The entire Gateway complex was heaving. Heaving. On a Monday night. That tells me how great the need was for reasonably priced food in Circular Quay, probably Sydney’s most dense tourist area. And we needed something to eat before the National concert at the Opera House (outdoors, a glorious night: it was a great concert). Chat Thai was packed, and so was the Italian place. In fact, Tokyo Laundry looked to be one of the only places that could seat us!
It was absolutely fine. There’s a lot of competition in this space in Sydney, with some really interesting modern Japanese eateries. The spicy chili garlic edamame ($7.50) was one of the more interesting versions that I’ve had (and did you know these are really easy to make at home…). The Chicken Gyoza Dumpling ($15) was fine: light and crisp. I don’t often meet a gyoza I don’t like.
We also tried a few dishes from the Robata Grill: broccolini ($13.50) and pork belly ($14.50), both rather nice. I think the highlight for me was the Agedashi Tofu, as it was an unusual rendition: a thick savoury sauce, quite yummy, and some nice textures with the mushrooms and spring onions. We started the meal with refreshing apple martinis. The service was nice but seemed a bit confused.
It seemed that there’s a reason why it’s not as crowded as the other places, but I don’t think it would be too difficult to lift the service and tweak the food so that it’s really, really good, instead of just pretty good.
Husband tells me that Speedos Cafe has been around for yonks. When he lived in Bondi, he used to come down regularly. Looking for a casual place for lunch while showing some out-of-towners Bondi, this seemed like a perfect place.
It’s got a great atmosphere, open and casual, with friendly service. We had a bit of everything really: a pittaya (dragonfruit) bowl, a veggie burger with fries, an amped-up poké bowl and a chia pot.
These are Bondi (or Eastern Suburbs) prices, from $18 to $23. Hmm. $23 for a burger = ouch, but I guess I’m used to in Sydney. We were all happy with our food. The poké bowl isn’t really like the fast-food poké bowls sweeping across North America, I’d say it’s rather poké-inspired… And my chia pot looked like a big kid’s sundae. But why not? Four mains and a latte and a juice = $92. And did I mention it’s a perfect location?
from. Dumplings to start with, of course. These looked and tasted like elevated versions of the standard dumpling. Even though the green dumplings looked suspiciously like Gulpin, one of the generation three Pokemons in Pokemon Go… (Yes. I am a Pokemon Go tragic. And at MY age…) Can one eat vegetarian dumplings that look like Pokemon Go creatures? Is that a hypothetical or moral question? Is this a sign that I play too much Pokemon Go?
So, we were off to a movie at the Hayden Orpheum and what to choose among the dozens of restaurants along Military Road? On this quiet Monday night, I felt like ramen! I checked with the ratings of Sydney’s resident ramen expert, Ramen Raff, and saw that he liked it. So, we dropped by for a casual meal.
I felt lucky that there were two of us, and that husband was amenable to trying the Mashi Mashi King, a double portion of ramen that offered all three meat options available: pork belly charsu, kakuni (soft bones) and a wonderful grilled spare rib. In addition to a hard-boiled egg, bean sprouts, corn, a wafer of nori, and an incredibly rich and thick miso broth, this put us into a meat coma. I was sweating meat after. Oh, and we ordered the firm noodles with a free extra portion (so that there was enough for two people) and these were also delicious.
The kakuni, a specialty of the house, was a surprise: it’s not only soft and juicy inside but slightly gelatinous with the soft bones and then flame-grilled crisp on the outside and with a sweet marinade. The spare rib came on the side. Perfect. And the charsu was good. I made a bow to something green with a small side of seaweed (actually, it was because I love this seaweed).
Even though the chalkboard mentioned sake and beer, we weren’t offered a liquor menu and didn’t seen any signs of it. Probably a good thing considering how full we were on leaving. This place is so awesome, I’m going to try the CBD location next. But maybe not eat for a day beforehand…
Whether or not this was a conscious marketing decision, putting a bit of London’s Covent Garden smack dab in the middle of Sydney’s Chinatown, at the bottom of Dixon Street, seems a good move, and the fellow behind me in the line at the bar seemed really quite pleased to be in a pub called Covent Garden.
