Gumshara, Sydney

Suffering from withdrawal at the mercy of "the Chronic".  This was the next day fix at lunch.  Tonkotsu ramen at its best.

Taste Baguette, Sydney

French bread, Vietnamese filling.  A great interracial combination. Crusty baguette with lemongrass beef, lettuce, pickled veg, cucumber and coriander.

Chat Thai, Sydney

Can't chat, cramming my face with crispy pork belly stir fried with red curry paste.

Washed down with a durian and sticky rice pudding.

And I'm spent.

via Abercrombie, Sydney

To my stomach via Abercrombie.

Revisiting Sydney Favourites

Mamak: Still rulers of the roti, saints of the satay, kings of the kurry. A 40 minute wait just to get inside with no regrets. 4 / 5 yums



Ramen-Kan: The elevator still a death trap but running the risk doesn’t reap the rewards with this kaisen-don not of the same quality last sampled. Wet, stodgy rice, overcooked sashimi, sloppy presentation. 2.5 / 5 yums



Sydney Fish Markets: Mix and match fresh seafood from the fish mongers and cooked from the food court mongers for DIY smorgasbord fit for a meal amongst a colony of seagulls. 3.5 / 5 yums



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Where? Sydney, NSW
What? Depends

Workshop Espresso, Sydney

It’s been a while since I’d been back to Sydney, the CBD that lacks a decent brew except for a few choice spots. But now Sydneysiders don’t have to travel all the way to Newtown or Rosebery for a quality cup of the black liquid. Oh it’s a trend… and finally the city with the big lights is getting the convenient access to the stuff Melbournians have on tap. From this hole in the wall at The Galeries, get a Toby Estate blend in a great looking takeaway cup that will give you an impressive caffeine buzz.

4 / 5 yums!
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Where? The Galeries Victoria, 500 George Street, Sydney, NSW
What? $3.50 a cup

Klink, Sydney

It’s been a while since I’d been back to Sydney, the CBD that lacks a decent brew except for a few choice spots. But now Sydneysiders don’t have to travel all the way to Newtown or Rosebery for a quality cup of the black liquid. Just follow the funky arty looking gents and ladies in the skinny jeans, thick rimmed glasses and Glebe Market shoes to Gaffa Gallery where there is a little boutique café with a barista who is known to rule the tamper and portafilter with an iron fist. But what a master of the dark art who creates a great shot of pick me up that’s strong and gutsy with a feint bitter aftertaste. Delicious. And nutritious.

4.5 / 5 yums!
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Where? Gaffa Gallery, 281 Clarence St, Sydney, NSW

Aria, Sydney

Get past the Masterchef hype, views of the Opera House and Bridge and it’s food that plays to the tune of a food DJ mashing up classic combinations. It would be harsh to say that the creativity is lacking, but if the a la carte menu had limbs, they would be fully attached.



Amuse Bouche of Pumpkin soup with Parmesan Foam: tasty.



Peking Duck Consomme with Duck Dumplings, shaved abalone and mushrooms: great duck juice again, but I think that was so three years ago.



Pork belly with pork croquette, apple puree, white cabbage and apple salad: pig with an old friend. Perfectly cooked, perfect combination, perfectly safe.



Spatchcock poached with bok choy, cucumber, shitake mushrooms and coriander broth: Spatchcock poached with bok choy, cucumber, shitake mushrooms and coriander broth (it is what it is)



Roasted fillet and short rib of beef, celeriac puree, roasted shallots with bordelaise sauce: cow dish that’s like scouring the mouth with a whole cow and rinsing with a bottle of red.



Banana soufflé with banana rum and raisin brulee: soft, light, the favoured flavour of our ancestors (if you believe in Darwin’s theory) truly comes through.



Coconut Macaroon, Chocolate Truffle, Pistachio Nougat.

Yeah it was a bit like Parklife or Future Music with your Dad spinning BABBA or ACCA DACCA. Not like that’s a bad thing, just not what you expect for the price you pay.

3 / 5 yums!
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Where? 1 Macquarie St, Sydney, NSW
What? Entrees $36+, Mains $55+, Desserts $25+

Mamak, Haymarket

They may have expanded this Malaysian Sydney favourite a little but that only means you get your roti fix twice as fast. I’d want them to hook it to my veins but liquidising the fried flat bread but that won’t let you to enjoy the elegant fluffy, crispiness. Heaven sent straight from the hot plate. And man do I want it bad.

4 / 5 yums!
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Where? 5 Goulburn St, Haymarket, NSW
What? Around $10

Quay, Sydney

Australia’s best restaurant 2009 and 2010 hmmmm? Better than Vue De Monde and Tetsuyas eeeeyyyyy? More regarded than a Grand Angus?!!?!? Is that right!??!?! Preposterous!!!



It’s hard not to be immediately impressed by this gastronomic goliath. Quay has arguably the best room in Oz, perched at end of the Overseas Passenger Terminal with views of both the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. There’s also the wait staff that surely possess an ESP John Edwards would be jealous of, a freaky service that knows your needs and make you feel special without the puppy dog gush.

