October 29th, 2018 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Favourites | 1 Comment »
Kingdom of Rice in Mascot is a best-of compilation of Cambodian food – as remastered by some familiar names from Acme. Mitch Orr, Cam Fairbairn, Lillia McCabe (back from Singapore’s Blackwattle) and Sophia Thach have taken over the location left by Mr Liquor’s Dirty Italian Disco and transformed it: now it’s essentially a landing strip […]
October 16th, 2018 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Favourites, Latest, Restaurants | 2 Comments »
It’s a telltale sign: over its opening weekend, I had pizza from Bella Brutta in Newtown three times. I guess I’ve been caught out being a mega fan? Not that I was ever going to be heavily opposed to the place: Luke Powell (LP’s Quality Meats) teaming up with Elvis Abrahanowicz and the Porteno team to […]
December 29th, 2017 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Favourites, Latest, Restaurants | 1 Comment »
Juan Bowl & Tea in Redfern is pretty upfront about what it does – this eatery has a hyper-focused interest in serving donburi (Japanese rice bowls) and well-brewed tea. So, no surprises right? What might catch you offguard is how popular it is – and how small the whole operation is. So, you could take […]
October 25th, 2017 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Favourites | 2 Comments »
A bottle shop used to be a quick booze-hoarding stop before heading somewhere more important. Mr Liquor’s Dirty Italian Disco proves why it should be the main destination. See, when Merivale took over The Tennyson Hotel in Mascot, they wisely handed the keys for the drive-thru bottle shop to the Pinbone crew and Mr Liquor’s […]
September 1st, 2017 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Favourites, Latest, Restaurants | 4 Comments »
Madre in Marrickville opened last week and already qualifies as my new favourite pizza place. Maybe I’m a fast mover or maybe I was always pre-destined to be in its fan club, as this new eatery is from the excellent team behind Two Chaps – a venue I’m always happy to cheerlead for. Like its […]
August 24th, 2017 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Bars, Favourites, Latest, Restaurants | 4 Comments »
“I don’t know what I’m eating, but it tastes amazing,” my friend Tabitha says about the menu at Bad Hombres in Surry Hills. You don’t need to carry out an intelligence operation to enjoy the dishes here – the tacos and quesadillas are optimised for strong rat-a-tat bursts of flavour that’d score well on any […]
April 19th, 2017 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Favourites, Latest, Restaurants | 2 Comments »
You no longer need to make travel arrangements to end up in Japan – the most direct route involves just a few footsteps down a Surry Hills alley. Restaurant Sasaki feels exactly like a place you’d chance upon in a country that has a world-beating habit of hiding great eateries in modest locations. The more […]
March 18th, 2017 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Cafes, Favourites, Latest, Restaurants | 4 Comments »
Saga in Enmore isn’t just named after a pair of sneakers that Andrew Bowden (aka Andy Bowdy) bought for nearly a grand (blame shipping costs and unfriendly exchange rates for that eyebrow-raising price). It’s also a tribute to the many chapters of his life spent with partner Maddison Howes – they met at Hartsyard, where […]
January 11th, 2017 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Favourites, Latest, Restaurants | 1 Comment »
“I started telling people that we weren’t ever actually opening a restaurant, but it was a performance art piece to see how long we could keep people’s interest,” jokes Patrick Friesen, co-executive chef for Enmore’s Queen Chow – a venue that’s been flagged for launch for a year now. The opening date kept playing slip-and-slide, […]
December 31st, 2016 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Favourites, Latest, Restaurants | 8 Comments »
Given all of 2016’s well-documented lowlights, no one is especially keen to give the year a rerun. But it is worth recapping about the notable restaurants, bars and cafes that launched over the last 12 months in Sydney. There was a blockbuster-sized explosion of venues opening in 2016. There were spin-offs aplenty (Bentley hoisted up […]