Sydney Eat Street: Give your tastebuds a present this Christmas

Presents aside, the festive feast with family and friends makes Christmas the most wonderful time of the year — and here’s how to make it even tastier.

Presents aside, the festive feast with family and friends makes Christmas the most wonderful time of the year — and here’s how to make it even tastier.

DESSERTS

Sweet. Quite literally.

Everyone knows that visions of sugarplums dance about on Christmas Eve, but who has time to make that figgy pudding, Christmas cake, and every other sweet treat expected on the big day?

Fortunately, the busy elves at these bakeries and sweet shops have you covered with ready-to-eat treats.

Frenchies’ pistachio and raspberry macaron cake. Pictures: Supplied

Use Anna Polyviou’s edible cookie dough to make a gingerbread house.

Bring home some French flair with a bûche de noël, rolled cake and cream that resembles a yule log (but tastes like heaven) from Loulou Boulangerie or Frenchies in Rosebery, which also has an abundance of other baked goodies, including a pavlova tarte.

If individual items are what you’re after, pick up some Christmas bonbons at The Charles, and a range of festive gourmet chocolates from Koko Black. If you still have some DIY energy left over come Christmas Day, try your hand at constructing a gingerbread house.

Start with some edible cookie dough from Anna Polyviou, the pink-haired princess of pastries.

RESTAURANTS

After braving shopping centres, enduring office parties, and weathering holiday travel, the thought of cooking, much less deciding what to cook, seems less than delightful.

For a reprieve from decision fatigue, opt for a set-menu Christmas lunch or dinner at a restaurant instead.

There’s an abundance of options out there to suit every taste, budget, and dietary requirement.

Fratelli Fresh kicks off Christmas lunch with an antipasti board. Picture: Supplied

Fratelli Fresh (Entertainment Quarter, Manly) has an Italian share meal with an antipasti board, slow-cooked lamb, glazed ham, Italian Christmas trifle and more ($95pp, $19 per child).

Splurge on a decadent dining experience at one of Crown Sydney’s signature restaurants. A’mare has a four-course meal featuring dishes such as live mud crab spaghettoni and grilled wagyu tri-tip ($390pp, $90 per child for three-course meal); while at Woodcut, an expansive open-kitchen produce-driven restaurant will be serving a festive four-course meal for both lunch and dinner ($390pp, $130 per child).

West HQ in Rooty Hill has multiple restaurants under one cover: CHU by China Doll has an eight-dish share menu plus dessert ($88pp), with dishes such as Mandarin duck pancakes, braised Wagyu beef Penang, and prawn tempura.

Food with a view at Sydney Tower’s Infinity. Picture: Supplied

Sumptuous seafood at A’mare. Picture: Supplied

Steak & Oyster Co by Sean Connolly offers a seafood platter for two ($220) and New Town Thai will host an eight-dish Thai share-menu with mango and coconut pudding for dessert ($85pp).

Pasture of Kirribilli, a modern Australian restaurant near the Sydney Harbour Bridge, starts the meal off cold with cured salmon carpaccio, king prawns, or Sydney rock oysters, then a shared main of slow-roasted lamb shoulder or turkey breast with pork, fennel sausage, and pistachio stuffing, then a pavlova and black forest compote or matcha honey coconut panacotta for dessert ($170pp, $70 per child).

Go sky-high with a five-course menu and a 350-degree city view at Infinity, Sydney Tower ($270 standard, $300 window, $95 kids).

The beauty of set menus is that the only actual decision is choosing a main, and after that, sit back, enjoy the service, and spend some quality time with family and friends.

BUFFETS

Niceties abound when presents are around, but things can get borderline naughty when it comes to mealtime, particularly when you’ve got a big group of fussy eaters. So, rather than catering to the whole clan, check out some Christmas lunch or dinner buffets.

Banish visions of lukewarm bain-maries encrusted with questionable food; these smorgasbords feature a wide variety of dishes prepared with fresh seasonal ingredients on a table dressed with festive decorations.

Sailmaker’s festive buffet features seafood, roasts and more. Picture: Jenifer Jagielski 4

These plate-filling venues will please even the pickiest palette and encourage socialisation with every venture to the various stations and back.

Sailmaker Restaurant’s festive buffet features seafood, roasts and more, plus a two-hour beer and wine package ($289pp, $144 per child). Pullman Sydney Hyde Park’s buffet features hot and cold Christmas lunch classics with a three-hour beverage package ($159pp, $75 per child).

Take heed of the unwritten golden rule: take all you want but eat all you take. So, it’s best to start with bite-size bits of what strikes your fancy and then go from there.

CHRISTMAS LUNCH HAMPERS

Memories are made in the kitchen, but who really wants to cloud those moments with visions of prep work and clean-up that comes with cooking from scratch?

To lay the groundwork for the annual meal, Santa’s little helpers suggest a Christmas hamper for an “almost finished meal”.

There is no need for that last-minute dash to the market for forgotten ingredients as it all comes in one package that just needs to add the finishing touches.

Pre-order and pick up a day or two before the 25th.

Have everything you need on hand with a hamper from Loulou Bistro. Picture: Supplied

Chiswick has put together some favourites, including a 500g sliced ham, ocean trout gravlax, and their famous Christmas pudding with brandy custard for dessert ($185, serves 2-3 people). For a larger group, French bistro Loulou has you set with smoked Christmas ham with a hous-made Loulou glaze, fresh Yamba prawns, and delicious slow-cooked lamb shoulder with sauce verte ($550, serves 6-8 people).

Sydney Restaurant Group, the entity behind some of Sydney’s hatted venues, including Ripples, Aqua Dining, and Ormeggio at The Spit, has a grand spread suited to 6-10 people ($630-$875). They also offer a variety of smaller hampers and gift boxes with wine pairings.

TOAST OF THE TOWN

You’ll be a winner at the backyard BBQ when you rock up with some of these tasty tipples. Try the distinctive Italian wine varieties from Cantina Zaccagnini — Pope John Paul II was even a fan of these wines.

Cantina Zaccagnini wines have some fans in very high places.

Add some easy cocktail options to the table with Yellow Tail’s premade mimosas and bellinis, Ampersand’s purple gin and soda, or for a slow-drinking classic, make a candy cane red negroni with C.

If you’re settling in for the long haul, keep things cool with non-alcoholic options such as award-winning zero-alcohol Beneficial Beer or OzHarvest and Kakadu Kitchen’s Conscious Drink, a blueberry-based alcohol-free sparkling beverage.

Got a news tip? Email [e-mail]