MCA Cafe

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Photo: Fiona Morris

On the first weekend of the Biennale of Sydney, the sun is shining and, with an out-of-town bestie in tow, we set off to the sparkling quay and hit the art trail. Walking, talking, looking, touching, oohing and aahing can really build an appetite. So it's superb foresight that the new Museum of Contemporary Art has a fourth-floor cafe, half of which is open-air with a spectacular view over the harbour - perfect for impressing guests.

Lunch in the Loti Smorgon Sculpture Terrace is a dazzling affair. The hot midday sun reflects off the large white space. A table umbrella or hat would be welcome. We have neither but, being midwinter, sitting outside is still enjoyable. Plastic chairs and queuing to order and pay at the counter are reminders that this is a cafe. But the floor staff manage the crowds well and we are soon back at our seats, number on the table, and a glass of French rose´ in hand.

The food by Fresh Catering arrives all at once and looks impressive. We begin with a sourdough bruschetta topped with the beautiful colour combination of plump white anchovies on a bed of vivid-green salsa verde; mouth-puckeringly fresh and briny.

A board is piled with crispy school prawns, deep-fried, heads and all, in a light tempura batter. Perfectly light and not oily, their crunchy saltiness is offset by a pot of rich creamy garlic aioli that we finish long before the prawns. A squeeze of lemon over the remainder is pretty good, though.

A dish of mulloway fillets, quinoa, broad beans, capers and preserved lemon salad looks like a spring day, all pale greens and lemons, garnished on top with fresh orange segments and toasted almonds.

Under the greenery, the delicate fillets are smeared with aioli and the pearly texture of the quinoa is akin to vegetarian caviar. Even more moreish is the salad of pulled pork larb. Tender shredded pork is caramelised in a sweet-salty Thai mixture and offset by a zingy salad of Vietnamese mint, coriander, pickled cucumber and pine nuts. The clean glass noodles give the dish balance.

You can eye the dessert options in the glass-fronted counter, but appearances can be deceiving. We enlist the advice of one of the young waiters. Her French accent gives extra cred to her unhesitating preference: the baci cake.

Speaking of contemporary art, this little number is a conceptual wonder. Shaped like a rounded pyramid, it is coated in a shell of hard chocolate - which softens under the hot afternoon sun. Toasted hazelnuts sit on top like a crown. An investigative poke with a spoon releases a riverlet of passionfruit liquid down the chocolate side. Inside, flourless hazelnut cake is divided by a layer of hazelnut praline and under its chocolate cap sits a reservoir of passionfruit syrup. The other dessert doesn't stand a chance. A jaffa cake of orange flourless cake interspersed with layers of chocolate ganache and date jelly comes topped with a curled piece of orange and a magisterial medjool date. It is rich and complex affair.

If you can take your eyes off the food or view, you may wonder about the artwork on the terrace. By Sydneysider Hany Armanious, it's a four-tonne marble sculpture of the inner ear.

Menu Upmarket cafe, with gluten-free, vegetarian and children's options.
Value Good. Shared plates, $8-$18; mains, $12-$18; dessert, $8-$9.
Recommended dishes Mulloway with quinoa salad; pulled pork larb and glass noodles; baci cake.

MCA CAFE
4th floor, 140 George Street, The Rocks, 9245 2452
Fri-Wed, 10am-5pm; Thurs, 10am-9pm, limited evening menu, licensed

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