I had possibly some of the best Middle Eastern food of my life when I incidentally stumbled across the now-famous Cairo Takeaway, so imagine my surprise when a friend of mine told me that as although he agrees that Cairo is great, he thinks that Emma’s Snack Bar is better. Now if I weren’t who I am, I would’ve found some time to drop by Emma’s maybe a couple weeks after that conversation. As it stands, it’s been almost a whole 4 years. Sorry Ben, but at least I made it eventually!
Last year, I had big plans for my birthday – I was going to head to Bistecca and order a huge hunk of steak to comfort myself over the necessity of turning yet another year older. But of course, we all knew how that panned out. Like pretty much everything last year, those plans were ruined by covid, and I didn’t end up getting my steak until about September. Thankfully, this year things are looking a lot better, and I managed to get to their sister restaurant, The Gidley, exactly on my birthday!
I’ve made it no secret that RaRa is my favourite place in Sydney for ramen. And if you’re vegetarian or vegan, their sister restaurant Lonely Mouth is also remarkably good. But there’s one thing the ramen gods of Sydney have yet to bless me with, and that is tsukemen, a dry-styled ramen that’s eaten dipped into a concentrated broth. Sort of like soba but warm and way, way better. But with the people behind RaRa being so great and all, I wasn’t wholly surprised when they announced RaRa Chan, a new outpost in Everleigh specialising in tsukemen.
The humble sandwich is having a revival, and I for one am here for it. Just like ramen and pizza, a sandwich is one of those seemingly simple things that just teems with possibility in the right hands, and there’s always someone out there doing something new and surprising with it. The humble sandwich is having a revival, and I for one am here for it. Just like ramen and pizza, a sandwich is one of those seemingly simple things that just teems with possibility in the right hands, and there’s always someone out there doing something new and surprising with it. I had first come across Harvey’s Hot Sandwiches when I was making the daily trek out to Westmead…
I treated myself to a fancy staycay a few weeks back, and whilst I was in the area, I decided to check out Chester White Cured Diner. Because what’s a holiday without a good meal? Chester White has always been on my to-eat list, but it was bumped up a few dozen places after my dinner at Buffalo Dining Club. Not only are they similarly-styled restaurants, they were also formerly owned by the same people. So if Buffalo was amazing, then surely Chester White can only do so wrong.
For our annual end-of-year shebang last year, I decided on dinner at Ms. G’s. However there was another strong contender for the occasion, and that was Continental Deli Bar and Bistro. On paper, Continental is pretty much everything I love – a wine bar with a range of clever share plates and charcuterie, all served in a relaxed and decadently European setting. First impressions certainly lived up to my hopes. The beautifully classic interior was jazzed up with the most intriguing and charming range of pieces, including boughs of local greenery, framed retro-styled posters, and an enormous hand-drawn picture of a blue fin tuna. But if you ask me, the most attractive features would have to be the deli cabinet…