Parlour Burger, Sydney CBD

A few Fridays back, I ordered a burger and fries to go from Parlour Burger, an offshoot of the Morrison. The waitress mentioned that they offer a choice between medium and well-done patties. Not wanting to risk contracting salmonella, I opted for the latter. And so we waited. And waited.

20 minutes went by, and the people who had ordered before us were still waiting. They started to check on their orders, and we did the same. "Yes, it's coming" was the general response. Another 15 or so minutes later, our takeaway bags were passed to us. Nearly 40 minutes for a burger and fries.


"It's black! Why is your bun black?!" a friend exclaimed. All other reactions to the black widow burger were similarly incredulous. Thankfully the bun didn't taste like carbon, and the addition of charcoal seems to have purely enhanced the aesthetics/ novelty. The bun was quite fluffy inside, but otherwise fairly ordinary.

The burger was probably smaller than average, but I'm a small eater so it was filling to me. Chipotle mayo was creamy and lightly spicy, while the burger patty was... alright. It wasn't bad, but there were little nervy bits inside that required me to spit discreetly into the paper bag from time to time.

Was it worth waiting for? I don't really think so.

Black widow burger ($10.00)

Well done patty

The duck fat chips cost nearly as much as the burger. And there's not much. While the angle of the photo might enhance the minimalism of the chip numbers, it's actually quite an accurate portrayal. The chips were also quite limp, and being fried in duck fat as opposed to normal oil seems to have done little to the taste. Certainly not something I want to pay $8 for again.

Duck fat chips ($8.00)

I was really ticked off at the time, considering you can get a burger and chips with bigger portions from a food court almost instantly for less than $10.

York Trading & Co, Sydney CBD

I first noticed York Trading & Co (and the new nearby sushi place) looking out from my bus on weekday mornings. Although it looks like a bar, the fact never quite sunk in because the coffee and breakfast grabbers impressed me with associations of the morning.

Regardless, I've since realised they serve liquor and not-so-breakfasty food. The concept is simple - it's New York themed, fittingly on York Street and caters for both the sharers and the selfish (or more accurately, the germaphobes). Being a bar, it was too dimly lit for me to bother taking photos of the premises, which was divided into a narrow bar area and a more open restaurant section. My friend hadn't made a reservation, so a table wasn't an option. Instead, we perched ourselves precariously on the slightly wobbly bar stools.

A quick glance at the menu revealed there were no specials that day - the caption for Friday was something like "because you deserve a drink".

"Since we need a drink at the end of the week, we should be paying full prices," one person mused. My dad would certainly applaud the business sense of levying the captive market!

At the time of ordering, I was feeling ravenous, cantankerous, and certainly did not want to share. I didn't want a heavy meal, though, since one drink is enough to make me half-full. Instead, I selected the "roast pumpkin, smoked mozzarella and guacamole piadina", thinking it would be similar to a panini. Turns out it's more like a quesadilla of flatbread, or an Italian version of naan bread cum cheese melt. Sounds obscure, but it was prettttyyy good. Though the pureed pumpkin was sweet, it wasn't overly so. In any case, it was offset by the richness of the cheese and avocado. Portion-wise, it's great for sharing, but you can also eat it on your own - it certainly made me full!
 

Pumpkin piadina ($15.00)

Having a penchant for cocktails, I also had the "I Heart NY" and the "YT Pharmaceutical Stimulant".

"I Heart NY": Apple jack brandy, blood orange liqueur, passionfruit, orange citrate bitters. As its contents suggests, this one was heavy on the citrus. Strong lemony flavours abounded.

I Heart NY ($18.00)

"YT Pharmaceutical Stimulant": Very fun to say. Basically an espresso martini- Campos coffee, vodka, coffee liqueur and vanilla. Strong coffee taste, not that creamy - the top layer of foam isn't as thick as it looks. Halfway through and I couldn't finish as it was too sweet. Pity because it's actually quite nice.

YT Pharmaceutical Stimulant ($18.00)

Opera Bar, Sydney Opera House

One Friday evening, I made my way to Opera Bar with a bunch of my girlfriends (hereafter called CC, Spoon, Tea and Shell) for a night of chatter and grazing. Tea was visiting us from HK, so we were keen to sit somewhere comfortable. However, as with all the other watering holes in Sydney, the after-work crowd swarmed around the outdoor tables and created a haze out of cigarettes. Indoors, was thankfully non-smoking and, since there's no good view from indoors, there were plenty of tables to choose from!

We slid into a cosy booth, dispatching Spoon on a mission to obtain a jug of Pimm's. The first attempt failed. The bartender thought she could pass for an under-18 teen. It will be a sad day when we treat that as a compliment...

