I Don't Eat, I Devour

When Kid Kyoto opened in the heart of Sydney's business district, there were a lot of hype around their lunch time bentos. Served during the work week, these $35-a-pop bentos were tooted as the best bento in Sydney. As a frequent customer of dinner delivery services, I am no stranger to bento, and I am a huge fan of them - a small salad, a protein main, some sushi / sashimi, some rice - not only does the bento box provide variety, it is a pretty balanced meal and as healthy as takeaway gets. However, I also know that the bento boxes we are familiar with from Deliveroo or Uber Eats doesn't do the bento justice - like many Japanese things, the bento can be elevated to a work of art. That's what I imagined the Kid Kyoto bento would be. Kid Kyoto Bento, $35 Upon first glance, it's not bad. However, it's really not great either - the entire affair had a whiff of the pick n' mix, where pre-prepared, cold food could be lined up and simply put onto a tray. Th...

Known for their clean designs and less for their culinary prowess, for most people, the most we know about Swedish food comes from IKEA - which I doubt is a very good representation of what Swedish cuisine has to offer. Fika is a small cafe moonlighting as a mini Swedish specialty food store, serving up some unusual yet simultaneously highly accessible food: think meatballs and open sandwiches. Latte, hot chocolate, $4.50 each Fika serves a pretty respectable coffee, but what drew my attention is the absolutely adorable way the hot chocolate is decorated. Made with syrup rather than powder, it is not particularly amazing but not bad either. Salmon Lover, $19 Can there be anything more Scandavanian than pumpernickel and cured fish? Fika cures their own salmon, which is thickly piled on a slice of the heavy, dark (and extremely healthy) bread atop some smashed avocado and horseradish cream. The egg is poached to perfection - thickly runny. Egg on toast + skagen, $15 P...

Muum Maam means "little glutton" in Thai, which is a rather fitting name for a casual restaurant serving up delicious, classic Thai dishes. There are two venues in Sydney - the original in Surry Hills, and the 2016 opening of the Barangaroo branch. The food at the Barangaroo venue is amazing - and I'm sure the food would be just as good, if not even better, at Surry Hills. The atmosphere at Barangaroo, however, is a little too noisy and crowded for my liking - in fact one can barely navigate between the closely-packed tables, as the venue is more of an al fresco dining area than a proper restaurant; but hey - some people might find that charming and adds to the experience. The best way to experience all that Muum Maam has to offer is to go for one of their set menus, which are of excellent value, and will have you groaning with satisfaction by the end. Moreton bay bug betel leaf The first thing that arrives with the set menu is  an amuse-bouche: packed full of fla...

Tucked away under pedestrian level near Angel place in the heart of the city, INDU's space is fun and convenient, perfect for a Friday night catch-up with friends. It offers two feasts, designed to be shared as a way of tasting some of the best Southern Indian food INDU has to offer. I have reviewed INDU once before, where a friend and I picked out a few a la carte items and I decided that while the food is good, it is overpriced. I thought, perhaps, the feast would give me the value I was looking for and allow me to taste a wider variety of what INDU has to offer. There is a $65 version (the topic of this post) and a $80 version. I think the difference is that the $80 version includes the lamb raan, which is a rack of lamb roasted for 48 hours - but I haven't been able to find information on the INDU website to confirm this. Tumeric & onion bread, masala butter & coconut sambol ($9 a la carte) Is it weird to say that the bread is the highlight of the meal? For...

The Grounds of Alexandria has been, for years, one of the most instagrammable locations in Sydney - as well as being home to the famous Kevin Bacon. With its rustic decor and multitude of food options, it was something of an indie child's dreamland. Then, the Grounds moved into the heart of Sydney's CBD, and has since then been one of the most popular locations on Sydney's ever expanding food scene. With its old-timey, cosy, dim-lit interior and charming quaintness (a dessert trolley, anyone?), I am immediately attracted to it like a moth to a flame; but another part of me suspected that  it might be over-hyped. I couldn't risk the disappointment, so I never went - until the suggestion was made my friend today, and I finally succumbed. Coffee, $4 One of the things that made me turn up my nose at The Grounds of the City is their claim of having a "coffee sommelier". That's far too quaint, even for my taste. What is undeniable, however, is that the c...

If you want to go to one place and find all the most instagrammable drinks, Kusuka Cafe is the place for you. It boasts a large menu of some of the trendiest drinks out there: coffee in an ice-cream cone, colour changing drinks, galaxy drinks, fairy-floss drinks, virgin frose - though for the record, I prefer my rose not frozen and not virgin. Food-wise, Kusuka is best known for their fancy mi goreng. The West, $15  Mi goreng is god's gift to earth. There's something so delicious about these wonderfully cheap yet flavourful packets of two-minute noodles. The internet will teach you a bunch of mi goreng hacks - you could make them into an omlette, use them as burger buns or even pizza base - or you could simply pimp them up like Kusuka does. The West adds smoked beef, sausage, cucumber, corn, mushroom and a poached egg to a very slightly spicy mi goreng. The egg yolk is beautifully runny, and the best way to enjoy this dish (or any mi goreng with an egg) is to let the ...

A veritable North Shore institution of Thai food, Khao Pla is widely recognised as one of the most delicious, authentic Thai eateries in Sydney. Every menu item is an instant hit, being so full of flavours and ooomph. Crying Tiger Crying tiger is a classic Thai grilled beef dish. I used to think it was named thus because of how spicy it is, but turns out that was just my pathetic spice-tolerance talking. In the scheme of Thai cuisine, crying tiger is quite low on the spice-scale. I have since heard that the name is due to the fact that in the past, the dish was made of the lowest quality beef, so tough that even a tiger couldn't chew and enjoy it, which made them sad and cry. Rest assured, the crying tiger at Khao Pla is made of high quality, marbled, melty beef. It has a slight, pleasantly charred flavour which does not distract from the tender meat itself, and is paired with a delightfully tart tamarind sauce. Grilled corn Gently caramalised, refreshingly sweet, but...