I've eaten how much?

I've just worked out that since I started GrabYourFork in April 2004, I've posted:142 reviews on 121 restaurants across Sydney.That means that during 20 months based in Sydney (subtract two months for gallivanting across Japan, Hong Kong and New York), I've been posting an average of:7 Sydney restaurant reviews per month.That doesn't factor in the huge backlog of posts sitting on my hard drive,

Zilver Seafood Restaurant, Haymarket

The beauty of yum cha is its reliable welcome of harried chaos. The room will be a-clatter with chopsticks and conversation, the waitstaff will be rushed off their feet re-filling teapots and dispensing chilli sauce, and the trolley ladies will harangue you incessantly with the last of the cabbage-filled spring rolls.Zilver is nothing like that.Zilver used to be Silver, as in Silver Spring, but

Paddy Maguires, Haymarket

Fillet steak with chips and salad $22.00I love pub grub.The best pub grub is usually found in nondescript watering holes with a sighing barman and a dour-faced cook sneaking a ciggie out the back. Some of my favourite meals have been in pubs, especially in England and Ireland, where stodgy comfort food is the one redeeming joy for invariably inclement weather.In Sydney, as in all cities around

Five Food Challenges

Sue tagged me for the Five Food Challenges meme a couple of weeks back. I know, I've taken a while to respond. Don't you love procrastination too?Helen's Five Food Challenges for 2006Bake breadEvery celebrity chef / foodblogger / toddler I know waxes lyrical about how satisfying it is to bake your own bread. I love baking cakes but for some reason I have this trepidation when it comes to yeast.

Rendezvous Cafe, Burwood

Eating breakfast out always poses a menu dilemma for me: do I follow my head and choose savoury, or do I go with my heart and wallow in sweet?The easy, of course, is to do both, and that's where a little covert activity in tactical menu negotiation always comes in handy!Our rendezvous took place at, funnily enough, Rendezvous, at Burwood Westfield Shoppingtown, in Sydney's inner west. It's your

What's On In Sydney

For those who keep forgetting to check the side panel =)Every Fri til 30 June 2006: Chinatown Night MarketThis weekendSat 18 Feb: Northside Produce MarketSat 18 Feb: Ashfield Gourmet MarketSat 18 Feb: Farmers Market, Entertainment QuarterSat 18 Feb: Orange Grove MarketsSun 19 Feb: Scandinavian Sunday, Maritime MuseumSun 19 Feb: South American Festival, Bondi BeachNext weekendSat 25 Feb: Kings

Oscillate Wildly, Newtown

The November 2005 edition of Australian Gourmet Traveller ran a reviewer competition open to all readers--the winning entrant would join the reviewing team for the Australian Restaurant Guide 2007 (cue Homer-Simpson-like daydream coupled with hopeful hyperventilation). Alas I didn't win (obviously... otherwise I'd be writing this in giant font, not tiny) but I thought I'd share my entry anyway.

Mohr and Mohr, Surry Hills

EDIT: Mohr and Mohr has now closed.On the Mohr and Mohr website, Hans Mohr is declared "iron chef of home-style German, Scandinavian and French".There was no sign of Chairman Kaga when we made a visit, but should Mohr ever appear on a rising platform in Kitchen Stadium, it might just be a sardine or duck liver he'd be holding aloft.Cured West Australian sardines $14.50Served with apple, pickled

Chinese New Year Parade 2006, Sydney

It was the annual Chinese New Year parade on Sunday 5 February 2006.In addition to the regular dragon dancers, Chinese scouts and young soccer players, parade spectators were treated to a jaw-dropping mobile performance by visiting Chinese acrobats, drummers, dancers, stilt performers and jugglers, here to promote the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.Don't forget the Lantern Festival on

Chocolate psychology

Have you ever lain awake at night wondering if you could conduct a personality test using just a box of chocolates?My latest Sugar Savvy piece for the Well Fed Network has just been published. Find out which CCT (Chocolate Consumer Type) you are by clicking here.

Australia Day lunch

A good host is organised but not pedantic, relaxed but still attentive. Simple food that can be prepped beforehand is crucial, lending a casual carefree atmosphere that your guests will not appreciate until after they have gone home, and reflected on what an effortlessly pleasant time was had by all.Dips and nibblesAn Australia Day lunch hosted by R, A and C was a classic textbook example.

Caffe Gasparo, Burwood

Spaghetti lipari $15.90Octopus, garlic, olive oil, chilli, capers, fresh tomatoes and a touch of pesto in a napolitana sauceIt sounded so easy at first.Friday night. A friend's birthday to celebrate. Car pool to dinner, then watch Memoirs of a Geisha on its opening night in cinemas."We'll leave the restaurant up to you", my friends emailed in unison. "Whereever you choose".The pressure.I have no

Pyrmont Growers' Market

The first Good Living Growers Market for 2006 was a crowd-pleaser as always. I had thought that after eight photographic posts on my adventures here, there would be little left to capture. But of course there is always something new and exciting to tempt the eyes and intrigue the tastebuds:That’s right, these are cleaned and purged common garden snails, ready for conversion into delicious

Bread Story, Broadway, Ultimo

EDIT 05/07/07: Bread Story on Broadway has now closedFirst there was Beb Patisserie.Then there was Bourke St Bakery.And now the Broadway strip between City Road and Wattle Street has another baked goods supplier in its midst.It's a Bread Story all right.This is the first foray into the Australian market for Bread Story, a popular franchise bakery with origins in Malaysia. Conceived by Jun Low, a

Chinese New Year Eve: The Feast

If there are three particular idiosyncrasies about Asian palates it's our love of bones, skin and fat.The roast suckling pig embodies all three in glorious gormandizing hedonistic glory.I had the good fortune to be invited to dine with Veruca Salt and her family on Chinese New Year's Eve, a night which traditionally involves a reunion dinner for celebratory feasting.The Chinese New Year mandate

Get Fed

As if I don't already have compulsive bloggeritis, I've just become the latest Sugar Savvy recruit for the Well Fed Network. Launched on 3 January 2006, Well Fed is an online collaboration of food-and-drink content by bloggers from all around the world.Sugar Savvy's mandate is to focus on all things chocolate and candy.It's a match made in heaven.My weekly publishing day is Wednesday (US-time,

Grate stuff

A recent post on my homemade green mango salad generated a couple of queries about zigzag graters: what were they and where could you get them from.The one I use was brought back from Vietnam by ever-thoughtful friends of mine. I couldn't find a picture of it on Google so in the post comments I suggested a julienne peeler which is often available from kitchenwares in department stores. A julienne