The Sugar Hit super challenge: How many could you do in one night?

How many Sugar Hits could you possibly consume in one night?

It's a question that's plagued me everytime Good Food Month rolled around. As I'd finish scraping the plate of another delectable Sugar Hit, the final mouthful of sugar slowly dissolving on my tongue, I'd ponder deep and meaningful musings like "should one start at the north end of town or south?" and "would it be faster to get a taxi or run between participating hotels?"

It's a question that's perplexed Billy from A Table for Two as well. Thank heavens, because not only does it prompt him to host a One Night Sugar Hit: Stickier and Sweeter Sydney Tour , but he asks both Christy from Fig & Cherry and I along for the ride. Woohoo!

As most of us sweet tooths know, Sugar Hits run from 9pm to 11pm at selected hotels throughout October's Good Food Month. Not only is a Sugar Hit marathon a test of digestive endurance, it's a balancing act of geographic logistics within a two-hour timeframe. Thank you Google Maps and your map-pinning capabilities!

The Big Night: 7pm. I accompany a dozen friends to BBQ King for dinner but resist the salt and pepper calamari, the char siu pork and the crispy skin chicken. Instead I have a small bowl of wonton soup. My friends are puzzled until I eventually reveal to one of them my plans for the evening. Before I know it, the entire table knows about my intended gluttony, a chain of Chinese whispers that sees each person's eyes widen with shock at our Sugar Hit target. I duck out into the night before they finish, torn between pride and shame at my evening mission.


Swissotel Sydney

Sugar Hit #1: 9.00pm Swissotel

We're one of the first sweet tooths to arrive and are rewarded with what seems to be the best seat in the house: a secluded alcove that comes with its own furnishings. It takes several minutes for our wines to arrive and then five more for our dessert plates to come. The constant glances at our watches will become an all-too-familiar pattern.


Three Treats with Chocolate: White chocolate with coconut sorbet;
milk chocolate velvet cheesecake; and dark chocolate with caramel & pear

Served with a Brown Brothers sparkling moscato

In a word: yum. The stylish plating and happy splash of yellow reminds me of the Spanish surrealist, Miro. We all love the smooth milk chocolate cheesecake, the refreshing coconut sorbet, and the rich sticky caramel nestled in dark chocolate and furnished with pear. I can't imagine many people faulting this offering. It's safe but not boring, and I come up with the word "accessible" to convey its likely broad-based appeal.


Round 1: Success

We eat it all and gladly so. With eyes on the clock we scrape back our chairs and make our longest trek of the evening - to the Intercontinental Hotel.



Sugar Hit #1: 9.45pm Intercontinental Hotel

It's about seven or eight blocks to the Intercontinental. Christy certainly knows it. She's wearing heels! I take the initiative to order our drinks before we've even sat down, politely conveying we're in a bit of a hurry. As if by magic, our dessert arrives within 60 seconds.


Tasting platter: V.S.O.P cognac cream and white chocolate-raspberry torte;
Grand Marnier-strawberry infused panna cotta; and chestnut timbale

Served with a Brown Brothers orange muscat flora

There's nothing but silence as we each attack our desserts. The white chocolate and raspberry torte is a little too firm with gelatine but we all seem to adore the chestnut timbale. Not only is it decorated with gorgeous polka dots on the outside, but the delicate flavour of chestnut is rich and sweet.



As other foodbloggers have reported, the square dish holding the panna cotta is either too small for the accompanying spoon, or we should have been issued with teaspoons. I make no hesitation in using the other end of my fork, but it's a rather unelegant way to finish an otherwise attractive platter.


Round 2: Success

Plates licked clean we make our way to the Sydney Harbour Marriott.



Sugar Hit #3: 10.15pm Marriott Hotel

The lounge here is extremely small and the host is worried she won't be able to fit us in until we reassure her we have a booking. We've made bookings for every Sugar Hit tonight except for the Intercontinental, which takes Sugar Addicts on a first-come basis.

It seems to take an eon for our desserts to arrive, especially when we see the waitress approach us with desserts, then veer toward the table on our right who we know were seated ages before us. It's torture. Instead we amuse ourselves with the consumption of our dessert wines. The cumulative effect of three dessert wines has probably kicked in by now because I find the arrival of our cutlery nestled inside the napkin pocket tine-side, not handle side, in ridiculously amusing. Will I get a spoon and a fork, or two deviant spoons? I think you had to be there.


Chef's selection: chocolate walnut brownie; mango creme brulee;
mango rice pudding; and strawberry and cream sponge

Served with a Brown Brothers orange muscat flora

Our plates arrive and we sigh with relief. Except our stomachs are feeling anything but. I love the strawberry and cream sponge (one of my favourite cakes with its clean simplicity) and delight in the mango creme brulee too. The rice pudding is good at first but then starts to become more like a meal, the chocolate brownie is incredibly dense and sweet and appears a little out of place on an already decadent platter.


