pork knuckle at lowenbrau, lenotre high tea at sofitel wentworth - 11 June 2008, 00:55
last week in true food blogger style noods arranged a belated bday day in the city to eat and eat and eat.

we started off with lowenbrau home of the glorious pork knuckle ($29.50) with its kickass crackling and soft creamy mash and half a litre of mango beer. we ordered a pork knuckle each. because i dont share my pork crackle with anyone. heh.

a short 2 hours later after a wander thru the rocks markets and around the harbour we arrived at Sofitel Wentworth (61-101 Phillip St, Sydney) for the Lenotre high tea ($38). The Sofitel has become the first hotel in Australia to serve the patisserie brand Lenotre with Chef Patissier, Mark Stone the only chef in Australia to have the accredited certification.

coffee and tea is bottomless and the boy was fascinated by the hourglass timer that came with our tea set

and what a stand! it towered over us with its cute pink levels like stairs to a sweet cakey heaven =D

Cone au chocolat. when the lovely waitress brings it out our stand all eyes in the room are drawn immediately to the 2 cones perched high on the top tier and it is a sight to behold! almost identical in size to an icecream cone but instead of a waffle cone it is a dark chocolate cone filled with macerated strawberries and a very generous filling of cream mmm cream

Camaieu. a gorgeously soft cake with layers of chocolate sponge flavoured with marzipan in between layers of dark and milk chocolate mousse topped with ivory chantilly cream. i particularly liked the tiny curl of hazelnut and chomping into the rectangle of lenotre branded chocolate

Macaronades. hee hee giant macarons! with fresh raspberries and lemon curd. i love raspberries! i couldnt really taste the lemon curd but that was ok i dont think it really needed it. heh try eating this ‘delicately’ and it will explode over your lap

Ambiance. oh man thats the worst shot ive ever taken of cake argh so overexposed! i was getting a bit impatient and actually forgot to take a foto (the cake was actually double the size… this was half a portion size cos this foto was taken when i went back a second time with other ppl). anywhos. the ambiance was creamy and not too sweet with layers of vanilla bavarian cream with fruits of the forest jelly and caramelised hazelnuts.

Tarte au citron. the classic french lemon tart, sweet pastry filled with almond and lemon cream and topped with lemon meringue. thankfully the lemon curd filling wasnt too sour and went well with the crisp buttery tart

Opera. the gold standard of all cakes is the opera! chocolate pastry with layers of almond biscuit, decadent chocolate ganache with coffee butter cream and topped with gold leaf. seriously what is more luxurious than eating gold?

Finger sandwiches! ah i love thin rectangles of crust-less sandwiches! (cos you know crusts makes your hair go curly) my sandwich fillings were smoked salmon & rocket, cucumber & cream cheese, ham & cheese and egg

Fruit Scones! with a very generous serve of homemade jam and cream. we were so full that we had to leave a cake but were given a cute bright red box to take it away which was awfully nice of them. high tea is 2pm-5pm daily but make sure you have made a booking dudes!

and to end the day a walk to luna park for some fairy floss because i hadnt had enough sugar…


Hahaha I love that picture of you with the pork knuckle. There’s just something about the expression on your face! Man, I can’t believe you’re STILL celebrating your birthday though. At this rate, by the time you’re done, it’ll be time to start celebrating your NEXT birthday ;) That tower of desserts is crazy – and then there was fairy floss…
— Y Jun 11, 08:21 AM #(;__;) huk…above all the plan dat i told u… huk huk huk,,,well, eniweys!happy for u now dat u’ve tried the sofitel high tea! :D..
— osha Jun 11, 01:16 PM #you forgot to mention how you somehow managed to get your fairy floss all over yourself, your coat and your shoes…
— noods Jun 11, 05:25 PM #You are again holding that knife in a way that makes me nervous … lol
— marj Jun 11, 06:11 PM #Yum! The Sofitel cakes look as good as Adriano Zumbo’s. Are they?
— Choo Tweet Jun 11, 11:40 PM #So much sugar and u still had to hv Fairy Floss. LOL, U amaze me. Where do you put it? How do you keep yr figure?
hey babe! is that the place you wanted to bring me?
— nadnut Jun 11, 11:42 PM #y: hahahahahaha i was trying to keep a straight face when really i wanted to go and dive into the pork cracklin! lol i should stop buying fairy floss now that i have my own machine now hey
— chocolatesuze Jun 12, 01:31 AM #rosha: it was yummy! are you coming back to oz?
noods: heh uh i conveniently left that part out…
marj: lol take one step back from the crazy girl with the knives…
choo tweet: hmm i wouldnt compare them becos zumbos cakes are more creative with the random flavours, lenotre is more standard cakes that most ppl will be familiar with… but theyre both awesome!
nadnut: yes! and another one which is a buffet hmm come back to sydney!
Yum! Looked like my kinda day! I am in awe of your eating stamina (and I also love how you casually slip in a “oh and this photo is from visiting a 2nd time with other people”. !!!! JEALOUS!)
— Helen Jun 12, 10:31 AM #Ooooh! I went to high tea at the Sofitel Wentworth late last year. It was certainly an experience to remember. I wasn’t entirely impressed though… the scones were dry like they’d been made a few days in advance and the bread for the sandwiches was stale! I loved the macaronades and the tarte au citron. The opera cake was also memorable, mmmm.
— Lisa Jun 12, 02:36 PM #Also, how did you like the mango beer? I had one at the Bavarian Bier Cafe and loved it!
That’s a very determined look on your face in the first pic hehe
— Lorraine E Jun 16, 09:35 AM #wat a nice beer there…
— Maco Tye Jun 16, 01:43 PM #helen: hehehe i wouldnt mind going back a 3rd time if only to eat another macaron!
— chocolatesuze Jun 17, 12:19 AM #lisa: hmm ive been twice so far and the food was pretty good. the sandwiches did feel a little crusty tho lol but everything else was ok. heh the mango beer is ok i just like it cos its sweet…
lorraine e: heh must. control. myself. must. not. eat. yet. must. take. foto.
maco tye: it was lovely! im not usually a beer person but it was tasty!
Ooooohhhhh… pork crackle. God I wish there was a place like that in Melbourne.
— Ren Jun 23, 10:20 PM #