Ms G's - Potts Point

Its been a while in between posts here at The Empty Fridge - but rest assured we have not been starving or participating in a pre-easter lenten fast. It's been a crazy few days in our non-food related work life; which is why come the weekend, we can't help but get our Rebecca Black on and be so excited, we we so excited. 

A few weekends ago we found ourselves boozed up as a result of the NSW Cellar Door Wine Festival in Hyde Park. After having spent much of the afternoon tasting some delicious wines; we found ourselves a nice patch of grass and ignored the "not to be consumed on the premises" sticker on our bottle. Great start to the afternoon and no doubt it was bound to get better.

Since we were in the vicinity; quick thinking and a fast cab led us to Pott's Point, with nothing but  Ms G's on our mind. We were seated straight away and true to form the cocktail list was carefully studied. We we we so very excited to try every "packaged" cocktail on the menu.

Fact - I am a bubble tea fiend, and while others dream of whiz bang expresso machines in their kitchen - my ultimate appliance is a bubble tea drink sealer - purely for cocktails and maybe early morning milk teas. A few cocktails are served in heat sealed plastic cups with chunky colourful plastic straws. Im not sure who came up with this idea - Ms Gs Chefs Dan Hong and Jowett Yu or the Merivale Maestro himself, Justin Hemmes. Could it be that Merivale head sommelier Franc Moreu is a bubble tea feind too? Who ever it was that executed my bubble tea dream is a living legend, 10 points for the cool factor.

So yes, i'm a simple girl with dreams of alcoholic beverages in these sealed cups - the idea in itself has me waxing lyrical about Ms Gs - and we haven't even got into the name, decor and most importantly the food yet. Ms Gs, a reference to everyones favourite food additive MSG. I really like the name because back in the days of jigging school and roaming the streets of Ashfield with my bubble tea, my year 12 jersey had Miss G emblazoned on the back. How can you not like a namesake restaurant? We were meant to be.

The cocktails we ordered were very refreshing after a day spent sinking down wine. We were eying the lethal sake list, as well as the paddle of shots however our first tipples (ha-ha rhymes with nipples) had to be the Pina 'Pearls' Colada and the Green Iced Tea. My Pina Colada had little tapioca pearls which i lovingly refer to as goob. With Appleton VX, Havana Club Blanco rum, pineapple, coconut, yogurt sorbet, green pearls it was a fresh and zingy drink that got the party started. Demos' Green Iced Tea had Zubrowka vodka, Cloud & Mist tea, grapefruit bitters, green apple, soda - now whoever said Green Tea was always good for you?

Clockwise from L-R - Communal Cutlery, 6-2-1 aka scientific code for MSG, the front bar with the shot paddles hanging, stairs to the multi levels of fun.

Mini bánh mì- crispy pork belly or chicken katsu ($6 each)
These bite size burgers/rolls/sandwiches was the much needed hit of 'naughty' food we needed to line our stomachs! Having one pork and one chicken variety we were only able to have a bit of each but my goodness it was delectable. The crunch of the meat and the tanginess of the sauce was enough to make you want to order 6 more and we had to restrain ourselves from doing just that.

Of course there was some hidden sneaky coriander in between the buns, but we'll get to that later. Demos is addicted to the chilli sauce and proceeds to cover his serve of the bahn mi - he refers to this as 'Napalming the jungle' with epic sriracha rooster sauce.

We step outside for a breather and run into some familiar faces. The lovely Bianca of Eat Drink and Write blogging fame and her boyfriend Anthony Soprano - a mate of mine from way back are also wanting a piece of the Ms G's action. The place had already filled up with hungry diners waiting for a table. We managed to hustle and swap our lonely table for two and scored a table with our new eating buddies and hi-jack their romantic date.

Above: The front bar and the middle dining level with overhanging ropes and a peek a boo view of the harbour bridge.

Fried baby chicken, Kimchi Mayonnaise (half serve) $15.

Fried chicken seems to be a staple order when we see it on the menu. Just as well as it is because this was really tasty. Crispy and seasoned well minus the super oily headache. It was a shame that we only had the smaller serve as they also do a whole chicken with more pieces. Gives a reason to go back again. 

