Woolwich Pier Hotel

You wouldn’t know that the Woolwich Pier Hotel was originally built in 1885. Obviously had a rather drastic facelift since then that would put Extreme Makeovers to shame. As the website states, there’s a lengthy bar with plenty of seats in the bistro, a timber decked outdoor covered courtyard with a couple of cosy bungalow areas out the back making this place a pretty cool place for a chilled out function. Being elevated and right near the water you’ll get stunning views of Sydney harbour and city.

The menu certainly ain’t stuck in the olden days, but sticks to proven combinations. There’s salads including one with grilled lamb, rocket, fig, kumera and basil dressing, pastas, fish and chips or pan fried swordfish, bangers and mash, nachos and burgers. A grain fed sirloin comes with a tangy café de paris butter and fries, surprisingly a decent cut and cooked to perfection.

There’s plenty to like about the Woolwich Pier and a good example of what a makeover can do for a place.


3 / 5 yums!
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Where? 2 Gale St, Woolwich, NSW
What? Mains $20

Toan Thang

Hanging out inside an arcade walkway behind Flemington station is the cool kid Vietnamese gangster restaurant that everyone wants to be around. Given it’s popularity, it looks like they’ve made a few upgrades to the place, a new coat of paint, timeless laminate table tops and steel framed cushioned chairs along with the lighting makes for a bright, fresh environment.

While the shop might not be classically Viet no frills, of course all the classics are on the menu, with all the pho options, bun vermicelli and rice dishes. Tender beef cubes are lathered in a black pepper gravy or crispy chicken and egg is served with a nice tomato rice, the fish sauce adds depth and a bit of spice but not essential to an already quality plate.

Easy to miss, hiding away like that but advertising isn’t necessary. Toan Thang has a legion of locals that will keep the place going and it’s little wonder why they keep coming back to the top dog on the block.


3.5 / 5 yums!
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Where? Shop 9, 90-95 The Crescent, Homebush West
What? Under $10

Restaurant Sojourn

Sydney still amazes me for the randomness of its suburbs. No more so than in Balmain, where you could be living right next door to the pub. Which is definitely not a bad thing. Even better if you had a quality French, one hat restaurant opposite the end of your street. Scored. However this is a tale of a 400m runner, who with victory in sight, has their hammy snapped.

Restaurant Sojourn is exactly that place, quaint, unassuming, without all the belles and whistles. Inside is understated, simple black leather chairs and white table clothes, sandstone bricks provide a homely feel and a nice place to enjoy the degustation menu. Oysters with an interesting cucumber and champagne jelly is something you could use to toast something special, a very pretty dish of sashimi stood up between two crisps on a square of compressed baby beetroot, artichokes and a swirl of serrano ham and we’re off to a good start.

At this point, this is where the hammy blows, as the dinner lurches at a snail’s pace. Despite the slowness, a carpaccio of beef, cauliflower cream, poached egg and brioche solders displays techniques and textures, a joy for the mouth. Twice cooked olive and chive soufflé with contrasting tomato sorbet and soft goats curd could have fooled someone as a dessert. Lovers of crispy will a slab of pan roasted barramundi, skin perfectly crisp skin, reinforced with crisp chicken wings.

It is rare that restaurants of this standards screw up, apparently the 5 dishes in 4 hours was due to our table being forgotten by the kitchen. Credit to the manager for swiping the bill. I’m sure it wouldn’t happen again and actually would be glad to go back. Because only half the degustation was sampled, I can only give it half the score I probably would have given it. I just hope there are no injuries next time. The transformation to Dukes Lane might help.


2 / 5 yums!
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Where? 79 Darling St, Balmain East, NSW
What? Degustation $95

Pho An

When it comes to Vietnamese, the dodgier the better. However, when you’re this popular and making a squillion dong selling the humble national beef noodle soup, you’ve got every right to embellish a little. Squeaky clean, modern, well lit, but it’s the wireless PDAs that with a touch a stylus begins the half minute kitchen to table journey of your bowl.

And what a bowl of broth it is for which I reckon multiple bovines have been sacrificed. Smokey, a perfect balance of spices, distinctly savoury yet there’s a touch of sweetness. Hoisin and chilli absolutely unnecessary for extra flavouring, just consume the springy rice noodles and sliced rare cow as is.

A warning, when you buy D&G you pay D&G prices. The best pho in Sydney doesn’t come Vietnamese cheap so don’t expect large bowls for under $10. But well worth the price and a walk I’d make to Bankstown with apple bottom jeans and boots to eat the pho.


4.5 / 5 yums!
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Where? 29 Greenfield Pd, Bankstown, NSW
What? Around $12

Chehade El Bahsa & Son Sweets

There’s nothing much to this Lebanese sweet shop, except for the rows and mounds of absolutely delightful Baklava, Bird Nests, Boaj and Fingers made with combinations of pistachio, pine nut, walnut, sugar syrups, honey and flaky pastry. Made on site, straight out of the shower fresh and fronted by patient gents who educated this writer on each of the gems. Have no regrets and forget about potential hyperactivity, get the good value kilo.


