Sydney Comfort Food

It was just our luck to visit Sydney last weekend on one of the coldest May mornings for decades. So chilled to the bone we went on the hunt that evening for food that was soothing and warm.

Pasteur, a cheap little Vietnamese restaurant on George St caught our eye. With its lino floor, plastic tables and bare walls it lacked any ambience but it was packed with diners happily tucking in, always a good omen,

We ordered a bowl of Pho, Vietnam’s most famous soup available at many a road side stall over there. The waiter quickly brought us a pot full of jasmine tea. This was followed by big steaming bowls of flavoursome broth in which floated a copious amount of rice noodles and chopped spring onions.

My partner had ordered the Pork Pho so alongside his came some little spicy pork sausages. Mine was the Beef Pho which came with nuggets of sliced beef rolled around a crunchy cabbagy centre. A splash of hoisin sauce, a bowl of sliced red chilies, and a small platter of bean sprouts and mint completed the meal .The chilies were fiendishly hot. So beware if you go there don’t throw in a whole handful!

You can Pick up the pieces of meat with your chopsticks or drop them into the soup and let them float. Then sip the Pho greedily in generous spoonfuls. No-one here minds if you slurp. At less than $10 (AUS) for the meal (including the tea) it made a cheap but tasty and filling meal.

The following night we went for comfort food of a different kind and ate at Medusa, a stylish Greek Taverna in the central CBD (at the corner of Kent St and Market Rd), well known for its authentic home style Greek Cooking

It pays to book. We were lucky to get the last couple of seats, out on the verandah. The autumn chill kept at bay by the outdoor gas heating.

The restaurant’s logo is of Medusa, in Greek mythology a fearsome guardian whose hair writhes with snakes. Gazing directly at her would turn a mere mortal to stone.
Inside there are floor to ceiling photographic murals of the Cyclades, the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.

For starters we shared the Mezze Plate ($36 AUS) which was a generous platter of
Taramasalata, tzatziki, halloumi, country style sausage, dolmades, olives, pickled vegetables with triangles of warmed pita bread. I specially enjoyed the baby pink taramasalata, made from cod’s roe, and the tzatziki which was creamy rather than tart. We lingered over it all savoring every mouthful. It was almost a meal in itself.

When in Aus I can never resist ordering seafood so for the main course I ordered the swordfish and prawn skewers ($34.00 AUS). These were char grilled with a lemon, chili and parsley sauce.

My partner loves roasts so his eyes lit up at the sight of a very traditional Greek meal: whole slow baked side of lamb with lemon potatoes and roasted vegetables ($ 29.50 AUS). The meat was so tender it fell off the bone. Both meals were cooked to perfection and came in very generous servings.

While eating we’d been debating whether we’d go for the dessert plate for two ( $34.00 AUS) with strawberries, baclava, galactobouriko, chocolate mousse, loukoumades, vissino with ouzo ice cream or their signature dessert “ The Medusa” ( ($15.00 AUS) a fanciful creation deigned by chef Gregori Akridas which sounded amazing : ouzo strawberries, pomegranate coulis, anise ice cream and rose water fairy floss.

But sadly, lacking Greek appetites, we were too full to give them a go. Very well fed we put our warm jerseys back on and meandered along the city streets back to our hotel.