Star Wars Bar May the fourth be with you. Definitely visit this Star Wars Bar in Sydney if you’re a Star Wars fan. This is the bar you were looking for. Find out more in my review due out soon at WeekendNotes: The SG Star Wars Theme Bar
Echo Point Karaoke Club and Bar Sydney I had a great time singing with some friends at the Echo Point Karaoke Club and Bar in Sydney. I’ve posted a review of this Sydney night spot for singing on WeekendNotes here. Check it out!
Sanctuary Hotel Asian Hangout Bar Sydney Find out why Sanctuary Hotel is the place to meet Japanese and Korean people in Sydney. Read more about Sanctuary Hotel Sydney at WeekendNotes here
Din Tai Fung Dumpling Restaurant At the opening time of 5.30pm there was already a queue at Din Tai Fung, a popular Taiwanese dumpling restaurant in the Korean Town area of Sydney City. We were quickly ushered to our seats as Taiwanese, Chinese and Thai waiters and waitresses dashing back and forth with menus to waiting patrons. To order we checked the number in the menu and wrote the number we’d like on a folded paper record. This is the perfect way to make sure that patrons not only got what they wanted, but also couldn’t then say they didn’t…
Rum Bar and Jamaican Restaurant Surry Hills Rosie Campbell’s Jerk Diner & Rum Bar Jamaican Restaurant Surry Hills Sydney was quite a surprise! My partner and I went on a wander through the streets of Surry Hills and stumbled upon an unassuming yellow and navy blue place with simple signage. For a moment we couldn’t tell if it was a food and drink only restaurant or whether we could enjoy a drink without purchasing food. (For those of you who are not familiar with the system in Sydney, there are three main liquor licenses that businesses can apply for. 1. BYO…
Japanese Cuisine and Sake Lounge Randwick (Closed) Recently we had the pleasure of being invited to discover the cuisine and sake lounge delights at K’s Restaurant in Randwick. They serve fresh and unique Japanese cuisine that is difficult to find anywhere else. This is an authentic Japanese restaurant with both the manager and chef being Japanese, and possessing many years experience in the Japanese restaurant industry. Aaron, the waiter, was extremely helpful in answering all our questions, going into a lot of detail about the ingredients and preparation, and you could see how passionate he was about the restaurant, the food and…
Australia Trade Tasting The Australia Trade Tasting Wine Event was an informative session in Sydney for people in the industry Recently, thanks to my involvement with TravelWineFood.com and our Wine Education Services, as well as our plan to open a wine bar, we were eligible to attend the Australia Trade Tasting event in Sydney. This was an amazing event and well worth the admission. Only being able to spare a couple of hours, we had to be a bit choosy as to which wine stalls to visit, and then which wines to try, so some minutes were spent reading the brochure, checking…
The Sydney Italian Wine and Food Festival I just had the pleasure of attending the Sydney Italian Wine and Food Festival inside Sydney’s Town Hall. I was quite impressed to see such a well-organised event with, according to Facebook, over 11,000 attendees across the weekend. I very much enjoyed being able to taste quite a lot of wine from many parts of Italy. It was amazing to try so many Italian wines. It was even more incredible to experience the taste of so many grape varieties that are hard to find in Sydney. We tried Acitana, Albaranzeuli Nero, Barbera del Sannio,…
Photography Exhibition Sydney with Slawo Plata at the Goethe Institute If you’ve searched for photography exhibition Sydney then you’ll want to visit one of the most interesting in recent years. One of my many hobbies is photography, so I was very happy to receive an invitation from the Swiss Consulate to attend the launch of a photography exhibition Sydney ‘s East, from one of Switzerland’s lauded photographers, Mr Slawo Plata at the Goethe Institute. Slawo’s passion is to digitally photograph people in remote regions in a way that gives us an enormous amount of information in an enhanced black and white photograph.…
Make Beer at The Beer Factory Ever wanted to make beer? If you’re in Sydney, you can. And you’ll have access to all the recipes, materials and equipment you need at a fraction of the price of setting it up yourself. Let me tell you about my experience! In Seven Hills in Sydney there is a Beer Factory where you can make almost 1000 different types of beer, including, of course the wine of beer, craft beer. My group headed there on Wednesday to make beer. To create a Russian Imperial Stout. This was an awesome experience! We were given…
Persian Restaurant serving Iranian food in Ryde, Sydney Persian Restaurant Review. We were invited to attend a banquet by a good friend of ours at an Iranian restaurant in Ryde. For those of you who aren’t aware, Iran used to be called Persia by the rest of the world until 1935. Iran is actually the original Farsi word for the country, much like Deutschland is the native word for Germany. But many have never connected the beautiful heritage buildings, fun skiing, beaches and other wonders of Persia with the negative media spin for Tehran and Iran so, let me just say, you’re missing…
Luna Park Sydney Would you believe this is my first time to Luna Park? I’ve lived in Sydney for decades! However I believe that this is due to the fact that whenever I had thought about going there, it had been closed down. I remember hearing about the fire in the ghost train ride in 1979 which shut it down for a few years, and then it being shut down again several times by nearby residents due to the roller coaster screams, but it’s been happily open for some time now thanks to changing laws and the like, and I…
