Opera Kitchen, Sydney Opera House

Opera Kitchen is not your ordinary food court - it is an iconic food court. Tucked between two Australian Icons - the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, this kitchen is a stellar destination. It is the latest addition in the Opera House precinct, just underneath the Opera House concourse. It features bite-sized menus of popular restaurants such as Becasse, Charlie & Co, Cloudy Bay Fish Co, Misschu and Kenji Japanese in another section. Given the choice of 4 eateries - of course we would try each!

Located on the lower level of the Opera House, next to Opera Bar - It is an ideal place to spend a hot Summer's day with a crisp glass (or bottle..) of Australian Wine or down a beer (or two..) Many people avoid this area of the city because it is too touristy - ie. crowded and expensive. And when you are dining in Circular Quay on a budget - sometimes your only options are Mc Donalds or City Extra. Well, not anymore because you can enjoy the view without sacrificing your tastebuds.

Bar H Restaurant and Bar, Surry Hills

Friday night in Surry Hills. We got a parking spot right at the front of Bar H without even having to try - it was a miracle on Campbell Street. "If parking was this easy there is no way we are getting a table".

As we approach the entrance we can see several of the bar seats already taken and the tables quite full. The very friendly host tells us a couple by the window looks like they are finishing up - we can stay by the bar and should have a table in about 10. Jackpot!

We wait by the bar and admire the oh-so stylish interior. Bar H is a relatively new addition to the Surry Hills casual dining scene. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner - but our visit here was for the sole purpose of kicking back and enjoying a friday night vino. The wall behind the bar doubled up as a design feature - it was a floor to ceiling wine rack (pictured above), and Demos promises me he'll build me one of those one day along with our shared walk in closet. 

10 Course Degustation Dinner - Alio, Surry Hills

When an email popped up with the text "We are going to Alio - its a Degustation dinner, and you're blogging about it" I got super excited. My two fabulous girlfriends and supporters of The Empty Fridge cause - The Boss Lady and Wiki Mel have embraced the idea that every dinner we have would be shared online. I count them, along with my mom - Mrs Fridgemagnet to be my most enthusiastic readers. "G, are you ever going to put that post on Alio up? You are being super slack on the blog front - unacceptable." Yup, this dinner at Alio was actually a Christmas catch up and they so kindly remided me of the delay.

There are times when my brain feels like mush and I am the worst decision-maker - it was actually great having the venue pre selected by friends. Having our 6 courses mapped up for us gave us more time whinging about all things non-food related and less time deciding and racking our brains as to what to order. Wine was easy - it was one of those weeknights where everybody needed a big glass of Vino. Demos' fuzzy logic of "It's an Italian place - we are having Italian wine" was  in place and so a bottle of 2005 Beni di Batasiolo Barbera D'alva Sovrana was selected. Now i'm no where near an expert in wine - but I do find that Demos and I are always drawn to wines from the Barbera D'Alba region of Italy. Tonight's selection was light in acidity but still had a strong bold and fruity flavour making it easy to go down after a long day.

Laduree Macarons & a morning in 'Paris'

Okay, the title is misleading. Technically speaking - I didnt exactly spend a morning in Paris, but the Laduree Macaron pop up shop was close enough for this francophile. I was over the moon when I found out that during our trip to Hong Kong, there would be a Laduree pop up shop in town - with Macarons flown in from the motherland. Seeing as a European holiday was not on the cards, my inner Blair Waldorf (for non gossip girl viewing readers, think prissy little socialite) was let loose on our second day in Hong Kong.

I was immediately weak at the knees when Demos and I arrived to the Joyce Department Store in Queens Road, Central. As we walked into the store I couldn't help but think - have we walked into a giant pistachio? The area by the entrance to the store was transformed into a little parisian escape - from the light green walls, the very chic macaron cart in the same shade. Although there were pastel coloured displays all around and a shoe department ahead in the corridor - my eyes were drawn to one area only - the macaron counter.

     

Azuma Kushiyaki, Sydney CBD

There is a very familiar scenario that plays out when a group of friends get together to catch up at a restaurant. Everyone arrives bursting with excitement and stories to tell, the talk and chatter is non stop.  - We then feel sorry for the waitress or waiter, who has probably been back to ask if  the group is ready to order more than five times. Then there is a pause in the chatter for concentration purposes, which ceases immediately once the relived waiter or waitress walks away with the order. 

The laughter and the chatter continues of course - at times, other patrons tend to look at your table and wonder what all the ruckus is about. Now, this usually goes on until the food arrives - and I emphasize the word usually. You see, this wonderful dinner at Azuma Kushiyaki was a catch-up date with 3 of my lovely friends.. and we are definitely one happy chatty bunch! Is it because we are a group of filipina's? That could be it... :)

Happy Australia Day - Now have a drink!

