Tokyo Mart, Northbridge

Toothpick holdersA follow-up visit to Tokyo Mart, the biggest Japanese grocery shop in Sydney.I really could spend hours, no, make that days, in here. The first ten minutes were spent in the crockery aisle, pawing ceramic bowls, delicate tea cups and a fruit salad collection of colourful chopstick rests. Then it was a meander through the kitchen section, a wander along the vertical freezers and

Mooncake Mania

With the height of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival due on October 6, it's currently mooncake mania all over Chinatown. Mooncakes, rich in lard and the goodness of egg yolk, are exchanged between families, and it seems like the tins and the packaging get more and more elaborate every year.And Festival Addict says don't forget the Cabramatta Moon Festival on this Sunday.Related GrabYourFork posts:

Taka Tea Garden, Sydney

Roasted peas and gyokuro teaHow much do you love your green tea?If you're not sure of your response, the test is easy. Try the green tea healthy lunch set at Taka Tea Garden.I'd always been intrigued by the lunch counter at Taka Tea Garden at World Square (for some reason marked as Rosa Tea House above the door despite all the Taka Tea Garden brochures inside). Sure the tins of loose tea leaves

Toby's Estate, Chippendale

There is something infinitely satisfying about cupping your hands around a big bowl of steaming coffee. Size does come into it, but it's also the comfort factor (and Parisien nuances) of slowly sipping at a coffee receptable the size of a small soup tureen.There is no doubt that Toby's Estate have their own legion of coffee fans. The queue at their stall at the Good Living Growers Market

Tomodachi, Broadway

Chicken katsudon $9.50Deep-fried chicken with egg and topped with spring onionServed with steamed rice and miso soupTomodachi means friend in Japanese, and so it seemed apt that Saffron and I lunch there the other week.It helped that we both love all things Japanese. And it definitely helped that our lunch was speedy and most delicious.Deborah had the chicken katsudon, a cavernous square-shaped

85C Cake Shop, Sydney

Strawberry tiramisuThere’s a new cake shop in town.Thursday night and I receive an email alert from food spy tracey who tells me "there’s a new cake shop on George Street". It doesn't take me long to find it (especially when I ask a pair of girls holding distinctive red cake boxes "Excuse me, whereabouts did you get that from?").Display window85 degrees is a new era of cake decadence. Apparently

Auburn Street Festival

Another weekend. Another festival.A sun-drenched summery day--all blue skies and not a cloud to be seen--greeted today's Auburn Street Festival. It was a tough call between the Bankstown Bites Food Festival and the Auburn Street Festival, but the allure of dondurma ice cream was too strong to resist. Besides, I had checked out Bankstown Bites last year, whereas the Auburn Street Festival was

Banana Bread With No Bananas

I miss my bananas. In March of this year, Cyclone Larry decimated Innisfail, in Queensland's far north, and with it 80% of Australia's banana plantations. Bananas which used to cost about 99c to $3 per kilo rocketed to $16 per kilo. Six months later the price of bananas is still at about $12-$14 per kilo.Banana bread is now rarer than hen's teeth. Banana bread made with real bananas, that is. So

I made me a sandwich

Ok so I have a thing for cheese, tomato and basil sandwiches, but how could you not? Sweet slices of ruddy red vine-ripened tomatoes, shavings of sharp vintage Cheddar and a generous handful of basil leaves combine for a lunch that is healthy and tasty.A crusty fresh bread roll is my preferred canvas; a sprinkle of sea salt and several twists of freshly cracked pepper provide the final touches

Post Cafe, Marrickville

Post brekkie $12.90Two eggs, bacon, sausage, toast and coffee or teaIt's easy to work out how Post Cafe got its name: the white capitals that spell Post Office are still there on this heritage-listed building.Inside the high ceilings, white walls and polished floorboards make this cafe seem large, spacious and airy. Extra large windows let in plenty of warm sunshine and there's ample walking room

