Reopening in the courtyard: fiesta!
Guzman y Gomez celebrated its 10th birthday on Wednesday night with a move on its Australia Square location from inside the Food Court to outside in the courtyard. It’s a perfect location really. This place is packed all the time with workers, and I reckon now they’ll go from having an after-work bevvy to having a bevvy and a taco.
I remember when Guzman y Gomez opened in Newtown. It was always a great concept: bringing high-quality, authentic Mexican fast food to Australia. As a North American, I was used to cheap Mexican food at chains, but missed having it when I arrived in Sydney.
I’ve always found them dependable and tasty. The burritos are kind of way too massive for me and stuffed with rice, but then the last time I was in New York City, that’s the way they were serving up burritos from the many El Salvadorean, Mexican and other Central American casual eateries around town. But that’s an aside.
G y G are now an empire with around 20 locations in Sydney. This branch is now serving margaritas, not the frozen kind, but very tasty, on ice, with Herradura tequila (wow, amazing they’re using an expensive tequila; the cheapest tequilas can really be nasty).
It was a fun party. The Corona beer and Margaritas were being passed around, and food was coming out at epic speed from the kitchen, as they were not only passing around trays but taking everyone’s order. Amazing how many people they were serving up!
Aside from the afore-mentioned tasty Margarita, I caught some fries (crisp, tasty) and some nachos, and finished off with two quesadillas, one with barramundi and the other with chicken. G y G have gone completely free-range, and all power to them. I think it’s a great ethical and marketing decision. And really, this food is all of what Guzman y Gomez are about: fresh, tasty, high-quality ingredients served up perfect and piping hot with authentic flavours. It’s Mexican street food that happens to be fast, but not the fake Mexican fast food of old (well, of ye olde days in North America, did they ever have fake Mexican fast food in Australia?)
In any case, one of the founders gave a touching speech, everyone was in a jolly mood, I got to hang out with amazing blogger Lisa from Weekend Food Escapes, and saw Simon and some other foodie-types. And then I had to cut out early (which was probably a good idea considering how I am around free alcohol).
Australia’s only Cypriot food… authentic, farm to table and homemade ingredients.
They’re curing sausages and making their own haloumi in the kitchen, using their own olive oil, and importing rabbit and goat from a farm in the Hunter valley. It’s all about fresh, seasonal, local cuisine. Other restaurants are using the same philosophy and are considered at the cutting edge of Sydney dining. But my friend, F, points out, it may be hip in Sydney right now, but it’s also very, very old.
I think the slightly confusing part is that the restaurant looks so humble. On the busy sidewalk outside Newtown Station, remodelled and cleaned up a number of years ago (Kerasma has been around for three years), I think the restaurant has to appeal to the mostly modest tastes of Newtown. Accordingly the prices are very reasonable, and the menu is accessible. Yet people may think they’re having more regular food than they are, and if they’re expecting regular Greek food (and souvlaki), they may get confused.
If you’re lucky enough to be in the know (and if you’re reading this, consider yourself in the know), there’s something quite special and fine dining that’s peeking up through this cooking, though it seems humble.
Skate as an appetizer, confit in their house olive oil, was absolutely delicious, and quite exotic. I’m not sure another time I’ve had skate in Sydney!
I always like these bullet-shaped pastries made of bulgar wheat and filled with mince beef. I found these very, very delicately done.
And then the haloumi. My god, this is tasty. Homemade, half of sheep’s milk, half of goat’s, it had that fabulous rubbery sound and texture when you bite into it, and was delicious. Not a delicate dish but something very special about the flavour.
We opted for one of the grilled souvlaki dishes: this was a homemade sausage, rich and dense. F. particularly liked it!
Splitting one main, after all those first courses, was enough (and wise): we had goat, very tender, stewed and with some crunchy baby potatoes in the mix (see the photo at the top of the post). I like goat. It’s got a distinct flavour. I suppose it might taste like lamb or beef if you weren’t paying attention, but I think it’s unusual. This goat (and the rabbit) is from the Hunter Valley, and the goat is very much like the goat you would get in Cyprus, apparently.
