Lotus Restaurant

The lovely dessert team at Lotus have created an incredible Easter dessert, which my friend and I were lucky enough to sample yesterday. The egg is beautifully presented on a bed of fried pastry strands, with a rose glaze that reminded me strongly of musk. The strands were lovely and crispy and surprisingly sweet – I ate more than my fair share! The egg is the main game though, created out of incredibly thin Valrhona dark chocolate dusted in a brozne shimmer, filled with soft coconut meringue ‘white’ and a mango sorbet ‘yolk’. All of these flavours work well together – the chocolate is of that exceptional calibre that it just dissolves on your tongue into creamy, bitter luxury, which contrasted nicely with the sweetness of the coconut meringue. I was completely smitten with the mango sorbet; it was like eating a ripe mango, the flavour was so intense and true. The mix of textures was fabulous as well, with creamy sorbet, fluffy meringue and the crack of the tempered chocolate, not to mention the crunch of the pastry strands. Available as part of the Easter banquet or a la carte at dinner, definitely one to try before it disappears!

Lotus Restaurant, Level 1, The Galeries, 500 George Street Sydney NSW, http://www.lotusrestaurant.com.au/

Goodberry’s

My friends were appalled to discover that I hadn’t been to Goodberry’s before – apparently it’s a Canberran institution, and on a warm evening my friend took me out to the Belconnen store (there’s also one in Erindale) for my first taste of their famous frozen custard. Frozen custard? Yep. I’ve had frozen yoghurt, but this is a whole new thing. The recommended way to try it is in a ‘concrete’ – a cup of either chocolate or vanilla frozen custard, to which you can add any number of flavourings, so I picked vanilla and decided to add in Reece’s peanut butter cups as my flavouring. You can add more than one, but I was keen to taste the custard as much as possible. The concrete was ready quickly and I was surprised at how big the cup is (much bigger than most #icecreamthurs servings!). The custard really does take on the flavour of what you add, so mine had a lovely hint of vanilla against the salted chocolate and pops of peanut butter and chocolate strewn throughout. Definitely great value and a fun Canberra thing to have ticked off my list!

Goodberry’s 25 Lathlain Street, Belconnen ACT, http://goodberrys.com.au/

Bitter Sweets Buffet

So many of my old favourites in Tokyo are just the same as I remember them – Bitter Sweets Buffet is yet another. We went nice and early on a weekday for lunch and didn’t have to line up (I remember waiting 90 minutes to go in 2009). For a fixed price, you have 90 minutes of all you can eat at the buffet, and all of their food is delightfully tiny so you can try lots of different things. There was a Mediterranean Cruise theme to the buffet when we went, so I started out with a slice of the margherita pizza, some crumbed fish with tartare sauce and (my favourite), a mini burger! You order the burgers from the chef and add your own toppings (lettuce, pickles, tomato sauce, onion) at the salad bar. I tried the potato salad (yum – so creamy) but went back for more crumbed fish – that was definitely the savoury pick. After enjoying some green tea we moved to dessert – hello mini cakes! I tried the strawberry mousse cake, the strawberry scroll (so light and fluffy!), the chocolate berry cake (my pick of the sweets) and a couple of jellies. We were so full that we didn’t last the whole 90 minutes, but every mouthful was delicious.

Bitter Sweets Buffet, 8F Lumine Est, 3-chome, 38-1 Shinjuku, Japan              http://pscoop.jp/bsb/index.html

XO

 

ICYMI, summer is over. Sad face. My somewhat child-like reaction is to eat lots of icecream and pretend that never happened. Feel free to play along with #icecreamthurs. XO has become one of my favourite restaurants in a very short space of time; they have the trifecta of great service, ambiance and food. Oh, and they have icecream. Yep. I was very excited to try their much-Instagrammed chrysanthemum tea soft serve after a lovely dinner visit with friends. We were so full but, really, who can resist a soft serve? They came out on a specially designed tray and looked heavenly. Now if you’re after a super sweet dessert, don’t order this soft serve – the flavour is exactly what you would expect from an Asian-style dessert; subtle and almost savoury. There’s something familiar about the chrysanthemum tea flavour that had us all searching our memories – there’s a slight bitterness from the tea which really fills your mouth, but is counterbalanced by the creaminess. The texture was fabulous, although on a warm night we had to eat them quickly to avoid melting! I can definitely see myself stopping in just for this in future.