Famous Amos Cookies

I'm a sucker for trying anything new, so when we were in the area of Famous Amos recently, I couldn't resist indulging in some edible research.Famous Amos cookies are a huge American cookie company now making its way to Australia. The story goes that when Wally Amos worked as a talent agent with the William Morris Agency, he would bake and send little choc-chip cookies to celebrities he was

What's On in Sydney

Your reminder post with what's being eaten this weekend and next:This weekend SAT 23 SEP: Auburn Street FestivalSAT 23 SEP: Bankstown Bites Food FestivalSAT 23 SEP: Ashfield Gourmet MarketSAT 23 SEP: Farmers Market, Ent QuarterSAT 23 SEP: Kings Cross Organic MarketSAT 23 SEP: Orange Grove MarketsSAT 23 SEP: Warwick Farm Trackside MarketSUN 24 SEP: Brazilian FestivalSUN 24 SEP: Newtown

Marrickville Festival

Dancers from the Filipino Inner West Migrant GroupMarrickville is one of Sydney's booming suburbs. In the 1950s it flourished with the influx of Greek migrants, in the 1980s it welcomed a burgeoning Vietnamese community. These days it basks in a diverse mix of cheap restaurants, Asian grocery stores, Vietnamese bakeries and yeeros shops. Over the past couple of years, new apartment blocks have

Northside Produce Market

Goose eggsIt's been six months since we last visited Northside Product Market, but everything was just as we remembered it. The casual stroll of Northside shoppers means it's a little easier to chat to the market stall owners. We found out, for instance, that apparently geese only lay eggs once a year, and the goose eggs above would reveal an egg yolk about the size of half a cricket ball.But

Menya, Haymarket

"Irrashaaaaaaai-mase!"

Whenever I encounter this chirpy high-pitched wail in Japanese clipped staccato, it always make me smile. Japanese custom dictates that staff greet the arrival of every customer, a echoing catcall that bounces from the floorstaff and through the kitchen like a verbal Mexican wave.



Menya Japan Noodle Bar is a little bit of ramen in a jostle of Chinese noodle shops in the

Diethnes Greek Restaurant, Sydney

Lambs brains. Until recently, they made me shudder. My earliest encounter with them had repulsion, my eight-year-old stomach churning as I watched my Mother and sister enthusiastically chomp down a plate of them together. The brains had been steamed as is, a morbid haul of creamy-grey cooked cerebellums.But then a lot of things are disgusting when you're a child. Hated oysters; now I love them.

Friday Fun: Super Sized Meals

My new favourite website is Super Sized Meals, and not just because they recently featured a Grab Your Fork post (that's actually how I found the website).There are hours of delighting in grossness here. Gargantuan food servings never fail to thrill and amuse me. Who doesn't want to marvel at the sight of a giant icecream sundae in India or the grease-fest that is an In-N-Out burger with 100 beef

Roasted pumpkin salad with toasted almonds

After its enthusiastic reception at our fondue party on Sunday, I promised Deb and Bowb I'd post the recipe for the roasted pumpkin salad I brought along.Realistically, it doesn't even require a recipe; all you need is day-old roast pumpkin, seasonal greens and some nuts for texture: almonds or pinenuts work well. And because you make the pumpkin the night before (cook extra pumpkin and enjoy a

Fondue with Friends

It was a rainy Sunday afternoon when five foodies congregated in the name of cheese: Deb, Bowb, friends and I. The skies were a gloomy grey, the rain pit-pattered rythmically against the windows and a winter-like chill hung in the air: it was the perfect setting for a bubbling lava of two cheeses (gruyere and emmenthal), a glug of dry white wine, a dash of sweet sherry and a spoonful of cornflour

Farmers Market, Entertainment Quarter

CupcakesContinual sporadic showers and a dramatic temperature plunge last Saturday did little to deter our market browsing intentions.We headed to the Farmers Markets at the Entertainment Quarter, the enormous white canopies offering welcome shelter from the unobliging weather.MuffinsThe cupcakes and muffins loked cute, but with our bellies grumbling at 11am we were more interested in the

