✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences. We always review anonymously and cover our own restaurant and bar bills, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more here.
It’s brunch time, and in front of me is a delicious looking bitta-this, bitta-that breakfast plate. I’m obsessed with them – the whole of Sydney is, really – and this one looks particularly good.
There’s baked-fresh-that-day sourdough toast with a smear of salted butter, an open soft-boiled egg with a bright and jammy centre, slices of leg ham, a triangle of crumbly cheddar, a tumble of thinly sliced onion, wedges of pickled green tomatoes, and a fig. On a separate plate sits a bronzed croissant with butter and jam, and in front of me is a glass of wine.
Look, I know it’s not best practice to drink before noon (sorry, mum), but I’m in carb heaven – also known as A.P Bread & Wine. It's the first-ever all-day offering from A.P Bakery, and it also pours vino. How could I say no?
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Located on Burton Street in Darlinghurst, a few streets back from Oxford Street, A.P Bread & Wine joins an already-strong family line-up: the OG A.P Bakery, found on Paramount House Hotel’s sunny rooftop; A.P Supply, both in Surry Hills; Newtown’s A.P Town; the CBD’s A.P Place; and a weekly stall at Carriageworks Farmers Market (get down early for that one).
Two...
Photograph: Anna Kucera
Sydney restaurant and café reviews
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✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
The folks of Redfern are spoilt. Spoilt, that is, for choice when it comes to eating out with its slew of cafés, restaurants and bars at their doorstep. And now, they have a shiny new dining and retail precinct Wunderlich Lane on the Redfern/Surry Hills border that’s home to the gorgeous Greek tavern Olympus (from the folks behind The Apollo), chic boutique hotel The Eve, the slick and playful Bar Julius, and our hangout for today, Island Radio.
It’s Sunday, 12.30pm, and Island Radio is buzzing. Think two kitchens under one roof: a casual, wallet-friendly noodle bar for walk-ins who can feast on things like prawn and pork wonton laksa, and raw kingfish skewers, plus a swish eating house where booking ahead is not just a suggestion – it’s mandatory, going by how crowded it is when we visit.
As we’re shown to our seats, an expanse of fibreglass full moon pendant lights grab our attention. Eye-catching yet ethereal, they set the tone.
Every little detail is considered
We’re talking bright orange tiles adorning the bar, a funky playlist, and disco lights in the toilets because – why not? This kind of eclectic-meets-elevated aesthetic is what we’ve come to expect from the crew at House Made Hospitality, the same team behind the likes of Grana, Apollonia,...
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✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
As a teenager, my mum would take me out for dinner somewhere special in Sydney a couple of times a year as a treat. One of those restaurants was Spice Temple, the CBD’s subterranean diner that specialises in regional Chinese cuisine, from Sichuan to Yunnan, Hunan and Guangxi. Neil Perry, one of Australia’s most esteemed chefs and, now, unofficial mayor of Double Bay, opened Spice Temple in January 2009, with Andy Evans as head chef. I remember the interiors were dark and moody. I also remember thinking it was one of the most delicious meals I’d ever had.
More than a decade later, a few things have changed at 10 Bligh Street. A recent renovation has seen the moving display on the heavy black door disappear. The carpet is plush, the bathrooms are decked out in pretty floral wallpaper, and there’s a lobster tank near the host’s desk.
A few things are still the same. For one, Evans is still here, leading the kitchen (Perry has since moved on to open Margaret and Song Bird). As are those long, black curved lights. Service is as professional, warm and intuitive as ever. The upbeat, ‘90s pop hits remain. It’s still dark. I’m here with my mum, but this time I’m taking her out.
And, happily, Spice Temple is as delicious as ever
It’s time for a drink. Here,...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Olympus is the sort of restaurant where you are invited to idle. The pleasures of dining at the contemporary village-style taverna in Sydney’s Redfern are many – from its location in the buzzy new Wunderlich Lane precinct to the menu devoted to everything from classic Greek mezedes to a trove of dishes anchored to time-worn traditions.
Olympus is the latest restaurant led by the team behind The Apollo and Cho Cho San in Sydney; Yoko Dining and Greca in Bris Vegas. Co-owners Jonathan Barthelmess and Sam Christie have lured Ozge Kalvo (who won acclaim as part of the Baba's Place and Ester teams) to take the lead on the menu the pair have designed around good, honest Greek cooking.
The sun-splashed courtyard is arrayed around a 50-year-old bougainvillea tree with pops of comic-book pink.
It takes me back to Mykonos
Olympus is clearly a place where Greek hospitality blossoms. It’s a scorcher of a day in the light-filled dining room so the retractable oculus ceiling – a cheeky wink back to the Greek amphitheatres of old – has closed automatically so the space under the gliding glass canopy can be air conditioned.
There’s no sign of the #cozzielivs crisis during our Sunday lunch booking as the restaurant appears to be a magnet for the ‘it’ crowd. It’s filled...
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✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
It’s a fun thought experiment to imagine what you think an $80 pie tastes like. Do this before taking a bite out of the quail, duck and foie gras stuffed pastry pocket that arrives at your table accompanied by silky mash and a sweet-and-sour cherry glaze. That way you can determine if you in fact can taste all the quiet luxury between that bronzed suet crust. This is a dish full of subtle grandstanding in both technique and ingredients, and is one of the more obvious nods to the extensive fine dining credentials of the group’s culinary director Joel Bickford, last seen behind the pans at Aria a few years back. Is it rich, velvety and gamey? Absolutely. Comparable to an everyday pie? Not at all. This finicky dish shares only a distant DNA with its footy-loving cousin. Is $80 still a lot to pay for a pie? Yes.
