Latest news with #LukeNguyen
The Age
30-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Haymarket's revamped Paddy's Markets vowed to be a first-rate food hub. Did it deliver?
According to Hay St Market's website, the hub is all about 'eats, treats, beets, meats' and 'sweets'. Either the marketing team is especially excited about the root vegetables on offer or it meant to write 'beats'. A jazzpop- electro-doof soundtrack is incessant, but makes little sense with whatever Dad and Dave vibe they're trying to create around the Traders Bar area with its recycled lumber, wooden Schweppes crates and vintage scales. For reasons beyond speculation, there are also old Encyclopaedia Britannicas strewn around the bar. Who's reading 'Volume 12: Hydrozoa to Jeremy, Epistle Of' with their Jansz Cuvée? Management should research the City of Sydney's recycling guidelines instead. There are plenty of bins (and a lot of disposable cutlery and boxes), but I haven't found any receptacles to separate cans, plastic and cardboard. Even Westfield has recycling bins for PET's sake. I have, however, been served a very good martini on three occasions at Traders, which is stocked with some decent booze. You can then take that martini to The Fish + Chippery and down it with thick chips of noble crunch fried in beef tallow. They're not just the best thing I've eaten across six visits to Hay St Market, they're some of the best chips in town. I'll also bat for the vibrant pho at Luke Nguyen's noodle store, even if you can get twice the amount for the same price at many restaurants nearby. Wan Chai Wok's chow fun with shaggy, soy-seasoned beef is totally fine, as are most of Thomas Hay Bakery's pastries. The cannoli shop's cannoli do the job; barbecued Skull Island prawns at Little Midden have long savoury flavour; Scoop & Sons knows what it's doing with gelato.
Sydney Morning Herald
30-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Haymarket's revamped Paddy's Markets vowed to be a first-rate food hub. Did it deliver?
According to Hay St Market's website, the hub is all about 'eats, treats, beets, meats' and 'sweets'. Either the marketing team is especially excited about the root vegetables on offer or it meant to write 'beats'. A jazzpop- electro-doof soundtrack is incessant, but makes little sense with whatever Dad and Dave vibe they're trying to create around the Traders Bar area with its recycled lumber, wooden Schweppes crates and vintage scales. For reasons beyond speculation, there are also old Encyclopaedia Britannicas strewn around the bar. Who's reading 'Volume 12: Hydrozoa to Jeremy, Epistle Of' with their Jansz Cuvée? Management should research the City of Sydney's recycling guidelines instead. There are plenty of bins (and a lot of disposable cutlery and boxes), but I haven't found any receptacles to separate cans, plastic and cardboard. Even Westfield has recycling bins for PET's sake. I have, however, been served a very good martini on three occasions at Traders, which is stocked with some decent booze. You can then take that martini to The Fish + Chippery and down it with thick chips of noble crunch fried in beef tallow. They're not just the best thing I've eaten across six visits to Hay St Market, they're some of the best chips in town. I'll also bat for the vibrant pho at Luke Nguyen's noodle store, even if you can get twice the amount for the same price at many restaurants nearby. Wan Chai Wok's chow fun with shaggy, soy-seasoned beef is totally fine, as are most of Thomas Hay Bakery's pastries. The cannoli shop's cannoli do the job; barbecued Skull Island prawns at Little Midden have long savoury flavour; Scoop & Sons knows what it's doing with gelato.
Daily Mail
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The perfect last-minute Mother's Day gift that every mum will love: 'Deliciously serene'
One of the nation's top chefs has created the ultimate gift for mums this Mother's Day - and it's the ideal 'all-in' present from family members. Tucked away in a lush corner of Sydney lies the spectacular Botanic House - a gorgeous hideaway in the iconic Royal Botanic Gardens. And as a delectable treat, renowned chef Luke Nguyen has curated a very special degustation experience on RedBalloon, blending South East Asian flavours with native Australian ingredients - many of which can be found in the surrounding gardens. Designed to awake the senses, the $380 1.5-hour experience for two is served share-style with paired wines. As guests are sat in their garden oasis they can admire glimpses of Sydney Harbour while they savour delights like dumplings, chicken rice paper rolls, steamed coral trout and sticky date tamarind pudding. Highlights include seared Hokkaido scallops, Nem Nuong lemongrass pork, BBQ roasted duck and smoky char-grilled beef short ribs, with wines from Orange, NSW, France and Germany. Botanic House is widely regarded as one of the nation's 'hidden gems', with the multi-level dining adventure, as they describe it, perfect for long lunches, laid-back coffee dates and gorgeous dinners. Nguyen is all about 'celebrating nature's bounty', with the chef prioritising fresh, locally sourced ingredients as he infuses Vietnamese flavors with an Aussie flair. The chef famously also offers the ultimate date experience, with special curated picnic boxes designed for couples looking for something a little different. The $90 boxes serve two and are available Monday to Sunday between 11am and 3.30pm (pre-ordered). The boxes include an array of mouthwatering treats, from Vietnamese prawn crackers to coral trout, prawn and scallop spring rolls. Other highlights include caramelised pork belly bao buns, lemon myrtle chicken, jellyfish, cabbage and Asian herb salad and a Pandan lava cake with jackfruit sticky rice, coconut cream and seasonal fruits.
