Thursday 17 November 2011

zumbo dessert train @ the star

I don't think I could ever write a bad review about Zumbo; I just couldn't. I remember asking him some very spastic questions when we attended one of his Masterclasses earlier this year and he was such a lovely guy and answered every question I had (mind you I was the one with one of his macaron recipes tucked in my bag and out I whipped out my sheet with everything highlighted and ready to ask). A little bit nerdy I have to admit but I really needed to ask the questions and after all, he is the King of Macarons in Sydney!

Again, plenty of blog posts have been made by fellow bloggers about his new store at The Star. Mashi and I wandered over there after our dinner at Jamie's Italian with the intention to try out the dessert train and the dessert train we did try. This ended up being a hectic 45 minute wait but I'm not complaining, I waited about 2 hours to go to an art gallery in Florence so by comparison, 45 minutes is really nothing. I actually didn't even notice the time pass cause we ended up chatting with some of the pastry chefs behind the train who were more than willing to tell us about the record set by a couple who ate 8 plates in the one sitting and them giving us recommendations for the plates that we should try. Zumbo - You do hire such lovely staff!

We finally got our seat! To be honest, 10 minutes of our waiting time was due to everyone on the train finishing up and leaving in the one go, leaving the 2 staff managing it have to clear and sort out all the checks. We were the first to sit down after they got through that crowd.

Watermelon Yoghurt - The orange custard on this plate is absolutely divine (a big bowl of orange custard please!)

The two of us eat a lot - it makes us happy!

Plenty of people outside the store ogling in and/or just waiting in line to get a seat on the train.

Carrot Cake - a rather healthy choice and one to quickly gobble up as its topped with a cinnamon ice cream.

Hazelnut Dacquoise - Hands down, my favourite for the night. The couple sitting next to us agreed too as they started asking us about the desserts we had. Plenty of crunch and yum, yum, yum!

There's actually 10 items on the menu but on the Friday night we went, we only spotted 6 moving around on the train. The staff we spoke to when we were waiting did mention that they're still fine-tuning the desserts and getting it right. Apparently the Almond Croissant is worth a try so will be heading back there for that when I can. 

I did actually think that we'd get through a few more plates but three plates ended up being more than enough (plus we had our nice Jamie's Italian meal sitting in our stomaches). My first and foremost suggestion to Zumbo (if you happen to be reading this) is to get more plates on that train - even if it its just a single macaron on a plate because the plate of four that's on the train at the moment is a lot to eat if you are wanting to try a few other desserts (actually Mashi and I did ask the staff if we could doggy bag some macarons but we were politely told no...boo hoo). Would be good to also have a hot beverage or dessert wine to accompany and yes, somehow that queue could be better managed but honestly, what's with the eager beavers pushing in (when clearly there's a queue)!

5 comments:

joey@forkingaroundsydney said...

As much as I love Zumbo, the dessert train doesn't work in its present format.

Three of us had four plates and two bowls of soft serve, and that was more than enough, and that's the problem: most people cannot eat too many sugary things in one go.

The desserts were good but because they take time to plate up, they are supplemented by the 'normal' desserts you can buy as well as macarons, and these tend to be too filling.

We were there for about twenty minutes and we noticed many others having one or two plates then leaving. It wasn't all that busy on a Saturday night even though the casino was expectedly packed, as was the adjacent food court.

Mel said...

Cute concept, but I think I prefer my trains with Sushi on them...lol

Joanna said...

looks divine! how much is each plate?

Rita (mademoiselle délicieuse) said...

Love the concept but have yet to check it out myself. Friend who went also said there was a lack of desserts on the train, but understood that it's not viable for some desserts to be plated far in advance.

Anonymous said...

we went to zumbos and thought it was a really adorable concept! everything is so pastel and pretty but agree with other comments that we couldn't eat more than 1 dish each.