When you visit a restaurant that has been hyped up and written about all over the place, it’s always tricky to know what to expect. Will it live up to your expectations? In the case of Ms G’s, I’m happy to say that it did. The name is a tongue-in-cheek take on everyone’s favourite flavour enhancer, monosodium glutamate, with its number 621 proudly emblazoned on the wall in neon.
Situated on Victoria Street in Potts Point, the multi-level restaurant was buzzing on this Friday lunchtime with girlfriends catching up, businessmen getting boozed and us, there for my birthday lunch.
The food culture of Sydney has shifted heavily towards ‘dude food’ in recent times – burgers, hot dogs, fried chicken and tacos are popping up on menus everywhere and young chefs like Dan Hong and Jowett Yu are on the forefront of the trend.
At Ms G’s, cocktails come packaged in bubble tea cups, complete with giant straws and the novelty is just too great. I love the Famous Yuzu Slushee, which combines Limoncello, Russian standard vodka, yuzu juice and Regan’s orange bitters for a sweet-sour drink with a definite alcoholic kick. In fact the whole cocktail list sounds awesome – Aeroplane jelly cocktail, anyone?
We of course had to start with the Mini bánh mì, and since we couldn’t decide between the crisp pork belly and chicken katsu, we got both! While small in size, they definitely delivered on taste and were quite generous with fillings – meat, paté, cucumber, coriander and a delicious sriracha mayonnaise. Steve prefers the crispy katsu, but I love the pork belly. Try both and decide for yourself!
Another must try is the Grilled corn on the cob with parmesan and lime. After the high praise they have received on other blogs, and my undying love for Mamasita’s similar dish, we had to try it. I loved the slightly charred, super sweet corn and the generous dusting of parmesan. A really great start to the meal.
Another awesome dish is the Prawn toast with yuzu aioli and herbs. Our waitress tells us that they make a prawn mousse and slather it onto sourdough bread. The whole thing is then covered in sesame seeds, deep-fried and topped with a tangy yuzu aioli. I loved the crunchy exterior giving way to the meaty prawn innards and the freshness that the herbs brought to the dish.
The last of our savoury dishes was the Fried half baby chicken with kimchi mayonnaise. Half a chicken yielded only four pieces, but they were cooked to perfection – the meat was so tender and falling from the bones while the exterior was delicious and crispy.
While everything so far had been nothing but awesome, dessert was truly the highlight of the meal. The ‘Stoners Delight’ was a delicious mishmash – cinnamon doughnut ice cream, chocolate, rice bubbles, pretzels, peanut brittle and passionfruit marshmallows were scattered atop a slick of dulce de leche. And heck yes, it’s as good as it looks. I loved all of the different tastes and textures, especially the sweet-salty combination and the awesome doughnut ice cream that really tastes exactly like a cinnamon doughnut!
I ordered the Pandan chiffon cake with strawberries and coconut sorbet that was served in a sea of coconut tapioca and I’m so glad that I did. The pandan, coconut and strawberry flavours worked really well together. This dish made an appearance on Masterchef pressure test recently and gave the contestants a run for their money!
I really loved Ms G’s and now I understand all of the hype surrounding this place. The food (especially the desserts) and the cocktails were top notch and the service was great. All of the dishes are designed to share, but we hardly made a dent in the menu. I’m looking forward to going back and trying some of the other great dishes. Like many of the new restaurants popping up, Ms G’s doesn’t take bookings, so it’s best to get there early.
Ms G’s – 155 Victoria St, Potts Point