We had a lovely chat with Peter after the meal along with some fresh, hot Greek doughnuts (yum) and a little Greek brandy (very smooth, chilled).
‘Kerasma’ means to shout or treatment someone for a meal or drink, and there’s a rather good story about how a monk gave Peter the name for his restaurant, in the same script that appears on the sign, inspiring him to take the step and open his own restaurant, after being a chef and executive chef for others.
Peter believes this is not only the only Cypriot restaurant in Sydney but in Australia as well. His passion for food and his philosophy are inspiring, though I think he’s far too modest a sort to turn Kerasma into the next hip eatery with lines out the door. So sneak in here yourself, pay particular attention to the daily specials (and the recommendations of the wait staff) and tell all of your favourite people about this unique place. It’s a gem.
Atmosphere. And story.
The cafe at the corner of Forbes and Burton has gone through a lot. I remember it when I first arrived in Sydney as the popular DOVe cafe, which then headed over to open up an equally popular location in Potts Point.
What I was struck by on a Saturday morning was the vibe: so relaxed and friendly, I almost didn’t care about the food. It’s got a real buzz to it, super-friendly staff, and with open windows to the street, in a magnificent sandstone building. The owners seem to have further amped that up with merchandise and a theme but it all sort of works.
It really is in a great spot, not busy with traffic or even stores, but lots of people around, it’s kind of combines a neighbourhood feel with something pretty hip. Prices by the way are very reasonable for the Eastern Suburbs.
I had a delicious latte, and check out my muesli at the top of the post. Beautiful and delicious. Another kind of tasty thing is, catering to their neighbourhood and audience, they’ve staffed the restaurant with fit, friendly guys and put them into sleeveless t-shirts that show off their upper bodies. If you’re into that sort of thing.
The fabled Three Blue Ducks. Solid.
I was very impressed how our rather charming waiter managed to corral orders from the dozen of us, serve everything up and make sure we had enough wine. I started with the fish tacos which I thought were very nice indeed. The tacos were slightly thick, but it made them taste homemade. Nice bit of grilled fish. Good spices.
D., sitting next to me, said that his steak and bone marrow was OK (it was the most expensive item on the menu, and I was tempted by it too) but he spends a lot of time eating or cooking up good meat, and said this was OK but not exceptional. I didn’t manage to survey anyone else… but all in all, it was a really lovely night.
Hipster Asian-influenced Italian food in a dynamite atmosphere.
The menu is playful, interesting and mysterious, with a fair few words that I had never heard of before. After cocktails, all of them tasty and amusing (with the most amusing glass above), the three of us had a light meal with a few appetizers and three mains, accompanied with beer, as the wine menu looks fantastic but expensive (though I might go for a bottle of sake next time).
The famous bologna (I think this is called Devon in Oz) sandwich ($6 each) was simple and tasty. Awesome soft bun, tasty tomato sauce. Amusing.
King Browns (mushrooms, not snakes) were grilled, delicately, with tasty crunchy bits and herbs (as you can see).
We saw this appetizer at the next table and had to opt for it, a barbecued octopus tentacle with a burnt avocado sauce. Yummy.
We ordered a trio of pastas. They were all interesting. The pasta is cut delicately and small, and all are served with interesting sauce and bits of texture, like the nuts, bits of asparagus and green garlic sauce to go with the charcoal kalamarata. This one was $22. Between three of us, it was a healthy spoonful each.
This was fusilli with spanner crab, and covered in spring onions and fried garlic, perhaps a little too much fried bits for my liking (did I really say that?). This and the dish above were $26 each. All in all, I liked these interesting and inventive pastas, more fine dining than fine diner.
Casual Brazilian food with a nice atmosphere and a great team.
