I Don't Eat, I Devour

FFF (as their shirts proudly display) has been serving delicious food in Enmore for years and years, and is hands down one of the best late night, cheap eats Pakistani restaurants in Sydney. With its giant tandoors and menu which entices your eyes to be way bigger than your stomach, it is somewhere you enter with a big appetite and heart full of expectation, and never fail to leave groaning with fullness and satisfaction.  Goat Korma Masala, $16.50 "Melty" is the first word to jump to mind when thinking about this rich, comforting curry. Slightly spicy, it is the flavour that packs a punch rather than the chili. Not even a drop of it was left by the end of the meal - when the goat pieces were picked clean, the sauce still had bits and pieces of meat, fat and all that good stuff.  Seekh Kabab, $12.50 Wonderfully spiced and salty (perhaps a tad too salty on its own), my favourite way to enjoy these minced beef kabab pieces is to drizzle with mint sauce (pictured below) and wrap...

Newtown appears to be the home of low-key vegan Mexican restaurants serving cheap and cheery set menus and good time margaritas. Since my visit to Calle Rey , I have found another restaurant cut from the same cloth. So, let them battle it out, shall we?  Within walking distance from one another (but not so close as to be breathing down each others' necks), both Calle Rey and Vandal serve $30 set menus filled with guac, tacos, corn and all the good stuff one expects at a casual Mexican restaurant. Except everything is vegan - not that those restaurants shout it from the rooftop. Both are what I'm calling "sneaky vegan restaurants" - the kind where the strong flavours and sauces disguise, rather than advertise, the fact that none of what you eat came from an animal.  Is a Mexican meal even complete without guac? Always a crowd-pleaser, this is a simple and refreshing way to start the meal.  Spicy and juicy, with a generous shaving of vegan shredded mozzarella (I'm g...

 As any Sydney foodie would tell you, the best place for Indian cuisine in all of Sydney is Harris Park. A short walk from the station, one is spoilt by choice - I have visited a couple of the local favourites ( Chatkazz and Dosa Hut ), and now I add another review to my growing list.  As a lone diner, the best thing to order is a thali. A thali is a plate consisting of a grain (rice and/or flatbread), lentils, a seasonal preparation of vegetables, chutney, and a couple of curries. It is a god-send to someone like me, who wants to try a little bit of everything, with eyes enormous like the moon but a stomach the size of that of a small household pet.  Non-veg thali, $19.90 All those deliciousness for under $20 - what an absolute bargain! A generous serving of tumbling long-grain rice and two pieces of naan (each cut in half) with which to enjoy a chickpea curry, daal, butter chicken and what I think was a goat korma. Nothing is too spicy - truly a plate for everyone. The...

I have been wanting to try one particular Korean dish for a long, long time: icy cold noodle which looks chewy and are wrapped in such a dense ball that they need to be cut with scissors before enjoying. Hansang is always top of the list when I search for a Korean restaurant in Sydney where I have enjoy cold noodles, so I decided it was time to pay it a visit.  One of the best things about going to Korean restaurants is the complimentary banchan (side dishes, or meal accompaniments). I am a particular fan of the fish cake (top row, third from the left), the refreshing pickled vegetables (greens, kimchi and radishes) and the creamy pasta salad (top RHS).  Those pan fried dumplings were hard to pass. Filled with pork and chives, their golden shells give them a more satisfying and chewy texture than their steamed counterparts. The flavours are well-balanced and moreish, especially when dipped in the soy-based accompanying sauce with a touch of chilli. Ah, kimchi pancake. Simple, ...

