@chocolatesuze Have you heard of a duck presse? #porcine #paddington #sydney #duck #duckpresse #sydneyrestaurants ♬ I'm Not Lucky, I'm Blessed – Love & The Outcome

Have you heard of a duck press? Porcine in Paddington serves this 19th century French classic tableside with just one duck for $200 available per service. The beautiful burnished duck is presented to us by head chef Nik Hill who explains the process and about the duck. He begins by slicing the duck breasts off the bones, and the wings are also dispatched and taken away to be flash fried. The bones and carcass are added to the press and slowly pulverized so all the bone marrow and juices are extracted. This is then used to thicken the duck broth, mushroom and madeira sauce which also happens to have a chunk of foie gras in it.

And then it’s time to feast! The wings are back with a delightfully crispy exterior and the duck leg meat has been threaded onto kebab skewers and cooked over charcoal with a honey marmalade glaze.

The duck neck meat has been turned into a duck and garlic sausage and arrives in the cutest duck vessel. And of course the duck itself. It is amazing, the meat is incredibly tender and juicy and the skin is literally perfection and the flavour is amped up with the velvety smooth and rich sauce.

@chocolatesuze My first visit to Gimlet in Melbourne so you know what that means? It’s lobster time! #melbournefood #melbourne #gimlet #lobster #melbournerestaurant ♬ original sound – ChocolateSuze

Tell anyone you’re going to visit Gimlet in Melbourne and chances are they will immediately nod and say ‘get the lobster’. We start with some cocktails and get the Gnocco fritto with bresaola and parmesan cream to start and then the lobster show begins!

The ⅓ WA rock lobster is wood roasted and comes with saffron rice. The lobster is presented to us first for photos and then carefully deshelled table side. Once the meat is removed the juices are poured onto the rice and the lobster is laid back. The fragrance of the lobster in the rice was so incredible and loved the crispy bits on the bottom of the pan. The lobster was good, smoky and sweet though it was a touch towards the drier side.

We also ordered the wood roasted garfish with caviar sauce which was so beautifully cooked and just perfect, I could’ve eaten this forever.

For dessert there was gingerbread and the most refreshing mandarin gelato and also the almond milk and meyer lemon gelato with caramelished brioche

@chocolatesuze Salma’s Canteen bringing all of Andy Bowdy’s cakes and pastries back into my life #sydney #rosebery #salmascanteen #sydneycafe #sydneyfood ♬ Look at the Sky – Porter Robinson

I’m sure everyone has heard of Andy Bowdy and his incredible cakes and I was devastated when Saga Enmore closed in June. The good news is that Salma’s Canteen is now open in Alexandria and selling cakes and pastries along with mega salad plates.

I swung by during lunch and chose the large main plate for $26 which comes with a choice of protein. There’s schnitzel or meatballs but I chose the 100g smoked salmon which was incredibly delicious but quite small. Luckily the salad servings were generous, I chose the cauliflower dukkah and parsley, the pumpkin dukkah with yoghurt and the risoni w pinenuts, corn and herbs.

On a second visit I got another large main plate and also got the beetroot with goats curd and hazelnuts, carrots, pecan and coriander and the risoni. The meatballs were tender and juicy but again I wanted more of the protein.

Onto desserts! The salted honey tart is my pick of the lot, the buttery pastry shell holds a beautiful custardy filling. I loved the banana cream pie, the dark chocolate tart base was the perfect level of bitterness to match the sweet filling.

The dulce brown butter tart was on the too sweet side but again the pastry was buttery and incredible and the sticky bun is perfect with a cup of tea.

There’s also a fridge along one wall of the shop filled with jams, passionfruit curd, tiramisu and also ready to eat foods.