There’s a refined elegance about our favourite memories of Europe. A romance, like that in Paris coupling inimitable passion with palpable restraint. The essence of Paris weaves its way through the art, the culture, the people and the food. Something we don’t get to experience often enough.
Access to sublime cuisine, however, is now completing resolved with Sax Cafe and lounge bar, has opened for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Undoubtedly a local favourite, Sax Cafe is also a destination with live music after hours, globally sourced wines, superlative cocktail creations, and some of the finest quality food I’ve had in a while.
We started with La Vie En Rose ($25) – a symphony of fresh Raspberry syrup, homemade rose syrup, vodka, lychee liquor, served with a glass of Sparkling Pinot Noir. An incredibly unique creation, which allowed us to decrease the levels of sweetness by adding the sparkling wine, or cleansing the palette as the cocktail is not altogether that suite, but rather a way to get the taste buds dancing.
The Salt and Pepper Squid ($23) (gf) is as light as a kite, melting into a texture akin to delicate cream across your tongue. Simply incredible. I’m not sure if my dining partner was fast enough to experience enough of it. Some advice, one per person is the smallest amount you should have.
From the medium sized dish, the Grilled WA Octopus with Roasted Fennel, Pea and Mint Puree and Pistachio Lemon Crumb ($27), is without any doubt, the best octopus I’ve eaten in Australia. It’s a staple on my ordering, and a perfectly cooked octopus is hard to achieve. This is delectable. In fact, in terms of tenderness to touch, silkiness in mouth feel – yet with a rich char on the outside, I’m thinking of quitting octopus. Once you’ve had perfection…
The large-size dish we tried is the Pan-Seared Duck Breast with Baby Carrots, Black Sesame and Orange Glaze ($34). A slight crisp on the outside and tender, medium rouge on the inside. Sublime.
Speaking of sublime, the wine. Bringing rare finds from around the world, grapes we know and love, but with a different take. For instance, the Pieve Vecchia, from the Gargenega grape, aged in oak for 6 months, to create a full-bodied, creamy yet fresh quality. A stunning wine that reminds us why we must save ourselves for the finest quality.
Each of the 176 wine offerings, showcasing top small winemakers from Italy, Spain, France, Australia, and New Zealand, are hand selected by the beyond talented sommelier Gabriel Diniz, before leading the Sax bar, Diniz brought his expertise to some of the most prestigious venues in Sydney including Nobu.
You can visit Sax for breakfast, lunch and dinner and enjoy live saxophone every Friday and Saturday night, serenading you through the delicate dance of flavour balanced with sophisticated restraint.
Sax: Shop 7A/100 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo NSW 2000
Mon: 7.30am – 3pm
Tues: 7.30am – 7pm
Wed, Thur, Fri 7.30am – 10.30pm
Sat: 5pm – 10.30pm
