jones the grocer, sydney cbd

For the longest time, I've been mesmerised by the cake display at Jones the Grocer (Have you seen their cronuts or.. jonuts!?). But there's more to Jones the Grocer than just pastries!

Jones the Grocer is located on the food court level at Westfield Sydney, occupying the corner next to the famous Ippudo. It contains a bakery, a patisserie, a cafe serving breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as a pretty fancy section dedicated to just premium groceries.

And because I'm such a nice human being, I agreed to help Isaac (iFat) out with his shopping here.

Salt and Pepper Calamari ($18.00):
Salt and pepper calamari with yuzu mayo, Thai herb salad, tamarind, chilli and lime.

Salads and I don't always get along. They can be so boring and one-dimensional but this, my friend, is an exception.

Tender and well-seasoned pieces of calamari lay on a refreshing bed of salad, with the most beautiful Thai flavours. The lightness of the tamarind, chilli and lime dressing as well as the crunch from the bean sprouts and coriander just elevated the already perfect calamari to a whole new level.

Field Mushroom Risotto ($18.00):
Field mushroom, taleggio, cream, grana padano, soft herbs, black truffle oil. 

The first time I had risotto, it was gluggy, over cooked and much too cheesy. Following that, I tried my best to avoid risottos at all costs.

But this risotto was a game changer. It might not look like much but it tasted great! The texture of the rice was consistently soft and creamy. It had such lovely, earthy flavours from the mushrooms, which were a perfect match for the pungent taleggio cheese and lusciously silky rice. Even with the extra shaving of grana padano, it wasn't too heavy.

Pork Belly:
Twice cooked pork belly with caramel apple, prune puree, fennel and walnut salad. 

Look at that pork belly. I mean, just look at it. How perfect does it look?

Do you ever get that moment where you take one look at something, get this warm fuzzy feeling and you just know it's the one? Yep, that's how I felt when I saw that crackling and pork belly.

Golden, perfectly crisp crackling was perched on top of such a tender and moist cut of pork belly. But do you know what the real deal was? The pork wasn't even as fatty as it looked, which made it even better.

Fennel and apple are classic partners for pork. The sweet and tangy flavours were perfect in offsetting the richness of the pork.

Sticky Date Pudding ($10.00): 
Sticky date pudding, salted caramel sauce, vanilla bean ice-cream. 

I haven't been this crazy over dessert in a pretty long time but I probably think about this sticky date pudding far more often than I should...

The pudding itself was sitting in a pool of salted caramel sauce, moist and topped with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. I loved how well the combination of warmth from the pudding and cold from the ice cream worked. I would come back here just for this!

And because you can never have enough dessert, we also ordered the ice-cream sandwich!

Ice-Cream Sandwich ($10.00):
Salted peanut caramel & milk chocolate parfait. 

I loved all three layers of this - the chewy salted peanut caramel, the creamy chocolate ice cream and brittle crust. It wasn't as sweet as I had imagined it to be (which was probably a good thing) and the 'ice cream' had such an unusually thick consistency which pretty much made it totally heat resistant.

Would I come back? I have three words for you. Sticky date pudding.

Jones the Grocer
Level 5 Westfield Sydney
Corner Castlereagh & Market Streets
Sydney, NSW 2000
t: (02) 8072 7755
w: http://www.jonesthegrocer.com/