4 / 5 yums!
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Where? 88 Chapel Road South, Bankstown, NSW
What? Pieces under $4

CeCi

Likened to a 70s coffee lounge, I’d add that the girly purple wallpaper and cream coloured skirtings has the feel of your sister’s bedroom back in the day. The décor may need some updating, but not the food of Korean origins. It’s rad and hardly surprising that a wait for a table is required and seemingly one of the more popular places in Country Korea Strathfield.

Kim Chi pancake gets you started, a good level of heat and a balance between firmness and sponge. Bring your sweat towel for the dumplings, deep fried parcels of meat, smothered in a thick sesame sweet yet hot chilli mixture. Pork bulgogi sizzling hot plate continues the perspiration. For those wanting to avoid the hot flavour, slippery Jap chae noodles, a stir fry of beef, mushrooms, carrot, onion and spring onion and the beef bulgogi as good as you’d get anywhere.

So CeCi might look like a little old and a fashion tragic, but if you haven’t been or heard about this place, it’ll be your restaurant list that needs updating.

3.5 / 5 yums!
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Where? 37 The Boulevarde, Strathfield, NSW
What? Dishes under $12

Won Jo Korean Restaurant

I didn’t know the NSW Galleries had an off campus display in Strathfield. In the heart of K-Town, a massive wall country mural, with a few more framed paintings hanging proudly throughout the restaurant. The owner might be a bit of an art buff. These are pieces not the only thing that catches the eye. If you’re not used to conventional table and chairs, you can always take a seat on the substitute pine at the high tables.

Orders come out quickly. Unconventional bulgogi, beef, sliced glutinous rice cake, spring onion, enoki, comes in a stewing stone pot on heat. Obviously soupy wet, it’s a bit like Gatorade, a watered down cordial. I much prefer the dry, stir fried version on sizzling plate. Also unconventional, though probably due to the ordering, the bibimbap comes with the usual beef mince, julienned cucumber, carrot, beanshoots mushroom, sunny side egg and chilli sauce however served in a sterile stainless steal mixing bowl. Again much prefer the dolsot (excuse my Korean) version, hotpot style so the rice gets a nice char. Japchae, strands of translucent noodles with a sweet sauce, very nice. Pieces of chicken, deep fried in a batter that might infringe on the Zinger burger patty’s copyright, is not as potent as the KFC product but has a good peppery salty taste.

Can’t say Won Jo would be frame worthy in my house of restaurants. But for a place that blends art with food, it’s not half bad.


2.5 / 5 yums!
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Where? 33A The Boulevarde, Strathfield, NSW

Si Chuan Restaurant

If DIY cooking with a boiling pot of soup in the middle of the table with a bunch of mates is your idea for a meal, then GET LOST. Just joking. It’s hot pot action at Si Chuan Restaurant in one of many Sydney Chinatown hubs at Burwood.

Half chicken of stock and jujubes (red dates), half spicy with plenty of dried chilli and garlic cooking soups is a good option. There is no shame in going for the extra mild soup, as how they consider the heat of normal to be “normal” is beyond me, unless they have developed iron cast stomachs. The menu checklist standard issue, fish, shrimp, beef and pork balls, dumplings, beef and pork slices, mushrooms, tofu and noodles are all there to choose from.

What you won’t have a choice in is the smell that you’ll leave with, which calls for a DIY washing job. Your mates probably won’t help you with that one.

2.5 / 5 yums!
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Where? 246-248 Burwood Rd, Burwood, NSW

Little Marionette

Let the fellas at this cute room in a wall off the very trendy Darling St in Balmain string you in like a puppet with simple and tasty breakfast and light sandwiches with quality tea and coffee to wash it down. Eat sourdough with gourmet jams, ricotta, banana, honey on toast, muesli, toasties and daily sandwiches selection including a delightful crusty BLT amongst the mish mash of antique furnishings and other collectibles that feels so homely. With such a cool little place, the strings should pull a lot of people back.

2.5 / 5 yums!
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Where? 1A Booth St, Balmain, NSW
What? Under $10

Adriano Zumbo

Adriano Zumbo, YO. The Sean P Diddy Combs of patisseries, majorly BLING BLING. Designer lamp shades, acrylic balls and stars suspend from the ceiling, the immaculately crystal clear sneeze guard display cabinets imprison the endless rows of sweet and savoury baddies. Find the notorious W.G. aka Wheely Good bursting with mascapone, white chocolate, pistachio and apricots, the dark chocolate coffee meringue Rokka, Mac Daddy macaroons and skanky tartes. Should you choose to free these innocent souls, just remember, everything in moderation, as over consumption of these treats could sentence you to a life with a spare tire.

3 / 5 yums!
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Where? 296 Darling Street, Balmain, NSW
What? Under $10