I Don't Eat, I Devour

In the lazy, hazy days post-Christmas but before New Year, I have ample time to not be productive, yet here I am, writing up the Christmas lunch which wrapped up a full and busy work year.  Venison tartare Venison is not a meat I see served often - Three Blue Ducks did a wonderful job of ensuring it is not gamey by serving it with beetroot, horseradish and crispy beetroot brik pastry. The beetroot is treated so that it is sweet and sour, thereby balancing the meatiness of the dish.  Kingfish  The raw kingfish is tossed through a curry spice and serve with grapefruit, fried curry leaves and toasted peanuts. A delicious twist on the usually lime-heavy kingfish dishes seen elsewhere.  Burnt leeks Leeks is usually not my vegetable of choice, but even I cannot deny that it is gorgeously sweet when cooked right, and here, the vegan treatment of it with macadamia cheese, capers and smoked macadamias, it is soft and flavourful.  Lamb This dramatic-looking dish is a Moroccan spiced lamb shoulde

The last time I had a booking at Bistrot 916 was the day before going on an interstate holiday just before the most recent Sydney lockdown - and out of an abundance of caution, I had given up the booking (which was no easy feat to get and took months of waiting) to my friends. Since then, I have desperately wanted to try it and finally my time came.  Chic and darkly romantic, this beautiful bistro serves traditional French fare, which is rich, salty, covered in butter and oh-so-delicious.  Baguette with bottarga butter, $7  Of course, we had to commence the meal with that most typical of French bread. The creamy butter is made gently salty by shaved bottarga - one of life's simple pleasures amped up slightly.  Tuna Tartare, $27 The surprise that came with the tuna tartare (which is fresh, gorgeously flavoured with pickles and egg yolk) is the fried pastry with a smattering of Maldon salt - crunchy, sinful, but delicious.  Saucisson Sec, $12 Saucisson sec always reminds me of that f

This long-standing Paddington restaurant is something of a venerable establishment. I can't quite believe it's taken me so long to finally pay it a visit, and believe me, it lives up to the hype.  Pretzel bottarga, $18 The first thing foodies will mention when the name 10 William St is spoken is probably this delicious entree. The waiter also recommended it, saying, it has practically never left the menu. We can certainly understand why that might be. Beautifully lightly whiped butter with a generous shaving of salty bottarga, served with a piping hot, seedy, satisfyingly chewy pretzel - wonderfully satisfying.  Focaccia, $4 With such generous serving of whipped butter, we had to order a focaccia just to mop up the remainer of the previous dish. The focaccia came with the most decadent pool of olive oil, and is wonderfully fragrant and fluffy.  Eel on toast, $14 each one of the new, rotating menu items, the eel on toast sounded a little more unusual than the alternative (king p

If you were to ask me where is my favourite CBD happy place for a quick escape, Hubert would be my immediate response. When I push open these heavy, huge doors and descend the dimly lit staircase with walls of little alcohol bottles (as though one were descending into a wizard's den), I feel the rest of Sydney - work, stress, relationship drama, the endless to-do lists - fade away.  To me, Hubert is an escape. It's where I'm comfortable enough to order drinks off menu, watching the candles burn slowly, while listening to the house jazz band play. The conversation there are always in low murmurs - all that is to say, Hubert is one of those places where escapism is easy.   Having introduced my happy place to my brother, he was appropriately excited when I suggested that I took the family there for his birthday. Half dozen oysters, $36 As one would expect, the oysters supplied to Hubert is fresh and plump. The real winner and that which makes enjoying oysters at Hubert more

 I'm going to commence this post about New York styled thiccccccc cookies with why I do not recommend you get these cookies for a special occasion. This was straight up the most stressful and disappointing customer service experience I have experienced in having food delivered to work.   I had made an order a week in advance for the cookies to turn up to the office on a particular day. The team was gathered, we were prepared to sing happy birthday. Then the entire day passes - my colleagues getting increasingly disappointed - and no cookies. No contact, either, despite multiple attempts from my end. While waiting (fruitlessly) for the cookies to turn up, a colleague told me that she had ordered from the same company before and the cookies did not arrive until after 8pm. So I waited. I asked the building concierge to be on the lookout. Nothing.  While it's true that the website states the delivery window is 9am-6pm (or later if particularly busy), I simply could not fathom how t

First of all, the décor and serving ware at Edition Coffee Roasters are the wabisabi style of my dreams. Moody yet calming, simple yet elegant, they certainly elevate the dining experience.  Best known for their coffee (as the name suggests), the food served at Edition Coffee Roasters is best described as Japanese-Scandi-fusion, and will be reason for my numerous return trips. It is unsurprising that it won best café at the Time Out Food Awards 2018. Wagyu meatball don, $23.10  Most of the savoury options on the small but curated menu are sandwich-like options, therefore the wagyu meatball don (rice bowl) immediately caught my attention. Served with crunchy, marinated cucumber, crispy nori, and a soy-cured egg yolk, the konbu rice was a real highlight. Umami, gently savoury and utterly moreish, this is a rice bowl I couldn't imagine easily replicating anywhere else. Each component is so skillfully created (particularly the soy-cured yolk: truly inspired), its simplicity is deceptiv

 I found out about this little neighbourhood gem from a series during Sydney's lockdown, where a bunch of Sydney hospitality heavyweights were interviewed about the food spots that inspire them. Kepos Street Kitchen, the tiny, unassuming Middle Eastern eatery tucked away among the leafy streets of Redfern, was named by the owner of Nour (one of my favourite restaurants - read my review here ).  Fish burger, $22 Vibrant and beautiful, yet somehow still utterly simple and unfussy, this is perhaps one of the best fish burgers I have had in a long time. The fish part of the burger is more like a fish cake (the soft kind, not the bouncy Thai-cuisine kind), crumbed and fried until golden, the fish completely mashed rather than flakey and seasoned to perfection. The bright magenta and green pickles were pleasantly tart but sweet, cutting through the grease of the patty. The fresh dill - generous sprigs thereof - was an inspired touch.  Smoked Salmon Salad, $24 I usually never order salads

After months of lockdown, we are finally back, just as the weather started to warm in the Southern hemisphere and the beaches filled with revelers. Calita is on the waterfront of Bondi beach, and has the kind of bright, relaxed vibes associated with long, lazy and boozy lunches.  Various margaritas, $19-$20 Pictured are the classic margarita, the feiry-rimmed jalapeno magarita and the dainty, pretty violetta margarita. The violetta is an easy-to-drink concoction of butterfly pea infused tequila, elderflower, lime and agave. The acidity of the lime has turned the blue butterfly pea flower a pastel shade of violet.  El Pastor Cerviche, $26 Being a marisqueria (seafood restaurant), the freshness of the seafood is a huge drawing card at Calita. The kingfish is thickly sliced and very lightly acid-cured, topped with grilled pineapples and crispy canchitas. Sweet, fresh and moreish, this is a perfect way to start a meal.  Blue Swimmer Crab Tostadas, $28 Recommended by the staff as one of the