Anthony and Bianca felt the need to catch up on the drinking (apparently we were slurring but this issue is still in contention..) so another round of cocktails appeared like magic. I had the Blue Bottle which had Plymouth gin, pineapple, Aeroplane jelly (!!!) with homemade lemonade and Demos who dares to be different ordered the Choya Cobbler with Choya plum wine, Ramos port, strawberries, oranges, limes and lemons. Being big plum wine fans, this cocktail took us back to boosy nights in tokyo and was a refreshing favorite.

Plate O’ Ms G’s pickles $9. 

Bianca picked a plate of pickled goods having a penchant for and peppers.
(Now say that really fast!) Pickled goodies are great. Nice acidic flavours, tanginess and how can you say no to pickled chillies? Well I can because I am a chilli wussbag, Demos can't so I watched eagerly as everyone got their pickle on.

Prawn toast, yuzu aioli and herbs $14; Egg noodles with XO sauce, braised duck, soft poached egg $18. 


Two fantastic dishes were up for grabs here. The prawn toast was soft and spongy and what I would imagine eating a prawn flavoured cloud would be. Egg noodles were a favourite, especially when the egg is broken in and mixed with the XO sauce. Only there was one problem; for those of you that know me and regularly read our escapades you can already guess what this is. Coriander. When combined with alcohol this most common of asian herbs just kills me. Literally. And Anthony knows this because back in the day he had once taken me to hospital after a huge coriander attack - true story!

So as I mentioned earlier the prawn toast is really tasty. Soft and puffy like a cloud on the inside; crispy like a fried prawn shell on the outside, and speaking of which it is packed full of prawn flavour. Duh. Another moorish dish and there was not a drop of the yuzu aoli left on the plate.

Another staple menu item is duck. Whenever there is duck on the menu, 9 times out of 10 it will end up infront of me. Just as well because this dish was a standout. Even though there was all the coriander, Demos took it upon himself to remove each and every spec of greenery to save my life and let me savour this dish. Tasty tasty sauce, soft noodles and duck meat with egg. Yum. The XO sauce gave the dish a nice lift and Demos was busy once again with the sriracha sauce - the man is addicted!

Taiwanese style wok fried surf clams with chilli, chorizo and basil $22
Bianca and Anthony were well stuck into the clams, so we decided to leave them alone seeing as though they were enjoying it. We gathered that it would've been a tasty dish and would love to try it when we go back.

Pandan chiffon cake, strawberries, coconut sorbet $12.

Now for deserts. Now this might sound gluttonous but we ordered every desert on the menu. This isn't the first time we have done this; but don't judge, there was four of us sharing and we needed to capitalise on this fact. The pandan chiffon cake was light and fluffy, and the tapioca pearls were such an excellent addition. It was so good Demos was getting into it, having expressed disdain for chiffon cake in the past, I was caught off guard.  

“Stoner’s Delight” ice cream, chocolate rice bubble cubes, crushed pretzels, peanut brittle and brulee'd marshmallow $12. 


This would have to be one of the best deserts ever and was like a piece of art, too bad it didn't last that way for very long. The combination of crispy chocolate rice bubble brownies, doughnut flavoured ice cream, marshmallows and peanut brittle gets the blood sugar levels up just thinking about it. It was a textural delight with the crunch and the goo.

“SPLICE” Pine-Lime granita, lychee sorbet, whipped cream $12 and Jam Donut with ice cream, raspberry sauce, brioche croutons and whipped cream $12. 

Jam Donut was really good, I mean anytime there are croutons in a dessert with some ice cream and a dose of whipped cream it has to be good - its a sundae on another level. The Splice was so good so delectable that we didn't even get time to get a photo. But just imagine a pineapple and lime granita with a lychee sorbet and whipped cream, what a flavour sensation! Demos stuck in while we were snapping away at the other desserts. 

The Empty Fridge Dish of the Day - has to be the the Duck noodles. We were all hesitant to share this dish as it was so good! Two serves between 4 people kind of good and it would be something I would be comming back for. One dish I forgot to order (don't you hate it when that happens?) was the barbecued corn on the cob with melted parmesan and lime. 

So if you are after a fun, loud and exciting night with delicious, exciting dishes and desserts you'll be craving long after you leave (im talking to you, stoners delight) and a plethora of awesome cocktails - Ms G's is the place to be! Get there early to avoid the wait and you won't be disappointed - just drink and eat the night away!

 Ms G's - http://www.merivale.com/#/msgs/msgs
Open Mon to Saturday 5 pm -11 pm, Fri lunch from 01:00 pm to 03:00 pm and Sun 1pm to 10pm