more hidden gems

You know the deal. You live your life in routine: Work, your favourite neighbourhood wine bar, the pub, your favourite place in Chinatown for dumplings. Before you know it, you're in a rut and you haven't tried anywhere new for a while. And though staple favourites are a lifesaver from disappointing food, isn't it time you checked our something different?

Sydney Uighur Cuisine


Uighur cuisine just might be one of the most perfect winter cuisines. There are rich stews, spicy shish kebabs of spiced lamb or chicken, rubbed with cumin, coriander, garlic and chilli and cooked over hot coals, handmade dumplings and noodles. Most of these brilliant little places are found in Chinatown and mostly on Dixon Street. Sydney Uighur Cuisine isn't. It's on Cleveland Street in Surry Hills (so we'll call this 'hidden in plain sight), right near The Norfolk and just down from Porteno. Owned by the brother of the guy who owns Uighur Cuisine in Chinatown, everything is made fresh on site, and it's brilliant. So now you don't even need to venture into the city for your next dumpling smash...and the best bit? You can always drop into The Norfolk for a beer afterwards.

314 Cleveland Street, Surry Hills
Open 7 days 11am-11.30pm
Cash only

10 William Street

Now that Sydney has woken up to the fact that small, cosy spaces equal good times, we're really starting to see some amazing ones. The guys from Potts Point's Fratelli Paradiso opened their Paddington side street venture a couple of months ago and it's showing zero signs of slowing. It's an Italian wine bar, so expect plenty of great pours by the glass, as well as the bottle, and a couple of cracker cocktails. And because Italians love to eat while they drink, there's a selection of shared plates, including some of their hits from Fratelli Paradiso, like the kingfish carpaccio with pomegranate, a take on their Potts Point swordfish version with fennel and pomegranate. Dig into more substantial gnocchi, or pick on olives and mozzarella, too. Tip: It gets packed in here...come early or be prepared to wait.

10 William Street, Paddington
9360 3310

Dai Wan Lai, The Poets

Another hidden in plain site restaurant, Dai Wan Lai, The Poets is tucked away in the outdoor eating precinct at Top Ryde Shopping Centre. That's right, it's in a surburban mall. These days though, we all know that good food and shopping centres is more than possible, it's a happening thing. Showcasing a heap of dishes from the Shandong region in China, which means lots of stir frying, steamed buns and crunchy onions. Start with a plate of ridiculously huge steamed Pacific oysters with soy dressing and move onto barbequed prawns with their sweet, sticky glaze, before diving into a pot of Sichuan chilli oil poached fish, or beef with bean starch noodles. Worth the trip out to the burbs.

Shop F12, Top Ryde Shopping Centre
Corner Devlin Street and Blaxland Road
Ryde NSW 2112

Mon, Tue, Wed 11.00 - 21.00
Thursday 11.00 - 22.00
Fri, Sat, Sun 11.00 - 22.00
Telephone: 9808 3868

caf-fiend fix

Whether you think it's a legal drug or not, coffee fans are generally pretty hooked. Make it strong, from somewhere exotic, not to mention RIGHT NOW!

With the launch of the Good Food Cafe Guide, coming out tomorrow, we take a look at some of the award winners, so you can discover your next fix.


Best Coffee Innovator - Campos Coffee, Newtown

Awarded to this Newtown favourite for contributing to lifting the general standard of coffee across the board in Sydney, this hotbed of all things coffee contains an upstairs cupping room so that you can learn about the flavour profiles of coffee from around the world. Campos are also quick on the uptake when it comes to new coffee trends, and were one of the first to champion reusable coffee cups as viable option for daily addicts.

193 Missenden Road
Newtown NSW 2042
(02) 9516 3361

Best Breakfast Cafe - Three Blue Ducks, Bronte

Surfers, good food, great coffee - there's not much more you really need in the morning, is there? And I mean, really good food. Chef and co-owner Mark Labrooy is part of the haute chef crew leaving the ranks of the hatted world, for a more balanced lifestyle. Labrooy previously worked at Tetsuya's and you had better believe the food here is exceptional. The egg and bacon roll is one of Sydney's best: Served on a toasted panini, with crispy bacon and runny egg, topped with hollandaise, capsicum relish and herb oil. Perfectly suited to the relaxed Bronte location, this is one worth heading to for your next weekend brunch session.

143 Macpherson Street
Bronte NSW 2024
(02) 9000 0000


Best Cafe Life - Four Ate Five, Surry Hills

Some people tend to spend their lives in cafes and if you're one of these, you had better make it a good one. Dappled with sunlight, with plenty of places inside and out, to sit (or lean, if you're hungover), Four Ate Five is one of those cafes you feel infinitely comfortable in from the first time you visit, and never really want to leave. There are comforting foods like homemade creamed corn, pulled pork sandwiches and fresh baked goods, and yes, the coffee's cracker, too.