Pierluigi, the manager, and also a talented chef explained that there are quite a few Fogo outlets in different shopping malls and other places, but there are only two sit-down restaurants in Sydney, one in Bondi and the one here. It means that they have a bit more freedom with the menu and can add some specialties.
Located in Central Park, they get a lot of office workers, and a lot of international students. Accordingly, the team is international, Pier is Italian, Brazil, a chef, is Nepalese (great name to work in a Brazilian restaurant) and the waiter was French. They’ve also made sure the menu is appealing to their Asian students (adding coconut rice to the menu) and Muslim students (all the meat is halal).
Their recent specialty is a burger, #9 by Lush, the name comes from a contest won by a colourful character named Lisa Lush. In any case, the burger has a bun with edible charcoal in it, making it nearly black, filled with pulled beef, along with salsa, lettuce, cheese and sour cream. It was a great combo of textures and yet tasted surprisingly light.
Brazilian BBQ meat (churrasco) seems to go through phases in different cities of being better known or less well known. The chain Brazas has a number of locations in Sydney, and a few independent places pop up and disappear and reappear.
Here at Fogo they brine each meat for longer than a day. The platter serves up a selection of each of the meats along with some tasty sauce and sides. Love the chorizo sausage, of course, and we thought the chicken was especially tender.
Another specialty here are the ribs, smothered in sweet sauce, and enough to feed rather a lot of people, more than the two of us!
Lots of sides available. I have a weakness of onion rings. My dining companion likes the fries here.
Special mention also to the Yenda Beer from the Australian Beer Company. I wasn’t familiar with this local brew, and it was perfect with the food.
So 
What’s fun about food bloggers is I could find out from them about Belles Hot Chicken without having to do any reason. What’s the buzz? A Melbourne chain having just opened up branches in Sydney, here and at the Tram Sheds. One of the only takeaway options on the strip so the line-up at lunches is huge. Good, tasty chicken, some interesting other options, and natural wine: seems to have really caught folks’s attention.
I think it’s hard to go wrong with drumsticks: they’re usually tender and juicy. Here they came with perfectly crisp and having chosen the hot option, a bit of a spicy sauce. I also ordered some Mississippi Comeback sauce, sort of a creamy ranch dressing. And being the weekend and all, I ordered the chicken ON WAFFLES, which were pretty good and came with an OK syrup, not maple syrup but tasty enough.
For some reason, that particular combo of starch, sugar and protein (and a tasty glass of natural Pinot Grigio) knocked me out after! That and the heat and I was exhausted. Barangaroo really has some amazing options for eating and drinking. I think another destination dining area is a good thing for Sydney.
High quality and authentically Italian.
I find that the ice cream here is really different (if we have to compare). Two small scoops for $7, richer, denser, and more delicate. Even though the white ice cream that I got was a bit complicated with hazelnut, white chocolate and uh, I forgot… it still tasted much more simple than Gelato Messina’s crazy flavours. Likewise the bitter chocolate, which was super rich but actually not as bitter as I expected it to be. It was super creamy though. I think I would have liked these to be a touch colder, because they seemed to melt a bit quickly, and it’s not that hot out!
But in any case, it’s nice to hang out here with the open windows while Darlinghurst passes by, and it really is a good gelato.
Impossible to get into, but try anyways.
So, after seeing Trevor Ashley’s amazing Liza’s Back (is Broken) at the Opera House, sorely in need of a laugh after the US election of an orange monster, we headed here for a late night dinner.
To start with, the atmosphere is supercool, and transporting the feel of a European speak-easy and cabaret to a basement in Sydney is an accomplishment. The service was superb. It’s one of those places with rather expensive wine, but the wine we did have, on recommendation from the sommelier, was beautiful.
While R. said that this was traditional food, and not modern, I disagreed, particularly with the chicken. It was very traditional, the idea of it, a roast chook on a plate, but the presentation and flavours made me as excited as any course of a degustation menu in a fine dining establishment (though these are dying quickly in Sydney). Perhaps what’s contemporary is bringing the traditional into the present day with such flair.