International Travel Insurance Policies and Overseas Medical Cover. Life Insurance Australia. I used to rely on my gold visa card for its bonus international travel insurance (underwritten by Zurich), not realising that the higher interest and the annual membership fee was much higher than if I was to buy the travel insurance separately. I finally realised this and transferred to a card with a lower interest rate and annual fee, and began researching separate international travel insurance companies and their policies, overseas medical cover, Australian life insurance policies and the like. I tend to make short trips where my visits…
I’ve been twice to The Canopy. Once for a meal and the second time for a coffee with a student. Love the tree theme. However, while I don’t really expect that much service in Australia anyway and am usually pleasantly surprised when I get it, Canopy was so popular and so full of people whenever I went there that the staff were simply constantly run off their feet and really didn’t have much time for niceties. Food took time to serve, coffee took ages, everyone looked stressed. I’m guessing the high lease price for this location means they can’t afford…
Well, I had planned to review this restaurant months ago but I’ve recently found out that they’ve closed their Pitt street restaurant and moved to Liverpool Street. As they have other places around Sydney the food must be similar, so I’ll post anyway! I went to their old Pitt Street restaurant with a group and we tried a number of different things. The Nepalese food, on the whole, was closer to Indian food and was a bit too oily and had too much dairy product in it for me to truly enjoy it. The others around the table were quite pleased…
Lucky Tsotsi was a lucky find. There are hundreds of small door places along Oxford Street and if you’re walking fast it is easy to miss. Lucky Tsotsi interested me due to its South African vibe so I had to check it out. Lots of African style food was on offer including Bunny Chow, Mozambican Peri Peri Chicken, Boerewors rolls, Samp & beans and Durban Samoosas! – List from their website. The guys behind the bar were very friendly and patient, giving us details on the South African beers they had available, and the interior with an ecclectic assortment of African pictures,…
Embers Mezze Bar is a tidy little Lebanese restaurant and bar in the iconic and heritage listed #52 building in the middle of the main part of Oxford Street. I’ve been to this place a few times over the past but each time was to a different restaurant. Rococo, then Sitar Indian have occupied this building. I’m sure many others will in the future. There is a food area up the steps to your left and the current restaurant owners have added a small cocktail bar up the steps on your right. Being the old 1920s style building (commissioned in 1912) there are carpeted steps to everywhere.…
Market City Tavern is one of those places that come alive at night but are ideal for a dusk retreat during the week, spring to autumn. The balcony on level 3 has plenty of tables and chairs with a neat skyline view, and you can sit and relax, sipping some wine for awhile with only the slight pinging of gambling machines in the background. I chose a light and slightly peppery shiraz and did some work on my novel when I was there last. Worth checking out if you’re looking for some solitude.
One of my favourite cafes in Sydney is Kanzi Fashion Cafe on Sussex Street in Haymarket. It is nice to have cold dutch coffee with sugary flavouring, though it isn’t that consistent day to day. Sometimes it’s great and sometimes it’s just okay. The cafe has an eccentric and eclectic appeal, though, apart from the dutch coffee and a couple of other unique additions, the menu is a bit limited. Also, not many of the people working their speak Australian so if you speak Korean, or you know how to point, you’ll be fine! The men’s toilet and sink is a bit…
An Aussie breakfast at a cafe in Ultimo while working on one of my stories. Cafe Harris is a nice and quiet little getaway with reasonably priced food next to the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre. I’m usually served by friendly Koreans who know how to make a good coffee. There are a number of coffee shops in the area, but I prefer this one for the wood style chairs and the informal and relaxed atmosphere.
This is a neat little cafe tucked away from the bustle of George Street, not far from Town Hall station. It is a nice Parisian style retreat with an area hiding out the back where you can sit on ornate painted metal seats. They’re sitting on a variety of stones though so everything rocks (pun intended!) While it seems a great place to meet people, I’m really not into cafes with loud music, so it’s not ideal for writing novels. Perfect for a quick catch up with friends, though.
A short walk from Central Station on the Surry Hills side quickly brings you to a hidden Japanese restaurant featuring cozy seating, many Japanese whiskeys and a great little atmosphere. Being a Yakitori restaurant too, expect delicious chicken hearts and livers on sticks, carved ice in high ball glasses, and a range of Japanese drinks to make your mouth water. We ordered the chicken hearts, chicken livers, meatballs and eggplant. The food was amazing. We also tried a couple of their cocktails and some nice sake. The sake was served in a Tokyo Bird bottle, which was a nice touch. Highly recommended.…
Harts Pub The Rocks Sydney If you haven’t tried craft beer yet, head to Harts Pub in the Rocks in Sydney and get started! Harts Pub in The Rocks in Sydney is one of those hidden gems that many Sydney residents hold dearly in their hearts. While fantastic restaurants, pubs and bars have continued to arise, such as Quarryman’s in Pyrmont, The Local Taphouse in Darlinghurst, or Keg and Brew in Surry Hills, Harts Pub remains a perennial favourite. Celebrating 6 years on the craft beer scene, and owned by The Rocks Brewing Co, you’ll see a lot of their beers on…
