Gelato Messina

Let me introduce you guys to my favourite gelato joint in Sydney.

The place is called Gelato Messina and it's located on Victoria St, Darlinghurst.



Now I've done my fair share of travels around Italy, and have tasted my fair share of gelatos and so far, Messina is the only place that lives up to my expectations of a good gelato.



I personally prefer gelato over ice cream (although I still really love ice cream) because I like the smooth texture of the gelato and how that brings out the flavour of the ingredients better than the milky, slightly frosted texture of ice cream.

When I was travelling around Italy it was summertime so I ate gelato whenever and wherever I could find them! My absolute favourite flavour is (and always will be) "Fior di latte" which literally means "milk flower" (which they don't have anywhere in Sydney...can someone find me a place that sells this flavour?). To me it tastes like vanilla milkshake!!! Yum!



Fior di latte from Grom, a popular Italian gelateria (this one I went to was in Milan)



Almond and hazelnut / Fior di latte gelatos in Cefalu, Sicily (it was boiling hot that day....all we did was sit at a beachside cafe and eat almond flavoured food :P)

But, there is one flavour at Messina which potentially can be the Aussie replacement for my Fior di latte - it's the "salted caramel with white chocolate" flavour and oh mon dieu it is HEAVENLY (it's the one on the left - double scoop all the way!).



The sweetness of the white chocolate is perfectly balanced by the salted caramel leaving you that wonderful slightly strange flavour of both savoury and sweet tastes in your mouth.



Messina has around 30 flavours available daily - they also have a list of Special flavours which change constantly. These specials are really special because they're more daring and quirky compared to the usual flavours that are there every day :)



The other great thing about Messina is that it's really good value for money. One scoop is $3.90, two scoops are $4.90 and three scoops are $6.90! I know certain other ice cream / gelato shops that sell their ice cream / gelato for $5.90 a scoop (honestly, a bit toooo much for ice cream...).

You can also take away these goodies in a take away tubs (500mL - 1500mL sizes). They also have a Creative Department (Messina’s Laboratorio and Patisserie) next door which sells ready made single serve ice cream desserts!

Expect to queue up when you're there though - seems like Messina is everyone's favourite gelato joint! (psst, they also have second store in the Cafe Court area of the Star so maybe you can try your luck there and not have to wait in line ;P)

D xx

Dinner @ Buffalo Dining Club.

One day my friend at work sent me a link to the SMH review by Terry Durack for Buffalo Dining Club which had recently opened its doors in Darlinghurst, just off Victoria Ave.

Finding out that it was the latest offering from the team that brought Table for 20 into Sydney's dining scene (I'm yet to visit eeeek!), I knew that it would already be on my "must-visit list".

The most stand-out thing from the review about Buffalo Dining Club was that it's menu was mainly based on....you guessed it - buffalo mozzarella! It's quite rare that you come across a restaurant which has a menu which is so focused on one particular ingredient - I guess that's its main selling point!

So I gave it a visit on a Saturday night and I have to say it was a lovely experience! (Buffalo Dining Club is open Wed-Sat 12pm -11pm)

Since Buffalo Dining Club does not take bookings, we made sure to get there around 6pm. Parking can be such a hassle around Darlinghurst so try to take public transport if possible (its a short stroll from Kings Cross)! By the time we parked the car, it was like 6:15pm so we ended up getting to Buffalo Dining Club at around 6:20pm.





When we arrived, the bottom floor was packed (it seats about 15 people) so we were taken upstairs (which also seats around 15) and found that it was relatively empty! So we got a table straight away.



The menu is on a massive chalkboard on one side of the wall, and the waitress kindly explained to us how the system worked.



You basically choose a cheese - there is a choice between buffalo mozzarella, burratina (cow's cheese) and a goat's cheese mozzarella (not on menu), then you choose two sides to go with the cheese. We choose the burratina with whole baby mushrooms and grilled baby eggplant.

Prosciutto is also one of Buffalo Dining Club's specialities - we ended up choosing the San Daniele, a Italian ham directly flown over by plane.

We also ordered the "spaghetti" because I had read that it was "special" in various other blogs previously!

The cheese and ham came out very quickly - and comes with bread and ring shaped biscuits.





The cheese looks nice and chewy on the outside but when you slice it open....it is actually filled with a super creamy and soft inside....which made be salivate just looking at it!



You combine some cheese, mushrooms and eggplant onto your bread and it tastes devine. I had never come across such fresh and creamy mozzarella before, even when I was in Italy!

The ham is also very tasty, although it was slightly salty for my taste buds. I still think the best ham I've ever had is the jamon iberico which I had in Spain. Just unbeatable.

When we finished the ham and cheese, we sat there thinking "damn we should have ordered more cheese!". But not long after, the spaghetti came out. It was quite a sight because the waiter comes with a wheel of cheese with the spaghetti inside it and actually takes the spaghetti directly from the wheel to the plate on the table, with flakes of cheese from the wheel becoming a part of the spaghetti dish!



Despite the awesomeness of the wheel, I haves to admit I wasn't a big fan of the spaghetti - it was a little overlooked so it didn't have that 'al dente' feel of a oil-based spaghetti.

Overall, when we left the only thought in our minds was - GIVE ME MORE MOZZARELLA!!



So will I go back to Buffalo Dining Club? Most definitely! I loved the atmosphere and loved how quick the food came out and most of all, loved the mozzarella! Next time I'll definitely order a mozzarella all to myself :) And it only ended up being around $20 pp!

D xx



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Upcoming post: Dessert @ Gelato Messina!