Devon Cafe, Surry Hills

All the hip people of Surry Hills are slowly converging their way into the newly opened Cafe Devon. They've got a lot of things go for them. For one them, they've managed to coax ex-Guillaume chefs from a fine dining atmosphere into a more casual breakfasty one.

Read More

Gumshara, Chinatown

Winter ramen craze and a recent bout of Naruto (yes there's still a ten year old inside of me) brings me to Gumshara. I've heard lots about it for a while but it's obviously taken me a while to get there. It's located inside an asian food count underground alongside Dixon st and it brings me back to the food courts in Singapore where the food was solely asian and not a fast food chain in site. Here, it's a whole lot more dirtier admittedly...

Read More

Light My Fire Food and Wine Showcase, CBD

 A very interesting 40 dollar per ticket event saw me at Merivale's Light My Fire showcase the other night hosted at Palings Kitchen and Bar. Merivale, of course, is Justin Hemme's hospitality juggernaut, boasting 10 restaurants, more than 20 bars and many other venues and hotels. I've been to a few of these places and besides a few minor issues, most of them were outstanding. It's a wonder how they can keep the consistency up. 

Read More

Mary's, Newtown

From the outside, it appears to be an alley where one goes and get knifed but little does one know that a slight deviation off the King Street strip hides one of the most talked about burger joints of late: Mary's. 

It's incredibly dark inside so I apologize for the nausea inducing pictures. They're planning to update the space soon with a dart board and all but for now there's not much save for a really dark space in a double story barn. It's a pub so expected a loud night but also go in expecting local beers on tap. You come here for booze, cheeseburgers and fried chicken. That's all. Don't go in expecting much else. 

Cheese Burger 14

Mary's Burger 14

It really does taste like a whooper but there seems to be a few subtle differences. The burger is insanely soft (no hyperbole). It just melts easily with its greasy sauciness made with a simple combo of tomato, mustard and melty cheese in a fugue of sweets and savouriness. Shoestring chips are generous but just the plainly run of the mill kind. There's 3 available: mushroom burgers for the vegos, cheeseburgers that come with pickles and Mary's burger that comes with lettuce and tomato (you know... to help make it a little healthier).

Mash and Gravy 5

Mash and gravy is a must order here. The potato mash is uber buttery and smooth, rounded off with a slight crack of pepper and an almost watery similarly buttery gravy with a real meatiness to it. Just give me a bucket of this and I'm set. Happy days.

Service here is great; sharp yet laid-back and relaxed at the same time. Glorified Hungry Jacks is what I keep thinking initially, especially at a 14 dollar asking price for what essentially are fries and burgers. It's still hard to justify and I'm not sure it's different enough to warrant another visit but it should definitely be tried out for newcomers. I'll be back for some good ol' fried chicken action in the future which I hear great things about.


View Larger Map

Read More

Mooberry, Newtown

Once upon a time, frozen yoghurt used to be a sort of novelty. One where people used to happily travel a long while just to reach. With the competing Noggi and Moochi stores only in Strathfield in the past, queues were always waiting but these days you can pretty much walk right outside your house and find one waiting outside ready to be built. 

Read More