Jazz City BBQ, Darlinghurst

I think it has all been a while since the anticipated opening of Jazz City BBQ with the promise of lots and lots of barbeque meat! LB Slaya, Cassanova, KC and I arrived early this Thursday night just a little before 6, perhaps a little too early as they hadn't even opened their doors yet (we were just a tad too keen). But once inside, we instantly felt like we were in one of those cute American diners with the red booths lining the walls of the small restaurant.

Menu

The menu is short and concise, offering five items with the promise of Southern American smokey char. It's simple really, you just let Chef Dan McGuirt exactly how much of each meat you want and he'll cut and weigh it for you!.

Dan slicing up the beef ribs

Are you guys digging his shirt or what? When he was about to cut us our beef brisket, he asked us, "Would you like the fattier or leaner cut? I would recommend the fattier cut, it's much more tender and juicy." How could we disagree with the man?

Housemade sauces

There are plenty of sauces for you sauce junkies to choose from. And if you're anything like us, you're just going to go for the whole shebang and may as well try everything!

Clockwise from top: cornbread / complimentary sliced white bread / pork ribs / beef ribs / beef brisket / coleslaw / complimentary raw onion and pickles / pulled pork (centre)

While I did love the flavour of the pork rib, it was a tad on the dry side, as was the pulled pork. But with all the sauces on offer, may as well drench it with that, hey? And let me give you a little tip - ride the sauce rainbow. You may be asking, what the heck is that? Mixing all of them together of course! The beef brisket was indeed awesomely fatty as promised and fat is flavour when it comes to barbequed meats. I was pleasantly surprised by the beef rib as I normally prefer pork ribs over beef ones but this was beautifully smokey with every bite. The meat slid of the bone real easy as we bit it straight off the bone - gotta get those fingers dirty when eating ribs! But what I really fell in love with were those pickles. Sweet with a little punch of sour, I couldn't help going back for more. And that cornbread. Soft, fluffy like a good muffin, and slightly sweet, our only regret was ordering one to share. Next time, one for each person!

I forgot to take a picture of the pecan pie we had. Though tiny, it was a pretty sweet end to the meal. Unfortunately they didn't have key lime pie on the menu tonight which was not a problem for us. We ventured down to Jazz City Milk Bar for dessert!

Banana cream pie, $10.00

I have nothing to say but this.

Oh. My God.

THIS WAS AMAZING. SO AMAZING. Well worth the trek here. A crispy base, layers of vanilla custard chocked full of banana pieces in between, along with whipped cream on top, made this dessert so delicious. The ripe banana really made this pie - it felt like I was eating banana custard!

Satisfied with the ending to our Southern style meal of comfort foods, we slowly walked back towards the city. But not before making a pit stop at Hungry Jacks because Cassnova and KC have black holes for stomachs. Next time, that key lime pie will be eaten :D

Jazz City BBQ
200 Goulburn St
Surry Hills, NSW, 2010

Opening Hours 
Lunch Wednesday - Friday: 12:00noon to 2:00pm
Dinner Wednesday - Saturday: 6:00pm to 10:00pm (or until Sold Out)
Closed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday 





Jazz City Milk Bar
Republic 2 Building Courtyard
Palmer Street (between Liverpool and Burton Street)
Darlinghurst, NSW 2010

Opening Hours
Lunch  Thursday-Saturday: 12:00-2:00pm
Dinner  Tuesday-Saturday: 6:00-10:00pm
Closed Sunday & Monday

Eats Lately #4

This past month has been a busy one, filled with all things sweet! I think it's time to do a little round up of all that is bright and sugar related :)

Cadbury's Marvellous Creations range has always been something I thought of as extremely clever. They've marketed this range so it looks super fun. I can't help but be drawn into their little chocolate worlds whenever I see one of the ads. Their new range is even more fun if that's possible. Thanks to Holly Frendo of Red Agency for sending over a couple of samples for me to try before they hit up stores this month!

I love all things cola flavoured and I love all things chocolate but combined together? I think it was a bit too odd for me with the whole sugary candy and creamy chocolate combo.

What was more down my alley was the caramel shakes! It felt like I was eating solid caramel milkshake bits. If M&Ms had crunchy bits in it and were caramel flavoured, this would be it.

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Another company who just launched their Spring collection is Tupperware. I sure woke up bright and early to get a preview of their new range. But there's nothing better than starting an early morning with a breakfast of yogurt and fresh fruits.

The hot brekkie (though not sugar related in any way!) was simple yet went down a treat.

The Tupperware collection is super bright - much like spring! You can't help but be happy if you brought your food out in these cute containers, no? And are the bags adorable or what? I can just imagine the big smiles on the faces of the kids using these bags. Thanks Kaaran Gaffney and Vanessa Waingent from AMPR Public Relations for hosting such a lovely breakfast with fantastic views of Bondi Beach :)

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And no sweet month is complete without a visit to the Pie Tin. This adventure features THREE glorious dessert pies! Yes, I went on two different occasions. Don't judge. Can I just take a moment to relive how delicious these all were? They were so different, but respectively amazing.