Jug of Pimms (~$40)

We were pretty spoilt for choice in terms of sharing plates. CC recommended the tasting platter for the variety and large portions. She was right in saying that it could feed 4 (though the menu says it serves 2 to 3) - but I'll get to that later.

Lamb ribs were my order. Sweet, sticky and meaty, these honey-glazed morsels fulfilled my carnivorous cravings. Similar to the pickled condiments you get in Cantonese restaurants upon arrival, the accompanying pile of sliced cabbage was sour and vinegary. The others didn't like them because they weren't used to the strong flavour, but I found it enjoyable.

Lamb ribs (~$16.00)

The yam crisps were surprisingly cheap (for the place), considering yam is expensive and this was a bit of a novelty. They were good munchies, but not exactly the main attraction.

Yam Crisps ($8.00)

The tasting platter was really 2 plates, so it felt like pretty good value. The bottom level consisted of a tuna terrine with dill, thin crusty slices of bread, juicy pork belly buns (pretty much gua bao) and chunks of trout on little wooden sticks.

Opera Bar Tasting Plate - 1st tier ($48.00)

The top level was made up of sardines, potato croquettes, mini (not that mini) chicken pies, and small green pickled chillis with cured meat. Shell refused the sardines. I was about to, but figured I might as well give them ago. Really fishy, as expected, but the topping of peppers helped a little. Croquettes were as they should be - crunchy and crumbed outside, but creamy inside.

Opera Bar Tasting Plate - Tier 2 ($48.00)

Satisfying comfort-food.

As an aside, I must say that the skill of the waitstaff at carrying large numbers of glassware was admirable. It wasn't an uncommon sight that night for a man to pass by with glasses stacked from below his waistline and reaching above his head. CC swore the girls could do just as well.

The Treehouse, North Sydney

How we got there

Our visit to The Treehouse Hotel was purely accidental. We'd finished touring Sculpture by the Sea, wanted to have dinner on our side of the Bridge, and decided to check out Rengaya in North Sydney. We ambled inside but were regrettably turned away - they were booked out for the night :(

Our hunger pangs were hitting us pretty hard and, it being a Saturday, there weren't many options around North Sydney station. For a moment, I thought that we'd have to retreat to the nearby Hungry Jacks, but soon recalled passing a restaurant that had been perched grandly at the top of a flight of stairs. At the time, I'd glibly called it "cute" and thought it might make a romantic dinner spot, with its potted plants and timber furniture. Gleeful that we had this as a back-up plan, I dragged the Boy off to The Treehouse.

The Treehouse is separated into 3 sections:

1. The garden terrace, which overlooks onto the street, and on that day was booked out for an event hosted by a nearby private school.
2. Indoor bar area
3. Restaurant lounge area

When we entered the restaurant, it was difficult to get the attention of any of the waiters, which was a little odd because we were the first patrons to arrive for dinner and, though the bar area was filled with people, no table service is available to them. I guess they were all busy with the event on the Terrace... Having said that, once we managed to locate someone to seat us, service was fairly smooth for the rest of our visit.

I've got to say, I really loved the soft ambience created by the glowing lamps and whimsical decor - if this were the Sims, my Environment bar would probably be maxed out!

Mismatched chairs and '20s posters scream "vintage chic"

Food

To start, we shared a dozen fresh oysters, served with lemon wedges and a gingery mignonette sauce. No complaints - oysters were indeed fresh, and that acidic accompaniment was delicious.

Fresh oysters - 1 dozen ($32.00)

We also indulged in a couple of cocktails, both of which were a tad more sweet than alcoholic - no less enjoyable though!

Daiquiri ($16.00)

French martini ($14.00)

I had the gnocchi for my main. These starchy potato pillows were lightly pan-fried and served with large prawns, peas, leek and sage brown butter for moisture. This could have become too oily, but they got the balance just right. Thankfully, the portions were sizable and they weren't stingy on the prawns :)

Gnocchi ($30.00)

The Boy ordered a medium steak - Tassie grass-fed eye fillet with cafe de paris butter. I didn't dare eat into his portion, since steaks at restaurants always look so tiny, but he gave it a grin and a thumbs up. I did try the fries, which were prettyyyyy good.

Eye fillet ($33.00)

Verdict

• Food and drinks are decent
• Great atmosphere
• Quite pricey
• Observation: They seem to attract an older crowd

I wouldn't mind coming back for a hearty comforting meal, but given the menu isn't particularly innovative, it's unlikely I'll return for a while.

Absinthe Salon, Surry Hills

I and my friend, CC, were greeted from the iron gate by a gentleman in a period costume. With a flourish, we were permitted into the foyer, the air of which was perfumed by the pungent scent of liquorice. A younger gentleman took on the role of escort and led us through heavy black curtains into the salon. Ornately decorated like a French cafe, we could easily imagine how 19th Century artists might have spent their days sipping absinthe and musing about their next work.

