Sydney: First half of the year visits

By Cubie - November 17, 2023



I usually travel to Sydney once a quarter for work which means trying out new eating places. This time also include a long transit in Sydney prior to my flight to Noumea. ^^
Holy Basil was visited on my visit in March, Yama in April during transit but the rest in June. Both were overnight trips but I extended to the weekend when I went in June.


Holy Basil Darling Square
Steam Mill Lane, 51 Tumbalong Bvd, Haymarket NSW 2000

I thought I have been to a Holy Basil restaurant before but it was totally different shop. It was suggested by one of my colleague. The previous time we had dinner, he was telling us his aurora hunting adventures. He was the one recommended glass igloo stay to us but he went to Ivalo. 

Anyway back to this Thai & Laos eatery. I didn't realise it is a Thai & Laos eatery, I thought it is a Thai restaurant. All our food orders were tasty. I had a fresh custard apple shake while they had a lemon lime bitters and beer respectively.

From left, clockwise: crab meat fried rice, chicken pad see ew, roast duck red curry, Laos style pork sausages and Thai papaya salad


Yama
Queen Victoria Building, Shop 2- 4 Level 2 QVB, 455 George St, Sydney NSW 2000

I ordered yama's california don which is one of their signature dishes. It comes with assorted fresh sashimi, tamago egg, ebi prawns and tobiko, served on a bed of seasoned rice and salad, dressed with house-made sweet soy-based dressing. It was fresh and good but price point a bit too high unfortunately (AUD 31)



Kirribilli Club
11 Harbourview Cres, Lavender Bay NSW 2060

I used to stay in Sydney, in a suburb near Kirribilli but I've not been to this place. It is a higher end of RSL. On my visit, I was particularly dumb. I thought Google Maps had suggested that I walk across the Harbour Bridge and it would only take 20 minutes but I must've read it wrongly, it was more likely suggesting that I take the ferry. Anyway, food was pretty good and unexpectedly big portion. 

This was mine - I half expected it to be 2 pieces of small prawns. I was wrong

Some kind of fried rice

Lamb skewers


Cubby's Kitchen
Corner Young Street & Loftus Lane off, Bridge St, Sydney NSW 2000

I went earlier this year but when I checked again for this post, it has been reported that they are now permanently closed? I went for dinner with a work colleague at this Lebanese-Japanese fusion influence place. The place was cosy, the food portion looked small but filling. We opted for the tasting menu. Colleague was from Lebanon so I asked him to make an executive decision. 


Dip of baby ganous with a twist - eggplant chunks, sweet miso and burnt sesame. I find it too sweet and colleague preferred the traditional version. 


This was falafel kebab, we chose this over eggplant wedges. This was my portion. We got one each. I liked this one, and how my colleague ate it where he smashed and distributed it so you get some falafel at every bite. 


Bread pieces at the back were for the dips. And the ones in the front were ladies fingers - lamb, pine nuts, onion and tomato. 


Roasted cauliflower - I liked this one too. 


Chicken shish and lamb kofta. Garlic lemon for chicken and mint yoghurt for lamb. 


Hungry Paulie
Shop 10.19B, Liverpool St, World Square Shopping Center

There are a few outlets, I went to the one in World Square as the rest are in the suburbs. This visit was for breakfast before my commute to Nowra. Portion was big, luckily I didn't get the breakfast set. I got an egg pancake with crullers and hot soya bean. 



Omu
Shop 1/507 Wattle St, Ultimo NSW 2007

I felt like having omurice but succumbed to curry rice with omelette. It was decent but no need to purposely make a trek there. Drink was kinako latte



 
Tenacious Bakehouse and Lode Pies
Tenacious Bakehouse101 Oxford St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010
Lode Pies: 487 Crown Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010

They are unrelated, just that I visited one after another and put them together in a same box so I didn't have to carry 2 big boxes everywhere. I find baked goods expensive, getting one is ok but when I checked how much I spent on 4 items, it did give a feeling that I over spent. The baked goods were good just I find them pricey I guess. 

From top left: Injeolmi pandoro, LoDe Pithivier, wagyu and mushroom pie and portuguese tart

Sweet pastries were from Tenacious Bakehouse and the savoury pies from Lode. I carted these back to Melbourne. 

I ate the injeolmi pandoro at the airport before boarding. It was messy but so good. I loved it. It was filled with cream and red bean paste and the pastry covered in roasted soy bean powder. Portuguese tart was filled with double vanilla egg cream and miso glaze. It wasn't too sweet and had a very smooth and soft filling. It was good but I preferred the injeolmi pandoro. 

The wagyu and mushroom pie was good, I ate it without needing to add any sauce. LoDe Pithivier is to be eaten by adding the chicken and cream gravy. The filling was buttery pork and shitake mushroom. Both are good but my favourite out of the 4 was the ugliest looking one. 


Side note: There's an Indian grocery near me that sells hot food, so good and affordable, it's dangerous.

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