Sydney Part 2

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I have been a little slack with the 2nd part of my Sydney post mainly because of how painful it is knowing 10512.3 miles separate me from all this amazing food. By now I have lost the order in which we visited these places but if I don't get them down now I know I never will!

First off is Gelato Messina pictured above. Dubbed as the best gelato in Sydney its very easy to see why. 2 huge freezers filled with lots of exciting flavours as well as many favourites. The chefs are challenged each week to create a new flavour which appear on their specials board. I opted for the salted caramel and a panacotta with fig jam and amaretti which was by far the best I have ever tasted in my life. Messina offer takeaway boxes in varying sizes which I imagine are a little dangerous to have in your freezer.

Next up was Rueben Hills. I had spotted this place in the Sydney Time Out magazine and after being recommended it by friends we headed down. It took a while to take our pick from all the delicious sounding food on their menu but we finally settled on the Dirty Bird which consisted of spicy grilled chicken with a tomatillo salsa, cheese, pickles, chipotle aioli in a brioche bun and their Not Rueben consisting of wagyu salt brisket, pickled slaw, manchego & horseradish cream. Both were outstanding and accompanied by organic orange juice & a piccolo made the perfect lunch.

Grill'd is a fairly new burger chain in Australia with a fairly small number of restaurants dotted around the country. I decided to try one of their veggie burgers filled to the brim with beetroot, avocado, salad, relish & herb mayo. I also have to mention their chips which are topped with a salt & herb mix which makes them extremely moorish.

The Book Kitchen sits over the road from Bourke Street Bakery mentioned in part 1 and sounded like my idea of heaven. A cafe come cookbook shop where you are encouraged to sit and read the vast number of cookbooks they have on their bookshelves whilst you have some lunch or indulge in one of their cakes. We settled on some homemade lemonade and my first lamington in Australia.

One Saturday morning we were taken to Eveleigh Market where I got to try Billy Kwong's Steamed pancake with fresh vegetables, herbs & egg which was brimming with so much flavour and a firm favourite with many locals. We had recently eaten breakfast so we were both really full. I now really regret not trying the dumplings too.

We headed to Beach Burrito in Bondi one evening and whilst I ate my lime chilli and garlic prawn burrito I had a good giggle watching the guys showing off over the road at the muscle beach. We washed our burritos down with a couple of bottles of Corona before heading to a pub (with a drive through bottle shop- off licence to me and you!)

Our last meal in Sydney was at Double Roasters on our way to the airport. I went for their corn & courgette fritters which came with an avocado salsa, rocket & a poached egg and Tim went for the housemade baked beans with prosciutto, eggs and spinach. It was the perfect food to line our stomachs for the next 24 hours of travel.

 

We also had a few meals where I didn't manage to get any photos. Those that need a special mention are Mr Wong in the CBD, a fairly new restaurant with a Cantonese style menu. We turned up for lunch and sat in their bar where we shared 5 dim sum plates. The food was outstanding, only the turnip cake served with dried fish on top wasn't to our liking as the fish was just too intense, but I can easily say hands down the best pork buns I have ever eaten.
Second on my list is the North Bondi Italian set overlooking Bondi Beach with an impressive modern Italian menu. We were taken here by our friends for one of our last meals. I decided on the spaghetti Cartoccio which is baked in a paper bag with spanner crab, tomato & chilli. To end the meal we all shared an plate of tiramisu which was brought out in a big dish by the waiter and plated up (very generously) at our table.

We are already beginning to plan our next trip to Australia. Hopefully we will be heading back out in January next year with an added stop in Melbourne. If anyone has must visits there please let me know!

I am off work for the next two weeks give or take a few days and I am setting myself lots of cooking challenges to fill my time. First up is croissant, if I have any success I will be sure to share the photos.