Our waiter, Nathaniel, introduced himself with a monocle and accent, providing an overview of what absinthe is, and the rules of the Salon. He told us that absinthe is made out of 3 main ingredients - wormwood, anise and fennel - and dispelled any misconceptions we had about absinthe being a hallucinogenic.

Nathaniel explained that there is a 3 drink limit and that the first drink must be ordered from a selection of absinthe with lower alcohol proof (around 45% - the maximum on the menu was in the area of 70%). I selected the Lemercier, a French absinthe ($15.00 per glass), while CC ordered a Swiss absinthe, the Kubler (also $15.00 per glass).

2-tap fountain

Nathaniel returned with our respective bottles of absinthe and poured around a shot of absinthe into each glass. He explained that, at Absinthe Salon, they use the French ritual. This involves placing a perforated absinthe spoon on top of the glass, putting a cube of sugar on top, and dripping cold water on top of the sugar (which helps to develop the absinthe and balances out the bitterness of the wormwood). As the water drips into the absinthe, the absinthe beings to "louche", or turn cloudy. The taps are turned off once the glass is half full.

Ice and water was added

Absinthe in general has a strong liquorice flavour, although the Lemercier was a lot lighter (and possibly less developed) than the Kubler in both scent and taste. The sugar becomes a little too overpowering towards the end, so CC finished off the little I had left in my glass :) The strength of the liquorice flavour and high alcohol content makes it necessary to nurse the drink slowly over an hour to an hour-and-a-half.

A sugar cube is seated on top of the glass

We were lucky that we had the place to ourselves for a while, as it prolonged the immersive experience - and it is indeed an experience. We shall be back!

Redoak Boutique Beer Cafe, Sydney CBD

Visited Redoak recently because a certain someone absolutely adores beer, so I figured he would appreciate the products of an award-winning brewery. We ended up coming here for dinner and were seated in the dining half of Redoak (the other appearing to be your typical pub/ bar).

Redoak prides itself on producing premium beers without the use of additives and preservatives. In fact, they love their beers so much that they offer 'beergustations' - 4 beers and matching canapes!


For me, I stuck to one glass of honey ale, as I find it difficult to appreciate the mouldy taste of yeast in beer (even the light stuff) - albeit what I had at Redoak was particularly smooth and pleasant. Unfortunately, the one photo I took of my full glass is really blurry because I forgot to raise the ISO of my camera... Whoops.

Honey Ale, regular (~$7)

The two of us ordered a couple of platters to share, both of which consisted of bread, terrines and meat.

Summary of the platters:

• Yummy! (and filling)
• Bread was crisp on the ocean platter but soft on the charcuterie platter
• Fresh ingredients
• Advised that we could scrape off the buttery/ gelatinous (depending on the type) top layer of the rillettes. Once we did so for each pot, we found turkey, smoked salmon and some other fishy meat (couldn't identify the type)
• Each platter had a large slab of roasted eggplant wrapped around capsicum and zucchini

Ocean Platter ($25.00)

Charcuterie Platter ($25.00)

If you're like me and become completely perplexed when confronted with a long long list of beers, it should be reassuring to hear that the staff were really helpful in giving their recommendations. Alternatively, one can always use the menu as a guide - a beer is matched to each food item on the menu.

The Dip, Sydney CBD

After hearing various friends raving about the hotdogs at The Dip, I suggested to a couple of friends that we make that the venue of our next catchup. It was incredibly black in there, so it's a wonder my s110 managed to churn out a few half-decent photos.

Dark dark dark.

Two of us wanted cocktails so we shared a jug. I forget the name but it contained 3 shots of vodka, passionfruit, pineapple juice and a splash of lemonade. Easy on the tastebuds, my Asian flush quickly assumed its rightful position.

Cocktail jug ($30.00)

Much fuss has been made over the hot dogs, and while I agree that they're good, I don't think they're mindblowing. The sausage is aromatic, free from hard nerves/ fats and, I'm happy to say, not as dry as it looks in the photo. The salsa and chipotle gave it the moisture often lacking when white bread is concerned. They have the basics right, but there was nothing extraordinary.

Lev's Dawg ($12.00)

Not having heard about the nachos until one of my friends pushed us into ordering that to share, my expectations were non-existent - rather, I was prepared to dislike this dish because I've had so much corn tortilla lately and I'm not the greatest fan of pulled pork. Nevertheless, I have had to concede that they were a lot tastier than the hot dogs! It was probably because they had the corn chip to topping ratio perfected. The salsa, cheese, jalapeno cream and (of course) the pork minimised the dryness of the chips, while the meat didn't taste overly porky.

