Seafood on the waterfront in Sydney without busting your budget

Nothing says "Sydney" and "summer" like kicking back and eating fresh seafood while sipping cold wine on the waterfront. 

There is no shortage of seafood eateries in Sydney, but one that combines a great location with good food is love.fish, a 175-seater that is part of the Streets of Barangaroo precinct and located directly opposite the Barangaroo ferry wharf. 

If you love people watching this is your spot: from rollerbladers to joggers, cyclists to posers, the chronically under-dressed to commuters. All the world's a stage. 

And given the huge rents the love.fish team must pay for their prime spot, their prices are extremely reasonable. Think locally-sourced oysters, raw fish, whole fish, platters, and crustaceans.

We tried the $69 per person "Feed Me" menu for lunch - and it offered an impressive range of seafood dishes that can be matched matched to wines for another $29 per person. You still get out for under $100 a head, which seems very fair to me. There is a two-person minimum for this offering. 

The menu starts with tuna crudo (on betel leaf with chilli and lime, above) and a salt and pepper squid from Tasmania. Both hit the spot but the artisan focaccia was sadly soggy and tasteless. These dishes were matched with a bright 2024 Nick O'Leary Riesling from the Canberra region. 

Next up: a grilled Daintree barramundi fillet with asparagus, peach and salsa verde (above) and a very well-composed blue swimmer crab risotto with fennel and zucchini blossoms (below). This duo was accompanied by a well-matched Briar Ridge chardonnay from the Hunter Valley. 

To finish: toasted coconut and mango crumble with a coconut sorbet. Impressively summery and paired with a chilled Pfeiffer NV Topaque fortified.

Love.fish just gets it right - but they've got some experience. The business was founded 15 years ago with a policy of delivering sustainable and all-Australian casual seafood experiences.

The a la carte menu ranges from sashimi and scallops to a classic old-school king prawn cocktail, with mains like battered fish and chips. to a seafood platter for two for $195.

For those needing some greens there is a range of vegetable and salad sides. 

From small beginnings in Rozelle, this remains a family business; operated by Michael Milkovic and Michelle Grand-Milkovic, with an offering of affordable, sustainable seafood and casual but attentive hospitality.  

 See https://www.lovefish.com.au/    

# The writer was hosted by love.fish 

How to enjoy the Brest of France

Taking roads less travelled can be extremely rewarding. Nowhere more so than in France, where there are dozens of beautiful towns and villages that remain largely undiscovered.

One such destination is Brest in Brittany - and leisure airline easyJet is launching a new summer route from London Gatwick to Brest.

Flights start on June 25 and will operate twice weekly on Wednesdays and Sundays throughout the summer season, news portal Travel Mole reports.

Seats are now on sale at easyJet.com and via the mobile app.

The port city of Brest is a listed City of Art and History and boasts a strong maritime heritage.

Its unique attractions include an open-air aquarium, and the city is known for its Breton cuisine, including savoury pancakes known as galletes. The local soccer team this year made its debut in the European Champions League.  

Brest has a population of over 140,000 and its history has since the 17th century been linked to the sea. The Académie de Marine (Naval Academy) was founded in 1752 in the city.

Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK Country Manager, said: “As London Gatwick’s largest airline, we are delighted to be launching yet another new route from London Gatwick, offering more choice and connectivity through our unrivalled short haul leisure network.”

Last year, easyjet celebrated carrying 250 million passengers to and from London Gatwick since launching its first flights in December 1999.

We have Mercier: Meet MONA's new installation

 

The latest art blockbuster at Tasmania's ground-breaking MONA opens this morning.

Théo Mercier, French artist and stage director, presents an immense sand sculpture inhabiting MONA's  former library space.

Created in situ from sand and water, MIRRORSCAPE depicts a debris-strewn landscape evoking the aftermath of disaster. It will be on display for a whole year.

Mercier’s site-specific installation is a new work commissioned by MONA, and its presentation is his first time exhibiting in Australia.

MIRRORSCAPE draws inspiration from the detritus of the island and sites where nature and human production collide, as well as local rock formations that have been altered over time -transformed by wind, water runoff and waves.

The multi-layered sculpture "explores a tension between erasure and erosion, the scene corroding our sense of time and scale," Mercier says: ‘The earth shuffles and trembles. It is a collection of catastrophes and its surface bears witness to the natural and political changes - and cataclysms - that pass through it.

"In this work devastation finds itself petrified in the stone, as if we opened a mountain here in Tasmania and discovered the great fossil of a disaster.

"We don’t know whether this would have happened in the past or if it’s a foreshadowing of the near future. MIRRORSCAPE is a conflict suspended in time, quarantined inside a panoramic cell that recalls the scientific laboratory or a vivarium. It is something to be studied at a distance.’

MONA curator Sarah Wallace says: ‘Crafted entirely from Tasmanian sand, Théo's work is a reflection of the fragile and temporary nature of the world around us, and of life itself. I hope visitors will be drawn in by the intricate detail in this captivating installation, while considering the questions he raises about our ecological predicament.’

Théo Mercier is a sculptor and stage director, who lives and works in Paris.

See mona.net.au

A fusion of flavours is a Sydney feast for the senses

Nikkei cuisine is a fusion of Peruvian and Japanese flavours.

It is served in an elevated form at Callao, one of the standout restaurants in the Streets of Barangaroo gourmet precinct on the Sydney waterfront.

Opened just over a year ago, the flavours on offer at the 104-seat eatery have clearly hit the target.

There is a hip young crowd on hand: both the customers and the very efficient servers.

