I am truly lucky to be surrounded by such awesome people. For my birthday last month, Steph and Karen whisked Steve and I over the bridge to Burnt Orange in Mosman. We had been to the fantastic homewares shop downstairs quite a few times but had never eaten at the café there. And what could be better than lunch with my favourite people, overlooking Sydney’s gorgeous harbour, followed by a spot of shopping!
We started with a jug of their signature Homemade Lemonade, with strawberries, lemon slices and mint leaves. I loved that it had just the right amount of sweetness and tang.
To share, we ordered the Duck Terrine with prune and armagnac, served with toasted brioche. This was one of my favourites of the day, and so moreish. The duck terrine was beautiful, and the pieces of prune and pistachio gave it some lovely textural contrast and a nice wintery twist.
We had noticed that there were pies practically flying out of the kitchen – definitely a popular choice on a perfect winter’s day. Karen chose the Beef Bourguignon Pie with mushroom, bacon and eschallots in red wine jus topped with flaky puff pastry. It was chock-full of cubes of tender beef, and absolutely delicious.
Steph went for the Fish Pie with a selection of fresh fish fillets in a creamy leek & white wine sauce topped with fluffy potato mash. For some reason I’m usually a little iffy about fish pies, but I was pleasantly surprised by how deliciously rich and creamy this one was. Both of the pies were huge and the girls both struggled to finish them, no matter how delicious they were!
Steve decided on the Grilled chicken on a salad of pomegranate, pine nuts & sultanas with baby kipfler potato and a sherry vinaigrette. It came out looking very pretty on the plate, a medley of flavours and textures. However the chicken was a little on the dry side and this was a letdown in an otherwise great dish.
I seem to be totally powerless against pulled pork, they are two of my favourite words. So it was clear that I would have to order the Slow-roasted pulled pork with a caramelized apple puree and gratin potato. It was absolutely delicious! The pork was perfectly tender and the apple was the perfect match. To say that I was thrilled with my choice is an understatement!
Of course dessert was in order, but the decision was tricky, as every single one sounded right up my alley! Us girls couldn’t go past the Rhubarb & strawberry crumble with vanilla bean ice cream. I absolutely adore that combination and this dessert didn’t disappoint. There is nothing better than a fruit crumble on a cold day. And look at that gorgeous plate!
We also shared the Prune & custard tart with a drizzle of “Burnt Orange sauce”, which was a sophisticated dessert and quite tasty. I’m nitpicking here but I think I would have liked it better with a slightly higher custard to prune ratio as prune has a tendency to overpower other flavours. Lets just say it was to the crumble that my spoon kept returning to, even though I was well beyond full by this point!
While Steve is quite certainly a grown man, his attention (to my amusement, but not surprise) went straight to the kids menu, specifically the Banana Split. With bananas being so expensive at the moment, we hadn’t eaten one in months! Thankfully our waitress didn’t bat an eyelid when he ordered it, and even gave him an extra scoop of ice cream! And it was actually a really good banana split, complete with rich chocolate sauce and a brandy snap – those lucky kids!
Burnt Orange is a great café on Sydney’s stunning north shore. I was really impressed by the delicious and quite extensive menu that changes seasonally, and also by the great service and the amazing view. If you visit, definitely check out the shop downstairs. Some of my favourite props, plates and knickknacks were found there and appear quite often in my photos. Thanks again to Steph and Karen for treating me to such a lovely afternoon! xxx
Burnt Orange Café, 1109 Middle Head Rd, Mosman