Featuring: Hello Auntie’s, Tequila Mocking Bird, Forrester’s…

Switching tacks has become a common MO among restaurants worldwide during the Covid-19 pandemic. Noma, the Michelin-starred Copenhagen restaurant voted best in the world multiple times, re-opened in mid-2020 as a burger and wine bar for the foreseeable future. La Rosa, the elegant Italian eatery in Sydney’s historic Strand Arcade, debuted The Milan Cricket Club for the summer, a three-month pop-up billed as a British/Italian steakhouse.
Hello Auntie’s Darling Square outpost has pivoted with an innovative new menu that blends its trademark sophisticated cooking techniques with Vietnamese flavours and ingredients. A year after the opening of Darling Square, the last segment of the NSW’s government’s $3.4 billion revamp of the Darling Harbour precinct, the area has really lived up to its promise as a world-class example of urban typology – fusing landscape, architecture, art, food and culture. Anchored by Japanese star architect Kengo Kuma’s Exchange Building and its “wrapping” of 20 kilometres of timber, the sense of community is palpable.
Over 4000 residents live in the surrounding apartment blocks and many were out walking their designer dogs or, in the case of one chic Chinese girl, carrying two pedigree cats. Hello Auntie offers inside and outdoor seating to give diners the option of hunkering down in the moodily lit interior highlighted by a burnished cocktail bar or people-watching over the “village green”. Chef Cuong Nguyen offers two new menus – one regular and one vegetarian. There’s also a bottomless brunch for the price of $70 for two, featuring dishes such as cured tuna belly ham, kombu extract and basil oil or a rice paper roll kit, accompanied by a passionfruit grape, strawberry lime or lychee and ginger spritz.
You can let your decision-making skills have some time off and choose from two Feed Me Auntie banquets at $60 and $79 per person. But we decided to select our own multi-course meal, starting with two listings from the small plate options. I would rock up solely for the bo tai – aged beef tartare, truffle, capers, shallots and caviar. The meat was super tender and the flavourings produced the sort of taste explosion Vietnamese cuisine is noted for. The fried school prawns tossed in lemon myrtle and served with chilli mayo deftly interplayed crunch with heat.
Hello Auntie also offers medium-sized dishes for those who want to order more plates or who have daintier appetites. Our selection of dry aged duck breast, braised shallots, Vietnamese yellow curry and fish sauce demi-glace was an East/West combo at its finest.
Banh xeo – crispy coconut turmeric crepe with onions and bean sprouts and your choice of tofu, chicken, pork or prawns – is a roaring success at both of Hello Auntie’s Marrickville and Darling Square locations. There would probably be furious protests among regular diners if it went AWOL in the revamped listings. Cut at the table with scissors, the signature dish never fails to please with its accompaniments of fresh mint and lettuce.
Many Asian diners come here for the noodle dishes, which cover the classics and rifs on Euro/Asian blends that underline the creativity Cuong Nguyen has made his calling card. We plumped for mi xao bo birria – Angus blade ragu, homemade biang biang noodles, tomato, onions, annatto, coriander and shallots – and will be coming back for more.
In spite of feeling very well-fed, we couldn’t resist another out-of-the-box creation – banh mi kem nuoc mam caramen – a.k.a the dessert hot dog. A brioche bun is filled with malt custard semifreddo ice-cream topped with passionfruit and whipped cream and the result begs for an Instagram pic. The waiter told us that the sweet treat also did a brisk takeaway business.

Another original creation is the Bazooka Joe – a moreish cocktail of gin, Campari, pear and orange – which is a highlight of a very competitive cocktail list. The tightly edited wine list spans Australian, New Zealand and French bottlings. Hello Auntie is one of the best reasons to bookmark repeat visits to Darling Square, which has become a magnet for locals and visitors. Hello Auntie, Shop 2, 16 Nicolle Walk, Darling Square; phone (02) 8072 8838.
Forrester’s, the historic Surry Hills pub, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Following a much-needed $1.5 million makeover after its acquisition by Applejack Hospitality (the owners of Bopp & Tone, The Butler and Endeavour Tap Rooms), the Riley Street icon re-opened in November.
The venue is split between three sectors – the public bar, upstairs and Phylli’s restaurant. The bistro-style eatery has a fresh, contemporary decor featuring a mural by Sydney artist Mielo, a cool pastel palette and a profusion of greenery. The wine list of 50 curated wines and a top rollout of premium spirits isn’t your usual pub offering. Many of the wines are from wineries affected by bush fires and the coronavirus crisis. Cocktails are a major attraction, as is the bottomless rosé lunches on weekends.
Group executive chef, Jason Roberson, and head chef Jon Barrios have come up with an eclectic menu with strong American – North and South – overtones. Top class starters include beef cheek empanadas and fried Southern crab cakes. Use your hands for the Cuban sandwich of pork belly, fried ham, dill pickles, Swiss cheese, cubano sauce and crinkle cuts or choripan – a chorizo baguette, chimichurri and fried onions. Pick up a knife and fork for the fish, fowl and farm lineup, including grilled barramundi filet with pumpkin mole, latino bean salad and herb crumbs and char-grilled wagyu rump stake. Forrester’s, 336 Riley Street, Surry Hills; phone (02) 8033 2665.
Tequila Mocking Bird in Paddington was the first restaurant owned by the Atticus Hospitality Group and Esteban in the centre of the CBD is the second. The basement space has been gussied up by architects Humphrey & Edwards to centre on a low-lit bar redolent of south-of-the-border with Art Deco touches.
The two-storey venue boasts an upstairs restaurant with an open kitchen, counter seating and a huge mural by Sydney artist Nanami Cowdroy. The menu is a fusion of Mexican cultures from pre-Colombian through Spanish and Afro-Caribbean. Starters include king oyster mushroom ceviche and wagyu beef tartare. Move on to mains such as wattleseed rubbed duck breast, ironbark grilled chicken and Byron Bay pork belly and crackling with tomatillo and micro ensalada.
Prior to opening, director Michael Fegent, chef John Frid and bar manager Mark Crawford spent a month in Mexico. One of the results is the largest selection of tequilas and mezcals in Australia. If you are a tequila aficionado, don’t go past the premium tequila flights. Esteban, 1 Temperance Lane, Sydney; phone (02) 9062 8565.