But to be fair, you haven’t come to The Grill because you’re after an affordable treat
Now, it would be remiss of us to come to any venue with “grill” in the title and not sample from the steak menu, and while you can absolutely bust the bank with a $310, 1.2kg MS5+ Fiorentina, the delights are just as primal at the shallower end of the dream pool with an equally marbled Wagyu rump cap for $68. It’s like a solitaire diamond, requiring very little...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Italian restaurants in Sydney are as popular as a CoolCabana on a 30-something degree day in Bondi. You only need to look at how many excellent – and busy – Italian diners there are across the city to see how long-lasting our love affair is with pasta, tomatoes and olive oil. In a world of climate disaster and Mark Zuckerberg’s new haircut, there’s something deeply comforting and grounding about the food from the land of red, white and green. Sure, nonnas are known to load up your plate. But Italian food does more than fill the belly – it feeds the soul.
Now there’s another osteria you need to add to your list. That is Postino Osteria, Summer Hill’s newcomer from Alessandro and Anna Pavoni (plus co-owner Bill Drakopoulos). They’re the star duo behind seafood haven Ormeggio, bright-and-breezy Chiosco, theatrical fine diner A’Mare and Manly’s new go-to, Cibaria.
Postino Osteria is located in a beautiful two-storey brick building, the heritage-listed former post office, once home to One Penny Red. (The name is a play on words: "Postino" means both ‘postman’ and ‘small but cosy place’ in Italian.) It’s a wet and windy Sydney evening when we visit, and walking in feels like being enveloped in the warm Mediterranean Sea.
The décor, which has been designed by...
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✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
As I step from the heat and bustle of Lakemba’s Haldon Street into the colourful interior of Island Dreams Cafe, the first thing to catch my eye is a giant, very old-style Italian espresso machine. It has clearly been lovingly cared for over the decades, but it looks so ancient that it might have hissed and puffed out an authentic Italian espresso for Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday. This vintage glamour is characteristic of the décor and atmosphere of this cool and welcoming café restaurant. The aquatic-green walls are decorated with faded island maps, coconut fronds and photos of perfect island beaches.
The décor is unique and (while I don't like to overuse the word), the food at Island Dreams is extremely unique – it’s the only restaurant in Sydney serving the cuisine of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. This isn’t surprising, given that the islands have a population of just 600 people. They are situated off the northwest coast of Australia and, although the islands have been part of Australia since 1955, they are geographically closer to Sumatra. Despite this proximity, this ‘Aussie’ fare has a distinctly Malay character, but it is mostly served Sumatran-style from the huge bain-marie that dominates the room.
Island Dreams opened in 1996,...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
I reckon Neil Perry would be great at Monopoly. You only need to stroll along Bay Street to imagine the veteran chef making it rain on Mayfair. There’s his elegant fine diner Margaret, which was voted the third best steak restaurant in the world for 2024. Next door to that is Next Door, Margaret’s casual-and-breezy sibling, home to a cracking burger. Then there’s Baker Bleu, a haven for excellent baked goods (go for the chicken and avo sandwich).
Now, further up the road is where you’ll find Perry’s latest diner, Song Bird, set within the three-storey, mid-century heritage-listed building, Gaden House, by architect Neville Gruzman. Perry says he thought of the name while in the sun-dappled dining room looking out the window to the birds in the trees. (Downstairs you’ll also find Bobbie’s, a five-star, New York-style Martini bar co-owned by Perry, his wife Samantha and close friends).
Song Bird is an ode to Perry’s lifelong love of Cantonese cuisine
He knows the symphony of Chinese flavours well, having first opened Wokpool in 1996 and XO in 2005, followed by the CBD’s subterranean fire house Spice Temple in 2009, which, while no longer under Perry’s reign, is still going strong 15 years later. Some may also remember Jade Temple, Perry’s Cantonese fine...
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✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Unless you’re part of a run club, 5.30pm on a Tuesday isn’t the sexiest time for a dinner reservation. But it’s the only one that was available at Neptune’s Grotto, the new subterranean Italian restaurant from chefs Dan Pepperell, Mikey Clift and sommelier Andy Tyson. When I first dined at sibling venues – red-hued, Taylor Swift-approved Pellegrino 2000, and New York-style steak house and clam dunk, Clam Bar – I sat down around 5pm on a Tuesday, too. Italians are probably getting up from their riposo at that time. But the trio’s diners – including Potts Points’ pink-tableclothed Bistrot 916 (miss you) – are so damn good that Sydneysiders will take what they can get. And feel #grateful.
Neptune’s Grotto is located in the basement of Clam Bar, and you enter via Loftus Lane. We descend the stairs and are met by zebra carpet, a host in a smart-looking suit and a long room packed with other 5pmers. Couples are seated along the marble bar, while the other side is filled with barolo-coloured leather booths, crisp white tablecloths and flickering candles. A mural of a rambunctious dinner party runs along the wall, and in the centre, a statue of Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, towers over us. I'm a Believer plays overhead, but instead of The Monkees or Smash...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Unless you’re part of a run club, 5.30pm on a Tuesday isn’t the sexiest time for a dinner reservation. But it’s the only one that was available at Neptune’s Grotto, the new subterranean Italian restaurant from chefs Dan Pepperell, Mikey Clift and sommelier Andy Tyson. When I first dined at sibling venues – red-hued, Taylor Swift-approved Pellegrino 2000, and New York-style steak house and clam dunk, Clam Bar – I sat down around 5pm on a Tuesday, too. Italians are probably getting up from their riposo at that time. But the trio’s diners – including Potts Points’ pink-tableclothed Bistrot 916 (miss you) – are so damn good that Sydneysiders will take what they can get. And feel #grateful.
Neptune’s Grotto is located in the basement of Clam Bar, and you enter via Loftus Lane. We descend the stairs and are met by zebra carpet, a host in a smart-looking suit and a long room packed with other 5pmers. Couples are seated along the marble bar, while the other side is filled with barolo-coloured leather booths, crisp white tablecloths and flickering candles. A mural of a rambunctious dinner party runs along the wall, and in the centre, a statue of Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, towers over us. I'm a Believer plays overhead, but instead of The Monkees or Smash...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Olympus is the sort of restaurant where you are invited to idle. The pleasures of dining at the contemporary village-style taverna in Sydney’s Redfern are many – from its location in the buzzy new Wunderlich Lane precinct to the menu devoted to everything from classic Greek mezedes to a trove of dishes anchored to time-worn traditions.