Snapped: Sailing on Sydney Harbour

It's been a wet and blustery rain-soaked weekend.So I’m staring at these sailing photos, taken earlier this year, with prolonged wistfulness.The sun was out, the skies were blue, and the wind was amiably filling our sails. I was the winch woman for the port side, and apart from some frantic wrapping at one stage, it was a leisurely carefree afternoon spent on sun-kissed waters.And sure, I'm a

Malaysia Fest 2006

Last Sunday was spent flitting between the Spanish Quarter Street Festival on Liverpool Street, and Malaysia Fest over the road in Darling Habour.Both featured plenty of food, hungry crowds and a program of free entertainment. The food was cheaper at Malaysia Fest, but the queues were also much longer too. I loved the sense of family togetherness here as rugs and mats were laid on grass,

What's on in Sydney

THIS WEEKENDSAT 09 SEP: Ashfield Gourmet MarketSAT 09 SEP: Castle Hill Farmers MarketSAT 09 SEP: Farmers Market, Ent QuarterSAT 09 SEP: Kings Cross Organic MarketSAT 09 SEP: Orange Grove MarketsSAT 09 SEP: Warwick Farm Trackside MarketSUN 10 SEP: National BBQ DaySUN 10 SEP: Festival of the WindsSUN 10 SEP: Italian Forum MarketNEXT WEEKENDSAT 16 SEP: Ashfield Gourmet MarketSAT 16 SEP: Farmers

Spanakopita

I love spanakopita. Spinach and fetta go together brilliantly and the flaky wispy sheets of browned filo pastry contrast delightfully with the spinach mixture underneath.The invention of olive oil cooking spray means an end to filo phobias and messy fiddling with pastry brushes and melted butter splotches. Working with filo has never been easier.And if I'm going to make spanakopita, I always make

Spanish Quarter Street Festival 2006

PaellaThe Spanish are unequivocally admired for their deep-felt passion: for food, for dance, for life, for the opposite sex.So it is no surprise that every year Sydney turns out in droves for the Spanish Quarter Street Festival. Who can resist seared spicy chorizo, jugs of sangria and saffron-yellow paella consumed to the yearning strum of a Spanish gypsy guitar.Festival organisers have done a

SMH Good Food Guide 2007

So the list of hatted restaurants for the SMH Good Food Guide 2007 is out.Even though reviewers Simon Thomsen and Catherine Keenan say: "we've gone casual and become cost-conscious, without wanting to sacrifice standards", the list is inevitably weighted with top nosh (and top dollar) eateries. Reading through the list reminds me of that time in primary school when the school prefects were

Puffy Cookie Puff, World Square, Sydney

It's a strange but appreciated privilege to have not one, but two GrabYourFork readers contact me on the same day to excitedly tell me "there's a new custard puff place just opened in World Square! It's like Beard Papa's, but with a cookie crust and you have to go and check it out!" [or words to that effect]So I have my own contingent of food spies now... kewl!I get to eat dessert in the name of

Good Living Growers' Markets

Baby shimeji mushroomsLast month I missed the Good Living Growers' Markets for the first time in 2006: it was a very sad realisation indeed.So I was determined not to miss this month's one, which was happily bathed in glorious yellow sunshine. It was t-shirt and shorts weather, more akin to summer than the second calendar day of spring.I went a little crazy with the photos this month. Perhaps

Macchiato, Sydney

Garlic pizza bread $4.50Macchiato does good pizza. If I could have had my lunch again, I would have just stuffed myself stupid with garlic pizza bread, a rarity of perfection with its thin crisp base--bubbled up with undulating air pockets--topped with generous scatterings of pungent garlic, a dusting of chopped parsley, and just the right amount of lubricating olive oil.Asian risotto