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The $15 dish Nigella Lawson simply 'had' to eat once more before she left Sydney: 'Masterly, joy-giving'
Nigella Lawson has been eating her way through Sydney, but there's one little-known restaurant she always returns to for its stand-out dish.
The British food critic, who has been uncovering hidden gems and following local recommendations during her trip in Australia, said she still thinks about the 'fabulous' dining experience she had at King Clarence, a modern Asian restaurant.
'Being in Sydney without revisiting King Clarence to eat chef Khanh Nguyen's exuberant, masterly and joy-giving food would be a criminal oversight,' she said.
The foodie queen said she has many favourite dishes at the hotspot in Sydney's CBD, but she can never get enough of the fish finger bao, which costs $15 per bun.
'I mean, how could I leave here without tasting, once more, that fish finger bao and still live with myself? Not a chance,' Nigella said.
The popular food writer explained that she needed to go into detail about the dish so everyone can 'truly grasp the magnificence'.
'This particular fish finger is made with barramundi, set in gelatinised dashi stock, then robustly crumbed, then deep-fried, so that when you bite into it as well as a satisfying crunch, you get a burst of deeply-flavoured broth,' she said.
'It's rather like the experience of eating Xiao long bao (aka soup dumplings) only more high octane.
'And in the tender, bouncy, steamed bun as well is a dainty sliver of melty American cheese and a tartare sauce flecked with mustard greens plus, on top, a pearled heaping of vivid salmon roe. Heady-making stuff, and as exquisite as it is bold.'
As a repeat customer of King Clarence, Nigella said there are too many things to talk about - but not enough time in the world to tell her fans about everything she ate.
However, she needed to rave about the restaurant's wood-roasted pork belly.
'I have to mention the wood-roasted pork belly ssam, to be wrapped, with its array of pickles, in lettuce of many hues,' she explained.
Her next favourite dish, which she ordered for the first time, was the short-grain claypot rice with char siu pork jowl, garlic chives, red chilli and egg yolk.
'And in a radical move, as I usually always order the spanner crab rice of joy, I went for the absurdly magnificent short-grain claypot rice,' she said.
Nigella praised Khanh, the executive chef of the restaurant for his incredible menu.
'Khanh's absurd talent – the rambunctious splendor of his food is set off by his calm confidence and precision – never fails to amaze me,' she added.
As a repeat customer of King Clarence, Nigella said there are too many things to talk about - but not enough time in the world to tell her fans about everything she ate. However, she needed to rave about the restaurant's wood-roasted pork belly (left) and 'magnificent' claypot rice
The British food critic, who has been uncovering hidden gems and following local recommendations during her trip in Australia, said she still thinks about the 'fabulous' lunch she had at King Clarence, a modern Asian restaurant in Sydney's CBD.
Earlier this month, Nigella revealed the one dish she would travel 17,000km to eat again - and it's the fermented carrots on n'duja-spread crisp and thin rye bread from Café Paci, a small but highly acclaimed restaurant on King Street in Newtown.
'The dish I'd come the 17,000km from home to eat: that piercingly precise, headily uplifting entrée/starter of fermented carrots,' she said.
'It's just phenomenal, even (though in any other context I might be embarrassed to use the term) iconic.
'I was pretty bowled over by what came next, too, namely, a light, thin kind of Scandi Melba toast, spread with yoghurty cod's roe, topped with a citrus-fresh peppery tiling of radish.'
One of the most frequently asked questions Nigella always gets asked is, which Sydney restaurants are her favourites.
'I always panic a bit answering that, as I'm fearful of missing anyone out: I have just too many favourites. But it's fair to say, I'd never forget to mention Café Paci,' she said.
'There's nowhere like it; chef Pasi Petänen may be Finnish but Café Paci is, for me, quintessential Sydney.
'The food is impeccable, innovative without being tricksy, the room is relaxed, and everyone who works there contributes to the sense of welcome and excitement that energises me afresh on each visit.
