It was a gorgeous morning to ferry in to Double Bay. A languid stroll later we arrived at D'Bee's. We started with a bit of coffee and a green juice (green apple, spinach, celery, cucumber, mint, lime, ginger) which set us up for the day of sweet onslaught. Really good juice, I'd make it myself minus the ginger though!
It was surprising that our dear CEO didn't go for the brioche French toast with bacon and maple ... but we got the ricotta hotcakes, kahlua creme brulee, cherry strudel and trio of ice cream. The cherry strudel pastry was excellent - with crushed nuts in between the layers of crisp pastry and filled with whole morello cherries. I giggled with the ice cream because it was the neapolitan mix of strawberry, chocolate and vanilla, but they were really flavourful. No fighting needed with the vanilla bean ice cream because there was more on the side of the thickest ricotta hotcake in the world: It was a little dry, but very eggy and fluffy. The favourite for most people was probably the kahlua creme brulee - excellent texture, though couldn't taste the kahlua - and the coconut ice cream was very smooth.
Moving on to our next stop - Pink Salt. We were greeted with a very cheerful waiter who sat us inside near the air conditioning - a much appreciated arrangement for a very hot day.
The passionfruit cheese cake and the coconut sorbet was delicious - tangy, creamy cheese cake; coconut sorbet was light and smooth. Apple parfait was a little icy and we couldn't really taste the apple; but pecan shortbread was nice, while the dulce de leche caramel sauce was thankfully not too sweet. White chocolate brownie was not white when it arrived - baked a little brown - and wasn't overly sweet, and the house-made chocolate ice cream was extremely lush. My personal favourite was the wobbly buttermilk panna cotta which was light textured and divine, while the tangy strawberry sorbet was refreshing for a hot day like today.
Cheese - oh lovely creamy dairy goodness - Delice de Bourgogne, a French triple cream cheese; Pyengana clothbound cheddar from Tasmania; Cashel blue - an Irish blue, served with bread and delicious quince and house-made lavosh... heaven on a plate.After finishing our drinks and the last crumbs of the cheeses we made our way to the new InterContinental Hotel. It took the staff some time to settle us despite having made a booking way in advance. Once we settled, it was an easy choice: We'll have all your desserts please.
We each had our personal favourite so I'll just start with mine. The caramelised blueberry tart with vanilla bean ice cream and lime. I swear there was a herb on top that gave it a special flavour but I simply could not name it. The molten Manjari chocolate and lemon verbena ice cream was smooth and luscious. The Stockroom almond pastilla with chantilly, opalys and honeycomb was another very popular dessert, lovely, light and airy. The peach melba with white chocolate rocks was served with warm rhubarb syrup at the table that melted the white chocolate... and turned the raspberry sorbet into a soup. My least favourite was the apple donut with chocolate sauce .. maybe by the time we got to it the batter had cooled and no longer crispy so it was just a bunch of limp apple tempura with a dark chocolate sauce. Chocolate truffles were bitter sweet and rich, and on a whole, mouthwatering.
It was a shame that seating was a little clunky - the staff were friendly and helpful though it took some time to get our teas and coffees, and as much as the lounge was comfortable it really didn't suit a dessert seating as the coffee tables were small and low, so we have all had to juggle our plates, cutleries and cups.
So went another indulgent day. For our next adventure, we aim to celebrate the opening party of Tim Ho Wan in Sydney ... want to join us? ;)
CS
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