Olympus is the latest restaurant led by the team behind The Apollo and Cho Cho San in Sydney; Yoko Dining and Greca in Bris Vegas. Co-owners Jonathan Barthelmess and Sam Christie have lured Ozge Kalvo (who won acclaim as part of the Baba's Place and Ester teams) to take the lead on the menu the pair have designed around good, honest Greek cooking.
The sun-splashed courtyard is arrayed around a 50-year-old bougainvillea tree with pops of comic-book pink.
It takes me back to Mykonos
Olympus is clearly a place where Greek hospitality blossoms. It’s a scorcher of a day in the light-filled dining room so the retractable oculus ceiling – a cheeky wink back to the Greek amphitheatres of old – has closed automatically so the space under the gliding glass canopy can be air conditioned.
There’s no sign of the #cozzielivs crisis during our Sunday lunch booking as the restaurant appears to be a magnet for the ‘it’ crowd. It’s filled...
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✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
We know it’s a big call, but we think Pellegrino 2000’s truffle butter should be one of your desert island belongings (along with a cooler bag, a good book and a baguette, of course). Soft and creamy with a whack of umami truffle and a hefty dose of salt, the butter is heavenly when slathered over thick and fluffy housemade focaccia. Though beware: it’s very moreish, so dive in for seconds at your own risk (a discreet but necessary unzipping of one’s pants may be the repercussion).
It’s true that us Sydneysiders love our bread and butter as much as the folks who dined at the Last Supper, so naturally there’s a lot of excellent bread around town. But Pellegrino’s takes our coveted Top Spot. Yet it’s not just the bread and butter that’s delicious. Every single dish that comes out of the kitchen at this Surry Hills’ trattoria is on point, cooked beautifully and seasoned well. Which is why it’s about as difficult to get a booking on a Saturday evening as it is to get rid of mozzies in summer.
Take the prawn ravioli, for example. Plump and juicy crustaceans are cased in silky, slippery wrappers and finished with brown butter and sage, resulting in a dish that tastes equal parts elegant and comforting. Whole artichokes come on a plate looking pretty and dressed...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Growing up, sisters Rowena and Kate Chansiri used to eat a beef noodle soup made by their mum using their grandmother’s recipe. It’s a traditional street-food dish that’s slurped in Chinatowns all over Thailand, and now, they are serving it at their new unassuming eatery on 47 Cooper Street in Surry Hills. They are honouring their grandmother in another way, too. The name of their diner, “Ama” (pronounced ah–maa), means grandmother in Thai.
Ama’s beef noodle soup arrives in a pretty blue-and-white floral bowl with three types of beef. There are three thick slices of 16-hour braised salt-aged silver side, fall-off-the-bone-soft beef short rib, and round, light-coloured beef balls, as well as verdant Chinese broccoli, spring onions and crisp fried garlic.
You can choose from egg or rice noodles, and today I’ve gone for the former, which are chewy and bouncy. I’m even a fan of the buttery, subtle beef balls (though I find it helps not to think about them too long). But my favourite thing is the dark broth – it has great depth thanks to stock made from the beef bones and caramelised palm sugar, it's fragrant with earthy Chinese five spice, and balanced with vinegar. Growing up, my grandmother used to make me spag bol and pavlova. And while this beef noodle...
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Disclaimer: Good-times-only Italian diner Pellegrino 2000 is one of our favourite restaurants in Sydney. Chefs and owners Dan Pepperell and Mikey Clift, alongside sommelier Andy Tyson, know how to create a rocking venue with on-point flavours and a feel-good vibe (the fact that it’s impossible to get a booking unless it's a Tuesday at 5pm is testament to that). So, when news broke earlier this year that the trio were opening a third Sydney restaurant – a New York-style steak house slinging retro classics – joining Pellegrino 2000 and their French baby, Bistrot 916 – we were thrilled, hopeful, and perhaps a little biased. Thankfully, it’s turned out to be a clam dunk.
We head to Clam Bar – which has taken over the former Bridge Room space in Sydney’s CBD – mid-week and hungry. The outside doesn’t give much away except for tinted glass and silver doors with the words Clam Bar in giant letters. It looks grand and important.
If the outside city is grey, then the inside of Clam Bar is light years away from that. Herringbone timber flooring and Art Deco chandeliers the colour of toffee add sophistication; while Murano clam-shaped lights are a nice nod to the creatures of the sea. Speaking of the ocean, an illuminated sea life painting by artist Laura Jones hangs on the wall, alongside a giant fish. At the back, vintage posters of Ortiz anchovies and Rosella tomato sauce bring character above chocolate-coloured seating. It does verge into 50 shades of brown territory, even with...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills for reviews so that readers can trust our critique.
There’s a certain joy surfers experience when they're gliding on the perfect wave. It begins with anticipation laced with the excitement of what’s to come, followed by a hit of adrenaline. Then, whoosh: blissful, simple, joy. It doesn’t come around often – I’ve done enough nose dives in my time to attest to that – but when it does, the feeling is magic. That’s why you’ll see the ocean studded with so many black beads in the mornings and early evenings, even in the dead of winter. Dining at Sean’s, the sea-salt-sprayed restaurant located across from Bondi’s golden sand, is like catching the perfect wave. Sure, there’s a little less water and a bit more wine, but the feeling of being in harmony with your environment, and of the joy it sparks, reminds me of my years spent in the sea.
And, of course, there’s the dining room. But more on that soon.
It is not a grid-perfect Bondi day on my most recent visit to Sean’s. In fact, it’s bloody miserable. The kind of day where the rain seems to be coming at you sideways. As such, the main entrance is closed and guests are asked to enter through a different door, so I find myself huddled into a closet-like room with a bunch of smiling strangers, waiting until it’s our turn. The excitement in the air is palpable, like we’re off to a Bridgerton ball.
When it’s time, a host...
