*Sponsored post

Ever been on a blind date? Would you agree to go on one if you knew that dinner would be at famed 2 hat restaurant Ormeggio at the Spit, (D’Albora Marinas, The Spit, Spit Rd, Mosman) seated at a window seat with picture perfect views across The Spit waterway and Middle Harbour? Thanks to MasterCard’s Priceless Sydney offer, I found myself sitting down to an 8 course degustation dinner with matching wines with my lovely date for the evening- blogger Grace from With Some Grace. For the next couple of hours we were pretty much blown over by the food and service at Ormeggio and the gorgeous wines helped any first date jitters 😛 Keep on reading to find out how you and a friend could win an 8 course degustation dinner with matching wines at Ormeggio at the Spit!


It was great to chat with Grace who was super down to earth and gave me the low down on the mummy blogger community. I’ve always found it interesting to hear the more nerdy details like what cms a blogger uses, if they bother using analytics and pros/cons of social media platforms! Fascinating for me, maybe not so much for you so let’s move onto the food! I love bread. Carbohydrates and I are best friends. We dove into the toasty warm sourdough and slathered on the freshly churned sour butter. But then a plate of “snacks” arrived and I was immediately distracted. The homemade ling baccala (salted cod) fritters were amazing with the schmear of herb mayonnaise and the mushroom tapioca crisps were crazy awesome, it shattered everywhere of course because I am the worlds messiest eater but the parts that made it into my mouth just dissolved on the tongue. The dabs of salty parmesan mousse and sweet tomato powder exploded into a party for the senses.


Octopus – jerusalem artichoke – cavolo nero – pancetta glaze – paprika. Ok so normally I’m a major sucker for anything crispy and while the jerusalem artichoke was earth shattering crisp, the single tentacle of octopus was just perfect and freakishly tender.


Flinders Island wallaby battuta – watermelon rind – amaranth – chorizo powder. This was freaking incredible. I was worried when I heard that it was wallaby that it might taste gamey but surprisingly the entire dish was light and moreish. I loved the crunch of the amaranth seeds against the tender cubes of raw wallaby with bursts of sweetness from the chopped watermelon rind. The chorizo powder made me want to pick up the plate and lick clean had no one been around to judge..


Tortelli filled with burnt eggplant – spicy pistachio – pyengana cheddar – mint. This whole dish was just brilliant, the parcels of tortelli had a super light pasta skin hugging smokey eggplant innards and the cheese sauce was just creamy enough without being overpowering.


Carnaroli risotto – marinara. Props for the interesting presentation! Rows of dehydrated calamari, mussel, prawn and smoked bottarga powders lined up on a bed of risotto with the perfect bite to each grain and dotted with dabs of squid ink.


Mulloway – macadamia – leek – jalapeno – salicornia powder. Unfortunately after the risotto I was starting to get full and while the mulloway was flakey and tender I was struggling to get halfway through the dish thanks in part to my failness with all things spicy and the richness of the macadamia cream.


Braised lamb – cauliflower – silverbeet – horseradish. Now isn’t that the most perfect silverbeet you have ever seen? Is it possible that I’m about to describe it as being draped sexily over the braised lamb? I’ve changed.. Occasionally I find I’m lacking in vegetable matter and will go on weird vegetable only meals for several days straight. So yeah the silverbeet disappeared first and then I got smacked in the face with the horseradish powder but oh boy was it worth it. The lamb shank was juicy and tender as was expected but I’d hit the savoury wall and was looking forward to dessert.


Pomegranate – yoghurt – rye biscuit. The pre dessert was so pretty in pink! It was a little on the tart side and oddly missing the sweetness that you would normally get with fresh pomegranate seeds but it made for an effective palate cleanser.


Carrot – fennel seed ice cream – farro cream – vinegar caramel. I wasn’t fond of the texture of the farro cream which was a bit grainy and while every ingredient for this dessert screamed savoury to me, oddly all the components worked when mixed with the slick of vinegar caramel and basically tasted like a less sweet version of carrot cake.


Coffee and a cardamom truffle later, Grace and I roll out of the restaurant but not without a quick stroll along the marina. It was absolutely freezing that night but we didn’t mind thanks to the nights wine consumption + the soothing sounds of the waves against the pier. We had an awesome time getting to know each other and exchanging tips and ideas, I’d say this blind date was a success!

Want to know how you and a friend could win window seats and an 8 course degustation dinner with matching wines at Ormeggio at the Spit?

All you gotta do is: Read more about the Ormeggio Dinner for two here and leave a comment in this post telling me WHY you would like to win! You can enter as many times as you like (with different reasons), but you must be an Australian resident and able to visit Ormeggio at the Spit. Accommodation or transportation is not included in this prize and you must be over 18 years old to receive the matching wines. Winner must dine at Ormeggio at the Spit before 20/12/13. Not available Saturdays/Sundays. Please enter a valid email address, it will not be made public and you will only be contacted if you win. Competition closes 16th September 9am AEST. Good luck!
Edit: Congratulations to Peter! I will emailing you shortly to arrange your booking! Thank you to everyone who participated!