I Don't Eat, I Devour

I challenge you to scour all of Sydney and find such a good value meal in such a prime location. It cannot be done. The buffet at Don't Tell Aunty is incredible: for $25, you can eat a selection of curries to your heart's content - having said that, Don't Tell Aunty has such a variety of other goodies  that the existence of the Sunday buffet doesn't erase the reason to visit this bustling Surry Hills Indian restaurant on other days of the week. While the Sunday buffet is quite traditional, other items on the menu appear a lot more innovative - not to mention a killer cocktail menu. I am already planning a non-buffet return! Hot Sauce, Mix Pickle, Salad The curries weren't very spicy (to cater for those of us with a low spice tolerance, no doubt), but you can always remedy that with the addition of hot sauce (which I was not brave enough to try). I really enjoyed the mix pickles - these are a little spicy, very tart, and went well with pretty much every curry...

Faux-marble stairs? Tick. Tacky interior? Tick. A disturbing photo of Tupac staring down at you in the toilet? Tick. From the ashes (not literal ashes) of a 90s club rises Don Peppino's, one of the most exciting pop up restaurants in Sydney, with a menu that changes on a daily basis. Don't be fooled into believing this restaurant-in-an-ex-club thing is a bit of a gimmick: the food is the real name of the game here, even though the sickly colour-shifting neon lights are a definite draw card. Because the menu changes every day, the freshness of the ingredients are guaranteed, and you are always pleasantly surprised by the home-style, yet creative dishes that get served up from night to night. Piled high on the corner of the counter are garlic bread - none of that generic pizza-shop stuff, thank you very much. The garlic bread at Don Peppino's is soft, fluffy, melty goodness. Garlic Bread, $4 Look at all that butter and garlic melting into the pores of a very beau...

Pilu at Freshwater is a beautiful two-hatted restaurant on Sydney's northern beaches, overlooking the beach. It is a very popular wedding venue - and one can understand why, just by looking at the tranquil and beautiful little garden right near the sand. What a view! There are four main options available at Pilu: a 5 course degustation menu (at $125pp + $80 for matching wine), an 8 course degustation menu (at $154pp + $105 for matching wine - $145 premium matching wine), a 2 course a la carte menu ($75pp) and a 3 course a la carte menu ($95pp). The a la carte menu offers quite a small and select number of choices for each course (as is usually the way at good restaurants), but each dish is intriguing and appetising in its own way. Sardinian flat bread, complimentary Each meal begins with some crispy, golden Sardinian flat bread. Paper thin and packed with a delicate olive oil and rosemary flavour, these flat breads are absolutely moreish, especially when paired with it...

The cleverly named Ms G's is one of my favourite Asian fusion restaurants in Sydney. Apart from delicious food, they also make some killer cocktails - including alcoholic slushies. I came to Ms G's several years ago and just ordered a couple of dishes off the menu, so I figured it's time to try a degustation with them so I can have a more fulsome experience of what they have to offer. The weekend degustation is hands down one of the best value in this city of ours, which is no easy feat because we are so spoilt with many amazing restaurants and the competition is fierce. Read on, and you'll see why I think Ms G's is really up there. A word of warning, though - I just revisited Ms G's website to check a couple of ingredients when I noticed that the weekend banquet had been taken off! All is not lost - their normal degustation is still on offer at $69 per head. With the normal degustation menu, you do get more than the weekend lunch degustation menu featured bel...

One of the best spots in Sydney for Mexican food, Mejico is certainly a must-book-in-advance type of place, it's so bustling. On a weekend it can play host to anything from birthday parties to bachelorette / bathelor parties. Although the decor is not exactly intimate, it certainly lends itself well to a night of boozing and eating with friends and familty. On the other hand, if you don't book but go early enough / at an opportune time, you can nab yourself a seat at the bar and watch the bartenders make all kinds of Tequila-based creations, so that can be very fun too. To celebrate my little brother's birthday, we decided to ask Mejico to "Feed Me" - a culinary trip of most of Mejico's signature dishes. The Feed Me menu is subject to change seasonally, and we are still eating from the "winter" menu, so I would expect some small changes to what this post shows in the next few weeks. Straight off the bat - I certainly wouldn't mind asking them...