Jason King
AmyHuangSumac Restaurant
May 25th 2006 05:40
Shop 284/ 10 Darling Drv Sydney 2001 - 9281 2700
Hmmm....
What's wrong here? Middle Eastern food is so simple and delicious, why confuse it? What's going on?
On entering Sumac you are struck by the decor. It tries to look like a "fez palace", and it may well be an exact replica; but more likely is it's appealing to what westerners think a fez palace may look like, full of Moroccan stereotypes; and on the shores of Darling Harbour it just looks out of place, awkward and kitsch.
I read about their philosophy from a magazine cut-out on the wall on the way in; something along the lines of "we combine traditional techniques, ideas and flavours, with contemporary and modern ingredients." Which is accompanied by a picture of a falafel cake.
Uh oh.
This doesn't sound that promising. It sounds like fusion, as if the chef is trying to be original when he or she shouldn't be. I've already discussed this trend here. And sure enough, much of the food lands with a thud.
The entrees come...after a significant wait. My calamari stuffed with chorizo and haloumi is tiny, and pretty flavourless. The Moroccan cigars (filo pastry filled with rabbit, almonds, Kalamata olives) are just wrong. They come topped (read 'doused') in icing sugar and cinnamon. I know that this is typical of some Middle Eastern dishes but it just does not work here. Similarly the cauliflower with sultanas is much too sweet. What's wrong with fried cauliflower? That's what we all love, why ruin it? In fact the only decent entree is a watery baked lamb kafta tagine, even though it's a bit diluted.
As for mains, my chicken skewer is pretty good, a bit salty, but decent. Goes well with the spinach potatoes and garlic sauce. And the lamb shoulder and fennel tagine of the day is great, richly flavoured and melt-in-your-mouth tender. But the chicken pizza (yes, pizza. I know, I know!) is extremely forgettable (hummus on a pizza?) and the marinated prawns with saffron pilaf are pretty uninteresting. Both are flavourless and bland.
You can bet we left before desert.
This food is confused and badly flavoured (I mean please, "hazelnut felafel"? Who do you think you're kidding?). Sometimes it's just uninteresting, but other times it can be really bad. The only thing that is in any way redeeming are the tagines. But for these prices don't chance it, go to Zaaffran (9211 8900) upstairs for quality Indian food you won't regret having spent your money on.
(Photos will be up as soon as I get home. I was going to put up photos from their website for the time being, but Cibby's post on copyright freaked me out too much so you'll just have to wait.)
Hmmm....
What's wrong here? Middle Eastern food is so simple and delicious, why confuse it? What's going on?
On entering Sumac you are struck by the decor. It tries to look like a "fez palace", and it may well be an exact replica; but more likely is it's appealing to what westerners think a fez palace may look like, full of Moroccan stereotypes; and on the shores of Darling Harbour it just looks out of place, awkward and kitsch.
Uh oh.
This doesn't sound that promising. It sounds like fusion, as if the chef is trying to be original when he or she shouldn't be. I've already discussed this trend here. And sure enough, much of the food lands with a thud.
The entrees come...after a significant wait. My calamari stuffed with chorizo and haloumi is tiny, and pretty flavourless. The Moroccan cigars (filo pastry filled with rabbit, almonds, Kalamata olives) are just wrong. They come topped (read 'doused') in icing sugar and cinnamon. I know that this is typical of some Middle Eastern dishes but it just does not work here. Similarly the cauliflower with sultanas is much too sweet. What's wrong with fried cauliflower? That's what we all love, why ruin it? In fact the only decent entree is a watery baked lamb kafta tagine, even though it's a bit diluted.
As for mains, my chicken skewer is pretty good, a bit salty, but decent. Goes well with the spinach potatoes and garlic sauce. And the lamb shoulder and fennel tagine of the day is great, richly flavoured and melt-in-your-mouth tender. But the chicken pizza (yes, pizza. I know, I know!) is extremely forgettable (hummus on a pizza?) and the marinated prawns with saffron pilaf are pretty uninteresting. Both are flavourless and bland.
You can bet we left before desert.
This food is confused and badly flavoured (I mean please, "hazelnut felafel"? Who do you think you're kidding?). Sometimes it's just uninteresting, but other times it can be really bad. The only thing that is in any way redeeming are the tagines. But for these prices don't chance it, go to Zaaffran (9211 8900) upstairs for quality Indian food you won't regret having spent your money on.
(Photos will be up as soon as I get home. I was going to put up photos from their website for the time being, but Cibby's post on copyright freaked me out too much so you'll just have to wait.)
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Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
anyway, it's good to see that you're going to bad restaurants, too... I was starting to think that you liked every restaurant in Sydney...
Comment by edward
Rocky's Running Diary
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak