Botanic House

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Sitting pretty in the middle of the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Botanic House is a beautifully sunny, relaxed spot that makes you forget you are mere minutes away from the hustle and bustle of the big smoke.  The tasting menu is created by Luke Nguyen, one of Australia's most beloved Asian TV chefs. The cuisine is modern Asian, with Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai influences being the most prominent. 

Edamame and avocado salsa with sesame rice crackers

The Chinese restaurants of the 90s brought bowls of greasy, salty, delicious prawn crackers that melted in the mouth as starters. Here, those nostalgic treats have been given a fusion upgrade. Something of an Asian guac-and-corn-chips, the salsa is creamy, the rice crackers a slightly less oily versio of its prawn predecessors. 

Seared Hokkaido scallop

These scallops are pleasantly plump and served with an interesting, flavourful sauce of cashew, toasted coconut and pork floss. The cashew and toasted coconut are distinctly South-East Asian, while the pork floss is pure childhood memory for me: Taiwan styled, slightly sweet and very melty. 

Satay chicken skewers

The chicken is marinated in bean curd (interesting!) and served with a mildly spicy satay sauce. The chicken pieces are tender and gently smoky, with the cucumber pieces cutting through the otherwise strong flavours. 

Duck and pumpkin dumplings (additional $5 per piece)

Duck and pumpkin - not something you usually see as dumpling fillings. The flavours are beautifully balanced and pleasantly mild. The pumpkin is diced into tiny cubes, the duck pieces similarly cut so that the flavours combine together instead of feeling disjointed. 

Seared tuna

This beautifully presented dish is sesame encrusted yellow fin tuna, barely seared, served with finger lime and little dabbles of tamarind sauce. The fish crew topping each of the tuna pieces added an interesting texture to the dish. 

Green papaya salad

I surprise myself when I say the salad dish is my favourite. It's not just any salad: forgeous, slightly crunchy green papaya is served with twice-cooked pork belly and Vietnamese herbs, pomelo (like a grapefruit but larger, firmer and sweeter), and beautifully pink-and-green slices of refreshing raddish. The sauce is slightly salty but mild enough to allow the fresh sweetness of the fruits and vegetables to shine through. The pork belly is beautifully tender - no crackling, but the flavours are so good that I don't miss it. 

Pan-fried tumeric market fish

Sitting beautifully on a bed of saute karkalla, sampire and rice noodles, the pan-fried fish is fall-apart level of tender. I don't recognise the fish, but it has a slightly muddy, fishy taste which I don't particularly enjoy. This may be the only dish that I wouldn't have been happy to order separately. 

Crispy master stock chicken

Yes, yes, yes. This chicken is perfectly cooked, its sauce of shallots, oyster sauce and ginger so well balanced and delicious that it's the kind of sauce you drizzle on rice instead of allowing it to go to waste. The chicken is not crispy like those at a Chinese BBQ shop, but nevertheless very skillfully done, paritcularly considering the fact that it is sitting in its own juice and not simply served dry. The Asian greens at the bottom have soaked up the delicious sauce and are also delicious. 

Dessert

By the time this impressive dessert plate is served, we were all groaning with satisfaction - yet we kept going back to just a smidgen (or more than a smidgen) of the dessert because it is simply so, so good. Mango pudding, coconut sponge, tapioca, berries, Vietnamese coconut cake, matcha ice cream and toasted coconut - what an impressive array of textures and flavours coming together beautifully. There is something for everyone: those who like their desserts sweet - the Vietnamese coconut cake is drenched in syrupy goodness - or those who like their desserts "not too sweet", which is the highest form of praise for desserts in the eyes of those of us who have a Far-East background. 

In addition to a well-considered and well-executed menu, Botanic House has a lovely sun-drenched atmosphere and is incredibly good value. 

Score: 4.5/5
Price: the set menu is $70pp 
Address: 1 Mrs Macquaries Rd, Sydney

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