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✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Have you eaten the bones of coral trout before? Neither had I, until a few weeks ago when I dined at the new Saint Peter, which has moved down the road from its original Oxford Street location (where it stood for eight years) to Paddington’s Grand National Hotel. The tasting menu kicks off with an exquisite coral trout noodle soup, featuring a bright, umami and savoury consommé enhanced by roasted coral trout bones. At the bottom are soft, bamboo skewer-like noodles also made from the trout’s bones. When Niland says he and the team use 90 per cent of each fish to create their dishes, he’s not joking. Also: the result is absolutely delicious; my eyes as wide as those googly-eyed fish while eating it. Chicken noodle soup, watch out.
Josh Niland is a genius, but you probably already know that. For years, he has been practising scale-to-tail magic, showing the world the limitless possibilities with creatures of the sea, whether that’s transforming fish eyes into velvety ice-cream, or giving beef and pork a run for their money with his legendary yellowfin tuna and swordfish bacon cheeseburger. He proves it yet again at Saint Peter 2.0, a project five-and-a-half-years in the making by Niland and his wife, Julie.
Across nine exquisite courses, Niland celebrates...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
As a teenager, my mum would take me out for dinner somewhere special in Sydney a couple of times a year as a treat. One of those restaurants was Spice Temple, the CBD’s subterranean diner that specialises in regional Chinese cuisine, from Sichuan to Yunnan, Hunan and Guangxi. Neil Perry, one of Australia’s most esteemed chefs and, now, unofficial mayor of Double Bay, opened Spice Temple in January 2009, with Andy Evans as head chef. I remember the interiors were dark and moody. I also remember thinking it was one of the most delicious meals I’d ever had.
More than a decade later, a few things have changed at 10 Bligh Street. A recent renovation has seen the moving display on the heavy black door disappear. The carpet is plush, the bathrooms are decked out in pretty floral wallpaper, and there’s a lobster tank near the host’s desk.
A few things are still the same. For one, Evans is still here, leading the kitchen (Perry has since moved on to open Margaret and Song Bird). As are those long, black curved lights. Service is as professional, warm and intuitive as ever. The upbeat, ‘90s pop hits remain. It’s still dark. I’m here with my mum, but this time I’m taking her out.
And, happily, Spice Temple is as delicious as ever
It’s time for a drink. Here,...
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Pioneering Australian chef Neil Perry swung open the heavy brass doors of Rockpool Bar and Grill back in 2009. Ever since then, the restaurant has been consistently heralded as one of Sydney’s – if not Australia’s – finest restaurants, winning as many accolades as Ms T Swift (well, perhaps nearly as many – 1989 was a hit).
It’s an epic achievement, and a near-impossible undertaking when you consider the cut-throat and fickle world of hospitality, coupled with the Emerald City’s tumultuous history. And while Perry has since passed the reins to the competent hands of culinary director Corey Costelloe, Rockpool is showing no signs of slowing down. That’s the thing with the classics – they never go out of style.
Rockpool is housed in the Art Deco City Mutual Building on Hunter Street, which was constructed in 1936 by architect Emil Sodersten. The grandeur of the dining room can not be overstated. Soaring marble pillars the colour of the ocean on an angry day tower into the incredibly high and ornate ceiling. There are 2,682 Riedel riesling glasses hanging like a sparkling, expensive chandelier. Furnishings are jet-black like a panther. The elegant space is almost gothic looking – and, without a doubt, one of Sydney’s most beautiful dining rooms.
We begin with cocktails. Our Negroni is on-point – bitter, with a touch of sweetness, and a citrus aroma. Our date’s Jungle Bird is pretty, pink and tart with dark rum, Campari, lime and pineapple. Cheers.
One of our waiters – who...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
I see the colour first. Bright, cobalt-blue and beautiful, Bondi Road’s Mexican cantina is painted the exact same shade as Frida Kahlo’s former home in Mexico City. The same home (which is now a museum) that I stayed a few blocks from in 2019. You can’t miss it. And after eating here, one thing’s for certain – you sure as hell won’t want to.
Named after the Spanish word for “mummy”, Mami’s was opened in late 2023 by Mexican-born owners Erendira and Juan Perez, who wanted to create a home-style eatery where families and friends could pop in for an affordable and yum feed. Inside is indeed homey and low-key – much of the furniture has been upcycled from things the couple found on the side of the road – but it feels cosy and welcoming. There are a handful of communal wooden tables with stools, with more seating down the back, and upbeat Mexican tunes play over the speakers. A tiled mirror, traditional ornaments and paintings of Kahlo add colour, and on one wall there are more than a dozen old photos of mums and grandmothers. It’s a fitting nod to the people in our lives who first show many of us what good food – and love – really is.
Talk about good food. Mami’s is an all-day eatery, so there’s a brunch offering – chilaquiles made with tortillas topped with...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
As I step from the heat and bustle of Lakemba’s Haldon Street into the colourful interior of Island Dreams Cafe, the first thing to catch my eye is a giant, very old-style Italian espresso machine. It has clearly been lovingly cared for over the decades, but it looks so ancient that it might have hissed and puffed out an authentic Italian espresso for Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday. This vintage glamour is characteristic of the décor and atmosphere of this cool and welcoming café restaurant. The aquatic-green walls are decorated with faded island maps, coconut fronds and photos of perfect island beaches.
The décor is unique and (while I don't like to overuse the word), the food at Island Dreams is extremely unique – it’s the only restaurant in Sydney serving the cuisine of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. This isn’t surprising, given that the islands have a population of just 600 people. They are situated off the northwest coast of Australia and, although the islands have been part of Australia since 1955, they are geographically closer to Sumatra. Despite this proximity, this ‘Aussie’ fare has a distinctly Malay character, but it is mostly served Sumatran-style from the huge bain-marie that dominates the room.
Island Dreams opened in 1996,...
Update: Mexican joint Bad Hombres has moved from its OG Surry Hills location to Darlinghurst, so you can still enjoy the same tasty plant-based eats – now on Oxford Street. (And you can check out our guide to the Mexican restaurants in Sydney here.)
- Avril Treasure
Read on for our original write-up of Bad Hombres from 2017 by Emily Lloyd-Tait.