Whipped lime pie, $8.50

The whipped lime pie was delightedly zesty yet creamy at the same time. Is this what the American's call key lime pie?

Oreo cookie pie, $8.50

And oh my god the oreo cookie pie... This is definitely for you diehard Oreo fans! Oreos and cream everywhere!

Tim Tam pie, $8.50

Did someone mention Tim Tam heaven? I'm not sure if any exists, but I feel like if any did, this would be it. This slice of pie was chock full of Tim Tam bits left, right and centre. So rich and chocolately. All three are not for the faint-hearted, as the cream content is very, very high. But if you are not afraid of the delicious dairy goodness that is cream, I highly recommend them all :P

And that's a wrap up of my super sweet month! Hmm, I feel the oncoming of diabetes... Better tone it down a notch with the sugar :P

The Pie Tin, Newtown

Sweet pies is a concept that is quite unfamiliar to us Australians - meat pie is the way to go for Aussies! When I first heard about a cafe in Newtown selling dessert pies, I was sold. The Pie Tin, here I come :D

Coconut cream pie, $6.50

The first time I went was quite a while ago and prices have indeed climbed since then. The cream used to come for free (though admittedly, it was quite unnecessary), but now it costs $0.50 extra. I was a tad disappointed with this coconut pie as there wasn't a distinct flavour of coconut except for the tiny bit of toasted coconut coconut flakes on top. The custard was smooth and creamy and nice though. But for my first trip, I was not wowed and left without my high expectations met as everyone was raving about this place.

Deciding to give it another chance, my friend Gingerbreadmanne and I decided to treat ourselves for our morning of hard work at uni with pie! I think we were a bit too ambitious, ordering three pies between the two of us. And no, we didn't even just order 3 slices of normal pie, we thought we could take on the huuuge XXL apple pie.

The apple pie that ate Newtown, $10.50, + $1.00 extra for vanilla ice-cream

Just look at the size of that pie slice! Compare it to that little spork in the corner and my friend's hand... Nope, we couldn't finish it no matter how hard we tried especially because the pie was extremely tart from the use of Granny Smith apples which was good because it showed they didn't add excessive amounts of sugar. The scoop of vanilla ice-cream was our saviour - it helped cut through the tartness. We finished about half of this pie before admitting defeat and packing the rest to take away haha. The crust was delicious and the apple filling itself had a really good hit of cinnamon. I love cinnamon. But I think the size and sheer amount was what lead to our downfall. Only order this if you have a big group of people!! I took it home and made it into a parfait - plain Greek yogurt layered with apple pie. Delicious!

Tart lime and blueberry pie, $8.50

If we had known the apple pie was going to be that tart, perhaps it wasn't the best idea to order this slice of tart lime and blueberry pie. This pie was amazing and packed a lime punch. The filling was smooth and custardy, simply dissolving in your mouth. But eating it with the tart apple pie, we were starting to get a bit overwhelmed by the sourness. So we decided to get a savoury pie as well!

Moroccan lamb, chickpeas & cumin, $6.80

There was a heady scent of cumin as we cut open the pie. It was heavenly eating this pie because it helped our tastebuds recover from all that sour pie we just ate! The filling was not at all dry, the lamb was tender and soft, and there were bits of pumpkin and chickpeas scattered throughout. Very comforting to eat.

Er yes, a bit disgusting, but lamb pie innards!

One of my UNSW friends (hello K!) made a trip to Newtown with T and came to visit me in my studio with takeaway pie from The Pie Tin. So lovely of them to do so :)

Slow roasted beef brisket, hickory smoke & mushrooms, $6.80

There were huge chunks of beef brisket which had a wonderful smoky flavour. It was seasoned with lots of pepper which is right down my alley - I have a tendency to add lots of pepper hehe.

Flaky pastry pistachio & dark chocolate pie $5.80

This pie slice was exactly what it was made out to be. The pastry was wonderfully sweet from the dusting of icing sugar, crumbly and flaky and it surrounded a rich chocolate filling. Gone in a flash :(

Sweet pumpkin pie, $7.50

Oh dear, the pumpkin pie got smushed slightly from it's travelling! I was curious as to how pumpkin pie would taste because it seems to be an American thing. But boy am I glad they got this pie. There was no skimping with the nutmeg that's for sure! But I love my spices so this went down a treat. In fact, the spiced flavour of this pie was what inspired me to make my healthy sweet potato muffins!

Despite having a rocky start to my relationship with the Pie Tin, I can foresee many trips down here in the future during uni for some comforting dessert or even their meat pies :) Does anyone find the concept of dessert pies strange, or do you love dessert as much as I do?

The Pie Tin
1a Brown St
Newtown, NSW, 2042

Opening Hours
Monday - Wednesday: 10:00am - 8:00pm
Thursday - Saturday: 10:00am - 10:00pm
Sunday: 10:00am - 6:00pm