One of my greatest challenges when eating out is finding a place that serves reasonably-sized portions that won’t break the bank. The reason for this is simple: I am so used to eating smaller portions that anything on the larger size (think a classic pub meal) will result in me a) not finishing the meal or b) leaving the venue with a case of bloating. During my many years of taking in Sydney’s food scene, I’ve gained an understanding of what my body can handle and, as a result, I now have a handful of places that I will return to time and time again. Four Ate Five Cafes, in general, are a safe bet when it comes to light meals. One of my favourites is the Crown St stalwart Four Ate Five, cleverly named for its street address number. My favourite orders are usually poached eggs or avocado on…
Let’s just say that I was pretty glad to make it to the end of this work week. In between settling back into a ‘work week’ routine and juggling the unholy number of bugs that came in and trying to get code reviews done… Food always seems to be the perfect remedy for a crazy week. I caught up with a girl friend for a bite of brunch late Saturday morning. We went to Cook & Archies, as it was a place neither of us had been to before and a place my friend had been itching to try before she moved interstate. I ordered the Smashed Avo & Haloumi Toast, while my friend got the Zucchini, Corn & Haloumi Fritters. Before any of you jump into the comments about my resolution to try new things, let me say that it was getting pretty toasty in the city on Saturday.…
I am not one for grandiose birthday celebrations. Eating out at a nice restaurant is enough. In recent years, I’ve taken to having my birthday lunch on my own. Dining out solo is one of life’s underrated pleasures. Apart from not having to worry about scheduling conflicts, there’s something so peaceful about enjoying one’s own company. For 2021, I had my ‘main’ birthday lunch on Saturday because Quay only takes lunchtime bookings on weekends during the COVID era. The standouts were: Shiitake & squid noodles with sour koji butter I enjoyed the chewiness of the noodles themselves. The prominent sesame flavours didn’t hurt its case either. The Maremma Duck with orach, gooseberries, onions & Kampot pepper Loved the duck. Wasn’t entirely sold on the onions though. White Coral This is what I would consider the successor to the OG Snow Egg. (Side note: I am still a touch salty that…
I am not a fan of setting New Year’s Resolutions in the traditional sense. We always start the year with these grandiose ideas of how we want to better ourselves. And somehow, we end up falling flat on our backsides. Even though this has happened to me more than I’d care to think about, I still think that there is something to be said for having goals for the year ahead. It gives you something to chip away at throughout the year. When you get to the next NYE, you can look back and say: “at least I got something done this year”. The goals I want to achieve by the time NYE 2021 rolls around are: Move out into my own place Moving out has been on the todo list for a while. The primary reason is that I need some proper personal space. I.e. more than my bedroom.…
After reading this post on Nine’s beauty blog earlier in the year, it got me thinking about how much I spend on my own beauty regime. So, for the best part of 2020, from 1 January to 20 December, I kept tabs on every single beauty related expenditure. And I mean every. single. one. Whether it was a beauty product or a service, it went into the spreadsheet I was using to jot everything down. I went into this experiment expecting the final figure to be pretty high, given my own preferences for the finer things in life. Still, I was surprised when the final figure ended up exceeding $3k. $3,340.56 to be exact. Some of the standout expenses: my haircut. This works out to be an average of $138. I get my hair done at one of the nicer places in Sydney and consider this to be my regular…
Today I caught up with one of my friends who I hadn’t seen in person for a couple of months. I think the last time we actually met up in person was before lockdown – for my birthday back in January. We had brunch at Cuckoo Callay before we did our Christmas shopping. As one might expect of any popular Surry Hills cafe, there was a wait before we could be seated. Thankfully, we only had to wait 5-10 minutes before we were given a table outside. With the weather being so reasonable, there were plenty of puppers dining out with their humans in the outdoor area. MJ and I were seated next to 2 ladies and their very sociable bulldog. The excitable pup (confirmed to be a girl by one of the ladies) continued to try and make friends with diners from the neighbouring tables, much to the bemusement…
Having meals out (especially at a nice resturant) is my favourite way to treat myself. After close to decade of sampling Sydney’s food scene, there’s a small handful of places that I find myself coming back to time and time again. Even after telling myself that I’ll try new places to expand my palette. At the top of the list is Sake. Sake is a contemporary Japanese restaurant, with locations in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. The location I visit the most is the one in The Rocks. When I’m in Melbourne, I always make sure to visit the Hamer Hall and Flinders Lane venues at least once during my trip. What I love about Sake is the manageable portion sizes. I am used to smaller than average servings, so trying to repeat the experience when eating out is a bit of a challenge. The nigiri sushi (always served…