What’s that you say?! You want more?!!? If you’re not wowed already, then the food will get you excited. Peter Gilmore’s dishes are NSW Gallery contemporary classic to Shannon Bennett’s MCA cutting edge funk. Let’s go through the lineup one by one.



Amuse bouche of Ocean Trout, crème fraiche, sago



I’m not one for congee unless I’m sick or during winter, but it’s hard refrain from the sweetness of the mud crab in the stewed down rice.



Pearls of the Sea (tuna, octopus and smoked eel, mud crab, dashi jelly and abalone, scallops and lime) aren’t going to eat themselves.



Cubed pieces of pork belly with its thin, crisp skin, braise of abalone and ribbons of cuttlefish, silken tofu. My heart skipped a beat when I saw this dish that played to my Asian heart.



Quail breast, black pudding crumbed with hints of chocolate and walnut, truffle custard, contrasting firm palm heart. The earthy flavours are perfectly balanced that should sway even those who avoid game and animal red stuff.



Berkshire pork jowl (cheek), blistered, crisp skin, the mild prune’s fruity sweetness and cauliflower puree accentuate the luxuriously fatty meat.



A brick of crisp pressed duck confit on a bed of winter veggies and scallops is surf ‘n’ turf on a magic carpet.


A Masterchef analogy for the best desserts I’ve had anywhere to date.



The 8 textures of chocolate is Chris: brash, bold, rich, indulgent and pure ego. That pothole in the middle is theatrically created in the middle by a dollop of molten chocolate at the table. And presumably doubling as a drool pan.



Snow Egg is Poh: inventive, quirky, and pleasant to look at. What is essentially a reconstructed egg, white peach ice-cream is surrounded by pillowy meringue, covered by crystallised maltose, and sits on a bed of peach granita and caramelise and vanilla ice-cream. An elegant vase of textures and temperatures.

Like the first time I bit into that gourmet Maccas burger, an unforgettable experience.
So Quay… Better than Momo or Cutler & Co!? Melbourne snobbery and foodie parochialism aside… okay Sydney, you’ve got a pretty damn good restaurant.


5 / 5 yums!
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Where? Overseas Passenger Terminal, The Rocks, Sydney, NSW
What? 4 courses $155, Signature menu $210

Zia Pina

You might have sworn you’d just entered an old man’s pool room as soon as you set foot into Zia Pina. The walls are filled with collected ancient sporting memorabilia, but there is the charming chequered red and white cover tabletops that probably indicate food is served here. A wide ranging typically Italian menu that Fasta Pasta probably modelled itself off, from the margherita to marinara and spag to gnocchi with multiple sauces including napoletana and carbonara.

Lasagne has the meat sauce you might find at the old Pizza Hut’s buffet, a heavy, gluggy, oily tomato sauce with plenty of cheese and a suspiciously reheated slab. Spag could have at least been better drained before the sauce hit the pasta, a sure dish to get splodges on shirts. Penne boscaiola better but the sauce fairly thin.

It’s food that you could easily get from a food court and even then they’d probably do it better. Unlikely that they’d go under due to a constant stream of unknowing tourists but if ever they needed a career change, Zia Pina could always become a sports museum.

1.5 / 5 yums!
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Where? 93 George St, The Rocks, NSW
What? Around $20

Wagaya

I love touching things, so imagine my delight at the news of Wagaya’s revolutionary interactive touch screen menus. If you’re wondering, yes, I almost had involuntary scrotty movements. You are seated by a human at one of the numerous spaces around the open kitchen in the warm Japanese restaurant that cleverly combines Earthy elements with more modern pieces, but after that, the contact with staff is minimal. Of course, each table is decked out with the screen you really came here for, as you begin scrolling through the massive menu of salads, sushi & sashimi, yakitori, rice, noodles, meats and desserts. It’s surprisingly user friendly, so you should feel pretty stupid if you can’t work it out yourself.

Everything is ordered through this screen. I mean everything, including the free tap water that is even accompanied by a ticket and placed into a cup that keeps track of the delivered orders. As soon as a selection is made, this snaps the kitchen into action, preparing and delivering your dishes with military precision. It’s a very slick operation and surprisingly nothing gets lost in digital translation.

The electronic gimmick aside, the food is actually pretty good and great value. Dried lotus roots that decorate the soft shell crab and unagi rolls a bit over the top, but both nice. Scallop and garlic fried rice in a stone pot takes on a lovely charred flavour, crumbed and deep fried cutlets of crumbed pork come with an oyako-don type eggy, onion sauce, the show stealer is the chicken kaarage pieces with a wickedly flavoured mayo.

Despite the technological brilliance, there’s no way of electronically reserving a spot in the line. You’ll just have to show up and wait or get on the old fashioned blower.


3.5 / 5 yums!
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Where? Level 1, 78 Harbour Street, Haymarket, NSW
What? Dishes average $10