28 January 2015

CBD Noodles: Asian, The Wintergarden, CBD Sydney (27 Jan 2015)

1 O'Connell Street, Sydney NSW 2000


Fresh look at Wintergarden

Great to see the Wintergarden has reopened after it's refurbishment. I've always loved the high ceiling in this place and it's latest reincarnation has some welcomed additions in my books like Top Juice and Chur Burger Express. The popular CBD Noodles remains and today I try the Wonton Noodle Soup ($9.50). Decent size bowl of nice wontons and noodles with plenty of fresh greens although the broth lacks flavour and is quite watery so probably best to add some soy sauce and chilli when you collect it to add more flavour.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Efficient service, Plenty of seating, Nice space and refurb, Lots of natural light, Decent food court choices
CONS: Noticed about a dozen tables around me hadn't been cleared so hopefully the cleanup frequency will improve to keep this food court a cut above the rest
MUST TRY: Looking forward to Chur Burger arriving but in the meantime I think these guys are providing some decent Asian tucker
VERDICT: Great spot to escape the rain for lunch and the refurb is looking good










Love the space height and abundance of natural filtered light — great for food photos too

Lovely space but noticed tables need to be cleared more regularly on this visit



Exciting addition coming soon



23 January 2015

Fratelli Fresh: Parlamento & Cafe Sopra on Macquarie St, Sydney (22 Jan 2014)

229-231 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Ciao Fratelli Fresh

Wow, I can't believe the Nippon Club has gone or International Nippon Australia New Zealand Club to be more exact. I thought that place was going to be around forever. Fratelli Fresh is a pretty good replacement though. I had a quick walk around and it's looking great downstairs with dim lighting, lots of seating, open kitchen you can sit and watch chefs at work and leathery comfy looking seats. Menu seems to be the same as other locations. A great dining addition to the Macquarie St area and one I'm sure will do very well. It definitely has changed a lot. I wasn't allowed to take any photos so I've included a few photos of what the Nippon Club looked like to remember it by.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Lots of yummy Italian food to be discovered
CONS: So long Nippon Club
MUST TRY: Returning and sitting at the kitchen counter
VERDICT: Many will be sad about the Nippon Club being no longer but I'm sure many will equally welcome Fratelli Fresh



RIP Nippon Club





20 January 2015

Gelato Messina: Gelato, Surry Hills (29 Dec 2014)

389 Crown Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010

One stop gelato shop

There's plenty of places in Sydney for gelato and Gelato Messina has established itself as one of the most popular places to get your gelato fix. Gelato lovers can get their classic flavours or something a bit more creative and challenging to the taste buds with their weekly chalkboard specials. With names like Oreogasm how can you go wrong. Thankfully the Peanut gelato with oreo custard & crushed oreo biscuit was a decadent treat and thoroughly enjoyed adding a few centimetres to my thighs at the same time. There's several locations but due to popularity expect some crazy long queues when the gelato moon is rising in the house of yumminess. For the Surry Hills shop there's only a tiny bit of cramped seating inside so head across the road and enjoy in the dog-friendly park.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Yummy crazy and classic flavours, Multiple locations, Admire the mountains of gelato in the window display
CONS: The queues can get extremely long, Minimal seating inside so go across the road to the park
MUST TRY: Anything that tickles your fancy
VERDICT: A very popular place for gelato in town and they won Favourite Gelato in the Sydney Food Bloggers Choice Award 2013








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Gelato Messina Surry Hills on Urbanspoon

04 January 2015

Sydney Food Bloggers Choice Awards 2014: Open for nominations (5 Jan 2015)


Share your favourite vote


Nominations are open to passionate Food Bloggers, Food Instagrammers and Food Twitterers to vote for their favourite eats around Sydney in the Sydney Food Bloggers Choice Awards 2014. The award aims to tap into the stomachs of the food bloggers and allow them to share their favourite recommendations for each of the categories below. There are 40 categories in total with most categories remaining the same as in the Sydney Food Bloggers Choice Awards 2013 but I've also introduced 8 new categories being Crepe, Cronut, French Toast, Lobster Roll, Pork Crackling, Portuguese Tart, Sourdough and Sushi.


Categories:

Favourite Bacon & Egg Roll
Favourite Bagel
Favourite Banh Mi
Favourite Burger
Favourite Char Kway Teow
Favourite Chicken (Charcoal)
Favourite Chicken (Deep Fried)
Favourite Churros
Favourite Coffee
Favourite Crepe
Favourite Croissant
Favourite Cronut
Favourite Cupcakes
Favourite Degustation
Favourite Duck Pancakes
Favourite Dumplings
Favourite Fish & Chips
Favourite French Toast
Favourite Gelato
Favourite Hot Dog
Favourite Laksa
Favourite Lobster Roll
Favourite Macarons
Favourite Oyster Bar
Favourite Pancakes
Favourite Pho
Favourite Pie
Favourite Pizza
Favourite Pork Crackling
Favourite Portuguese Tart
Favourite Ramen
Favourite Reuben Sandwich
Favourite Ribs
Favourite Roti
Favourite Sourdough
Favourite Steak
Favourite Sushi
Favourite Taco
Favourite Vegetarian
Favourite Yum Cha

How to nominate:
Download the latest excel spreadsheet nomination form 'Sydney Food Bloggers Choice Awards 2014_Nomination Form' available from: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sydneyfoodbloggers/files/

Once you've filled in your nominations and details on the form please email back to me at simonleong.hotmail.com by Friday 16 Jan 2015. Remember you don't have to fill in all the categories, just the ones you want to.


I'll collate all the nominations and will share the results in a post that can freely be viewed and shared. All food bloggers that provide nominations will be mentioned in the post with either their blog website, instagram or twitter account.


Important dates:
5 Jan 2015: Nominations open for voting
16 Jan 2015: Closing date for nominations
End of Jan 2015 TBC: Final announcement of nominations

Social Media:
Hashtag: #SFBCA2014


Remember:
1. You must be a food blogger, food instagrammer or food twitterer that predominately shares and gives opinion on the photos of food you're sharing on your blog or social media.
2. You must live in Sydney or have lived in Sydney when you visited.
3. Only one nomination allowed for each category.
4. Nominations are for places located in Sydney only.
5. No money will be accepted for these awards.

Adriano Zumbo accepting his award for Favourite Macaron in 2013

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