Faced with a sudden opening in my very busy East Timor schedule (not), I made a spontaneous decision to take a little holiday in Sydney, which just so happened to coincide with the holidays of my lovely friends, Daniel, Di and Regis (and Thomas and Livia). We relived the old Juliett St/Don St days in a little apartment in Manly with much hilarity and it goes without saying that we were all feelin’ the love.
But we’re here to talk food, so let’s get down to business.
In short, food was consumed in abundance (I have already facebooked my “baklava-a-day” indulgence – that was just the start of it). I had the opportunity to sample a few new Sydney haunts, to reacquaint myself with a few old favourites, as well as making my own creations in the kitchens of my family and friends (while revelling in the novelty of going into a greengrocer and finding all the ingredients for any recipe I cared to make at my fingertips).
I got a bit sidetracked on my foodie photography endeavours at a number of social engagements (having too much fun) and failed to take photos of some of the awesome food I was eating, but I managed to get a few in.
NEW PLACES:
Biro (left) and Daniel – reunited and grinning.
Our lovely Brazilian friend, Biro (aka Andre) has opened up two churrascaria (Brazilian barbecue) restaurants in the last couple of years – one in Leichhardt and one in Newport.
Braza is not for the faint-hearted – the meat options are many. Swords of skewered and barbecued pork, beef, chicken, sausages, chicken hearts, prawns and even pineapple, suddenly appear in front of you, borne by waiters eager to slide off a sausage or slice some picanha (“the best” cut of beef rump) for your plate.
Picanha – Photo courtesy www.braza.com.au.
Being a part-time vegetarian I went easy on the red meats but did get some yummy samples of pork and chicken. The pork sausages went particularly well with the barbecued pineapple and salad.
Copious jugs of caipirinhas were consumed, followed by red wine, followed by cachaça and beers back at the apartment in Manly... until finally this happened:
Chehade El Bahsa & Sons Lebanese sweets: 288 Chapel Road, Bankstown
As I said, I ate a baklava a day on this trip, and while the one I had at El Bahsa wasn’t my first, the 1.5kg tray I bought to take away ensured that it wasn’t my last. The sweets here, in my opinion, have the perfect amount of syrup. In the shop I scoffed a coconut semolina cake which I did enjoy, but nothing beats their pure, simple, nutty baklava.
Woohoo!!! A roti restaurant!!!
I love Malaysian food – most people who know me are all-too-aware of my laksa obsession, but another of my Malaysian fixations is roti. The flaky, chewy (yet slightly crunchy) round of fried dough dipped into a rich, cinnamon-spiced coconut milk fish curry is something I adore and there is no other place I’ve found that does it better than Mamak (although it was chicken curry in this instance). Lots of others must think so too, given the queue outside (but thanks to troopers AB and Caomhan who did most of the painful stuff, the rest of us pretty much just waltzed straight in - xx).
OLD FAVOURITES:
Barmuda: 283 Australia Street, Newtown
This is my absolute favourite place to eat brunch in Sydney. I had the apple, berry and oat bread with mixed berries, which was delicious, but I had a twinge of food envy when I tasted the ricotta hotcakes. Oh. My. God. I would love a recipe for these.
Did I detect a hint of LEMON? Awesome.
Almost everyone at the table opted for sweet breakfast options, which is unusual in my circles (must have had something to do with all the meat we’d consumed at Braza). EVERYONE left smiling.
I love you, Barmuda.
An Restaurant: 29 Greenfield Parade, Bankstown
This place should be called An “Pho” Restaurant, because although there are other things on the menu, nobody ever seems to order anything else BECAUSE THE PHO IS SO GOOD. In short, Pho (pronounced “fir”) is a Vietnamese beef noodle soup in a clear broth.
I cannot believe that it’s possible to feel cleansed after eating beef. And I hardly ever eat red meat these days so my constitution doesn’t normally take too well to sudden blasts of it. The Pho at An
Restaurant made me feel as if I had just devoured a sacred herbal anti-ageing tonic. It is the lightest and most delicate soup ever.
Restaurant made me feel as if I had just devoured a sacred herbal anti-ageing tonic. It is the lightest and most delicate soup ever.
The beef is sliced very thinly and is raw when first added to the bowl with the flat, slippery rice noodles. Once the hot stock is poured in, the meat is cooked very lightly, so it still has a pink tinge to it. The fresh bean sprouts, Thai basil and lemon – served on the side to be added as liberally as you like - only add to the cleansing effect.
Janine and I both ordered a large bowl, which I almost managed to defeat, however I was so full that my ribs were hurting by the end of it. That did not, however, stop me from wishing that I was hungry again so I could have another one. Nor did it stop me from eating baklava for dessert (see above).
HOME COOKIN':
I’ll put all the recipes in separate entries, but, in short, they were:
Broad bean, mint and goat’s fetta salad
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