@chocolatesuze Sake and snacks #amuro #darlinghurst #sydney #sydneyrestaurant #sydneybars #japanesefood ♬ original sound – ChocolateSuze

I’m slowly crossing off restaurants that don’t take bookings off my list and today’s early mark from work saw me finally visiting Amuro, a tiny 15 seater Japanese restaurant in Darlinghurst.

We start with a delightfully refreshing sake and an incredibly tender abalone with shiitake mushrooms.
Then the King oyster mushrooms with dashi butter was mind blowingly delicious.

The hotary ika aka tiny firefly squid are zingy and addictive and the MB9+ Kiwami Wagyu skewers with wasabi are beautifully

The crunchy potato wedges were the perfect carb to soak up the curry sauce and the stingray bites which were an off menu special were similar to eating dried cuttlefish and are the ultimate drinking snack.
The Yaki mochi with miso butter are lightly charred and nice and saucy.

And finally to end the meal a soul comforting bowl of udon with generous amount of WA blue swimmer crab.

@chocolatesuze Finally eating the Freyja waffle #melbourne #freyja #melbournerestaurant ♬ original sound – ChocolateSuze

Freyja is a Nordic inspired restaurant in Melbourne that I’ve been dying to visit.

We start with the Freyja waffle which is outstanding. The waffle has beautifully crisp edges and is the perfect vessel for the smoked sour cream, mixed herbs and Yarra Valley trout roe.

Our second starter is the lamb tartare on rye, it’s nicely balanced with the ginger, green strawberry and crispy Jerusalem artichoke chips.

I loved the mushroom dish which had a perfectly gooey egg, and the combination of the chicken skin butter and leek and fennel was so soul comforting.

The duck was a bit on the disappointing side, the skin wasn’t crisp and the fat hadn’t been rendered out so everything was sadly chewy but I loved the rock ling which had a firm flesh and went perfectly with the fragrant crab bisque and the distinctive flavour of makrut lime leaf.

The fermented potatoes are a must order, these golden orbs were gloriously crispy.

The perfect end to the meal was the passionfruit dessert which had super light house made saffron and honey lavosh layered with tangy passionfruit curd and creamy mascarpone.

@chocolatesuze Newly opened wine and record bar #busbys #sydney #paddington #sydneybars #sydneyrestaurant ♬ original sound – ChocolateSuze

I’m hardly ever out Paddington way but word on the street was that the newly opened Busby’s had a duck special.

We start off with perfectly golden potato pave with a herb cream cheese and topped with trout roe.

Followed by a Wagyu flank tartare with egg yolk, ayruga and pickled onions and blanketed with a whole forest of fried onions.

The maltagliati pasta with mushrooms and rosemary was delicious and I loved the crunch of the pangrattato crumbs.

The king prawns are a must order, they were beautifully cooked with aleppo pepper, capers and lemon.

And finally the reason for visiting was the special of the week, the roasted duck with parsnip puree and amaretto dates. The duck is glazed in cherry vinegar and mirin and dry aged to get a super crisp skin.

For dessert we ordered the freshly baked chocolate fondant with a perfectly gooey centre and also a wobbly crème caramel with a super light coffee cream.

@chocolatesuze Buttery madeleines at Madeleine de Proust #carlton #melbourne #madeleines #melbournefood #melbournecafe ♬ original sound – ChocolateSuze

I flew to Melbourne last week and immediately headed to Madeleine de Proust on Lygon St in Carlton.

Make your way inside and stare at the rows of different flavoured madeleines. There were flavours like yuzu, caramel and pandan but I had my heart set on the Poppin Corn.

It’s inspired by a Korean ice-cream and the brown butter madeleine is filled with a mixture of cream cheese and buttery cooked corn and then topped with a popcorn ganache piped to look like corn kernels.

I bought a few more to eat later, the Yuzu madeleine is beautifully buttery with a lovely yuzu flavour.

The peanut butter and jam is a brown butter madeleine and a bit on the sweet side but I loved the peanut butter cream with the mixed berries jam.

And finally the Raffaelo was a citrus madeleine with passionfruit ganache, hazelnut praline and toasty white chocolate and coconut.