July | 2014 | For Food's Sake – A Sydney Food Blog | Page 2

Deciding where to have a late lunch in Bondi can be a tricky one, it’s busy, winter near the beach can be uncomfortable for some and the main thing – most of the cafes close their kitchens around 3 or 4 (ahem Porch and Parlour) leaving one particular food blogger disappointed, alas, I’ll see you next time. Walking around cold and famished led us to a corner restaurant in North Bondi which is actually run by the same team that created Porch and Parlour called The Hill Eatery. It was like they were trying to make it up to me! A beautifully displayed and rustic restaurant appeared to be the perfect place for my long overdue catch up with my good friend Veronica. The menu was diverse with a lot of interesting options, but whenever I’m at the point to say I’m famished, basically means that it’s burger time. So we both put in our order for the Beef Burger w. swiss cheese, pickles, onion jam and The Hill made dijonnaise and duck fat potatoes. $18. Sounds good doesn’t it!? Well I wouldn’t know…….because …

This post is long overdue… I was never one of those lucky people that won prizes or competitions growing up but lo and behold I was the shiny winner of a shredded Lamb Jaffle from Sly on Devonshire Street, Surry Hills. Like most people I have a weakness for a good jaffle – a little grain bread, some oozy melted cheese and a not so respectable pat of butter. Making the trip mid-week Alex and I rocked up to Sly to claim my edible prize. Perusing the menu, Sly offer a number of toasted Jaffles, open sandwiches and coffee from Roastworks in Artamon. No decisions to be made on my end, my only job was to convince Alex to the porky dark side. Finally getting him to agree to the ‘Notorious P.I.G’ – I won’t lie, I was a little puzzled when this was brought to the table. I’ve seen numerous photos of this dish on other blogs and none were served like ours was. Making me think I had been brought the wrong thing. …

Last week myself and fellow FFS members, Bianca and Alex, got to tick one of the items of our “restaurant bucket list” by attending a luncheon at China Republic in World Square.  Having heard many times over about one said Peking duck, we were delighted to be invited to taste the latest express lunch menu created by head chef, Michael Wong and his team. Chef Wong has created 3 menu choices that captures the essence of Asian cuisine and priced at only $25, $30 and $35 it’s perfect if you want a bit more of an upscale lunch without breaking the bank. As we arrived, the looming terracotta warrior that greeted us at the entrance of the large, wooden doors instantly gave us the sense that a great deal of emphasis had been placed on creating a modern yet cultural atmosphere. My immediate impression as we stepped into the dimly lit dining area was that this was a restaurant that had been designed to create a memorable experience for its patrons. The restaurant itself is …

Nestled pleasantly on the corner of Audley street in the burgeoning cafe scene in Petersham. The Grumpy Barista (No Grumpiness to be seen) is a quaint little cafe that exudes rustic characteristics effortlessly. While the cafe has recently been getting a lot of (well deserved) hype, the wait staff, and owner’s Carlo and Sarah were all extremely down to earth and eager to help out the numerous coffee cravers. As I was flicking through the menu and my partner in crime Michael attempted to talk to me, I admittedly paid no attention to anything he was saying because I saw two killer looking cronuts that had my name on it! Unfortunately, because we came a little after the morning craze we missed out on the new addition to the family, The Oreo Crumble with injected Nutella, so we were left with the Honey and Walnut Cronut BUT, it was as if my prayers had been answered, they were able to scrape off the excess honey and walnut and recreate my beloved Nutella delight. Granted, I could taste some of …

From the fast paced craziness of Los Angeles we moved on to a different type O crazy in New Orleans, the largest city in the state of Louisiana. We were excited for ‘Nawlins’ for a number of reasons, its old world distinct French architecture, creole cuisine, some of the best jazz in the world and it’s kooky off-beat people. Of course, doing the tourist thing, we stayed in the French Quarter, a two minute walk to the main streets ‘Royal’ and ‘Bourbon’, where after dark things can definitely get a little weird. Only having three days, we wanted to explore as much as we could in the short amount of time. Really my only pre-requisite for my visit, as in, cannot be missed or a crime will be committed, were Beignets pronounced (Ben-yay’s). I had heard rumblings about two places in particular, the New Orleans stalwart ‘Café Du Monde’ founded in 1862 and ‘Café Beignet’. After dumping our stuff in the hotel upon our arrival, we made a beeline for Café Du Monde. The Beignets …

Finishing work at 3pm during the week means I hardly ever have an excuse to order take out. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy my local Chinese or Thai when the mood strikes. And the cool weather Wednesday night lent itself to a bit of slothfulness. So Alex and I decided to take advantage of a ‘Menulog’ voucher and sit back and relax.   Ordering through Menulog is fairly simple, you merely choose your preferred restaurant, pick your selected dishes then input your payment details. There was a bit of uncertainty after we had paid, we were anticipating a confirmation sms message that did not arrive 15 minutes after we had ordered. I’m not sure if this is a regular thing. But it did lead to a bit of confusion as to whether the order was processed. Our order was set to arrive at 6:42pm but came at 6:30pm which was very welcome as we were well and truly famished. We went with a local Thai restaurant ‘Baan Raun Thai’ we tend to stick …

There’s usually lot of ‘uhhmming and ahhing’ when considering eating anywhere in Darling Harbour generally because there’s a lot of bad hype that surrounds the very touristy locale. For drinks on the other hand, Cockle Bay Wharf is a bustling area with a great view, what more could you ask for! With the added addition of Casa Ristorante in King Street Wharf bringing some good quality italian food, I’ve slowly become more inclined to make the effort to go there a little more often. Us ‘For Food Saker’s’ were invited by Carly from ‘Blackbird Cafe’ to try out the new drinks menu and for the most part they didn’t disappoint! Blackbird Cafe has a great atmosphere for a casual dining experience or just for a cocktail or two. It was great to know that they were getting into the World Cup spirit as well, with decorations hanging all around the restaurant! Carly kindly started us off with some ‘Crunchy chips w. thyme salt and basil aioli $7′ They were really good chips and the basil aioli was …