Latest news with #NigellaLawson
Daily Mail
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The $38 dish Nigella Lawson 'can't stop thinking about' since leaving Sydney - as locals rush to try the 'sensational' meal too
When British culinary queen Nigella Lawson shares a food obsession, the world listens. And during her time in Australia in June, it was a 'sensational' spicy dish from Sydney 's Porkfat that left her mouth watering - so much so that she 'can't stop thinking about it'. While in town to host dinners for Vivid Sydney 2025, Nigella was spotted at various restaurants enjoying the local food scene with friends and famous restaurateurs. However, the 65-year-old cookbook author and food icon, who regularly comments on Australia's thriving restaurant culture, recently took to her Instagram to rave about the meal that's still living rent-free in her mind. Porkfat, a Thai restaurant tucked away on Sydney's Wentworth Avenue, served her their famous pork larb and it was an instant standout. 'Can't stop thinking about the sensational pork larb at Porkfat!' Nigella wrote in a post to her 3.1million followers. 'I mean, everything I ate there was wonderful, as indeed it always is, but this is the dish… that rules my heart!' It's not hard to see why - Porkfat's signature larb is no ordinary salad. The bold, flavour-packed Northern Thai classic is made with tender, minced pork, loaded with zingy herbs, spice, and topped off with crispy, golden cubes of pork fat that are fast becoming the stuff of legend. 'This is the dish - light, zingy, fresh and fiery, studded with those fabulous golden cubes of pork fat for which the restaurant is named,' Nigella gushed. The restaurant, which is helmed by Thai-born chef Narin 'Boon' Kulasai and his partner Tania, is renowned for delivering authentic, regional Thai flavours with punch and personality. In fact, it's not Nigella's first visit to Porkfat, she's previously sung its praises and seems to make a beeline there every time she visits Sydney. 'Thank you to Tania and Boon who make my soul smile,' she added in her tribute. Nigella has visited Australia multiple times for her book tours and speaking events, but it's clear Sydney's thriving inner-city eateries have a special place in her heart. 'I feel at home here,' she's said in past interviews. 'I've had such an inspiring time eating my way through Australia, and I've wanted to try as many places as possible but, when I'm in Sydney. The bold, flavour-packed Northern Thai classic made with tender, minced pork, loaded with zingy herbs, spice, and topped off with crispy, golden cubes of pork fat that are fast becoming the stuff of legend And if this latest craving is anything to go by, Porkfat's pork larb might just be her most memorable yet. Nigella has an impact on locals after her rave review, with many vowing to book in at Porkfat pronto to see what all the hype was about. 'I'm very partial to larb so this is an excellent reminder to enjoy some local offerings,' one wrote. 'I am ready to crawl from Melbourne to taste the food,' another added. If you're on a budget, Nigella said she she can never get enough of the fish finger bao at King Clarence in Sydney, which costs $15 per bun. 'Being in Sydney without revisiting King Clarence to eat chef Khanh Nguyen's exuberant, masterly and joy-giving food would be a criminal oversight,' she said. 'I mean, how could I leave here without tasting, once more, that fish finger bao and still live with myself? Not a chance,' Nigella said. The popular food writer explained that she needed to go into detail about the dish so everyone can 'truly grasp the magnificence'. 'This particular fish finger is made with barramundi, set in gelatinised dashi stock, then robustly crumbed, then deep-fried, so that when you bite into it as well as a satisfying crunch, you get a burst of deeply-flavoured broth,' she said. 'It's rather like the experience of eating Xiao long bao (aka soup dumplings) only more high octane. 'And in the tender, bouncy, steamed bun as well is a dainty sliver of melty American cheese and a tartare sauce flecked with mustard greens plus, on top, a pearled heaping of vivid salmon roe. Heady-making stuff, and as exquisite as it is bold.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The $15 dish Nigella Lawson simply 'had' to eat once more before she left Sydney: 'Masterly, joy-giving'
