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…
After a decidedly flaccid meal at Gringo’s earlier in the week, it would be an understatement to say that that my Mexican craving remained unsatisfied. But despite my constant complaints that there was nowhere to get good tacos in Sydney, there’s actually been a promising candidate on my radar for the last 6 months or so – Rico’s Tacos. So if Rico’s is so promising, why has it taken me so long to visit? The answer is a simple one: sheer laziness. But when I actually made the drive down to Rosebery, I was kicking myself for not having come down sooner. The vibe is fantastic on a sunny Saturday afternoon, the young, happy crowds surrounding the taco truck giving…
I’ve said it before, and although it feels a little bit wrong, I’ll say it again – one good thing about Covid is that restaurants that didn’t used to take bookings have now started to do so. Although I’m not unfamiliar with waiting in line for a spot at a good restaurant, it’s definitely nicer to be able to have a table guaranteed before you get there. And if I were to be entirely honest, that reluctance to spend potentially hours in line (plus how much of a pain Sydney is to get around, but that’s a whole other story) is one of the reasons why I’ve yet to visit Buffalo Dining Club. Because on paper, it is everything I…
In the two-odd years I’ve lived in Sydney, I’ve pretty much blitzed my way across all the well-regarded ramen restaurants in Sydney… without crossing the bridge that is. One of the very few ramen-ya on the right side of the river (fight me) I’ve left to try is Chaco Bar, but because they only served noodles for lunch a couple days of the week – the rest of the time is reserved for yakitori – I’ve never gotten around to visiting. So I was doubly delighted when I heard the news that Chaco Bar had gotten popular enough to split into two; the new Chaco Bar now does yakitori full time, whilst the original site has been converted to Chaco…
Bistecca was originally going to be my birthday dinner this year, but then, y’know, Covid happened. Thankfully once the worst of the first wave was over, not only did Bistecca reopen quick-smart, they also started accepting bookings for groups of any size. This was extremely good news, because apparently smaller parties used to have to show up at 4pm to scribble your name on a piece of butcher’s paper on the door, and hope you get a call sometime later that night.