LA BOCA BAR AND GRILL - MASCOT, SYDNEY

La Boca Bar and Grill
(Inside Stamford Plaza Sydney Airport)
241 O'Riordan St
Mascot, Sydney

If you think of meat slowly grilled over hot coals for most of the day till it's cooked tender and juicy in time for you to devour it - then think La Boca. Kicking the frequent trend of expanding out of Sydney, La Boca has spread its wings from Adelaide into Sydney - and it's going to keep on growing.

Sir and Count N were there for a Zomato Meetup and to try the basted and BBQ'd goodies. However, it soon became clear that while La Boca does do a mean BBQ they offer much more than this. The menu has plenty there for those that don't drool at a BBQ or just want something different. We started with a few sangria's and a chat with Chef Nicolas Arriola who flies in and out from Adelaide regularly to keep an eye on things. It was great to hear his stories and see his passion. 

Our first bites were the cold picadas - as selection of house cured charcuterie with bread and cheeses.

The long torpedo's of sliced bread were topped with an array of goodies so that each mouthful tasted a bit different as we eagerly worked our way along this starter.

It was like an antipasto open sandwich.

We then moved on to a trio of seafood picadas. A fresh oyster with criolla sauce (a salsa of onion, capsicum, vinegar and oil) disappeared quickly.

The grilled prawn with lemon and garlic sauce was tender and tasty and much more subtle than its name may have suggested. The smoked scallop with sweet tomato pesto combined so well with a hint of fire that didn't overpower the other subtle flavours.

Mains time and they were very simply described as a mix of asador cooked meats. We'd been watching the meat since we got there, displayed on giant racks at 45 degree angles out over the hot coals and eagerly awaiting this phase!

We each had a board of meat, slow cooked, steaming hot and smelling delicious. They were garnished and had corn too - but to be honest all we could notice was that meat!

There was pork, lamb and beef that almost dissolved when it was cut - or pulled apart. The flavours were simply divine in these big hunks of tender meat. 

So we were totally stuffed by now and considering passing on dessert - till we saw it and had it explained to us. Think chocolate, dissolved biscuit-like layers, cream and coffee. The traditional chocolate and coffee cake is more like a heavy tiramisu. It's rich, indulgent, heavy, totally delicious and a must have!

Save room or just force it down - you won't regret it.

La Boca is a big place but well set out and not cavernous.Do take a look at the asador - or BBQ - from behind the safety line. It's impressive and will definitely tempt you with the sights and smells of that beautiful meat. Chat to Chef Nicolas if he's there - and hear about the food and vision of the place. Then sit back and enjoy some great food and service and enjoy the "show". 

Sir and Count N dined as guests of La Boca. Special thanks to Naomi at Zomato for inviting us.

 

THE CORTILE - INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL - SYDNEY CBD

The Cortile
InterContinental Hotel
117 Macquarie St
Sydney CBD

Fancy a bit of luxury and indulgence? Who doesn't from time to time! Well a visit to the InterContinental Hotel in Sydney for their "Live at the Cortile with the SSO" is a bit of magic that you'll remember for a long time - and best of all it's a series.

The InterContinental Sydney has partnered with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra to put together some lovely soiree's in The Cortile Bar and Lounge (right in the middle of the Hotel).

You can sit back and enjoy beautiful music in lovely surroundings, sip fine drinks (including vintage Moet & Chandon) and eat delicious food designed to match the music - this time it was Argentinian tango. And best of all it's extremely affordable.

Apart from the lovely surroundings of The Cortile, the next thing we were greeted with after we were seated was a glass of 2004 vintage Moet & Chandon. It's such a lovely way to start a sophisticated evening! Then a short while later the five piece section from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra started playing and the outside world just seemed to disappear. 

The food, designed to match the music, was in two nicely presented sets.

The first had tasty empanadas - described as empanada Argentina; tortilla de patata con cebolla - potato tortilla with onion; char-grilled chorizo on garlic bread with parsley pesto - lightly spicy and tangy and finally a rich provoleta on ciabatta bread. Even though they were canapes they were actually a good size.

