Sydney Food Diary

Wakari masen

Ee-go ga dekimas ka?

We are leaving for Tokyo tonight from where I do hope to post at least a few updates here. If I fail entirely, I will see you all early in April.

Eat well and keep well.

Short Black

Living a bean's throw from Campos Coffee is a mixed blessing.

We are spoiled for coffee both by the bean (microroasted and blended on-site) and by the cup (made with attention by professional barristas) but whenever we travel it's very difficult to find coffee that even comes close to the benchmark.

If you haven't been, you are missing out on one of Sydney's best but not so well kept secrets. We recommend dropping in for a short black and also picking up a bag of the Project "A" special blend for your plunger or Campos Superior for your stovetop percolator.

Campos Coffee 193 Missenden Road (steps from King St), Newtown

Infrequent posts

I must apologize for the shortage of posts but I also regret to say that they may get a bit less frequent for the next while.

No, we haven't stopped eating and we certainly haven't lost our passion for food or this site. Rather, work has overtaken both our dining out and an unruly amount of our time as we prepare to take annual leave on Friday.

We'll be spending 2 weeks in Japan from where I do hope to be able to post some updates, especially as it is such an entirely exciting culinary adventure in it's own right.

Season to taste

"How many times have you read a recipe instruction that says: “Season to taste,” and wondered what exactly that means?"

The amazing French food resource that is A La Carte tries to explain.

Jimmy Liks, Lik it up

We've come to feel more at ease at the long lean communal table at Jimmy Liks. After the intial buzz (hype, hot air) around this place calmed down and the dust settled it stood fairly sturdy on a platform of well-prepared food made with well-chosen ingredients (and not a bad little wine list).

On this recent trip, the well-balanced chicken betel leaf with smoked eggplant chilli and eschallot set the pace (we do however prefer the smoked eel betel leaf) for a masterstroke of grilled scallops in the half shell with sweet pork, mint and ginger.

A main of grilled blue eye dressed up in a salad of shitake mushrooms, lightly pickled cucumber and coriander was even better for the off-menu substitutions. The zesty fresh chilli spice of the dry red curry duck was softened with holy basil and complimented with krachi peas and eggplant.

I also very much enjoyed the rich duck egg custard with star anise ice cream. Michelle sadly didn't, so dessert will remain a split decision.

There are certainly some negatives, the rockstar waiters/actors here are nothing short of mind boggling and with servings so small we can't help feeling that although the food here is tasty that we get far better value for money elsewhere.

Rating: 12/20

Jimmy Liks  188 Victorian St, Potts Point  (02) 8354-1400

All the Emperor's Pork

While it isn't much to look at, the Emperor's Garden BBQ really does have the most mouth-wateringly tender, yet firm and sweet BBQ pork we have found in Sydney.

People line up outside to get the goods and with good reason - hanging hooks showcase crisp duck, roast quail and bellies of pork among other tasty treats.

Next door, the Emperor's meat market is a remarkable pork butcher as well.

Perama (o-rama)

I took some remarkably unremarkable photos of some superb Greek which we sampled at Petersham's Perama Restaurant.

Perama is a warm, welcoming and buzzing restaurant (no smashing glass and loud "Opas") and their slightly modern take on the best of Greek food was fresh and refreshing.

Perfectly crisp little whitebait in a light ouzo mayo made a tantalizing start and a meze plate provided a great sampling including grilled haloumi, filo pastry, cheese pocket, cabbage roll, vegetable patty and grilled mushroom.

Slow roasted lamb kissed with the classic Greek combination of oregano, lemon and garlic and finished on the chargrill was melted tenderly in our mouths. Chicken breast fillets pan fried with a tomato, cinnamon and honey sauce with eggplant and melted haloumi cheese was tasty but less successful.

Best of all however was dessert (so save room), Perama's own caramel baklava ice cream; sliced layers of vanilla bean ice cream, caramel sauce and baklava.

Rating:14/20

Perama Greek Restaurant 88 Audley St., Petersham Tel. 9569-7534

Service with style and a smile

"Question: When is a waiter not a waiter?

Answer: When they're an actor. Or a graphic design student. Or an out-of-work oboist. Or whatever."

Ok, ok so this post is a bit late but an interesting article ran in last weeks Good Living section about some stellar people on the service side of Sydney's dining scene (including Beverley Wood of recently reviewed Restaurante Riva).

Un-modern Vietnamese

We've posted a few times recently about the great modern Vietnamese that is a really exciting trend in Sydney at the moment. What we have forgotten to mention is that sometimes even better (and always far more affordable) are the lively Vietnamese restaurants which pepper the inner west.

Our favorite of the moment is Cabramatta and Newtown's Thanh Binh which is always alive with the fresh aromas which keep people packing in. Thahn Binh has an allegedly legendary noodle menu which it only serves on Saturday and Sunday but for our money the most impressive dishes are the roll your own sugar cane prawn rice paper rolls and the (always on) special Hanoi Fish. The latter is lightly battered ling fillet which is cooked at your table in fresh dill and green onion then served on vermicelli with a touch of fresh herbs, chilli, peanut, red onion and a rich brown special sauce.

Also worth a mention is Marrickville's Bay Tinh where Tran Tinh (who was a chef the the Prime Minister of South Vietnam for a decade) delivers traditional food in terrific sized helpings.

We are really keen to try Dulwich Hill's Minh where we hear they do a knockout version of campfire beef.

Sea Treasure

Yum Cha at Sea Treasure on Sunday was really a treat.

All the usual suspects made the rounds (the steamed pork bun pictured above was among the best I've ever had) along with fresh and delicious seafood. We couldn't resist the big plump prawns, a steaming fresh plate of pipis in black bean sauce and an ample serving of salt and pepper crab.