They may have only been around for a short while, but this Surry Hills destination feels lived in and with any luck, will become an establishment in no time.

485 Crown Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9698 6485

The Good Food Cafe Guide is $14.95, but is available for just $5 with tomorrow's Sydney Morning Herald. Read more here.

the bird is the word

When it comes to ordering off the menu, its highly unlikely that I'll order the chicken or the fish. Mainly because I'm generally more interested in things with deliciously fatty layers, like pork belly or a really marbled piece of beef. The tides are changing, however, with a greater variety of poultry on menus these days...there's duck of course, but more interestingly, quail and pheasant, too.

Here are a couple of dishes around town you should try, if you want to get your bird on:


Bistrode

Surry Hills diner Bistrode has long been known for rustic dishes, bold flavours and a cute dining space with a tonne of character and brilliant service. On the winter menu, you'll find a starter of tea-smoked quail with black bean and ginger, as well a main of duck leg with water spinach, bean curd and noodles.

Bistrode
478 Bourke St
Surry Hills New South Wales 2010
(02) 9380 7333

Grasshopper Eathouse and Bar

Pheasant is really rare on menus...mostly because it's hard to get, expensive and super lean, making it a more challenging bird to cook. City small bar and food gem Grasshopper is part of the new breed of CBD restaurant fighting the good fight and creating intimate, fun spaces to hang out in. Pheasant regularly features on the blackboard specials menu, especially throughout the cooler months, and they also do a cracking quail dish, too.


Pheasantly speaking...

Glass Brasserie and Est. also feature pheasant on occasion as a special, so look out!

Grasshopper Eating house and bar
Temperance Lane
Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9947 9025

Spatchcock. Ok, so in most cases spatchcock in Sydney is a small chicken rather than another small game bird, but what makes it a spatchcock is the method of taking out the spine and flattening it for the grill or bbq. Bar H in Surry Hills does a great one with  radicchio, bread, parsley & anchovy vinaigrette.

...and if you really want a chicken dinner, you had better make sure it's a good chook. Redfern's Eathouse Diner uses Barossa Farm chickens for their Southern-style fried chicken which is steamed then coated in a spiced flour mix, then fried and served with slaw and salad cream. Yum!

Bar H Surry Hills
80 Campbell Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9280 1980

The Eathouse Diner
306 Chalmers Street
Redfern NSW 2016
(02) 8084 9479

vivid food

It's been a huge week of controversial, creative and classic music at the Vivid Festival. Taking inspiration from the week that was and those yet to come, here's some vivid food:

The Cure

Props to restaurants and cafes that take the time to cure their own fish. It's quite a straightforward process, but the results can be fantastic. Sugar and salt cured salmon (gravlax) pops up from time to time, but there are a heap of great places also curing their own trout, too. Cronulla's Alleybreak cafe serves theirs up on the breaky menu. Closer to the city, Le Monde regularly cure their own fish and win my vote for best breakfast in the city right now.

Alleybreak Cafe
2 Kingsway
Cronulla New South Wales 2230
(02) 9527 6119

Le Monde
83 Foveaux Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9211 3568

Tame Impala

Ok, so you can't really get impala on the menu here, but coming into winter, it's the perfect time to eat a similar game animal - venison. Best eaten when slightly rare, the dark colour of the meat might freak a few people out, but it's really quite a beautiful thing. Because it's so lean, the general rule is to cook it quickly or very slowly so that it doesn't get served up tough as nails. Lotus in Potts Point is doing a venison tartare, preserved lemon, black olive, horseradish. Otherwise, word on the street is that on the other side of the city, Glebe's Restaurant Atelier is doing a cocoa-roasted loin with swede puree and "unforgotten vegetables": Heirloom carrots, white asparagus, garlic chive flowers and liquorice powder and sauce.

Lotus
22 Challis Avenue
Potts Point NSW 2011
(02) 9326 9000

Restaurant Atelier
22 Glebe Point Road
Glebe NSW 2037
(02) 9566 2112
www.restaurantatelier.com.au


Cut Copy

Cold cuts! It may be a very American term, but the sentiment (and saltiness) remains. More often referred to as charcuterie or salumi plates, if it's cured meats you're after, then you're in luck, there are plenty of great Sydney wine bars featuring sliced deli goodness. 121 BC, Vini and Berta's little brother is a perfect place to pull up a stool at the bar, order a glass of what's good on the day and enjoy a salumi plate including salsiccia sarda (a Sardinian sausage), chargrilled mortadella, prosciutto San Daniele, bresaola, truffled salami and more. Rockpool bar and grill does a great selection of charcuterie - if you can look past that epic burger. Grab a seat in the bar and dig in.

121 BC
Shop 4
50 Holt St
Surry Hills 2010 NSW

Rockpool Bar & Grill
66 Hunter Street
Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 8078 1900