Hello and welcome to another Food Friday, this week is a little different to usual as, well, having been on holiday for 3 weeks I haven’t been doing much cooking. I have, however, been doing a lot of eating. A lot of good eating. I ate very well indeed… so here in a 3 part special holiday ediiton here is my little food-focused guide to Sydney. Enjoy.
The over-riding impression Sydney gives is if you want to eat and drink anything but Australian food, then this is the city for you. It seems every little neighbourhood strip from New Town to Paddington has its selection of Asian fusion restaurants and German beer bars. From Japanese to Chinese to Vietnamese to odd Mexican/Thai fusion, Sydney does things with a wok and a stein of lager the best.
As it is my favourite thing, I indulged a lot in Japanese food: we even had a Christmas Eve Japanese takeaway feast from including Sapporo in Crows Nest and despite me being in a stinkingly bad mood the day we went to Cammeray to Tokkuri, the bento box soon put a smile on my face. This was some of the best Japanese food I have ever eaten, even trumping the Pho I had for breakfast on my previous visit to Australia. That Pho is legendary. It was somewhere in Newtown and I have been dreaming of it ever since.
Gigantic bento box at Tokkuri
Ahem, enough about Pho as apart from Asian fusion food, Sydneysiders do also do cafe society and brunch with a passion – just check out this breakfast menu for a start! After a long bus ride (and 4 changes) we made it from Sydney North to Bondi and fell into the first place we found. Im glad we did. The Corn fritters with warm smoky tomato chutney, bacon, goat’s cheese & roquette at Cafe Trio, Bondi Beach with freshly squeezed apple juice were fantastic. The coffee wasn’t bad either!
Heaven on a plate - Cafe Trio, Bondi Beach
It isn’t all about the neighbourhood though and fine dining is far from forgotten in Sydney. Le Kiosk must have one of the most spectacular settings on Shelly Beach over looking Manly bay. Whilst it may not have a ‘hat’, Le Kiosk does spectacular fresh fish, Sydney Rock Oysters and crisp Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc – a restaurant worth searching out and I think my favourite of the trip. I would also like to get married here. Hopefully. Ok, pipe dream, but please go here if you are ever in Sydney, you wont regret it.
Finally, no trip to Australia is complete without a bbq. This was our Christmas dinner. I don’t think I shall be eating turkey ever again!
Christmas dinner - a steak as big as my head!
Of course Sydney isn’t all about the food. Drinking wise, it turns out Sydneysiders seem to have a passion for German Beer – we checked out (quite a few times in the end) the newish Bavarian Beer Café in Crows Nest (also in Chatswood) for steins of Löwenbräu and pretzels. It turns out as we criss-crossed the city that every neighbourhood strip across the city seemed to have its own German/Belgium bar.
However, Sydney’s craziest bar must be the Fortunes of War, Sydney’s oldest pub, located in The Rocks. The FoW is the scene of B asking my Dad for my hand in marriage. Maybe we should go back and celebrate there soon! Beer and pub fans, also check out heritage Australian Hotel, also located in The Rocks. For more beer in a fantastic courtyard setting and the chance to bbq your own steak the Oaks Hotel in Neutral Bay is also recommended. Go in the evening when the oak tree the hotel is named after is lit up in twinkling lights.
The most spectacular bar in Sydneyis of course the Opera Bar, where B and I spent NYE and the scene of the proposal. By day it looks like this…
The scene of the proposal. Those seats. Right there.
…and on NYE like this. Absolutely spectacular.
BOOM!!
Miss S x
Next week… over in Melbourne – a surprise italian tasting menu in Toorak, tapas in St Kilda and turkish heaven and Little Creatures in Brunswick. As for Dubai, well how about the best setting for lunch ever?
