The (almost) tenth birthday post

As I write and post about food, travel and health elsewhere in the blogosphere these days, it's a bit of a shock to realise that this neglected blog is about to hit it's tenth birthday in a couple of weeks.

If you've lost the plot in recent years (as I indeed have) - here's a recap of the past 48 months.

1. I ate and massaged my way around Chiang Mai for a big birthday with a zero on the end of it.

2. Two months later I was wheeled into surgery to remove a rather large cancerous tumour from my belly.

3. I visited Hades, in the guise of 'modern' oncology. Drugs that f*ck with your tastebuds are a new kind of hell for any food lover. 

4. While hanging out in the underworld, I was overwhelmed by the support and generosity of so many friends from the blogging community. Especially those veg*ns! Thank you. I will never forget your kindness.

5. Strangely before this life disruption I'd been brewing a huge change in my work/life. The big move to Sydney I'd scheduled was only put back one month in the end.

6. The paint was barely dry in the hastily spruced up Inner West pad, when I headed to Europe for 4 weeks. I fell in love with Lisbon's colour, tastes and experiences, ate the best seafood pasta in Amalfi and scoffed homemade liqueurs in Sicily. I had a bit of a WTF? experience in Prague, long dreamed of visiting but it was overcast and full of pigs knuckles. Fortunately 9 days in Berlin (and a further week in London again) got my mojo back.  

7. After having some downtime from my business (being sick, convalescing, moving home and relaunching a new way of working online) I commissioned a designer and web builders and launched a fully updated site. I've talked at an international conference, run my first online course and fronted teleseminars.

8. Back to food - it's fun getting to know the cuisine of a new city. But Sydney is no Melbourne. The thing I've had to learn about eating here is there are no 'equivalents', no 'where's somewhere like (Melbourne restaurant)?' It's a different kettle of fish. Will share some of new faves here soon.

9. In May this year I had three amazing weeks in Sth America. Santiago was a bit like Wellington in the 1970s but greyer. Buenos Aires was fab - especially Palermo and environs. Rio was bonkers, a city on speed with amazing topography and views. I flew over the Igussu Falls in a helicopter!! And Peru is a land of contrasts from the first world food culture of Lima to a near siege experience at Juliaca airport (nothing like being in a tiny terminal surrounded by machine gun slinging police). I experienced the wonders of Machu Picchu and drank many pisco sours. It's an amazing country, though I'm glad I passed on the guinea pig.

10. I've just celebrated another birthday. The first spent in Australia in many years. Billy Kwong was the perfect place to toast the coming year. 

I'm very pleased to say I'm alive and (officially) very well. Looking forward to experiencing more of my local flora, fauna and food.

So what have you been doing while I've been gone?

Sydney: it's flakier than you'd think

There are subtle differences to the dining cultures in Melbourne and Sydney. Years ago a cabbie said to me “Melbourne people eat out all the time, it excels in great quality, casual eating any night of the week. Sydneysiders go for the big bang, high budget places but eat out less frequently”. I’m not sure if that’s strictly true but Sydney wins the prize for the most exalted restaurants in the country, though also more limited operating hours.

Oscillating Wildly, Billy Kwong and most of the hatted restaurants in Surrey Hills all seem to open at night only. All those weekend lunches missed. I’m struggling to think of Melbourne big name eateries operating under those restrictions. Surely Sydney invented the long lunch? All that sunshine.

Oh well. The no reservations thing still stands for many, or reservation only months in advance for the others.

Fortunately being a Melbourne-phile I like a quirky bit of casual eating and had no trouble filling my face quite amply at any hour.

What Sydney does excellently is pastry. Flaky, glutinous pockets of joy, oh how the harbour city delivered this in spades.

From the casual meandering through the pastry filled stalls at the Summer Hill Breakfast Bazaar (the only Taste of Sydney event I made it too, the other ones planned for the weekend got a tad washed out with the spring showers).


pastry nests full of raw pistachios and honey, sticky but delicious

To being lucky enough to have Black Star Pastry as my local bakery. I can’t begin to extol the wonderment to just how good this place is. The Danishes rival those I ate in France and the tarts were ridiculously good. Their sourdough is worth a detour too (and IMHO much better than the exalted Sonama in Glebe).


mango danish, I'm in heaven

But the crispy, pastry with high production values award has to go to Mamak. This is a well known Malaysian eatery in Chinatown, equally famous for it’s roti as it is for the long queues outside. The roti making being the theatrical entertainment as hungry people wait for at least half an hour, pressing their faces against the glass like urchins to watch the production going on in the kitchen inside.

It was a 40 minute wait on a balmy Thursday evening. It’s amazing how relaxed I could be about such a thing, thank goodness for being in holiday mode. A bit of a chat to others in the line and curious tourists asking what we were waiting for and then finally, we were in, menus efficiently delivered, an order taken the moment we’d decided what we’d eat and our requests wirelessly transmitted to the kitchen by the waiter who returned less than 5 minutes later with the goods. This is a streamlined operation. I’ve been seated far quicker in Melbourne joints but had to wait an hour for the whole menu/order/food arriving routine. So the Mamak oiled machine certainly compensates for time spent queuing. And it’s cheap. Not as good value as downtown Malacca but $30 for two is not to be sniffed at.

We ate nasi lemak, roti (how could we not having watched the show in the window for all that time – best marketing strategy ever) and finished with a cendol that put a smile on our face. I just wished I could have fitted another visit in while I was there.


a quick iphone snap, about to guts down my nasi lemak with prawns and a big hunk of roti

...but there's always the next trip to look forward to.


Black Star Pastry
277 Australia St Newtown
Open seven days 7am-5pm
* wear elasticated waistband or a kaftan while gorging on the pastries for guilt-free eating :)

Mamak
15 Goulburn St, Haymarket
* on a warm night you don't mind the wait, honestly.