Latest news with #KingClarence
The Age
25-06-2025
- The Age
Culinary excellence: Chef Stephen's cockerel masterpiece
More contemporary dishes include Marmelo's wood-roasted cockerel with African spices, chilli and potato crisps and Yakikami's yakitori skewers with different parts of cockerel – including thigh, wing, skin, heart, etc. In Sydney, King Clarence does a drunken cockerel liver skewers slathered in sansho pepper and Vegemite toast. And this June, look out for Good Food Events' upcoming Snack Series, presented by Aurum Poultry Co., which will feature five chefs and venues creating delicious cockerel-based snacks. Aurum Poultry Co.'s cockerel is at least 100 days old, compared to commercial chickens which are typically farmed for just 35–42 days. Giving the birds a good life that's three to four times longer than normal means the cockerels naturally develop firm muscle structure and exceptional flavour. The texture of its meat is distinctive, bouncy and rich because the bird has had ample exercise on the farm. This flavour and texture is comparable to the renowned Bresse chicken from France and the traditional Three-Yellow chicken from Asia. It's what chicken is supposed to taste like if you make a point of raising them right and eating both sexes of birds. For the cockerel-curious, Scottish-born chef Stephen Nairn has shared his recipe for whole cockerel with vin jaune. Chef Nairn has spent time in some very good kitchens; the three-michelin starred Eleven Madison Park in New York and Melbourne's Vue de monde and Estelle. He is now the culinary director at LK Hospitality, working on the menu and logistics for one-hatted restaurants including Omnia Bistro & Bar and Yūgen Dining.
Sydney Morning Herald
25-06-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Culinary excellence: Chef Stephen's cockerel masterpiece
More contemporary dishes include Marmelo's wood-roasted cockerel with African spices, chilli and potato crisps and Yakikami's yakitori skewers with different parts of cockerel – including thigh, wing, skin, heart, etc. In Sydney, King Clarence does a drunken cockerel liver skewers slathered in sansho pepper and Vegemite toast. And this June, look out for Good Food Events' upcoming Snack Series, presented by Aurum Poultry Co., which will feature five chefs and venues creating delicious cockerel-based snacks. Aurum Poultry Co.'s cockerel is at least 100 days old, compared to commercial chickens which are typically farmed for just 35–42 days. Giving the birds a good life that's three to four times longer than normal means the cockerels naturally develop firm muscle structure and exceptional flavour. The texture of its meat is distinctive, bouncy and rich because the bird has had ample exercise on the farm. This flavour and texture is comparable to the renowned Bresse chicken from France and the traditional Three-Yellow chicken from Asia. It's what chicken is supposed to taste like if you make a point of raising them right and eating both sexes of birds. For the cockerel-curious, Scottish-born chef Stephen Nairn has shared his recipe for whole cockerel with vin jaune. Chef Nairn has spent time in some very good kitchens; the three-michelin starred Eleven Madison Park in New York and Melbourne's Vue de monde and Estelle. He is now the culinary director at LK Hospitality, working on the menu and logistics for one-hatted restaurants including Omnia Bistro & Bar and Yūgen Dining.
Daily Mail
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The $15 dish Nigella Lawson simply 'had' to eat once more before she left Sydney: 'Masterly, joy-giving'
Nigella Lawson has been eating her way through Sydney, but there's one little-known restaurant she always returns to for its stand-out dish. The British food critic, who has been uncovering hidden gems and following local recommendations during her trip in Australia, said she still thinks about the 'fabulous' dining experience she had at King Clarence, a modern Asian restaurant. 'Being in Sydney without revisiting King Clarence to eat chef Khanh Nguyen's exuberant, masterly and joy-giving food would be a criminal oversight,' she said. The foodie queen said she has many favourite dishes at the hotspot in Sydney's CBD, but she can never get enough of the fish finger bao, which costs $15 per bun. 'I mean, how could I leave here without tasting, once more, that fish finger bao and still live with myself? Not a chance,' Nigella said. The popular food writer explained that she needed to go into detail about the dish so everyone can 'truly grasp the magnificence'. 'This particular fish finger is made with barramundi, set in gelatinised dashi stock, then robustly crumbed, then deep-fried, so that when you bite into it as well as a satisfying crunch, you get a burst of deeply-flavoured broth,' she said. 'It's rather like the experience of eating Xiao long bao (aka soup dumplings) only more high octane. 'And in the tender, bouncy, steamed bun as well is a dainty sliver of melty American cheese and a tartare sauce flecked with mustard greens plus, on top, a pearled heaping of vivid salmon roe. Heady-making stuff, and as exquisite as it is bold.' As a repeat customer of King Clarence, Nigella said there are too many things to talk about - but not enough time in the world to tell her fans about everything she ate. However, she needed to rave about the restaurant's wood-roasted pork belly. 'I have to mention the wood-roasted pork belly ssam, to be wrapped, with its array of pickles, in lettuce of many hues,' she explained. Her next favourite dish, which she ordered for the first time, was the short-grain claypot rice with char siu pork jowl, garlic chives, red chilli and egg yolk. 'And in a radical move, as I usually always order the spanner crab rice of joy, I went for the absurdly magnificent short-grain claypot rice,' she said. Nigella praised Khanh, the executive chef of the restaurant for his incredible menu. 'Khanh's absurd talent – the rambunctious splendor of his food is set off by his calm confidence and precision – never fails to amaze me,' she added. As a repeat customer of King Clarence, Nigella said there are too many things to talk about - but not enough time in the world to tell her fans about everything she ate. However, she needed to rave about the restaurant's wood-roasted pork belly (left) and 'magnificent' claypot rice The British food critic, who has been uncovering hidden gems and following local recommendations during her trip in Australia, said she still thinks about the 'fabulous' lunch she had at King Clarence, a modern Asian restaurant in Sydney's CBD. Earlier this month, Nigella revealed the one dish she would travel 17,000km to eat again - and it's the fermented carrots on n'duja-spread crisp and thin rye bread from Café Paci, a small but highly acclaimed restaurant on King Street in Newtown. 'The dish I'd come the 17,000km from home to eat: that piercingly precise, headily uplifting entrée/starter of fermented carrots,' she said. 'It's just phenomenal, even (though in any other context I might be embarrassed to use the term) iconic. 'I was pretty bowled over by what came next, too, namely, a light, thin kind of Scandi Melba toast, spread with yoghurty cod's roe, topped with a citrus-fresh peppery tiling of radish.' One of the most frequently asked questions Nigella always gets asked is, which Sydney restaurants are her favourites. 'I always panic a bit answering that, as I'm fearful of missing anyone out: I have just too many favourites. But it's fair to say, I'd never forget to mention Café Paci,' she said. 'There's nowhere like it; chef Pasi Petänen may be Finnish but Café Paci is, for me, quintessential Sydney. 'The food is impeccable, innovative without being tricksy, the room is relaxed, and everyone who works there contributes to the sense of welcome and excitement that energises me afresh on each visit.
