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

1 O'Connell Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.thewintergarden.com.au

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

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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

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

229-231 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.fratellifresh.com.au

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

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RIP Nippon Club

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

389 Crown Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010

http://www.gelatomessina.com

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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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