Nigella Lawson has been eating her way through Sydney, but there's one little-known restaurant she always returns to for its stand-out dish. The British food critic, who has been uncovering hidden gems and following local recommendations during her trip in Australia, said she still thinks about the 'fabulous' dining experience she had at King Clarence, a modern Asian restaurant. 'Being in Sydney without revisiting King Clarence to eat chef Khanh Nguyen's exuberant, masterly and joy-giving food would be a criminal oversight,' she said. The foodie queen said she has many favourite dishes at the hotspot in Sydney's CBD, but she can never get enough of the fish finger bao, which costs $15 per bun. 'I mean, how could I leave here without tasting, once more, that fish finger bao and still live with myself? Not a chance,' Nigella said. The popular food writer explained that she needed to go into detail about the dish so everyone can 'truly grasp the magnificence'. 'This particular fish finger is made with barramundi, set in gelatinised dashi stock, then robustly crumbed, then deep-fried, so that when you bite into it as well as a satisfying crunch, you get a burst of deeply-flavoured broth,' she said. 'It's rather like the experience of eating Xiao long bao (aka soup dumplings) only more high octane. 'And in the tender, bouncy, steamed bun as well is a dainty sliver of melty American cheese and a tartare sauce flecked with mustard greens plus, on top, a pearled heaping of vivid salmon roe. Heady-making stuff, and as exquisite as it is bold.' As a repeat customer of King Clarence, Nigella said there are too many things to talk about - but not enough time in the world to tell her fans about everything she ate. However, she needed to rave about the restaurant's wood-roasted pork belly. 'I have to mention the wood-roasted pork belly ssam, to be wrapped, with its array of pickles, in lettuce of many hues,' she explained. Her next favourite dish, which she ordered for the first time, was the short-grain claypot rice with char siu pork jowl, garlic chives, red chilli and egg yolk. 'And in a radical move, as I usually always order the spanner crab rice of joy, I went for the absurdly magnificent short-grain claypot rice,' she said. Nigella praised Khanh, the executive chef of the restaurant for his incredible menu. 'Khanh's absurd talent – the rambunctious splendor of his food is set off by his calm confidence and precision – never fails to amaze me,' she added. As a repeat customer of King Clarence, Nigella said there are too many things to talk about - but not enough time in the world to tell her fans about everything she ate. However, she needed to rave about the restaurant's wood-roasted pork belly (left) and 'magnificent' claypot rice The British food critic, who has been uncovering hidden gems and following local recommendations during her trip in Australia, said she still thinks about the 'fabulous' lunch she had at King Clarence, a modern Asian restaurant in Sydney's CBD. Earlier this month, Nigella revealed the one dish she would travel 17,000km to eat again - and it's the fermented carrots on n'duja-spread crisp and thin rye bread from Café Paci, a small but highly acclaimed restaurant on King Street in Newtown. 'The dish I'd come the 17,000km from home to eat: that piercingly precise, headily uplifting entrée/starter of fermented carrots,' she said. 'It's just phenomenal, even (though in any other context I might be embarrassed to use the term) iconic. 'I was pretty bowled over by what came next, too, namely, a light, thin kind of Scandi Melba toast, spread with yoghurty cod's roe, topped with a citrus-fresh peppery tiling of radish.' One of the most frequently asked questions Nigella always gets asked is, which Sydney restaurants are her favourites. 'I always panic a bit answering that, as I'm fearful of missing anyone out: I have just too many favourites. But it's fair to say, I'd never forget to mention Café Paci,' she said. 'There's nowhere like it; chef Pasi Petänen may be Finnish but Café Paci is, for me, quintessential Sydney. 'The food is impeccable, innovative without being tricksy, the room is relaxed, and everyone who works there contributes to the sense of welcome and excitement that energises me afresh on each visit.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Nigella Lawson reveals the unassuming dish from little-known Sydney restaurant she'd travel 17,000km to eat again: 'Phenomenal'
Nigella Lawson has revealed the one dish in Sydney she would happily fly 17,000km from home to eat again - and it's not what you'd expect. The beloved British food writer and TV host, currently in Australia, took to Instagram to rave about her dinner at Café Paci, a small but highly acclaimed restaurant tucked away on King Street in Newtown. Among a spread of oysters, handmade tonnarelli, and a show-stopping dessert, one entrée in particular left her completely awestruck: fermented carrots on n'duja-spread crisp and thin rye bread. 'The dish I'd come the 17,000 kilometres from home to eat,' she said, sharing a photo of the now-iconic starter. 'That piercingly precise, headily uplifting entrée/starter of fermented carrots on n'duja-spread crisp and thin rye bread. It's just phenomenal, even (though in any other context I might be embarrassed to use the term) iconic.' Lawson didn't stop there. She praised Café Paci's chef Pasi Petänen - who hails from Finland - for creating what she calls 'quintessential Sydney' food: globally inspired, unpretentious and full of warmth. 