The April lunch was held at a popular modern Chinese restaurant situated above Paddy’s markets at Haymarket in the city. The numbers for the April lunch were 23 members and 6 guests.
The aperitif was something different a non-sweet Spanish sherry “Gonzalez BYASS Elegante Amontillado” – grape varieties Palomino and Pedro Ximenez.
The sherry received mixed reviews ranging from ‘a highlight on arrival’ to ‘Sherry not being a suitable choice for Chinese food’.
The meal started with Peking Duck with pancake and
Peking Duck Sang Choy Bow
Sang Choy Bow
Both these dishes were rated fairly highly.
The seafood dishes were next and consisted of :
Stir Fried Scallops with XO Sauce, King Prawn Coated with salted yolk
Scallop with XO Sauce
King Prawn coated with salted yolk
The meat dishes consisted of :
Sauteed diced chicken in Szechuan style sauce
Pork ribs Peking style
Sauteed diced Chicken
Pork Ribs Peking Style
The Pork Ribs were served off the bone and were considered the more favoured of the two dishes. The chicken dish being described as more bone than flesh on the plate.
These dishes were accompanied with The Eight’s Special Fried Rice and Salt & Pepper Eggplant
Special Fried Rice
Salt & Pepper Eggplant
The wines served with the meal :
White 2016 St Veran “Les Deux Moulins” Maison Latour – Chardonnay
Red 2016 Scala Dei Prior from Priorat, Catalonia, Spain – a blend of 50% Grenache, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Syrah
The St Veran Chardonnay was noted as an outstanding wine that worked well with food.
The Scala Dei Prior was dense and complex and was great with the Chinese meat dishes.
The meal finished with Custard tarts with fresh fruit platters.
Custard Tarts
The pastry was light and the tarts considered ‘divine’.
Overall the food was considered good with generous serves. Unfortunately, one corner of the room had cold airconditioning directed at one of the tables which resulted in cold food and cold patrons.
Plates could have been cleared quicker between courses.
Sydney Ladies Wine & Food Society 