*****
Anyone who thinks vegan can’t be fun needs to both update their opinions from 1998 and also get to Bad Hombres, stat. What started as a Mexican Chinese mash-up from Toby Wilson (Ghostboy Cantina), Sean McManus (Neighbourhood Surry Hills) and Jon Kennedy (the Sandwich Shop) with a 60 per cent veg-powered menu has now gone the full vegan and we’re into it.
Snacks, tunes and booze are the key elements to a good time and these guys are rocking one of the best house-party playlists in town. We clock an ’80s glory run of Culture Club’s ‘I’ll Tumble 4 Ya’, Farnsie’s ‘The Voice’, Fine Young Cannibals’ ‘She Drives Me Crazy’, Dexys Midnight Runners ‘Come on Eileen’ and the Outfield’s classic ‘Your Love’. Seriously, this is an A-grade ’80s playlist and it can be yours – just look up Zangers on Spotify.
On the booze front, they’re rocking a fruity, funky, smash-tastic line-up of local natural wines that changes all the time – small batch production means they can only get it by the case from the vineyards – so maybe the tropical-fruits-in-the-sun pet nat from Pyren Vineyard’s Little Ra Ra is all poured out. There’ll be something else...
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✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
People milling around carts on busy street corners for their chaat fix of pani puri and bhel; teens cutting class from college for their fill of samosas and pakoras; office-goers woofing down vada pav with a cutting chai before they catch their train; crowds at popular beaches snacking on pav bhaji and dosas.
Mumbai, the commercial and cultural capital of India, is where street food comes into its own. It takes the best street eats from different regions of India and adds its own masala to the mix. Mumbai street food is cheap, quick and oh-so tasty. It’s also the ultimate equaliser, available to everyone from your daily wage labourers to your penthouse-living super rich. So, when the Indian diaspora in Sydney craves their street-food fix, they make their way to Sydney’s Little India: Harris Park.
It’s lunch o’clock on a Sunday and we’re outside Chatkazz, a Mumbai street-food joint that’s held its own for more than a decade. You need to know three things before you go: Chatkazz doesn’t take reservations; it is vegetarian; it’s not licensed to serve alcohol. Trust us when we say that you won't be kept waiting for long despite how busy it seems; you won’t miss the meat; and there are plenty of interesting non-alcoholic drinks to try.
We join the queue outside...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Our city has cluckloads of excellent charcoal chicken shops all over the place (you could say Sydneysiders are obsessed with them) so it’s hard to stand out in a cramped market – but Hariri Chickens in Kogarah does. I’d have to say it’s the best chicken shop in all of Sydney. I’ve eaten my way across a lot of them because my son does love a barbecue chook.
I am particularly clucky for Lebanese style-charcoal chicken – not only because of the toum, tabouli and pickles served alongside it, but because the chicken meat is always so flavour-packed and juicy. Hariri takes it up another notch – they finish the cooking of their whole barbecue chicken (after the skin is golden and crisp) by wrapping it in a village-style Lebanese bread (you know like those really thin Mountain Bread wraps you get from the supermarket?). As well as keeping the chicken insulated so it stays nice and succulent, the bread soaks up all the tasty chickeny goodness – the flavours from the skin and the juices from the chicken, so it’s this partly-crisp, partly-oozy thing that you rip into alongside the chicken. It’s an absolute masterstroke. Even just thinking about it right now, my tastebuds are keen.
As well as that, Hariri serves up all the other chicken-shop staples (chicken...
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Update: Indonesian restaurant Medan Ciak has moved from its Surry Hills location – you’ll now find the bright-orange eatery on Sussex Street in the CBD, as well as in Mascot. If you’re only going to get one dish, make it their nasi Padang, which comes with a mountain of rice, rich beef rendang, golden fried chicken, vegetable curry, crisp anchovies, a boiled egg topped with sambal and chilli chips. If you think that sounds delicious, you’d be right. Plus, it will set you back $18.90.
– Avril Treasure
Read on for our original review of Medan Ciak from 2021 by Helen Yee
*****
Want cheap and homestyle Indonesian food? Head to Medan Ciak. It’s a favourite with Indonesian students and ex-pats - queues out the door are not uncommon, especially on weekends. There’s a reason for the frisson of excitement. Unlike most Indonesian restaurants across Sydney that focus on Javanese cuisine, here you’ll find the food of Medan, the North Sumatran capital known for its distinct mix of indigenous Batak, Malay and Chinese flavours.
Expect lots of pork - Batak people are predominantly Christian rather than Muslim faith - including regular cameos by Chinese lap cheong sausage. You’ll find it scattered in the nasi goreng fried rice and the cah kwe tiau – fried flat rice noodles with barbecue pork, prawns, fish cake and egg that mirrors Malaysian char kway teow.
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Whatever you do, make sure you order the...
Update: A Sydney institution, Spice I Am has been knocking out delicious and authentic Thai dishes for two decades. It’s one of the best Thai restaurants in Sydney, there are great lunchtime deals, and it’s BYO. Love chilli? You'll feel at home here.
– Avril Treasure
Read on for our original review of Spice I am from 2018 by Emily Lloyd-Tait
*****
Omelette in a sour Thai soup does not sound like it should work, but, goddamn, if it isn’t a delicious revelation at number 79 on Spice I Am’s famously lengthy menu. At 82 items long, those A3, double-sided, laminated menus have been keeping flavour fossickers on their toes for 14 years. Although co-owner and head chef Sujet Saenkham has been in Sydney since 1985, it wasn’t until 2004 that he felt the city was ready for his authentic brand of Thai cooking, taken from the recipes his mother would make on their farm in Ratchaburi, south west of Bangkok. He didn’t want to compromise those flavours, no matter how many people complained about there being no zucchini in their curry, and it’s a big part of why this pigeonhole restaurant still garners patient queues after all these years.
So back to that omelette soup. Young, tender cha-om leaves (climbing wattle) are densely packed inside a tangle of golden egg, chopped into bite-sized pieces and submerged in a sour soup with a company of fat prawns. It’s richer than a tom yum, feistier than a tom kha gai and perfectly balanced – you won’t find this on suburban Thai menus.
