Posted by KB on November 19, 2010
Since the opening of Eat Street was announced last month, Sydney foodies (and relevant Twitter accounts) have spoken of little else. The promise: a new dining hub for Chatswood in the tradition of Asian hawker markets, but encompassing European and modern Australian cuisine too. Admittedly our first thought was, “how are we going to manage to eat it all?” So when we were given the opportunity to attend a “progressive dinner” – eating entrée, mains and dessert at three separate restaurants – it was as if the planets had aligned in our favour.
We start off the evening at the Bavarian Bier Café. We know to expect here, having visited some of the other six outlets dotted around Sydney, but that’s certainly not a bad thing; it means we’ve been looking forward to the beer since we left home. It’s frankly a terrible night outside, so we take a booth seat indoors and opt for one of the darker beers, the Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel, a malty, warmer-flavoured beer perfect for cold weather drinking. While waiting for the entrée proper, we indulgently add one of the restaurant’s famous pretzels to the order. If you’ve never had a hot pretzel with butter, you really haven’t lived. Speaking of which, one of our favourite parts of living is taking every opportunity to eat pork, so it was only natural to select the Bavarian Tasting Platter to share (pictured). It’s as easy on the eyes as it is on the tastebuds, an expanse of schnitzel, sausages and oh-so crisp pork belly served with mash, sauerkraut and red cabbage.
The best thing about this whole dining district scenario is that our next stop, Izakaya Arigato, is just next door. We choose the alfresco dining area, which has been covered against the rain. Summer will see the place at its best, but even now efficient heaters mean it’s cosy enough to do without jackets. Just to be on the safe side, though, we opt for a warm bottle of sake and a beef rib hot pot. It’s everything you could want on a cold night, hearty, savoury and bubbling – thanks to our personal table-top gas burner.
Rocket Restaurant is ahead of the curve in terms of location, having arrived on the strip more than a decade ago. The benefit of such experience is evident as soon as we arrive. Knowing that we’ve just chomped our way along the street, Peter and Theresa have prepared a palate-cleansing, and frankly amazing, lemongrass panacotta with a blood orange and Grand Marnier granita. Stepping into the restaurant is also something of a palate cleanser, offering a calmer alternative to the convivial atmosphere of the alfresco restaurants we’ve visited thus far. Desserts are oft-overlooked in favour of mains, but it’s obvious that the chef’s heart and soul has been poured into our sweets. The obligatory chocolate choice is served with the rich dark chocolate marquise, given some depth with a spiced cherry compote. But the winner – both of the desserts and dishes for the evening – is the lavender and honey glace with passionfruit curd, served in between paper thin layers of white chocolate and topped with a spiky meringue.
When you put it all on paper, it does seem like an awful lot of eating, but we strongly recommend spreading your courses across a couple of venues in order to get the most out of Eat Street. Of course, if you run out of time (or room in your belly) you can just come back again… and again… and again.
Eat Street is found on Railway Street, Chatswood and features:
Rocket Restaurant
Bavarian Bier Café
Three Beans
Izakaya Arigato
Mamak
The Bell Thai
Crazy Wings (opening November 22)
eat street, chatswood, mamak, rocket restaurant, bavarian bier cafe, izakaya arigato, three beans, bell thai, crazy wings