First, a confession: though I have walked past this vibrant, fun-looking cafe many times in the past, I had never considered going in because it seemed way too happy. I thought the food would be gimmicky, yet mediocre. Oh, how I was proved wrong!  Gimmicky? Yes, a bit. Mediocre? Absolutely not.  Dragon Eggs Let's not beat around the bush. This is the reason I finally decided to go. A clutch of black and gold dragon eggs on a bed of crispy sweet potatoes, berries and boba, emerging from the dry-ice-haze like some sort of mythical discovery.  The black eggs are mochi balls, wonderfully crunchy and just slightly sticky; and filled with running salted eggyolk, which has got to be my favourite Asian dessert flavour of all time (oh, perhaps just on par with matcha). These are pure happiness.  Tom Yum Spaghetti Despite being a dessert cafe, the savoury items at Mango Coco are pretty impressive. In particular this tom yum spaghetti, which fuses the sour-and-spicy goodness of...

I have a lot of memories of this place. When I first came to Australia as a child, this  was one of my parents' favourite places to eat to comfort their "Chinese stomachs". There are quite a bit of similarities between the taste profiles of Shanghainese cuisine and Taiwanese cuisine, now that I think about it: both cuisine prefer that lovely umami sweet-savoury and dainty little portions. Even some of our breakfast foods are just variations on a theme.  This, for example. Glutinous rice logs filled with fried dough stick (you tiao), Taiwan-style pork floss (which is a little sweeter and more toasted than its arch-competitor, the Taichang-style pork floss) and preserved raddish. It is filling, comforting and texturally varied (chewy and soft vs crunchy). It is also easily transported, so a perfect breakfast-on-the-go or snack item. The Shanghainese version is shaped like a ball and sometimes replaces the pork floss and preserved raddish with preserved vegetables.  Egg panc...

"Walk in only" - in this day and age, you've got to have strong confidence in your pulling power to stand by this policy. Normally, these three words strike fear into my overly-prepared little heart, but I have long been curious about this charming, unpretentious corner spot opposite the Enmore Theatre, and I decided to brave it with a couple of friends.  Charcoal chicken plate, $16 The charcoal chicken plate is really a deconstructed charcoal chicken pita pocket. It is served with tender, smoky chicken breast pieces, salad, tomato chutney, gorgeously tart pickles and fragrant toum. The toum is creamy and very, very good - almost as good as the famed one at El Jannah.  Koshari, $16 One of my dining companions is a wonderfully well-travelled ex-Emirates flight attendant. When she discovered this dish on the menu, she was delighted. Since having tried this dish of rice and chickpeas in Cairo, she had been craving it. Though not as good as the one in Cairo (I am informed), t...

If you don't know the famous Emperor's puffs, which in pre-covid times drew long, snaking lines, that would be something you must immediately rectify in order to call yourself a true Sydney-sider. Pumped out fresh and warm from their custom-machine (no photography allowed!), these custard-filled gems are the cheap eats treats that will bring a smile to your face even in the coldest months.  Annexed to the bakery and the custard puff window is the restaurant itself. Some mornings I would take that route to work, and I would walk past its windows and see the old uncles who gather there each morning, without fail, for breakfast and a yarn. That was how I knew Emperor's Garden is legit. My conviction was further strengthened by a one-star Trip Advisor review titled "Not for European [sic]", in which the hapless travelers complained about their own complete ignorance when it comes to yum cha and gave my friends quite a laugh.  As it turns out, the uncles and aunties wh...

I knew I could trust Dopa when I saw it it is brought to us by the good people of Devon - one of my favourite brunch destinations in Sydney. Specialising in donburi (Japanese rice-bowl dish) and Asian-inspired desserts, Dopa is quick, simple and delicious.  The menu at Dopa ranges from the cheap and cheery ($13 for a simple chicken bowl) to the fancy (there is a $88 bowl featuring wagyu steak, tongue, foie gras, soft egg and white truffle and truffle agadashi tofu). Although the fancy bowls sound pretty mouth-watering, I don't know if I would actually order the expensive menu items - mainly because the vibe of Dopa is so casual, and you have to serve yourself, so it feels a bit odd to be going ultra-luxe there.  Cheeseburger Donburi set, $17 A playful marriage between a Japanese classic (the donburi) and an all-American staple, the cheeseburger donburi is wonderfully enjoyable, filling and just ever-so-slightly naughty. The patty tastes lovely and rich, slightly pink in the m...