13.5/20
As befits its location in downtown Surry Hills, Sugarcane is a cool, palely modern, airy space with a bit more style and imagination than many a pan-Asian kitchen. Chef-owner Milan Strbac's first courses are the liveliest, especially a perky prawn on crunchy rice cake with caramelised sugarcane dressing - a beehive of hair-fine lime and lemongrass on top showing nifty knifework. A Malaysian yellow curry dip is street-food attractive and spicily complex, with golden roti pan-fried to a crisp flakiness. Soft-shell crab, cashew and green mango salad is a harmonious pairing that needed a bit more oomph, and a fragrant rendang of wagyu was overly tamed with coconut. Among the vegetarian dishes, stir-fried eggplant with chilli and Thai basil is sensational, meaty-rich and firm in its deep, dark and sticky yellow bean sauce. You'd expect a sweet ending at Sugarcane, and indeed you get one. a crunchy 'mess' of meringue and tropical fruit.
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