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Just A Bit Special ($20-$35)

Dopa Donburi and Milk Bar

In the no-man’s-land between Christmas and New Year’s, finding a good restaurant to eat at can be a bit of a challenge to say the least. Thankfully there are some wonderful souls who forsake their own holidays so that the rest of us, who are too lazy to cook, can have somewhere to wine and dine. And one of those wonderful places is Dopa Donburi and Milk Bar. Located at the mouth of the fancy new Darling Square Precinct, Dopa caught my eye on my very first foray into the area with its sleek, minimalist design. The menu is very much in vogue, and has its finger on the pulse of what Sydney seems to be loving right now –…

12/02/2020

Asian, Haymarket, Japanese, Just A Bit Special ($20-$35)

Three Williams

Back when I was an undergraduate pharmacy student, it felt as if I had endless time for brunching. Of course, it certainly helped that most of my nearest and dearest were also in uni at the time, as opposed to laden down with the adult responsibilities we apparently all have to keep up with until we die. Anyway, over the span of 4 years, I managed to check out pretty much all the popular cafes in Melbourne at the time. This time around however, things couldn’t be more different. Although I’m once again back at university full-time, I have even less time and energy than I had when I was working. As a result, brunch has pretty much become something…

25/12/2019

Breakfast, Brunch, Cafe, Just A Bit Special ($20-$35), Redfern

Contrabando

The only thing better than tacos is cheap tacos, and until I can get myself to Mexico where they’re a dollar a pop, Taco Tuesdays is the next best thing. And whilst plenty of places have some semblance of that going on each week, no one does it quite like Contrabando. Instead of offering up subpar tacos at a cheaper rate, the entire taco menu is fair game at $3-4 each, instead of the usual $6-8. Talk about a bargain! Coupled with a discounted drinks list, it’s no wonder that the restaurant was absolutely frantic by 6pm on a Tuesday afternoon. Despite seating close to 100, the only seats available without a booking were in the rather sparse al fresco…

13/11/2019

Just A Bit Special ($20-$35), Mexican, South American, Sydney CBD

Old Town Hong Kong Cuisine

I love yum cha, but I don’t love how it’s largely limited to daylight hours. I am 100% not a morning person, to the point where I’m reluctant to even get up for food unless it’s something really special. Coupled with my preference for getting all my chores and errands out of the way earlier in the day rather than leaving it to later, I end up rarely having yum cha despite wanting to very much. That’s where Old Town Hong Kong Cuisine comes in.

30/10/2019

Asian, Chinese, Just A Bit Special ($20-$35), Sydney CBD

Gogyo

Sydney is a city full of good ramen and discerning noodle-slurpers, so for a bowl of ramen to stand out, it really has to be something special. And in late 2017, that came about in the form of Gogyo and its burnt miso ramen, which had the city lining up for a taste. So what’s the deal with this ramen? Well for starters, it’s definitely not your regular miso ramen. Instead of miso paste worked into a broth, the daring chefs heat a ladle-full of pork lard until it’s at a searing 300oC, before dousing the (sometimes literal) flames with miso and chicken broth. The result is an alarmingly dark broth, suspended with globules of charred pork fat. IT’s easy…

02/10/2019

Asian, Izakaya, Japanese, Just A Bit Special ($20-$35), Surry Hills

Gigi Pizzeria

Vegan food may be getting up to some rather marvellous things in the last few years, but I’ve always drawn the line at vegan pizza. Surely a dish that mandates the addition of cheese in its most traditional form can’t possibly taste good without it, right? And frankly, if it weren’t for Jan and her recommendation of Gigi Pizzeria, I would’ve gone on happily believing the same forevermore. So what’s special about Jan and her recommendation for Gigi Pizzeria? For starters, not only does Jan know what she’s talking about in regard to food, she’s also an omnivore-turned-herbivore, so she knows what traditional pizza tastes like, and she promises that the vegan version at Gigi’s is just as good. And…

25/09/2019

European, Italian, Just A Bit Special ($20-$35), Newtown, Pizza

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