone is so chatty, cheerful and excited! Soon, the waitress came back with the sparkling Brown Brothers muscato, and the dessert plates not long after.

There was a lot of “ooh…” and “ahh…” at the table while everyone trying a little bit of everything and started comparing taste bud notes on the dessert. The presentation of the dessert tasting plate is exquisite, like a Bauhaus inspired edible living art. The cheesecake is seriously velvety smooth, well balanced with the liquored mixed berries. The coconut sorbet in the white chocolate cup is so aromatic and refreshing. But my favorite of them all is the little cup of caramel & pear, with droplets of dark chocolate. I had a bite of the cup and the sweet caramel just burst inside my mouth. What a wonderful way to start the night.

Helen: “A great start to the evening. I loved the chocolate cheesecake, the palate-cleansing coconut sorbet and the rich sticky toffee matched with dark chocolate and pear. You know… sometimes people don’t like a particular type of dessert, like dark chocolate, …so I think this dessert platter will suit everyone… what’s the word? That’s right! ‘ACCESSIBLE’! ”

Christie: “Maybe it was beginners luck, but this was my favourite of the evening. The cheesecake had a gorgeous texture and wasn’t too sweet. The coconut sorbet was creamy without cloying and the little butterscotch hit was just right.”

Cortile Bar – The InterContinental

Tasting platter of Grand Marnier-Strawberry Infused Panna Cotta; Chestnut Timbale, V.S.O.P cognac cream & White Chocolate-Rasberry Torte paired with Brown Brothers Orange Muscat

9:45pm - From Swissotel to InterContinental is a good 15 mins walk, but we walked fast, and some jogged, we managed to arrived on time. The decor in the Cortile Bar is pretty dramatic with 4 oversized lamp shades hanging in the middle, tables are set on a higher center stage and archways are all around us. We soon learned is best to let the waiter know that we are on a mission and would appreciate if the desserts arrive promptly. The helpful waiter quickly bring out the desserts just as we seated. A gold star from me for the good service!

I first tried the V.S.O.P cognac cream & White Chocolate-Rasberry Torte, which I thought is a little bit “plastic” like Japanese dessert, it is rather bouncy. The Grand Marnier-Strawberry Infused Panna Cotta is tasty and definitely can taste the liquor in it. But soon everyone realised that the tablespoon we are given can never fit into the tiny pot. We ended up scooping the torte out of the pot by using the handle of the fork. Classy. My favorite is definitely the Chestnut Timbale. It is so soft and nutty, and served with the thick chocolate sauce are just perfect.

Helen: “Mmmm…. chestnut. The chestnut timbale was the highlight, smooth, creamy and nutty. Minor irk: a petite pannacotta served in a glass dish far too small for our giant dessert spoons!”

Christie: “Oh how I love chestnut puree – it was the clear standout. Unfortunately the panna cotta was too firm and I wasn’t a fan of the torte either. Gorgeous setting though, a very posh hotel.”

Macquarie Lounge – Marriott Hotel

Chefs dessert selection served with Brown Brother’s Orange Muscat – Creme Brulee; Chocolate Brownie; Mango Rice Pudding; Strawberry sponge cake served with Brown Brothers orange muscat

10:15pm – Despite only a half an hour stop at each Sugar Hit venue, we still managed to arrived at the Macquarie Lounge at Marriott Hotel on time. We soon sat down at the Art Deco macquarie lounge, half full, half tipsy. At this point, some of us are flushed and sweaty from the excessive sugar rush, but some not so good and looking rather pale. We tried to calm down and waited for our dessert to arrive, and waited, and waited. But it is almost 10.30pm and we are supposed to be at the next venue! We started panicking (which doesn’t help from the sugar rush!) and urged the waitress to have our dessert as soon as possible. I even had to make a phone call to our next venue to let them know that we are going to be late. Eventually, we saw the desserts are bringing out from the front entrance rather than the kitchen (???) and finally we are back on track!

To my disappointment, everyone seems to have a nice Creme Brulee with the toffee on top, except mine! My brulee looks like a disaster, the custard is separated in lumps, floating in some weird substance that looks like the milk has gone-off. So I had to stop there and on to the next dessert, which is a nice moist strawberry spongcake but rather unexciting. The rice pudding seems to be everyone’s favorite, but I thought is rather bland after tasting all the sweet stuff prior. The brownie, it took some effort to break it apart with a fork, so I only had one bite and decided is time to move on to the next venue.

Helen: “I loved the strawberry and cream sponge cake. The creme brulee is also a toffee-cracking winner. But serving a creme brulee AND a chocolate brownie on the same plate? That’s insane. As bad as trying to eat five Sugar Hits in one night… nay, worse! I finish everything but the last half of brownie. I think I also start to turn a shade of green about this point.”