'There's nowhere like it,' she said. 'The food is impeccable, innovative without being tricksy, the room is relaxed, and everyone who works there contributes to the sense of welcome and excitement that energises me afresh on each visit. It's cool, for sure - but so very warm.' The fermented carrot dish, which has since sent social media into a quiet frenzy, plays with contrasts: the earthy sweetness of the carrot meets the spicy richness of n'duja, all anchored on a delicate rye crisp that gives it crunch and structure. It's bold, but beautifully balanced - and Lawson's endorsement has firmly cemented its place in Sydney's dining scene. Her post continued with a detailed run-through of the meal: oysters with kumquat mignonette ('utterly convincing'), a cod's roe and radish toast ('a citrus-fresh peppery tiling'), and tonnarelli with provolone, colatura and fried zucchini. The meal ended with her 'unmissable' dessert: carrot sorbet on liquorice cake, topped with aerated yoghurt - a dish she described as 'otherworldly'. 'I've hit the word limit,' she added, 'but actually no words could ever suffice.' Since the post went live, fans have been flocking to Café Paci's Instagram, with reservations filling quickly. While Lawson admitted she finds it hard to pick favourites, she made it clear that this unassuming entrée would always have a special place on her palate - and in her passport.
The Age
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
We asked Nigella Lawson where she'd eat in Sydney if she had a day to roam
You'd be hard-pressed to find a bigger international fan of Sydney's and Australia's food scenes than British cookbook and TV personality Nigella Lawson. You just need to look at her Instagram account to see her enthuse about the restaurants she has visited here over the years. It's why Vivid's creative director, Gill Minervini, invited Lawson to host three dinners as part of this year's festival. Just before the 280 guests arrived for her three-course curated dinner in the reimagined Muru Giligu Tunnel in Martin Place, Good Food snared 10 minutes of her time to talk about her favourite topic: eating. You're a big advocate of Sydney's food scene. Why? I haven't eaten in every city in the world, but the reason why I love eating in Sydney is that I think the food is extraordinarily good. There are chefs who are really inspirational for me, but it's done in an informal setting. I don't mean Sydney itself, but at restaurants. What interests me is really exquisite food but [done] in a rather relaxed, unpretentious setting so it feels very inclusive … Obviously, the variety of food in Sydney is enormous, and I think that's partly because, like all port cities, there are people from so many different cultures, and that feeds into the food culture. But there's a particular sort of attitude, an Australian attitude, which is perhaps less bound by tradition so it'll allow itself to drink in and absorb many cultures, and then somehow will spin them and merge them and come up with something that is very direct, very unpretentious, very Australian, and that's fascinating.
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
We asked Nigella Lawson where she'd eat in Sydney if she had a day to roam
You'd be hard-pressed to find a bigger international fan of Sydney's and Australia's food scenes than British cookbook and TV personality Nigella Lawson. You just need to look at her Instagram account to see her enthuse about the restaurants she has visited here over the years. It's why Vivid's creative director, Gill Minervini, invited Lawson to host three dinners as part of this year's festival. Just before the 280 guests arrived for her three-course curated dinner in the reimagined Muru Giligu Tunnel in Martin Place, Good Food snared 10 minutes of her time to talk about her favourite topic: eating. You're a big advocate of Sydney's food scene. Why? I haven't eaten in every city in the world, but the reason why I love eating in Sydney is that I think the food is extraordinarily good. There are chefs who are really inspirational for me, but it's done in an informal setting. I don't mean Sydney itself, but at restaurants. What interests me is really exquisite food but [done] in a rather relaxed, unpretentious setting so it feels very inclusive … Obviously, the variety of food in Sydney is enormous, and I think that's partly because, like all port cities, there are people from so many different cultures, and that feeds into the food culture. But there's a particular sort of attitude, an Australian attitude, which is perhaps less bound by tradition so it'll allow itself to drink in and absorb many cultures, and then somehow will spin them and merge them and come up with something that is very direct, very unpretentious, very Australian, and that's fascinating.
