Sugar Hit @ One on 1 Brasserie

Miz M and I were planning to go the Sheraton to attack the dessert buffet ($29 during GFM), but when I made a booking for 10pm, I was told that the kitchen closes at 10pm--including the dessert buffet. Bummer.

So Miz M and I perused the GFM Sugar Hit offerings and decided to try the Radisson:

Heavenly Morsels - triple the tastesation with Roasted macadamia nut and Quandong Crème Brûlée, Mixed Berry Crêpe Stack & 5 Spice Panacotta with Palm Glaze.

The night started off as a kind of comedy of errors. Just as I was about to sneak out of the house, the toddler woke up. "I want to play!" *sigh* Luckily, Rob was able to shuffle him back to bed while I made my escape, crossing my fingers that the twins won't wake up.

Then, we went to the wrong Radisson. The Sugar Hit is not at O'Connell Street, but at Liverpool Street. Luckily, the parking gods were with us, and it wasn't a big hassle.

When we arrived at the brasserie, it was packed. We had to wait a minute while the waiter prepared us a table. The service declined further during the night, improving only when we managed to flag a waiter--more than 15 minutes after we arrived--and asked about our Sugar Hits. Miz M is a little more assertive than I am and mentioned our 9:30 reservation *hint, hint* and our desserts came out within 5 minutes (meanwhile, four girls at the table next to us were still waiting even though they were already seated when we came in).

As usual, we weren't given a choice between the wine and the cognac--we got the wine. It was lovely and fruity and sweet, but we made the mistake of digging straight into the panacotta. After that, the wine tasted pretty horrible. I suggest drinking the wine before tackling the sweet options on the plate, or after the entire dessert has been consumed and your tongue has had a chance to reset.

Sugar Hit $20

I'm not a huge fan of panacotta and didn't have very high expectations, so I was pleasantly surprised by the spicy flavour. Miz M declared it to be her favourite dessert so far (she's been to the Sheraton and the Swissotel). I liked it a lot, but I thought there was too much of it. The palm glaze was yummy and sticky, reminding me of those slightly runny toffees you sometimes get at a cake stall.

The crepe looked lovely, although it seemed bland after the panacotta. Perhaps I should have tasted this first before I delved into the sweeter offerings. The berries were encased in red jelly, and the strawberries at the bottom were deliciously sweet. The crepe was a little meh and would have been nicer if it had been warm and slightly sweeter.

I saved the creme brulee for last. Alas, no crunch. For a dessert that took more than 15 minutes to arrive, this was a disappointment. The taste, however, was excellent. The texture was thicker than I'm used to in a creme brulee, but perfect for my preference because it came very close to tasting like leche flan (Filipino creme caramel). The roasted macadamia nuts inside the creme brulee added a contrast that made the custard taste less eggy. I could have eaten it all night.

In fact, when we finally scraped off the last bit of custard, jelly and glaze from our plates, I looked morosely at our empty plates, sighed and admitted, "I want another one."

One on 1 Brasserie
Radisson Hotel & Suites
72 Liverpool St, Sydney
02 8268 8888

See the sidebar for a round-up of Good Food Month in blogland.