For...
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Update: Housed in Rosebery’s The Cannery, Banh Xeo Bar serves modern Vietnamese hits with French flair. You have to order its namesake, of course: the banh xeo, a crisp Vietnamese pancake made from rice and turmeric, stuffed with pork and prawn, and served with fresh herbs and a zippy dressing on the side (you can also order it with roast pumpkin or lemongrass chicken). Add on a handful of snacks and natural wine, and it’s a good time all around.
– Avril Treasure
Read on for our original review of Banh Xeo Bar from 2018 by Emily Lloyd-Tait
*****
Rosebery is rocking to a whole new beat in 2018. The fashion outlets and car service centres are still there, but so is the Cannery, a high density snack zone that features the likes of Gelato Messina, Black Star Pastry, Archie Rose, Three Blue Ducks and Da Mario pizzeria. Right in the heart of this new dining haven is a white-tiled lunch spot lit by a pink neon sign, where Robyn in on the stereo and Vietnamese is on the menu.
Don’t you dare pre-snack because you’ll need every inch for the banh xeo. Those titular, lacey-edged, coconutty pancakes in a luminous turmeric gold envelope contain a core of pumpkin, corn, crunchy pig’s head nuggets or barbecued lemongrass chicken. Break it up, add pickled onion, carrot, fresh shiso and mint leaves, and ferry the lot to your mouth in rafts of cos lettuce. It’s a culinary chimera, scoring high marks on the light-and-fresh score as as well as the fried-and-delicious one.
The other must-order...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Growing up, sisters Rowena and Kate Chansiri used to eat a beef noodle soup made by their mum using their grandmother’s recipe. It’s a traditional street-food dish that’s slurped in Chinatowns all over Thailand, and now, they are serving it at their new unassuming eatery on 47 Cooper Street in Surry Hills. They are honouring their grandmother in another way, too. The name of their diner, “Ama” (pronounced ah–maa), means grandmother in Thai.
Ama’s beef noodle soup arrives in a pretty blue-and-white floral bowl with three types of beef. There are three thick slices of 16-hour braised salt-aged silver side, fall-off-the-bone-soft beef short rib, and round, light-coloured beef balls, as well as verdant Chinese broccoli, spring onions and crisp fried garlic.
You can choose from egg or rice noodles, and today I’ve gone for the former, which are chewy and bouncy. I’m even a fan of the buttery, subtle beef balls (though I find it helps not to think about them too long). But my favourite thing is the dark broth – it has great depth thanks to stock made from the beef bones and caramelised palm sugar, it's fragrant with earthy Chinese five spice, and balanced with vinegar. Growing up, my grandmother used to make me spag bol and pavlova. And while this beef noodle...
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Update: Forget about the name – you can sit down and enjoy your food at Cairo Takeaway – and enjoy you will. The Egyptian diner is an Enmore Road stalwart for good reason. Here, the flavours are big, the portions are generous and they serve mixed plates of your dreams. Plus, you can BYO your fave booze and people watch your heart out. Come hungry.
– Avril TreasureRead on for our original review of Cairo Takeaway from 2016 by Emily Lloyd-Tait.*****
For the longest time Enmore Road was made up of Thai restaurants bookended by Saray kebab shop at the station end and Sultan’s Table down the other. But now you’ve basically got the full UN dinner service on this half kilometre stretch of road. It manages to fit in Southern barbecue, pho, African curry, deep-fried mud crab, a cracker of a Margherita and properly spicy tikka chicken – but Middle Eastern food is definitely having a moment, with with Cairo Takeaway joining the felafel love-in.
In spite of the name you can eat in at Cairo Takeaway, and it’s a good time. They put a lot of care into assembling their mixed plates and given their popularity, there might be a bit of a wait on your food. A few minutes pause isn’t much of a cross to bear when Big Boi’s Sir Lucious Left Foot is blaring and you’ve got frosty tins of Young Henrys lager, hoppy Wayward’s pale ale or a sweet and astringent hibiscus cordial (imagine a sort of herbal pomegranate flavour) in front of you.
If you don’t eat meat the veg version has crisp, spiced...
Update: Going strong for nearly three decades, cheery Lebanese diner Emma’s Snack Bar is one of our favourite cheap eats in Sydney. The best way to enjoy Emma’s is to order a bunch of plates – such as zippy, crunchy pickles, crisp, herby falafel, smoky and garlicky baby ganoush and warm flatbread – and go to town. It’s BYO, so bring along a bottle or two of your favourite vino. And there’s an excellent meat or vego set menu for $65 per person.
– Avril Treasure
Read on for our original review of Emma’s Snack Bar from 2014 by Emily Lloyd-Tait.
*****
The shock of newspaper over the windows of Emma’s on Liberty caused many to fear the worst for the cramped but convivial Lebanese restaurant in the backstreets of Enmore. We dared to hope when new lettering appeared and now we’re here to tell you that Emma’s Snack Bar is open and killing it in their new, downgraded digs.
It’s not a drastic change from the old Emma’s site. There is still the enormous central table where everyone bungs in together, but now there are tall tables on one side that don’t require a shoehorn to get into. The walls have been given a gentle lick of grey paint, there’s a new bank of windows out onto Liberty Street and like any good takeaway joint, the enormous menu board is mounted over the counter.
But low key certainly doesn’t mean a lowered bar for what’s coming out of the kitchen. A serve of the smoky, feather-light babaganoush is essential, but the spicy humous dressed with a warm chilli oil and...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences. We always review anonymously and cover our own restaurant and bar bills, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more here.
It’s brunch time, and in front of me is a delicious looking bitta-this, bitta-that breakfast plate. I’m obsessed with them – the whole of Sydney is, really – and this one looks particularly good.
There’s baked-fresh-that-day sourdough toast with a smear of salted butter, an open soft-boiled egg with a bright and jammy centre, slices of leg ham, a triangle of crumbly cheddar, a tumble of thinly sliced onion, wedges of pickled green tomatoes, and a fig. On a separate plate sits a bronzed croissant with butter and jam, and in front of me is a glass of wine.