After the first food matching we were served our second drink - this time a martini. It looked as good as it tasted with the subdued light filtering through the glass creating a lovely glow.

The second set of food again came in four portions, but this time two were desserts. We started with Milanesa (a good sized piece of crumbed steak) with salsa blanca then had a lovely Patagonian toothfish with roasted red capsicum. Then the desserts - some of the best churros we've had, with decadent chocolate dipping sauce that Mlady devoured and finally alfajor con dulce de leche - normally biscuits filled with caramel but in this case almost an Eaton mess adaption. So tasty!

 

It was just so wonderful to sit back and listen to the captivating music of the SSO while tasting delicious food and sipping lovely drinks in such beautiful surroundings!

You get all this for only $50 per person as well (or $25 for the cocktail and the music) - which is outstanding value.

We're keen to return and do this next time!

Sir and Mlady were guests of the InterContinental Hotel. Special thanks to Executive Chef Tamas Pamer for the lovely food and Abigail Murphy - Marketing Manager from InterContinental. Thanks also to Lea and Sophie from Ogilvy Public Relations for arranging our visit.

BRIDGE STREET GARAGE - SYDNEY CBD

Bridge Street Garage
17-19 Bridge St.
Sydney CBD

Bridge Street Garage has a lovely feel to it as soon as you walk in the door.

The decor is a blend of 1950's diner and industrial workshop/garage with bright car related murals on the walls and exposed ducting and caged lightbulbs above.

Its a surprisingly large place as well but without a cavernous feel.

It has a front bar area for drinks and food which leads through to extremely spacious booths near the open kitchen area and then on to small and larger group tables in the rear section.

There's a variety of spaces for whatever your need may be.

We couldn't resist a few starters - and there are plenty of options that sounded very appealing!

First up were the empanadas - described as pastry parcels filled with herbs and spices and a choice of beef mince or sweetcorn filling, served with a chimichurri sauce.

They were really good with great flavour and the chimichurri sauce was to die for!!!

We then moved on to the provoleta - oh wow this was amazing - really amazing!

It was billed as Argentinian-style grilled provolone served with a chimichurri sauce and toasted herbed sourdough.

The intense flavours and diverse textures here were fantastic. It's a rich dish that may be to rich for some tastes - but it is a real winner!

My main course was a specialty of the house - beef ribs.

All the meat here has come from pasture fed stock and its packed with flavour!

It was an absolutely huge serving and the beef was very tender and very tasty.

It came with a dipping sauce and a side of rocket salad.

Mlady had the mini burger sliders - which we thought would be two sliders but turned out to be four! She had two mini versions each of the Gaucho
and Garage burgers. The Garage burger was an all-beef patty with lettuce, tomato, beetroot, pineapple, bacon, pickles and sauces in a toasted bun. The Gaucho burger, was a beef patty with Spanish onions, radicchio and cheese in a toasted bun. These little beauties were very tasty with great quality and quantities and nice bite!

As a side to the sliders was a serving of hand cut chips.

They came in a very cute basket and there was a surprisingly large number of them.

The chips were also very tasty and appropriately nice and crispy!

I loved the sound of the creme caramel with
white dog moonshine - not just for the contents but also for the name! It was crème caramel with a kick because it came with a whiskey-infused sauce.

I almost expected the sauce to be a bit over the top but it turned out to be quite subtle. This allowed it to combine well with the creme caramel rather than overpower it. It was lovely.

Mlady loves cheesecake and often orders it so the New York cheesecake caught her eye.

The menu at Bridge Street Garage says: "It’s a classic for a reason, and one slice will be enough to convince you why."

Well Mlady can verify that bold statement - it was certainly a good cheesecake.

Bridge Street Garage is the creation of head chef Oscar Gorosito who hails from Argentina but has fine tuned his cooking skills in many countries. We chatted with Oscar and his passion was very evident - he has a strong vision for Bridge Street Garage and is clearly determined to set high standards!

