The Bite Magazine - Spring 2016 - Issue 15

This modern all-day brasserie fromAffin - ity Bars & Restaurant presents Pacific flavoured dishes thanks to the skills of Sydney native executive chef Matt Rob- inson (Bluebird, Skylon, Maze, Boxwood and The Criterion). Robinson who once worked as head chef at D&D London and Gordon Ramsey Group teases the palate with Dickie Fitz’s breakfast bowls consisting of maple roasted nuts, grains, fresh fruits and berries scattered on and buried in Greek yoghurt, as well as Zuc- chini Fritters and Banana Bread slathered in buttermilk ricotta and honey.The à la carte selection is a huge hit with diners consisting of starters such as Salt Baked Kumura with avocado and ponzu or Sea Bass Carpaccio with blood orange and bush lime while the mains include Rib Burger with Jack cheese, house sauce and pickle, and Halibut with yuzu hollandaise. The dinner menu has most of the small plates, starters and main dishes that are found in the lunch menu so that diners do not miss out on the exquisite cuisine on offer. The restaurant’s Sunday Feast- ing is a ‘take on a British institution’ and is served family-sized with dishes cur- rently Saddleback Cumbrian Pork Belly; BBQ Cob Chicken; 42-Day Aged Belted Galloway Beef Rib and Whole Iberico Suckling Pig. Dickie Fitz has a selection of cock- tails with very inspiring names such as Tim Tam Martini, Goon Bag Caipirinha, Kanpai and Caramello Koala thanks to its native background. We had ‘Walk About Collins’, a very refreshing drink consisting of 42 Below vodka, lemon juice, pulver- ised sugar and soda water. With this particular cocktail, you could hardly taste the vodka which blended in well with the other ingredients and is one of Dickie Fitz’s signature drinks. The other two sig- nature drinks are ‘Goon Bag Caipirinha’ with Leblon Cachaça, Regal Rogue Dry Vermouth, lime, orange bitters and pul- verised sugar and ‘Caramello Koala’ with Amaretto, Kahlua, Butterscotch Schnapps, Baileys, milk and cream. Favourite cock- tails are said to be ‘White Geisha’ with 42 Below vodka, sake, lychee puree and rose syrup and ‘TimTam Martini’ with 42 Below vodka, espresso, Kahlua and honey syrup.The two that caught my eye on the list were ‘She’ll Be Apples’ with Eucalyp- tus Finlandia vodka, apple juice and lime juice, and ‘Honey Badger’ with Finlandia chilli vodka, passion fruit and honey syrup. The restaurant also has an extensive list of sparkling wine and champagne; red, white and rose wine fromAustralia, New Zealand, South Africa, Italy and France; and sake from Kyoto in Japan as well as Coravin wines by the glass, dessert wines and port. As this particular occasion was a group dining experience, there was already a set menu of Pan-Asian inspired dishes prepared for us. The small plates con- sisted of Truffle Macancini (macaroni cheese and arancini dipped in black truffle), Sake Pork Ribs, Chicken Poppers and Oysters Kilpatrick while the start- ers were made up of Tuna Tataki with avocado and ponzu; Beef Tartare with egg yolk and sourdough; and Salt Baked Kumura with blue cheese, walnut and miso. The Chicken Poppers were abso- lutely delicious and was my favourite out of the small plate dishes with the Sake Pork Ribs close behind which had a very distinctive taste thanks to the sake. The thought of trying oysters has never really crossed my mind but on this occasion, I decided to give it a go. The oyster had a very strong and distinctive spicy taste which whilst it was not overly unpleasant, personally it would not be something I would indulge in again. The Tuna Tataki was nicely seasoned and light while the Beef Tartare had a sweet taste, almost like Branston pickles which I really liked and the Salt Baked Kamura had a smooth and soft consistency. For the main meal, we had Lobster with wild garlic and chilli; Rib-Eye on the Bone with bone marrow and lemon; bitecuisine