The Malaya Restaurant: Good Food Month Let's Do Lunch, King Street Wharf, Sydney (27 Oct 2016)

39 Lime Street, King Street Wharf, Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.themalaya.com.au
https://www.instagram.com/themalayarestaurant/

Let's Do Malaysian Lunch

Dined with three work colleagues for a birthday lunch and we were all very happy with the Let's Do Lunch shared menu ($38) at The Malaya. Salt & Pepper Prawns were an immediate crowd pleaser served up first. Nice thin batter and decent sized prawns. Chicken San Choy Bow was tasty with nicely presented lettuce cups. Kapitan King Prawns came with a decent amount of sauce to help flavour your bowl of steamed rice. The Szechuan Eggplant had a good crispy coating in a tasty sauce. Even though you can get a bottle of Yalumba The Y Series 2015 Riesling for under $10 at a bottle shop we all liked our glass of wine very much and it went well with the meal. Coffee wasn't included with their Let's Do Lunch even though many other restaurants were including a coffee. Pleasant water views and efficient service. Was a pretty popular place ranging from couples to large table groups. We thought it was pretty good value for the variety of dishes you got to sample. There was even some reasonably priced desserts on offer but we opted to save ourselves from the calories and seek our sugar hit from the Pink Ribbon Day afternoon tea back at work.

Micro by Coffee Alchemy, Barangaroo (26 Oct 2016)

Shop R8.02, 23 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo NSW 2000
http://www.microcoffee.com
https://coffeealchemy.com.au

Good coffee from small spaces

Coffee Alchemy is well known for great coffee in Marrickville so it's exciting to see them set up in Barangaroo. Cappuccino ($4 dine in) using Goodness Galileo coffee blend has good stength and flavour complexity. There's no seating which is a shame but the two long narrow tables provide some limited surface space for a casual meet up or spot to rest your coffee. Service was friendly and efficient and mostly providing takeaways.

Mordeo Bistro & Bar, CBD Sydney (26 Oct 2016)

1/126 Phillip Street, Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.mordeo.com.au
https://www.facebook.com/mordeosydney
https://www.instagram.com/mordeo/

Coffee in a grand space

Love the building foyer here. Such a grand space and nice spot for a coffee meet up and lunch time eat. Cappuccino ($4 dine in) uses Campos Coffee and the barista did a good job with pleasant flavour and strength achieved. Service was friendly and fairly efficient. I've heard good things about the tempting lunch menu. The Crisp Lamb Ribs with rosemary salt & yoghurt dressing is calling my name. The bar area is always packed on a Friday evening with suits from the surrounding area.

Ume Burger, Barangaroo (25 Oct 2016)

Wulugul Walk, Barangaroo, Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.umeburger.com/
https://www.instagram.com/umeburger/

Burger time at Barangaroo

It seems like every week there's something new opening down at Barangaroo. First time trying the Menchi burger - handmade pork katsu, mild mustard, tonkatsu sauce, yuzu-kosho mayo, Spanish onion and shredded cabbage ($14.80). Had a nice soft bun with a tasty flavour combo. I found the katsu had a slightly dense texture and the crumb crunch factor wasn't as noticeable as hoped due to probably the sauce that surrounded it. I'm also suspecting it's not cooked to order as my burger arrived in less than 4 minutes. It's not a big burger for the price so thought it wouldn't be that filling, especially with half the contents being shredded cabbage, but in the end I did find it surprisingly filling enough. Some chips on the side would have definitely finished the job in filling me up. The noticeable mustard gave some spicy warmth with each bite. Service was happy and friendly and kitchen turnaround was efficient. There's a fair amount of seating available. They give you a little sake box number when dining in although it's not the easiest thing for service to find amongst tables when they bring out your order but it's nice to have table service. I probably wouldn't get this burger again but keen to try the Ebi Burger with handmade prawn katsu next time and their fried chicken sounds good too.