Pulled pork nachos ($15.00)

The music noticeably got louder as the evening progressed - we speculated that it's their strategy for achieving higher customer turnover.... It worked on us, anyway, because we scoffed down our food and fled to a nearby cafe to resume our chatter.

La Lupita, Circular Quay

Ever since my first visit to London last year, I've been on the hunt for a non-Tex-Mex restaurant in Sydney that is similar to the likes of Wahaca. La Lupita isn't quite up at that level, but with the right combination of dishes, makes for a satisfying meal. On a sidenote, I don't think 4 pound plates of 3 tacos ($7 - 8 AUD) will be the norm in Australia any time soon :(

La Lupita is situated in The Basement, a music club that mainly hosts Jazz musicians. For the Jazz-haters, not to worry! The dining area is quite separate from the live music - except it might be a disappointment for those who want a dinner/ show experience. Having said that, the salsa bar looked very makeshift, with salad bowls to contain each different salsa type - so perhaps this particular arrangement was just for the one night?

Ordering consists of the following steps:

1. You are provided with a slip of paper (see below) and a coloured pencil.
2. Using the pencil, circle the quantity of each menu item that you wish to order.
3. Hand the paper to either a waitress/ waiter or the bartender.

We asked for one of everything, except for the special taco. This turned out to be a fatal mistake because we ended up with two tortilla chip baskets - albeit with different toppings.

Tortilla chip basket 1: Troelotes

If I were to return, I would pick this tortilla basket over the other one. The spiced corn didn't taste very spiced but provided a bit more texture and juiciness that the other basket lacked. The lime was quite dry, so there wasn't much juice to squeeze over the top, but the cheese, salsa and crema mexicana (as well as the corn) made up for it in moisture.

Troelotes ($10.00)

Spit Roast Hot Wings - with spiced chipotle, lime and garlic crema

Once again, not spicy. They were still tasty though - the meat on the bones was moist and the combination of the sauce and the charred, smoky flavour provided a bit more complexity.

Spiced chicken wings ($10.00)

At $6.00 each, the tacos seem a little steep. They are a little bit bigger than some others I've seen, which somewhat made up for it. One was pork, one was beef and one was chicken. Aside from bearing their respectively different meaty textures, I couldn't distinguish between their accompanying marinades. Slathered with salsas and toppings of our choice, though, we were pretty happy.

Tacos ($6.00 each)

Tortilla basket 2: Frijoles with salsa roja, crema mexicana, chiltepin (chili pepper) , queso de oaxaca (Mexican cheese)

As much as I adore frijoles, there was a bit too much starch and not enough of a spicy kick. It's still worth a try if you're into your legumes - there just isn't that much to say about it :/

Would I return? One day, yes. Although the menu is limited, the food isn't bad, and I really ought to sample their drinks.

The Forresters, Surry Hills

About a month ago I decided to check out The Forresters (having done the opposite thing to what everyone else has done and visited Queenies first). To my dismay, the entire premises was swamped with people and I thought that getting a table (even for 2) would be hard. However, we grabbed drinks and hovered around a particular spot until a table cleared. This method was successful as we only had to wait for about 10 minutes. Due to how busy it was, the cutlery and serviettes weren't replaced so we picked some up from the kitchen when we retrieved our food.

And I know the photo below suggests that there's a castle/ dungeon vibe going on, I would have to say it's not really themed - just a casual bar with good food and plants.

The popcorn squid was salty and lightly battered. The squid was nicely tenderised and the green peppercorn mayo helped to lessen the impact of the squid being deep fried.

Popcorn squid ($14.00)

 There was a lot of chicken nugget - pretty much battered chicken, much like with the popcorn squid. The chicken wasn't overly dry like I expected, but it was incredibly salty. I don't think I would order it again. Portions are really generous - the both of us were really struggling to finish this and the squid.

Chicken nuggets ($10.00)

 The pulled pork slider contained peanut mayo and Korean slaw. The pulled pork was a little dry and I was disappointed by the dryness of the miniature burger buns - it's the same texture you get from leaving white bread out for a day.

Pulled pork slider ($5.50)

 The fish tacos were the highlight of the visit - the corn, slaw, guacamole and wedge of lime provided enough juice to make this truly enjoyable to eat. The fish didn't taste too much of seafood - in fact, it integrated so well amongst the other ingredients that it was hard to tell it tasted of fish.

Fish taco ($5.50)

I also had a ginger beer based cocktail. Loved it.

Chicky babe ($10.00 a glass)

I personally prefer the dining at Queenies because of the greater variety of dishes to choose from - as well as the fact that much of the food at the Forresters is too strong - in salt, oil and dryness. I guess they appeal to different crowds. The Forresters is good for those mainly there to drink and mingle with groups of friends with a bit of food on the side.