Look, I know it’s not best practice to drink before noon (sorry, mum), but I’m in carb heaven – also known as A.P Bread & Wine. It's the first-ever all-day offering from A.P Bakery, and it also pours vino. How could I say no?
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Located on Burton Street in Darlinghurst, a few streets back from Oxford Street, A.P Bread & Wine joins an already-strong family line-up: the OG A.P Bakery, found on Paramount House Hotel’s sunny rooftop; A.P Supply, both in Surry Hills; Newtown’s A.P Town; the CBD’s A.P Place; and a weekly stall at Carriageworks Farmers Market (get down early for that one).
Two...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
As I step from the heat and bustle of Lakemba’s Haldon Street into the colourful interior of Island Dreams Cafe, the first thing to catch my eye is a giant, very old-style Italian espresso machine. It has clearly been lovingly cared for over the decades, but it looks so ancient that it might have hissed and puffed out an authentic Italian espresso for Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday. This vintage glamour is characteristic of the décor and atmosphere of this cool and welcoming café restaurant. The aquatic-green walls are decorated with faded island maps, coconut fronds and photos of perfect island beaches.
The décor is unique and (while I don't like to overuse the word), the food at Island Dreams is extremely unique – it’s the only restaurant in Sydney serving the cuisine of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. This isn’t surprising, given that the islands have a population of just 600 people. They are situated off the northwest coast of Australia and, although the islands have been part of Australia since 1955, they are geographically closer to Sumatra. Despite this proximity, this ‘Aussie’ fare has a distinctly Malay character, but it is mostly served Sumatran-style from the huge bain-marie that dominates the room.
Island Dreams opened in 1996,...
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Look, it’s probably been said 100 times before, but we’ll say it again: Rocker, Bondi’s breezy and cool restaurant and bar, rocks.
Found 200 metres from Bondi's golden stretch of sand, the relaxed eatery by Darren Robertson (also Three Blue Ducks) and Cameron Northway (also Melbourne's Loti) has been keeping Bondi locals well fed and hydrated since 2017, and the good times have just kept on coming.
The menu by head chefs Stuart Toon and Ethan Smart (who are also part owners) is packed with tasty hits, like white bean hummus with pickled onion, flat bread and za’atar; fried chicken with almond buttermilk, fermented chilli honey and orange vinegar; pappardelle with beef cheek ragu, tomatoes, parmesan and pangrattato; and grilled broccoli with curry butter, yoghurt and pistachios. Can’t decide? There’s a stellar feed-me menu for $75 per person.
As well as tasty dishes and fun vibes, Rocker slings some banging deals too. First up is Rocker’s bottomless brunch, which changes with the seasons. The current rendition comes with house-made roast onion and thyme focaccia; local burrata; glazed free-range chicken; harissa-spiced roast pumpkin and almond cream and more. All paired with two hours of free-flowing Mimosas, sparkling, red, white and rosé, for $99 per person. The bottomless brunch is available every Thursday to Sunday, noon and 3pm sittings. Rally your gang.
There’s also a House of Friends event on Friday nights with $16 Margaritas – Casamigos tequila-based Tommy’s,...
If there’s one thing us Sydneysiders love, it’s a ripper sandwich. And now there’s another joint we reckon you should check out, and that’s at sunny hole-in-the-wall café June’s Shoppe, which has just launched an epic all-day sandwich menu.
Part of the Applejack Hospitality group (also Rafi, Bopp and Tone), the vibrant café is based in the Wynyard Precinct in Sydney's CBD. Applejack culinary director Patrick Friesen (formerly Queen Chow) has created the new bad boys, which were inspired by the giant rainbow sandwiches from King George Deli in Tokyo.
Made with fresh, super fluffy and thick-cut Texas-style bread, June’s sambos are packed to the rafters with fresh salads, delicious fillings and house-made sauces. There are eight colourful creations to choose from, including the salad sandwich with cucumber, tomato, beetroot, carrots, alfalfa, mayo and vintage cheddar; the spicy fried chicken with comeback sauce, cheddar and gem lettuce; curried free-range egg salad with nori, Kewpie mayo and gem lettuce; and the roast free-range fennel pork with pesto, pickled chillies, provolone and rapini (a green veggie, similar to broccoli).
Pat says you should “come give it a try when you’re done hurting your mouth eating sourdough or ciabatta sandwiches".
And if you were wondering what Pat's favourite sambo is, the answer may surprise you. “I think my favourite is the salad sandwich and the broccoli salad.” See, even chefs make friends with salad. Come down to June’s and have a bite for...
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ED'S NOTE: This review was written following the café's opening back in 2018, but it's still a top spot for breakfast and coffee.
When it comes to café breakfasts, Sydney is a hard town to impress. But when Edition Coffee Roasters opened their light, bright Japano-Nordic café in Darlinghurst, it rocketed to the top of everyone’s brunch bucket list with fine-dining inflected dishes like the mushroom pond, inspired by a dish at Noma and featuring consommé, udon noodles, mushrooms and crème fraîche.
Fast forward a few years and we’ve been gifted a second bite at the fusion cherry, but Edition’s Haymarket outpost is no carbon copy. In fact, it’s almost a complete contrast, and we’re not just talking about the fact that the CBD Edition is painted black. The pared-back layout is inspired by Japanese farmhouses, and it feels almost like you’re inside a piece of activated charcoal – like Valhalla for minimalists. It’s also leaning more heavily on the Japanese half of the concept. Sure, you can get open sandwiches (smorrebrod) on a malty, chewy rye that they bake in-house. As far as smugly beautiful lunches go, your plate of three slices topped with sweet chunks of butter-poached prawn meat just fastened to the bread with a yuzu kosho buttermilk dressing is the one to beat. Dill and fresh apple keep it light, and an extra allotment of seafaring credentials in an amber sprinkle of briny flying fish roe.
From here, the menu steers into more recognisably Japanese territory. Students...
UPDATE: Since writing this review, Swallow Coffee Traders has been taken over by new owners Steph and Mick and become fully vegan. They are the only 100 per cent vegan eatery in the whole St George area of Sydney. To check out their plant-based menu, click here.