Time Out
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Eleven Barrack
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here. Being at Eleven Barrack feels like Christmas. Every dish or drink that lands on our table is like a gift – a perfectly presented package that, when unwrapped, contains a delightful treasure that's a little unexpected. A good surprise. Take the spanner crab and fish pie. It's a picture-perfect golden-crusted pot pie in a little cast-iron pot, with a pastry crab on top and a shellfish bisque served on the side in a classic silver gravy boat. The pie pastry is almost too flawless to crack open, but when we do, we're rewarded with a well-seasoned, creamy filling with finely chopped pieces of spanner crab, fish and spinach. It's divine just as it is, but then you pour in the bisque, and the dish goes from delicious to unforgettable. The buttery pastry, tender seafood, creamy white sauce and that punchy, sea-flavoured sauce (the colour of crab shell) is like a pot of comfort food with a luxury upgrade. It's arguable Sydney didn't need another steak and seafood grill, but it did need this one. Just like Santa Claus, the Bentley Group's co-owners Brent Savage (chef) and Nick Hildebrandt (sommelier) – who've also recently gifted us treats like King Clarence, Brasserie 1930 and a newly flavoured Monopole – have delivered yet again (in collaboration with group head chef Aiden Stevens and Niro Richards). I'm obviously a fan of the food here (this is not my first visit), but the décor is what really sets this place apart from other grand New York or Parisian-style diners here in Sydney. It's on Barrack Street, in the old, high-ceilinged Savings Bank of NSW building. And while they have indeed leaned into the grandness and scale of the classic old building, there's nothing traditional or fuddy-duddy about the room's attention-grabbing design touches. One of the room's central columns is wrapped in metallic purple. There are big, eccentric, custom-made light shades (some bright orange, some white) that dangle dramatically from the ceiling. There's a gold-mirrored, oval-shaped, er, I'm not sure what to call it – decoration – hanging from the ceiling above my table. And the carpet is tartan, like the Christmas wrap my grandpa used to use. Yes, the room is also festive. I order a gin Martini, and it arrives via a trolley, poured frosty and theatrically at our table. (The service is as classy as it is in all of the Bentley Group venues.) The menu is extensive, so while it heroes steak and fish dishes, there is also a section for pastas, and a fun selection of appetisers, starters, playful salads, a bread section, cheeses and desserts. Narrowing down what to order is no easy feat. As well as the crab and fish pie, we order a steak, the 250g black opal wagyu rump cap, which comes served sliced – cooked perfectly medium rare, as ordered, charred on the outside – on a bed of rich, dark jus. It pairs well with the celebratory bottle of bubbles we share – the Louis de Grenelle BIO (certified organic) Crémant de Loire Brut, which is zippy and refreshing, with a dry, clean finish but enough richness to stand up to the creamy seafood pie. (And what are we celebrating? Just being in a beautiful setting and eating great food!) The salads we order also provide freshness and acidity. The salted zucchini with parmesan, caperberries, parsley and mint is bright, briny and herbaceous; and the celeriac with sheep's milk feta, black barley and witlof is earthy and nutty. The potatoes need their own paragraph. A baked potato has been cut in two, then the soft potato filling has been removed from the shells, mashed together with sour cream, mustard and pancetta, then placed back into the crispy, fried potato skins. A masterpiece. Last time I was here I had the coal-roasted Murray cod fillets served in the most vivid, moreish green garlic sauce, and I wish we had room to order it again. But with the pie and the steak, salads and potatoes, we didn't even need appetisers or starters this time around. If we did, I would have gone for the fried ricotta dumplings with whipped cod's roe or the eggplant 'parfait' on sourdough toast. The slice of key lime pie is a must-order for dessert (even if you think you don't have room). The lime curd filling is bright and citrusy; it's glazed with ginger, then topped with a generous piping of light coconut curd and little pops of finger lime jewels. It's truly (sub)lime. Just like Christmas, when the experience of dining at Eleven Barrack comes to an end, I'm already counting down the days until I can unwrap it all over again. Thankfully I don't have to wait a whole year.