XO, 16 Iluka Street, Narrabundah ACT, http://www.xo-restaurant.com.au

Petal Met Sugar

When I first heard that Petal Met Sugar was selling a dessert called ‘Terrarium’, I raced to my calendar to find when I could next go to Sydney to try it. Meeting a couple of lovely friends there, we snagged a table out the front and then it was terrarium time! The dessert ($10.50) is a finger lime panna cotta, dusted with cocoa nibs and topped with edible flowers. Let me start off by saying that the presentation was immaculate! This was a work of art, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed by the flavour either. The white chocolate wasn’t the sugary, sickly sweet kind, but it did add a rich, creaminess to the contrasting textures of the rest of the dessert. The cocoa nibs were almost like a biscuit crumb, super chocolatey but not overly sweet – I think they were my favourite element actually. Hidden beneath was the delightful burst of sourness from the finger lime panna cotta, just as soft and slightly wobbly as you would expect. Combined, a mouthful with all elements made for the perfect balance. So Petal Met Sugar isn’t just a pretty face, their desserts are well thought-out and definitely worth a visit. Or two.

Petal Met Sugar, 68 Sir John Young Crescent, Woolloomooloo, NSW, http://www.petalmetsugar.com.au/

Bombolini

Canberra is so great at getting beghind new businesses, as evidenced by the huge success Bombolini Doughnuts enjoyed in their first weekend. Selling fresh (and I mean fresh, the team stay up late baking the night before) Italian-style doughnuts ($5 each) packed with delicious fillings, Bombolini sold out at both he Epic and Southside farmers’ markets, but don’t worry, they’ll be back. We tried two of the many flavours on offer (check their Instagram for the latest flavour combinations). Dad grabbed the Salted Caramel and Golden Syrup Cornflake flavour, which had an awesome amount of caramel filling and was nicely balanced (not too salty). I chowed down on a Starwberry Jam and Basil doughnut. The homemade jam is lovely, and I adored the unique combination with the single basil leaf to bite into, but people, let’s talk about the doughnut. Crusted in an indulgent smattering of sugar and not overly greasy, the pillowy layers of soft fluffy doughnut are probably what I would order as a last supper. These are a must for all Canberra sweet-tooths, and I will definitely be stopping by again soon. Or every weekend. You know, whatever.

Bombolini Doughnuts, Canberra Northside and Southside farmers’ markets, Saturday and Sunday respectively, no website.

N2 Extreme Gelato

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to #icecreamthurs! Sadly summer is over, so let’s try to keep the magic alive by eating lots of icecream until it gets warm again! One of the most popular stalls at the Night Noodle Markets last year was N2 Extreme Gelato – this year, they’ve combined forces with Black Star Pastry, producing a gelato that recreates their famed Strawberry and Watermelon cake in gelato form. After queuing for a good 20 minutes (I’d highly recommend having dessert first to avoid longer queues), I ordered the Cake Smash Gelato ($9), which was served with the same rose-flavoured cream that the cake has on top, with a light sprinkle of pistachio and rose petals. Once you get through to the gelato itself, there’s a delightful surprise – freeze-dried bits of strawberry and watermelon are scattered throughout, although the real strawberry sweetness comes from the pipette of strawberry sauce you squeeze over the top. The gelato does melt quickly so I wouldn’t try to savour this one for a long time – I ended up drinking the last couple of mouthfuls – but definitely give it a try as a delicious, creamy gelato with perfect bites of fruit within.

N2 Extreme Gelato, Night Noodle Market, Reconciliation Place until 13 March, http://n2extremegelato.com.au/