And the quality of the food, with the two distinctive cuisines delivering intriguing combinations, is matched by a drinks list peppered with cocktails, Japanese whiskies, and some astutely chosen wines (think names like O’Leary Walker, Bream Creek, Giant Steps and Moss Wood by the glass).

Japanese Peruvian cuisine is a global trend right now and Nikkei is the word used to describe immigrants of Japanese origin - of which there are many in Peru.

Nikkei food is characterized by its use of the wide variety of ingredients available to Peru, including aji amarillo, an emulsion of the South American chilli pepper.

The Callao menu blends traditional techniques with vibrant ingredients - every dish on the Chef's Selections tasting menu ($119 per person) offered myriad flavours, but with a real sense of cohesive style.

You are taken out of your comfort zone - but remain very comfortable.

Mainstays include fresh seafood like tiradito, marinated in zesty Peruvian sauces, and Baby octopus with tomato, green olives, saffron potatoes, chickpeas and chili oil.

 

After some warm edamame beans with smoked salt, our starters were a stunning scampi tartare with crispy rice, truffle mayo, avocado puree, pickled jalapeno and Siberian caviar - a very upmarket fish finger (above) - and a delightfully tangy salmon ceviche with aji amarllo, leche de tigre (a zesty Peruvian marinade made with lime juice, fish, and spices), toasted corn and sweet potato puree (below).

Then came Skull Island tiger prawns with aji panca (red pepper) bisque, sea urchin mayo and tabiko (flying fish roe) mayo (below); and Wagyu tri-tip with smoked date teriyaki, aji amarillo mayo and togarishi spices. Both extremely moreish. 

Main course is a chuck tail flap steak with with yuzu koshu butter, shitake jus and house mustard, served with with hasselback potato, quezo fresca, aji amarillo and dried sisho (below).

The final touch is "cheesecake" with toasted corn, finger lime, milk skin and avocado ice cream,

Tradition with a few twists and turns. Delightful flavours; great service, sensible portions. Highly recommended.  

For those wondering, Callao is a Peruvian seaside city and region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area.

 

Callao is open for lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday and is at 100 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo, Sydney. callao.com.au.

Images: Anna Kucera, Winsor Dobbin

# The writer was hosted by Callao

Change of direction for Ballarat gourmet hotspot

It is all change at Vesta x Jigs, the signature dining room at Ballarat’s award-winning Hotel Canberra. 

The restaurant has shifted focus to an a la carte offering as of this week, a move away from the previous six- or eight-course degustation menus celebrating 100% Victorian produce.

Executive chef Jigs Liwanag (ex Rockpool) has now adopted a contemporary a la carte menu from Wednesday to Saturdays in the dining room and bar. 

“We wanted to broaden our offer to the Ballarat community,” said general manager Pete Dillon. 

“We have been very focused on using 100% Victorian produce in our degustation-only menus, which has been exciting for our team, but we have to adapt to the changing demands of our customers.” 

The menu will still feature local produce from small artisan producers but the kitchen is moving to a zero-waste philosophy. 

“I love what Victoria has to offer with incredible produce and amazing culinary adventurers, but with an a la carte menu, I can be more creative and celebrate the very best of the seasons, if that has to come from a little further afield, like South Australian whiting or oysters from New South Wales," the chef says. 

Playing to his Filipino heritage and drawing on his eight years of experience cooking on a private yacht, Liwanag is excited to flex his creative muscles in a different way.

“Every place I have visited has provided me a little inspiration," he says. "I can meld influences from Italy and China together in one dish, I can use recipes my mum and grandma gave me, and I can pay homage to the street food of the Philippines, all at the same time.”

So think dishes like ceviche of kingfish with pickled strawberry and citrus dressing ($20, top image) and duck, elderberry pickle, pea puree and blackberry jus ($30, second image). There is also a six-course "feed me" menu for $120.

A beverage list with a focus on artisan, craft and alternative wine varietals has been designed to match the restaurant offer, with a small "cellar only" list also available.

Vesta x Jigs and Bobbys Bar at Hotel Canberra is at 812 Macarthur Street, Ballarat Central, serving the new menu from Wednesday to Saturday from 6pm. Bookings are highly recommended.

See www.hotelcanberra.au

New Sydney boutique hotel opens in surprising location

Times change.

A couple of decades ago the area bordering inner city Sydney suburbs of Redfern and Surry Hills was best avoided. 

There were only a few reasons to visit the badlands off Cleveland Street: to eat some great Lebanese food, buy an illicit wrap or two, find a lady of the night, or perhaps get into a fight.

But gentrification happened and now the area around Wunderlich Lane is home to restaurants, bars and, as of today, a new luxe hotel.

Independently owned by TOGA and operated by TFE Hotels, the EVE Hotel Sydney opened its doors today.

It is set among a labyrinth of lively laneways connecting Surry Hills and Redfern and boasts a 20-metre rooftop pool..

Designed by Surry Hills-based architects SJB (with styling collaboration from Bates Smart), the city's newest 102-room boutique hotel is part of Sydney's newest lifestyle precinct, Wunderlich Lane, set on the site of Sydney’s original Wunderlich Ltd factory, which made terracotta roof tiles.

 
The precinct’s inner-city laneways will feature boutique shopping, al fresco dining and design-led commercial and event spaces.

“We have a prominent address at the crossroads of Surry Hills and Redfern and a location full of rich history,” said TOGA Group managing director and TFE Hotels chairman Allan Vidor.

“And our team are looking forward to sharing our version of Sydney hospitality.”

"By design, The EVE’s pre-opening team has aimed to create spaces where guests and visitors can immerse themselves in the art, cultural, and culinary offerings from the local community,"

See https://theevehotel.com.au/.