 Booze and Barbecues - Dare I say there is nothing more Australian than that?  I love celebrating Australia day. The weather, from memory, is always glorious and all around our beautiful country groups of friends and families are perfecting the art of the backyard BBQ. Although our menu turns out more Mediterranean than Australian (hey - its a bunch of 4 euro's and a token asian!) we are Aussie kids through and through!

 I wanted to share some photos from the BBQ we had last weekend with our very best friends Steph, Lu and E. It was a lunch that was planned at the very last hour and we amazed ourselves at what we managed to pull together. The sun was out, and we hustled together to get food on the table - so as a result, the five of us ended up with a spread that would feed 20. Whoops! It just really proved that BBQ's are ingrained in our Aussie DNA and that when a webber and group of people are present - it just manifests! It was such a fun day and with the amount of food we consumed, we had to wait more that an hour before jumping in the pool.

Lumpiang Shanghai for Kulinarya and some happy snaps from Manila

I have been looking forward to this month's Kulinarya Cooking Club Challenge. After ringing in the New Year and spending a week discovering culinary delights in the Philippines with Demos - I have come back recharged and all the more excited to share my favorite Filipino dishes here on our blog. This month's theme was sharing a dish "that you would most like to have on your birthday' (thanks, Jen, Maribel and Tressa!). So friends, behold my super easy family recipe for Lumpiang Shanghai.

I've been known to request this dish so many times when I was little - and standing in the kitchen patiently watching these filipino spring rolls being wrapped. This attentiveness has actually paid off because now I am the only one at home who can sucessfully wrap spring rolls in quick succession. Take a look at my handywork below:  

Cloudy Bay Fish Co & Via Del Corso, Westfield Sydney City

"I'm on a diet.. a see-food diet" Ahhh - we all know the end of that dad joke don't we? Seriously though, it is that time of year where everyone is on a health kick - and I myself have been living on tins of tuna and brown rice. Yes, at my office - lunch time is cat food time, we often compare what flavours of tuna we have (I'm a Serena chilli girl at heart) I think my body actually goes into tuna withdrawal on the weekend because I get massive cravings for fish around midday!

Most shopping trips in the city have centred around the shiny new Westfield. After trying out Charlie and Co. it was up to Cloudy Bay Fish Co to satisfy the cat food cravings! Walking up to the very snazzy counter a familiar orange bottle catches my eye - Veuve bubbles for a shopping break? - oooh wee! 

Tim Ho Wan, Michelin Star Dining in Mong Kok - Our first stop in Hong Kong

Our first trip to Hong Kong in 2009 was somewhat memorable - the better half (Gianna :) ) had chipped a molar tooth and leaving a nerve exposed. From first hand accounts this was excruciating to say the least. The inability to eat was replaced by excessive shopping and sightseeing, of course. We have been back in Sydney for at least a week and looking back - it has been the total opposite of our somewhat foodless first trip to Hong Kong. After a quick early morning nap (our flight landed at 5am - and if anything was open we would have headed there..) our first mission in HK was to have a meal at the famed Michelin Star Dim-Sum restaurant - Tim Ho Wan.

Unfortunately for us, the beds at our Hotel were far too comfortable and we overslept - starting the day just before lunchtime.. There was panic in both our faces. "We are going to hit the lunchtime rush". We both wanted Tim Ho Wan to be our first meal stop in Hong Kong to kick off the holiday, so although we were warned about the long wait for a seat - we headed to our destination. We found the small, unassuming restaurant easier than expected - after all the crowds were already gathered en masse outside. Our tummies already grumbling at this stage, we tried to curb our hunger pains with some canned coffee from the 7-11 across the road. It was going to be a long morning....

So this is how the waiting game goes - First, you have to hustle your way through the anxiously waiting crowd and get assigned a number by the host, or as we like to call her - our new friend the dragon lady. Although she doesn't seem very friendly at all - she is very efficient in getting the crowd moving and yelling at people who are blocking the neighbouring businesses. Dragon Lady hands us the english dimsum menu and writes the number '91' on our copy. We guard this piece of paper with our lives, as we stood outside until we were game enough to speak to Dragon Lady. "What number are you up to?" She points to her sheet of paper - "25" A friendly fellow hungry patron translates what was being said to us : "Come back in 2 hours". As expected from the world's most affordable Michelin star restaurant right?

Goodbye 2010! Bring on 2011!

As we watched the ball drop right underneath Times Square in New York City last year - we knew 2010 was going to be huge..and it sure did not disappoint! We are a little bit delayed since we have been travelling since Christmas but we would like to wish you, our awesome readers - an awesome 2011 

We have just arrived back from Manila - spending new years in a city where fireworks and explosives are pretty much legal. We are back with all our limbs intact. We both cannot wait to share all our stories and food adventures (and there are sooo many) with you. We literally ate our way through Hong Kong and Manila resulting in both our suitcases and ourselves being over 10 kilos overweight.