296 Darling St, Balmain, Sydney
I had completely forgotten that Adriano Zumbo was in Sydney until a friend reminded me on Facebook. Of course, being a MasterChef addict, I thought of Adriano as a dessert God. When I realized I had a chance to try some of his creations, I knew I had to work it into my schedule.
We checked out of our hotel in Sydney very early on Sunday in order to cab it to Balmain. It was a rainy day and it seemed like an extremist thing to do. I figured that the patisserie would be relatively quiet.
Contrary to my expectations, there was already a huge queue by the time we got there. Not only that but the line was barely moving. I could only guess that everyone found it so difficult to decide on what to purchase.
From the outside, you are exposed to a window of pastries and bread. I even spotted a selection of quiches.
Upon entering the building, you notice the special dessert items on the right. As I was in line, I read the descriptions of a few and thought they all sounded creative and interesting.
When it was my turn to order I just selected some of the ones I was curious about. This included the lime tart (not original as per se but Mochi was talking about lemon meringue pie the other day so that was going to be for her), a wasabi pea eclair and a chili chocolate and peanut butter log.
At the back of the shop is the famed macaron selection. I heard there would be pig's blood and cheeseburger flavors but alas, the shop only sold more conventional flavors. I asked for one of everything and when I was told there was 7 flavors in total and only 6 could fit in one box, I decided to skip the ginger macaron. Not a huge fan of ginger.
Lime tart, "Chill your nuts" and "Was Are Be You Me"
These desserts had to travel around Sydney CBD with me as well as a plane trip to Brisbane and a close to 2 hour drive to Toowoomba so I'm not sure that they were in the best condition for judging but...
I have to say the wasabi pea dessert was too crazy for me, or Byron, or Mochi to appreciate. We all pulled faces and moved on.
The chili chocolate log was good. The flavors worked together - dark chocolate, peanut and a spicy kick at the end. It was wonderfully complex.
Macaron selection
I always thought macarons were hyped up but these showed me that they are actually very tasty desserts. The texture is fantastic. My favorite flavor was salted butter caramel.
As for the lime tart... well I ended up giving that to mum and dad, along with a chocolate and almond croissant, and I'm not sure what their verdict is yet.
It was quite an experience going to Adriano Zumbo, and, in my opinion as a food-lover and MasterChef addict, a necessary one. I'm glad we got to try a few of his creations and would definitely be keen to taste some more.
No comments:
Post a Comment