Christie: “The only part I liked was the mango rice pudding although it was more like a super light mango mousse with about 5% rice. I’m going to try making rice pudding this way, it’s far superior than the gluggy regular version. Also, by this point I was ready to stop – too much sugar!”

The Bar – Four Seasons Hotel

Enjoy a Deconstructed Sachertorte, Austria’s legendary bitter sweet chocolate tart and a glass of Brown Brothers dessert wine

10:45pm – “Never Surrender! Never Give Up!” We charged in like good soldiers and rushed to Four Seasons Hotel just one block down the road. Helen ran ahead of us and already secured the table and explained to the waitress about our Sugar Hit madness. She had a good laughs but totally support our crazy idea and being extremely helpful. She came back out from the kitchen with desserts in no time, and carefully explaining what’s on the plate.

The presentation of the deconstructed sachertorte is top notch, truly a work of art. I actually quite like the idea that they just focus on one well-polished dessert, rather than a random varieties tasting plate. The sarchertorte is seriously rich, not for the faint-hearted. The chocolate sauce on the torte is still warm, and stuck to your teeth on each bite. The velvety smooth chocolate mousse is seriously to die for. The little apricot jelly does look pretty and its soury-sweetness goes very well with the richness of the chocolate. Despite we are already full to the brim at this point, I still “just” managed to huff down the sachertorte with no trouble. But not so lucky with some of my fellow companions who only managed a few mouthful. What a waste…

Helen: “Whoah mamma. This is a serious dessert. And I’ve just eaten three platters. It’s not helping. I love the dense velvety richness of the chocolate mousse. I’m not convinced on the apricot gelee but that somehow I find myself eating it all anyway. Whoops. There goes another belt notch.”

Christie: “I absolutely adored the chocolate mousse! If I wasn’t so ridiculously full I would have inhaled it in 3 seconds. Alas, I only managed 1 small spoonful. Special shout out to the apricot jelly, yum!”

Lobby Lounge – Shangri-La Hotel

Berry Delights – Spoil yourself with a heavenly combination of strawberry and rhubarb mascarpone dacquoise with cream fraiche ice-cream accompanied by licorice infused strawberries, complemented with Brown Brothers Cienna Dessert wine.

11.15pm – “Burrrrrppp……”, we are seriously late for our reservation at 11pm and thought we are not gonna make it. After wobbling our way through the nooks around The Rocks, we eventually arrived at Shangri-La Hotel on top of The Rocks breathless. Thank god it is our last dessert of the evening!!! Finally we can really sit down, gather ourselves back together and enjoy the desserts without having to worry about rushing to another venue. At this point, no one wanted to touch the dessert wine no more and sticked with juices. But the helpful bar manager is extremely kind and gave us a generous portion of the Cienna dessert wine to try as they are the only hotel who paired their dessert platter with that particular wine.

I am glad that everyone thought is a nice idea to finish off the whole sugar hit rush with a light refreshing fruity dessert platter. The mascarpone dacquoise is rather eggy as everyone claimed. I particularly like the cream fraiche ice-cream which is refreshing, while H and C are more fascinated by the formation of bubbles on the little piece of sugarcane toffee. The licorice infused strawberries are rather weird on palate, not really my favorite. Sadly the liquorice juice trickled down the plate and soaked up by the pistachio shortbread which gone all soggy.

Helen: “The finale and finally a chance for us to catch our breath back and actually sit down and relax. We have more than five minutes to eat! Perhaps it’s sensory overload but I find the star-anise strawberries a little bizarre on the palate, The mascarpone dacquoise has an eggy richness which isn’t quite what I’m looking for after four dessert plates, but the creme fraiche ice cream is refreshing. I love the delicate disc of toffee too. Now hand me my insulin – I think I’m about to pass out!”

Christie: “Hurray I made it! I thought the presentation of this dish was one of the best of the night but the bizarre flavours and textures let it down. I actually really liked the ‘liquorice’ strawberry which upon tasting was actually flavoured with star anise. I’m usually a fan of mascarpone, but like Helen, found the taste of egg a bit too much to handle.”

The Aftermath

Sadly, the evening comes to an end after crawling 5 restaurants, consumed 14 desserts, and stuffed ourselves silly with gazillions of calories! We all just slouched at the lounge like a well-fed hippo, speechless and looking rather pale. No one dare to mention “dessert” ever again, let alone even think about it. We set ourselves a record and went down the foodblogging history with pride! Would we do it again?

“HELL YEAH!” (but with better runners…)

p/s: Thanks to the good people at Foodbuzz, to make this event happened.

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