Winter Garden Eateries, Sydney CBD

 Check out the new Wintergarden food court located in the heart of the CBD.  WinterGarden is a great place for a bite whether it be grab and go, or a bit of a longer sojourn with a special someone. The eateries and sample food include:

Bowery Lane – Roasted snapper, slow cooked lamb shoulder, Charlie Chaplins, Brooklyn beer, wines.

CBD noodles – Chicken laksa and wonton noodle soup.

Chur express (Chur burger) – Chicken sliders

Crema from the Garden – Tea, coffee, and cakes.

Los Vida – Fish tacos, chilaquiles, quesadillas.

Sushi Hub – Bite-sized sushi plate.

Soul Origin – Baguettes, paninis, salads, freshly made chai.

Top Juice – Juices and fresh smoothies.

WinterGarden Deli – Pumpkin and feta frittata with kale and quinoa salad, Nutella frappé.

Check out my sample of Wintergarden

To start us off the Wintergarden Deli introduced the group to their Nutella frappe and savoury pumpkin and feta frittata with kale and quinoa salad.  Nutella frappé, you ask? The drink was absolutely delicious!

As for the frittata, the slight sweetness of the pumpkin and salty creaminess of the feta was a nice combination.  The salad being sweet from raisins, sour from the dressing, and crunchy complemented the frittata well in taste and texture. 

Next up was Sushi Hub with a genuine degustation sized plate. The plate that came out was superb in its simplicity.  A spicy tuna with brown rice roll and chicken and avocado roll were both great as bite-sized pieces.  The salmon sashimi rose was perfect – slightly chilled, soft, and juicy.  Two salads – seaweed and jellyfish, just the right amount of sweet and salty flavours to sate your tastebuds and just that bit of crunch to complete the sushi experience.

The sushi plate was paired with a light and crisp Brooklyn Lager.  It was also quite hoppy, I did think it contrasted well with the relatively smooth flavours of the sushi.

Following up the sushi was a tasting board made up of baguettes, paninis, and wraps adorned with various sides – not all boards were clones of each other.   This platter was made with breads from some of Sydney’s best artisan bread-makers and the sides were expertly prepared.

Made with a sourdough that is soft and chewy yet still firm enough to hold shape despite being manhandled by yours truly it adds just a hint of sour to the smoothness of the cheese, the saltiness of the salami, and the mixed leaf salad.

Fortunately there was a break at this point for a drinks break with both a smoothie and a freshly made chai tea with a “secret ‘spice fresh’ sprinkle” that from what I could taste, and smell, was just freshly ground cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg 

Time for Mexican and it started well with a fish taco.  A deep fried fish fillet on a shallow bed of vinegared cabbage topped with chipotle mayo and jalapenos three ways – fresh, pickled, and grilled.  I enjoyed this dish a lot as the flavours were very fresh and the fried fish and fried side salad added crunch to the usual soft taco texture.  Chilaquiles and quesadillas were shared amongst the group.  The chilli had a bit of heat tempered by the beans and cheese while the quesadillas were quite salty with more meat (pulled pork) than cheese - a bit more guacamole and chipotle sour cream would have helped.  Both were mouth-wateringly good and definitely a pairing I want to have the next time I’m watching sport with my mates.

At this stage everyone was well and truly stuffed so when the whole roasted snapper and slow cooked lamb shoulder it was with heavy hearts that we could not partake more than we did.  From the little I did have I can say for certain that the chef did an amazing job.  The fish was perfectly roasted and smothered in fresh Mediterranean flavours and while the lamb shoulder was tasty it was a tad dry.

Despite our full stomachs once the chicken sliders reached the table there was magically space for one, or two.  Sweet brioche like buns, chargrilled chicken, creamy mayo, hot sauce, with tart slaw.  They were so good one of the bunnies joined us.

It all ended with a high tea style platter of cakes and an espresso for me.

My favourite dishes for the day were the tacos, chilaquiles (bean nachos), and the chicken sliders – probably a reflection of my penchant for casual food you can share with mates.  You must try the Nutella frappes AT THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY. I can’t say that there is anything to avoid, though the noodle dishes seemed to be weak in comparison to all the others.

Check out Winter Garden!!

Address: 1 O'Connell Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Opening Hours: 6:30am to 4:30pm

Please Note: Thanks to my guest writer who attended this special invite on behalf of Weekendfoodescapes by Lisa. Please note the guest writer was invited to the launch of Winter Garden. All words, photos, opinions are my own (Of the guest writer).