Round 3: Success (mine is on the right)

We manage to finish most of our platters, although the chocolate brownie is too much of a hurdle for most of us.



It's at this point we're not only feeling green, but we're aware we're fifteen minutes late for our next booking. I volunteer to be the runner for our next booking, and as I'm pounding the pavement towards dessert number four, I'm not sure whether I should feel virtuous that I'm expending some calories, or mortified that I'm running towards to even more. It's a tough call.

Sugar Hit #4: 10.45pm Four Seasons Hotel

I collapse in a heap at our table at the Four Seasons Hotel. Here I reveal to our waitress our mission of the evening. Not only is she impressed, but she's outwardly envious. "I wish I could do that with my friends," she says.

When I tell her we have another Sugar Hit scheduled after this, she whips out our desserts as a matter of urgency.


Deconstructed Sachertorte, Austria's legendary bitter sweet chocolate tart

Served with a Brown Brothers orange muscat flora

Wow. This one's a big 'un.

I'm not sure that I agree with the nature of deconstructed desserts, but individually, these components are decandently delicious. The soft melting mound of bittersweet chocolate mousse is the clear winner here, although I'm not convinced on the apricot gel. We agree the presentation here is very impressive and had it not been our fourth dessert of the night, we would've considered this a very worthwhile investment.


Round 4: Success (mine is nearest to camera)

I'm not sure whether to be proud or horrified at this photo.



Sugar Hit #5: 11.10pm Shangri-La Hotel

The home stretch. We race into the lobby where the waitress says she was just about to let our table go. She's also let in on our evening's mission and as we collapse on the lounge we breathe a sigh of relief that finally, we can actually linger over dessert, enjoy each mouthful and not worry about running toward the next hotel!


Berry delights: pistachio shortbread with licorice-infused strawberry;
strawberry and rhubarb mascarpone dacquoise; and cream fraiche ice-cream

Served with Brown Brothers cienna dessert wine

Our final dessert platter is another triumph of aesthetics. The crackle plate gives an air of Japanese elegance. I find the licorice-infused strawberries (actually star-anise) a little too overpowering and confusing for my tastebuds and the strawberry and rhubarb mascarpone has an eggy flavour that isn't quite what I'm looking for after four plates of dessert. The creme fraiche ice cream is refreshing in a milky confection kind of way. We do appreciate the change of dessert wine though - the cienna has great berry flavours.


Brown Brothers cienna dessert wine


Strawberry and rhubarb mascarpone dacquoise


Cream fraiche ice-cream with licorice-infused strawberry


Round #5: Failed

They said it couldn't be done, but we did it. Five Sugar Hits in one night. Now pass me the insulin. I think I'm about to pass out.


Four Seasons Hotel - The Bar
199 George Street, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9238 0000

Intercontinental Hotel - The Cortile Lounge
(bookings not accepted)
Corner Bridge and Phillip Streets , Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9240 1396

Marriott Sydney Harbour - The Macquarie Lounge
30 Pitt Street, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9259 7378

Shangri-La - The Lobby Lounge
176 Cumberland Street, The Rocks, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9250 6123

Swissotel - Crossroads Bar
68 Market Street, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9238 7088

Sugar Hits are available: Every night in October from 9pm-11pm
To avoid disappointment, bookings for all Sugar Hits are strongly recommended.

Cost: $20
Includes a dessert plate and a glass of Hennessy Cognac or Brown Brother's Orange Muscat Flora or tea/coffee/soft drink

More Sugar Hits available here

Related GrabYourFork posts:
GFM 2008: Sugar Hit #1 at the Kings Cross Hotel
GFM 2008: Night Noodle Markets

GFM 2007: Sugar Hit #3 at the Westin Sydney
GFM 2007: Sugar Hit #2 at the Sofitel Wentworth
GFM 2007: Sugar Hit #1 at the InterContinental Sydney

GFM 2006: Good Living Growers' Markets
GFM 2006: Hats Off dinner at Becasse
GFM 2006: Night Noodle Markets Week 3
GFM 2006: Night Noodle Markets Week 2
GFM 2006: Night Noodle Markets Week 1
GFM 2006: Spring Picnic
GFM 2006: Sugar Hit #4 at the Sofitel Wentworth
GFM 2006: Sugar Hit #3 at the Intercontinental Sydney
GFM 2006: Sugar Hit #2 at the Four Seasons Hotel Sydney
GFM 2006: Sugar Hit #1 at the Park Hyatt Sydney
GFM 2006: Sydney Food & Wine Fair

GFM 2005: Good Living Growers' Markets
GFM 2005: Night Noodle Markets
GFM 2005: Spring Picnic
GFM 2005: Sydney Farmers' Market
GFM 2005: Sydney Food & Wine Fair

GFM 2004: Twilight Trail: Cocktails and Sugar Hits