The concept here is high quality produce and food in good quantities at affordable prices. The food that we ate clearly showed this was being delivered.

Bridge Street Garage are open for lunch on Monday and Tuesday but lunch and dinner from Wednesday to Saturday. On busy days they can feed well over 500 people! 

Bridge Street Garage is a great place to visit for a drink, a drink and a nibble or a full evening. You may even start with a drink and just end up staying - we saw people doing this on our visit.

You get high quality comfort food and it comes in good sized servings.

The decor is very cheerful and memorable and the service was also attentive, friendly and helpful.

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Bridge Street Garage. Special thanks to Oscar Gorosito and also to Eve Mackinnon of NAC Media for arranging our visit. Thanks also to Lee for looking after us on the night.

PORTENO - SURRY HILLS, SYDNEY

Porteno
358 Cleveland St
Surry Hills, Sydney

We'd tried to get in to Porteno before - without booking or arriving early - and failed. This time we got there early, joined the queue that was already forming and made it in. We were both curious as to whether it would be worth it - it was.

Porteno is great. Its not the cheapest meal in town, but it is certainly one of the best. The food, service and decor were all excellent. You can book for groups of five or more but for those with less than that get there early or be prepared to wait upstairs or come back (after you put your name down).

We started with a drink and some marinated olives.

For our drink we chose a glass each of the Bodega Del Desierto Merlot from La Pampa. It cost $14.50 a glass and was a lovely red.

The olives were very tasty. It wasn't an overpowering marinade, in fact it was quite light and delicate. The olives were plump and juicy and the flavours were good.

They were predominantly green olives with some black ones peppering the bowl. All of them had their pips intact but we had a pip bowl so all was good! For $8.00 it was reasonably priced too.





Main number one was the wagyu beef outside skirt. Normally outside skirt isn't my choice but this was amazing. Mlady isn't a big red meat eater - usually preferring seafood, chicken or even vegetarian - but she said this was the dish of the night. She also likes her meat well done and this was medium to medium rare. It just melted in our mouths - it was that tender. At $42.00 its not cheap but its amazing. The meat came with an extremely tasty pirri pirri sauce as well. It was a lovely blend that went so nicely.

As a side dish we had the  sauteed broccolini with confit lemon and mustard seeds.

It wasn't a huge serving but this was deceptive. There was actually more there than appeared to be the case at first. The broccolini was tender and juicy. It was almost crisp but not quite - just reaching the perfect state of cooked but not overcooked.

The confit lemon and mustard seeds were great. I haven't had this combination with broccolini before - but I wish I had. The flavours were amazing.

 I'm not the worlds greatest lover of vegetables this was a winner and I'd gladly be back for seconds. It was $14.00.

Main number two was the  BBQ calamari with marinated flat beans and yoghurt tahini tartare. Wow - another winner here as well.

The combinations at Porteno never cease to amaze. They are different but go so well.

The calamari was tender and not chewy. The rest of the dish just set everything off perfectly. I really liked the yoghurt tahini tartare - it was a lovely dip like side that melded well with all the other ingredients.

 The final decision was whether to dessert or not. Everything else had been so lovely we figured that dessert would be as well - and of course it was.

My choice was the  apricot and chocolate tart, Familia Marguerry muscat and creme fraiche ice-cream, vanilla Chantilly.

It was a big serving. The pastry was crisp but not overcooked. The filling was a beautiful amalgam of flavours and textures.

The apricot and chocolate went well together. The ice-cream and Chantilly looked impressive and tasted just as good.

I'm a sweet eater and this was a great end to a great meal.

Mlady chose the burnt milk custard with cherry and chocolate ice-cream. She thought it had a bit of a complex creme brulle feel to it - and it did.

What arrived looked busy with lots of different textures, colours and flavours on the plate. It was a lovely combination though that tasted amazing. Desserts are all $16.00 and are well worth having here.

Porteno is a great restaurant. The decor is lovely, the service outstanding and the food is memorable for all the right reasons - it's delicious!!