In any case, not only are the drinks cheap here, but the karaoke is awesome. This feels like the place where locals have been practising up and do their greatest song, cheered on my a supportive audience. The songs are daggy classics, such as the one depicted above: Love Hurts (“I know it isn’t true… love is just a lie”). But in this case, love was not hurtful at all, it was in fact, all around, as we discovered for our SECOND bottle of Rolling, after dinner and a rather strange Chinese New Year/Mardi Gras event at the Dynasty Karaoke club. While this isn’t quite a destination pub, if you’re at the night markets on Friday night, or in the neighbourhood for a meal, this ain’t a bad place to split a bottle of white wine with your mates.
Artificer is still going strong. There are no frills. There isn’t a lot of seating. But it’s obvious that the coffee is attracting the denizens of Surry Hills. It’s all about the quality.
I get it though. When I last did a review, about two years ago, I found my coffee too milky. As if reading my mind then, the barista asked me this time if I wanted two shots. Sure. $4.50 for a latte to sit down with; it was delicious and strong and just what I needed before I headed up to the Surry Hills Library to do a little work and blogging.
I’d heard of Cairo Takeaway but I got a strong recommendation to try it from an English school teacher who is Chinese and Jewish and called herself Jewsian. I love that! My delight in the multicultural ways of the world is also why I was excited to try Cairo Takeaway, of which I’d heard a bit of buzz.
I’m no expert to be able to say what was different than Middle Eastern food that I’ve tried but I thought this was very fine food: the pickles and spices and condiments, perhaps subtle, was tasty and fresh. 
We split two dishes between the two of us for lunch (washed down with a beer from Young Henrys); the fuul madamas ($16), slow cooked fava beans which you mix with salad and hard-boiled eggs. I liked it a lot. I was glad we could split it as a full plate of it might taste a bit the same.
I am completely up for multi-tasking. I know it’s supposed to be bad for your brain and make you less efficient, but as a creature of the modern world, at least I like to believe that I can do more than one thing at a time. I’m sure I’m fooling myself though.
Still, while sneaking in a coffee before trying Cairo Takeaway, it was a huge pleasure to
I didn’t even know that Cubby’s Kitchen in Surry Hills had popped down, and has now popped up again in Circular Quay. I had a great meal in the Surry Hills location; would it be as good in the new pop-up? Yes sir. It was spectacular.
They take Lebanese street food and elevate it. The flavours all pop. Even the dishes that didn’t look surprising tasted surprising. We did the 5 course menu; I think it was about $65 each, perhaps? I love the smoked labne. The hummus with chili oil was addictive. Two dishes that I’ve had versions of elsewhere but these were the best.
The fried chicken was scrumptious. We had mini falafel kebabs, and then another pita wrap with a chicken shish and lamb kefta. Finished off with a pastry each.
We brought our own wine. The manager seems a friendly and efficient sort, a former NRL player of some fame, apparently. We caught our waitress on what we would guess was her first shift at the restaurant… hopefully she’ll settle in.
I’d heard various rumours of greatness; a smart young food blogger told me at our Christmas food bloggers event that Saint Peter was her favourite current restaurant; I’d seen a few good reviews but not read them carefully; SMH’s Good Food section was reporting on new developments such as the plan to open a fishmonger down the street, using particularly modern methods of preservation and sales.
So, I’m happy to report that the rumours are true. Saint Peter gave us a truly great meal for a Friday lunch; and we pretty much loved everything about them. The concept: Australian fish, done perfectly, in a pretty simple setting and with a menu that’s not too long is appealing.
So, we started with a selection of oysters, which were delicious, particularly with a sneaky glass of white wine. I was excited to learn that mahi mahi, a fish I’m familiar with because of my Hawaiian connections, has swum all the way over to Australia and is available in its warmer parts. I had to have that, and wasn’t disappointed. And the tomatoes! I’m not sure the technique but they were so beautiful. My dining companion had the garfish, which as you can see is expertly filleted and breaded: a very pretty dish.
Two options of dessert: we had both of them. The passionfruit tart was creamy, light and basically perfect. I liked the chocolate dessert also. I’d made the mistake of thinking that you can’t make reservations for groups under six (in fact, the website says that you have to call them if you’re a group of six or more) so we were lucky to get in.
Reserve in advance; I don’t with food this good that it’s be easy to walk in without a reservation. The prices were high, but I can imagine fairly reflect the quality. All up, an exciting place to eat, and likely some of the finest seafood in Sydney. I’ll be back for dinner next time!