travel food wine lifestyle
Newtown, a vibrant inner west suburb of Sydney is synonymous for trendy eateries, coffees, pubs, bars, designer boutiques and vintage shops. It’s one of Sydney’s most colourful suburbs, and an epicentre of multicultural food. It is just a matter of making a decision of what type of cuisine you want to dazzle your palate and satisfy your culinary wanderlust with.
If you’re looking for a new HOT SPOT for Italian dining, Zona Azzurri is the one. The 140 seater restaurant is the latest addition to the ever changing restaurant scene in the inner-city suburb of Alexandria. This suburb was once the epitome of industrial Sydney, but now it’s switching gears to becoming a mix of high-rise residential areas, upscale offices, and home to trendy restaurants, cafes and shops.
Decades ago, the leafy Kellet St in Potts Point was once a busy social and dining scene in the Cross, a mixture of top notch restaurants, trendy cafes, massage parlours, pubs and residential area. Over the years, a number of businesses have closed their doors except for a few iconic venues that have become Sydney institutions. Thankfully new places are popping-up and hopefully they will bring back the once buzzing scene of this lovely street.
Adding to the vibrant food scene in Surry Hills is the Chin Chin Restaurant which opened late last year, a sibling to the very popular and successful Chin Chin Melbourne which offers a modern take on South East Asian fare, particularly Thai cuisine. The restaurant occupies the Griffith Teas Building along Commonwealth St, one of Sydney’s landmark buildings.
This is my second visit to Bellbird Dining + Bar located on the ground floor of the imposing Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre in Casula, South West of Sydney, since it was launched earlier this month, link here. It is fascinating to see how luscious the vegetable garden has become, some veggies have sprays of white and coloured flowers attracting hardworking bees which are vital for plant pollination. The surrounding foliage is denser and you can hear birds singing, oh yes, the abundance of bellbirds populating the riverside which the restaurant takes its name.
Visiting foodie friends overseas is such a joy and privilege, not only for a good catch up but sharing sumptuous bites and drinks is such a memory maker. Every time we visit our friends Charlie and Mike in Cirencester UK, they always introduce us to the latest food hot spots in their area.
Boasting a relaxed setting, an open space with indoor and outdoor dining areas, and sustainable offerings, Bellbird Dining + Bar located at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre is so much more than just a dining destination. A restaurant where you can enjoy an array of exciting dishes to whet your palate, bar for libations, art, films and exhibitions to enjoy all at the same time.
We stumbled upon Sushi Masa by accident and after our first dinner, we’ve decided to add this restaurant to our regular Nihonshoku destinations in Sydney’s ever changing inner west. The culinary delights here are very much spot on with the taste, texture and artistry of Japanese cooking.
When I think of Brooklyn, the first thing that comes to my mind is the Brooklyn Bridge that connects between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Without a doubt, this suspension bridge is one of my favourite spots in New York City, it can be crowded at times but the breathtaking Manhattan skyline, sunset and river views never fails to impress and there’s always something new waiting to be discovered at both ends of the bridge, and is a Mecca for foodies.
Sydney’s Chinese food scene continues to evolve with a modern spin on the old school style of cooking to a contemporary flare. These days we are tasting more varieties of artisan and creative offerings that excite our dinner plate, and leading this trend is the award winning Chefs Gallery with a repertoire of innovative dishes that produce a multi-sensory gastronomic experience. From their very successful flagship restaurant in the city, these sumptuous repasts can now be enjoyed throughout their branches around Sydney.
Holy Duck has relaunched its dinner menu redefining the traditional Chinese dining experience with a reimagined and inventive modern twist. At the helm of this East and West go-to-fast food eatery during the day, and Modern Chinese Delight by Night is Chef Neo Ni, ex Billy Wong and Lotus Dumpling.
I’ve always wanted to experience a boodle feast or fight for a very long time. I’ve seen a lot of photos on social media and television food networks showing what a gastronomical experience this type of Filipino dining is, where food favourites are served on a wide-green banana-leaf platter and eaten with bare hands. So I contacted my friends whilst back in the Philippines, to see if they would like to have a get together and catch up over a boodle night, everyone liked the idea, so bring on the food war!