*****
Some inner-west devotees will tell you that once you leave the café heartland all hope for a great coffee is lost. They couldn't be further from the truth. Dare to venture beyond the confines of your regular brunch haunts and you may just uncover a hidden gem in the least likely of locations.
One such treasure is Swallow Coffee Traders in Rockdale. Nestled in a tiny nook just next to the station, this wee café sees off the hordes of morning commuters with powerful espresso shots and quick breakfast snacks. Opened in November last year, it boasts a street-art inspired mural, milk crates covered with fashionably repurposed printed hessian sacks and industrial interior that would be right at home on King Street. New café owners Angus Nicol and Jessica Hol have instead set up shop just off the thundering Princes Highway.
The beans at Swallow are Single Origin and it is clear that Hol and Nicol have more than a passing interest in coffee. Right now the order of the day is espresso but looking beyond your standard shot there are plans afoot for pour-overs, siphons and cupping – specialty extraction methods that include test tubes and Bunsen burners among other strange and wonderful paraphernalia.
On the weekend...
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Is it a garage sale? Is it a tiny art gallery? No! It’s the entrance to Parramatta’s celebrated café, Circa Espresso. For the three of you in Sydney who haven’t heard of it, this narrow space has been exemplifying café excellence since 2010. It really doesn’t matter if we’re talking about the full-page tea menu, the refined coffee program, real-deal baked goods or the go-to, destination-worthy dish of Ottoman Eggs – people here have clearly worked hard to ensure the options are all killer, no filler.
Owner Aykut Sayan is still here, front and centre – cheerfully greeting customers, running coffees out to tables, checking in with the chefs – and it feels like you’re a guest in his home. The shop’s layout places you in the middle of a narrow room amongst the (tiny) open kitchen and coffee bar. As you sit back and watch your whole order being prepared, soak in the old-timey paintings, posters, books and artefacts that line every wall. Don’t forget to clock those ornate ceiling fans above you, too. If you venture to the back of the space, you’ll find a quiet booth for a romantic date or a less romantic business meeting.
Circa’s menu is seasonal, but always steered by flavours and textures of the Middle East. We’re talking about hearty, restaurant-level dishes at around $20 a plate. Value. Yes, you’re getting extraordinary value, especially considering the effort that goes into each individual component. Halloumi and cauliflower fritters are the opposite of mushy, and come...
At Malibu, which you’ll find down a Surry Hills alley, there’s just one man, Marc Aebi, taking orders, chopping fillings and waving you off with a smile and a ginormous, foil-wrapped sandwich. Pick from an array of tins holding crunchy butter lettuce, sweet beetroot, pickles, and crisp cucumbers. A green, herby mayo forms the base of your ‘wich. Beware: structural integrity could be compromised if you play too fast and loose with additions. Are you sure you need that extra avo? Even if you decide you do, your sandwich will probably still ring in under $10 (just make sure you bring cash. Your card's no good here).
What Marc Aebi can’t stick between two pieces of bread probably isn’t worth knowing and he works the matchbox-sized shop like nobody’s business, making everything fresh every morning. Don’t miss the schnitzel on fluffy white bread and baby cos lettuce, or the roast vegetables with hummus on brown bread. If you're really looking to get messy, dive into the ham, bocconcini, tomato and basil number. It's stacked sky–high and doused in a thin, creamy dressing.
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Is it possible to build a business off the back of a lamington? When it's the arctic flurry of shaved coconut embellishing a hefty cube of chocolate-coated vanilla sponge, soaked in panna cotta and shot through with crimson berry compote at Nadine Ingram's Flour and Stone bakery in Woolloomooloo, the answer is yes.
Ingram, with her community-driven, small-batch approach, has taken the most deceptively simple baked goods and raised them to cult-like status, thanks to an unwavering commitment to precision, quality and flavour. Since it was established in 2011, Flour and Stone has become a Sydney institution with queues out the door - and they’re still a regular occurrence even with an extra space added two doors down.
It’s hard to imagine how a team of 22 fit behind the tiled wall when you sneak a peek from the communal 8-seater at no. 53, the new annexe. A high table, a pair of outdoor settings and a banquette seat provide extra dining space (but nowhere near enough to sate demand). The room is decorated in colourful Dave Teer artworks inspired by Old-fashioned vanilla cake, but the real eye candy is the display cabinet packed with madeleines, lemon drizzle cake, brulee tarts, and chocolate, raspberry and buttermilk cakes.
Do not discount the savoury treats though. Spanakopita ferries a textbook-perfect spinach and feta filling between layers of delicate puff pastry; crisp iceberg lettuce plays a surprisingly significant role in the success of a chicken ciabatta sambo...
With its bustling narrow footpaths, perpetual construction projects and conga line of rattling buses, Broadway might take the cake for Sydney’s least fun pedestrian experience. Luckily, respite is now available for us – hark! Seek out the bucolic signage at Little Livi, a little cottage tucked just far enough down Mountain Street to remain a viable pit stop on a takeaway coffee rush.
Rest assured, your cuppa is in steady hands here. Ask the friendly partner/barista Amadeo Vasquez about his lateral involvement with various roasters, importers and brewers through his career, and you’ll come to understand he’s curated Little Livi’s coffee menu from a truly wide range of experience. Today’s super clean, vibrant filter coffee hails from Dukes in Melbourne, served in a bulbous glass for optimal sniffin’ and quaffin’. Bonus points awarded for Little Livi’s house blend being an actual house blend, designed by Vasquez himself. It’s rich and punchy through milk, and its syrupy honey sweetness intensifies as it cools.
Decent grab'n'go breakfast options are something of a rare find around here, so if you’re wondering why everything looks miles better than the cling-filmed banana breads of your past, it’s because partner/chef Daniel Leyva once headed the kitchen of the Bridge Room (RIP), and this fine-dining pedigree shines through in the visuals of every edible thing under the roof. An abundant pastry cabinet features artfully stuffed croissants, bagels (by Brooklyn Boy Bagels) and...
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