Delicado
Pssst! Amigo! Want to tell a good Spanish restaurant from a crappy one? Look up. Now count the hunks of cured meat hanging from the ceiling. Sure, a few lend an air of authenticity, but you know you're in for a treat when you walk into DELICADO - Spanish providore, restaurant and wine bar - and discover the roof is a riot of dangling chillis, retro flamenco posters, dusty wine bottles and ripening Jamón Iberico.
La Piadina
The Zizioli brothers (Damiano, previously of Pizza Mario, and Fausto, the barista from Paddington Alimentari), along with their good friend Sam, have turned the simple into the sensational...
This is something of a tradition, said to have its beginnings in Emilia Romagna many moons ago. From this part of northern Italy, variations have been passed down through the regions between families, and now it is here in Sydney's Bondi Beach.
Hoochie Mama's Cafe
Let's play the word game - think of a name and say the closest thing you associate with it. There's one right answer and the winner takes hmm, the toast. Ready?
...Hoochie Mama.
'Bootie, um, Mama'. Wrong.
'Banana Rama'. Wrong. This is word association, not rhyme time.
'French toast'. Correct.
Hoochie's French toast is the answer to everything; your hangover, your munchies, your incorrigible procrastination.
The Falconer
Read this slowly, god knows it took us a while to digest. This is a l-i-c-e-n-s-e-d cafe. On O-x-f-o-r-d S-t-r-e-e-t. Where you will a-c-t-u-a-l-l-y want to stay a while.
As its neighbours dance at light speed, Falconer quietly cruises through coffee (morning) and wine (evening) accompanied by a tasting plate (any time).
Petersham Charcoal Chicken
Portuguese fare is not (despite the over-proliferation of certain fast food outlets) only about the chicken burger. Trust me I've been to Portug... Petersham. They also do whole, half and quarter chickens - all flat and slow roasted over hot coals with a proven selection of herbs. This ensures that it tastes amazing even if, god forbid, you forgo the house-made chilli sauce.
The Little Marionette
The ultimate nerd dream goes something like this:
1. Infiltrate others with chosen obsession
2. Train and prime the masses
3. Gather new army
4. Sit for hours talking about said obsession
In Balmain, this dream is in action. All the better for us, because it involves coffee. Executed in a warm, nooked, muffin-filled space, the hatted kids of TLM make coffee, sell coffee and teach coffee.
Mission Restaurant & Bar
Pre-empting our cry for small bars by opening about a year ago, Mission bravely adopted the mould of a restaurant-come-bar-come-art-gallery. Located on an appealingly innocuous side street, in an old Gothic Revival church sandwiched between former warehouses, Mission channels Lower East Side hidden chic almost too well.
Random Entries:
Search our guide to Sydney
Browse our guide to Sydney by interest
Browse our guide to Sydney by keyword
Sydney Events Calendar
Select a date to see what's on in Sydney
Browse our guide to Sydney by weekly issue
Working