Simon Food Favourites NYE 09/10: 352 Blog Posts in 2009, 28 on the back burner to come (31 Dec 2009)

Happy Eating New Year 09/10

As I prepare myself for the final hours of 2009 I reflect on managing to post 352 blogs for 2009. I still have 28 blogs to post on the back burner which would make a total of 380 food related events, recipes, restaurants, cafes, bars and pubs for the year of eating my way through Sydney and beyond.

Stay tuned for the 28 blogs which I didn't manage to find time to post in 2009 but they'll be up shortly in the new year including:

• Chat Thai Randwick
• The Beresford Hotel
• The Local Taphouse
• KB Hotel
• About Life Cafe
• Java Restaurant
• Slip Inn
• Doltone House
• Matsuri Japanese Restaurant
• Ton Ton
• Gorkha Palace
• Sel e Poivre
• Fu Man Chu
• Hotel Sweeney's
• Coach and Horses Hotel
• Dolce Ristorante
• Pink Salt
• El Bahsa

I sincerely wish all my readers (that's you) a fantastic and safe New Years Eve and hope your 2010 is full of amazing and satisfying food adventures which you'll tell me all about — if I don't tell you first :-)

Happy Eating

Simon :-)

Baffi & Mo Espresso: Best Hash Brown in Sydney, Redfern (31 Oct 2009)

94 Redfern Street, Redfern NSW 2016

Hash brown heaven

Baffi & Mo is a small and cosy cafe that opened in January 2009 serving good coffee and quality food at reasonable prices with possibly the best homemade hash browns in Sydney — no wonder it made it on the TimeOut Sydney Top Breakfasts. My tip off came from The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry after which I simply had to check it out. I love the rustic looking garden picked flowers sitting in basic glass jars and sugar is served in old English style silverware giving a relaxed, local and community atmosphere to the place. The Potato Hash Stack is their signature menu item which somehow reminds me of thin french fries stuck together and fried up to perfection. Poached eggs were cooked to an excellent soft centre and service was efficient and friendly.

Now for the sake of all the locals and myself please totally forget about this place so I can still get a seat to dine in peace and enjoy one of my favourite breakfasts of 2009 in 2010 :-)

Other visits to Baffi & Mo:
• 4 Jan 2010 - Eggs Baffi, Eggs Benedict

• 31 Oct 2009 - Potato Hash Stack, One Pan Eggs with bacon and chorizo

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Efficient service, Affordable, Coffee, Best hash browns

CONS: Popular

MUST TRY: Potato Hash

—

Potato hash stack with double smoked ham, avocado, fresh tomato, asparagus and lemon dressed rocket topped with a poached egg $14

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Poached eggs $9 with potato hash $3 and roasted tomatoes $3

Sourdough toast with chutney and butter

One pan eggs with bacon, chorizo, tomato, mushrooms and rocket $14

Mocha $3

Cappuccino $3

Skim flat white $3

Charlies Honest Juice $3.50

The bill

Menu

View Larger Map

The Sultan's Table: Turkish Dips and Bread, Enmore (30 Oct 2009)

179 Enmore Road, Enmore NSW 2042

The dips are a must

From the outside it looks like pretty standard kebab take-away shop but as you walk through to the back you discover a courtyard full of diners. This is one popular place and with a score of 8.3 on Eatability after 91 reviews it certainly has its fans. I also remember Not Quite Nigella enjoyed the bread and dips so this was on my menu card to try. I must warn you, it's pretty easy to get full on just the freshly cooked turkish bread and delicious dips so unless your really hungry you can easily share a grilled meat plate or pide as a followup main course — I wish I had because it was a huge struggle for even me to eat much else.

I can definitely recommend the dips and bread although I was a little disappointed with the lamb skewers which were a bit on the dry side for me — the chicken was better and juicer though. I found the standard side salad a bit bland ie lettuce with no dressing, too much onion and a tabouli-like salad which was mostly tomato and not much parsley and fairly plain — a decent moist tabouli with some tomato and cucumber salad would have been much better. I much prefer the taste and variety of salad and moistness of meat grills at Impress Cafe in Auburn. There was quite a delay in food arriving after the initial dips being served which I think was due to being so busy. Being at the back in the courtyard also made it difficult to get service attention. I hope to try the Turkish pide when I'm passing by next time.

Large mixed dip $19

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Turkish bread $3 a serve

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Imam Bayildi: Whole eggplant filled with vegetable, herbs and spices cooked in traditional way $7

The Sultan's Kebab: Eggplant and meatballs skewered grilled on charcoal served with salad and bread $15

Chicken Shish Kebab: Marinated cubes of chicken fillet, grilled over charcoal $14

Shish Kebab: Marinated cubes of suckling lamb, skewered and grilled over charcoal $16

Mixed Grill: Combination of Adana, shish lamb and shish chicken kebabs, salad and bread $24

Standard side salad on plates

Front window display of meats grilling

Back courtyard dining

Inside dining

Preparing the turkish bread and pide

View Larger Map

Royal Bar and Grill: Pub bistro with balcony view, Paddington (29 Oct 2009)

The Royal Hotel, Five Ways, Level 2

237 Glenmore Road, Paddington NSW 2021

http://www.royalhotel.com.au

Nice cutlets with a view

The Royal Hotel sits over the heart of Five Ways Paddington and has a nice view from the bistro balcony or even better views of the city skyline from the Elephant Bar the next floor above it. Generous sized garlic and herb bread starts the meal, keep in mind you get 2 slices each which is generous enough to share as a light starter. The 'spare parts' Calves Liver lovers dish is generous in size although tonight was slightly overcooked so was a bit tougher than preferred. The Lamb Cutlets are nice and tasty and perhaps a standout dish for the night. The open style Chicken Burger comes with a mountain of fries. The Prawn Linguine comes with five well-sized prawns and sliced fresh chilli throughout for a taste bud kick.

Sourdough Garlic $6.50 and Herb bread $6.50 (2 slices)

Calves liver with sweet potato mash and crispy prosciutto $19.50

Lamb cutlets with hummus and grilled lemon $26.50

Chicken and Avocado burger with rocket, tomato, avocado and aioli served with French fries $16.50

Linguine with prawns, chilli and garlic $21.50

View Larger Map

Bangkok Wok: Pad Thai, Hunter Connection, Sydney (28 Oct 2009)

Hunter Connection, Shop F21-22

7-13 Hunter Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Cheap and cheerful

Previously I've enjoyed the Boat Noodle Soup from Bangkok Wok so I was keen to try some other dishes. The pad thai was freshly cooked to order and fairly generous in size although nothing special — perhaps I should try the prawn version next time.

Other visits to Bangkok Wok:

• 28 Oct 2009 - Pad Thai

• 12 Oct 2009 - Boat Noodle Soup, Yen Ta Fo Soup

Pad Thai Chicken $7.50

View Larger Map