Popolo, Rushcutters Bay

They're everywhere. Pizzerias are as almost ubiquitous in the city as your garden variety frozen yoghurt store or Thai eatery. Popolo in Rushcutters Bay has managed to distinguish itself enough from the others since its inception earning a chef hat and a loyal following. 

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Buns and Balls, Darlinghurst

That's right. You read it. Buns and Balls. Facing the ever popular Hugo's Pizza opposite as well as the other well established restaurants  near by, you damn well better come out with all guns blazing and what better than to do so than to start with the cheeky promise of 'Juicy Buns and Tasty Balls'. That certainly grabs attention.

Boasting a in-house DJ, a groovy and retro fitout, street art and a share able menu; Buns and Balls, run by the Darling group, is a vibrant boozy den chockful of meatballs and burgers and good times. The night was headed by the ultra amicable Simon Hancock and the rest of the staff aren't too shabby either. With booze free flowing, the night was on.

Watermelon, Lime and Vodka 12

Freshly juiced cocktails start the action. The watermelon juice cocktail was super fresh and you could taste it all the way in here.

Pineapple, Gingerbeer, Vodka and Bitters 12

Pineapple cocktails are the way to go here. They're all the great things shaken up; bitter, the slightly astringent ginger, sweet and sour pineapple action, foamy creamy top and you've got a party in your mouth going on.

Tofu Meatball 9

The tofu 'meat' balls, filled with dense tofu with a crunchy exterior wrapping it were super delicious. They're just absolutely fall apart and goes perfect with their spicy tomato sauce.

Chargrilled Steak Salad 12.5

The beef salad was a little lifeless here which was the general consensus. The gentle crunchy leaves were quite nicely dressed but the beef was a little dry.

Chicken Salad 12

On the other hand, the chicken salad was easily the better of the two. It feels a little more complete with the rest of the vegetables and croutons happening and especially with the spicy chilli sauce that really jacks up the flavour of the chicken. 

Grilled Chicken 10

The chicken burger was definitely my favourite of the night. You get a lot going; chilli sauce and crumbed juicy chicken, cheese and mayo and the other usual suspects. It's sort of like a more refined Oportos burger and there's definitely nothing wrong with that. All for a measly tenner.

Sweet Potato Fries 6

Goes perfect with their sweet potato fries. They're well seasoned, soft on the inside, sort of crispy on the outside and with a fantastic flavour. Happy days.

Ice Cream Block 14

Dessert was written to be a surprise and first came in the form of ice-cream cookie sandwich. Whilst I was having particular issues with the hardness of the cookies (in my eyes Subway cookies still are the best cookies ever made... mmmmm just thinking about it...) and plain ice cream, there's just something deliciously tasty about it that makes sharing so hard.

Doughnut Bites 8

What appeared to be Krispy Kreme donuts were gently warmed through and came with a chocolate dipping sauce. Simple but utterly delectable.

Burgers and meatballs (if it hasn't been obvious already) are what's happening here and that's their passion. With the exception of the excellent 10 dollar burgers, prices are here and there but are generally acceptable particularly for the area. The place is as hip and grudgey as any can get, the food was great, moreish and ticks all the right boxes for a good night out in the Cross. I mean, what more could you want.

Petit4s attended this tasting with a guest courtesy of Sian from The Darlin Group.


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Buffalo Dining Club, Darlinghurst

Creamy. Soft. Melting. Magical. It was pretty much love at first sight when a plate of Burrata landed on our table at Buffalo Dining Club. I'll be honest, what particularly drew me to this little part of Kings Cross was the flipping insane 97 percent rating at Urbanspoon more than anything else.

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Tomislav, Darlinghurst

Tomislav has been on my radar for a long long time. Comparisons between Gastro Park (my favourite restaurant of 2012) make the wait almost unbearable and before we know it we're heading off down the good ol' Kings Cross. 

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Buon Ricordo, Paddington

Kings Cross. Not exactly the most ideal place to be at 11pm but I'm slowly discovering the Cross to be a hub of gastronomic delights. Often called the fore-father of Australian Italian cuisine, owner Armando Pecuoco brings to Sydney our little version of the exuberant Italy. I've been planning this visit for a year and a half already, although my friend E remains adamant it was a last minute thing. Please.

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Gastro Park, Kings Cross

Severely disappointed that I missed out on the Game of Thrones dinner that was all over the bloggersphere here, here and here, I had been since wanting an opportunity to dine at Gastro Park. My ultimate foodie partner A was craving fine dining after her continual diet on Mcdonalds and lemon juice and consequently the opportunity presented itself. It just so happens that it was also her birthday so I was more than excited to take her here.


A was intent on trying the entire menu through a degustation, I reasoned instead that going A la carte would be more affordable and still be able to have a large amount of food to try.

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Honeycomb, Darlinghurst

I'm a huge fan of Andy Bunn's cooking. It's brilliant and honest cooking and you really can't go wrong with Italian, well done with good ingredients. That's what his ex-venture, Sopra, achieved. Half produce store, half cafe, you get quality fresh ingredients, kitchen standbys to take home and delicious food all in the one place. With that, it's hard not to achieve a loyal customer base, one being Neil Perry who I spotted a couple of times eating there and me; where I was a regular there and even had one of his cookbooks. It was a sunny day when I came out to dine at Honeycomb and I had even brighter hopes about his new restaurant.

Admittedly, my parents weren't the most ecstatic when coming out to Kings Cross at night. I guess repeated sessions of Underbelly really does give it that undesirable vibe so fortunately, Honeycomb is located down a peaceful and much more quiet road. We started off with a sourdough on the house from Sonoma and fruity olive oil.

Cabbage Salad with Regianno and Aged Balsamic 18

You're thinking cabbage salad is bland and so was I, but this salad showed less is more. The aged balsamic is not as acidic as store bought ones and has a real depth in flavour but the real hero in my opinion was the generous shavings of reggiano which gave it a sharp, distinctive bite.

Oriecchiette with Yellow Fin Tuna, Chilli, Garlic, Lemon 26

Orecchiette was the most perfect pasta to use, sucking up all the beautiful flavours resulting from the chilli, tomato, garlic, lemon and parsley infused oil. Chilli is remarkably absent from a lot of Italian eateries which is quite sad because it gives any dish quite an enjoyable kick and warmth. A very simple dish with generous hunks of meaty tuna makes this a mouthwatering pasta favourite.

Lamb ragu, Chilli, Rosemary 26

Full of huge meaty, bold flavours made an incredibly hearty dish. Rosemary and lamb are best friends and you can't go wrong with them two, all covered up with a deeply intense tomato sauce. Scrumptious.

Banoffee Pie 15

I was a little disappointed when they said they didn't have honeycomb semifroddo they're quite known for but it's not exactly the worst thing choosing their banoffee pie instead! I have this everytime I go to Sopra and it's one of my favourite desserts of all time. A hard yet short biscuit pastry is topped with a thick condense milk caramel tempered out with sweet, ripe bananas and lashings of chantilly cream and shavings of chocolate. Nothing's overpowered and I'd go back there again and again just to have this.

You don't get anything new or different here at Honeycomb which isn't particularly a bad thing at all. A lot of my past favourites are on the menu and i'm definitely not complaining. The food was undeniably simple yet good however my qualm is with the setting. It's not as rushed and much more laid back then Sopra but there's something about me that misses that blackboard where daily selections come and go while being written and rubbed off and a shop where you can look for great produce. Service was friendly and efficient and food came out in a flash. It's not as packed as say, the multiple Sopra restaurants but it's still early days and Honeycomb has a bright future under the helm of a great chef.



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