Sometimes all you feel like eating is a burger. Or ribs, Dad's case. And sometimes, no matter how hard you try to stay on your healthy/veggie-based/wholegrain/low-calorie/no-sweets diet, you just have to order the premium wagyu beef, cheese-and-onion ring burger with the lot. Topped with smotherings of BBQ sauce and a side of chunky fried chips. This is the kind of diet where dude food rules.

Unbeknown to some, Sydney's The Star Casino houses an upmarket, family friendly food court on its ground level, aptly named Cafe Court. Walk inside past the dazzling lights of Adriano Zumbo and moody furnishings of Momofuku Seibo and you'll come to an attractive set-up of plush booth seating, sparkling feature lights and trays laden with non-plastic cutlery and white crockery. Dining options at this classy food court include dumpling hero Din Tai Fung, Wooloomooloo's Flying Fish inspired little sister Flying Fish and Chips, a hip cafe, a Malaysian hawker style eatery, Turkish Grill and further down, the infamous Gelato Messina among many other joints. On this particular meat-craving day, what we were craving was Ribs & Burgers.

Being Asian, I'm a sucker for all Asian food - whatever cuisine it may be. We often go to eateries in the suburbs of Flemington, Burwood and Ashfield when we're in the mood for a cheap, wholesome Asian feed and always leave feeling extremely full and satisfied. Din Tai Fung, being the only one of its kind in the whole city, is a little on the higher end of the market and is one of our favourite Sydney CBD haunts.

I don't know whether it's the atmosphere of lining up and waiting for our buzzer to buzz, or the efficiency of the service, or the way you can see the dumplings being made in the steamy windows, but there's always something special about going there.

A visit to DTF isn't a visit to DTF without ordering Xiao Long Bao - perfectly crafted, pork-filled dumplings that exert a hot, tasty broth when bitten in to - one of their specialties. We've tried various other versions of this dumpling at Taiwanese restaurants around Sydney (New Shanghai, Taste of Shanghai) but it's always Din Tai Fung's Xiao Long Baos that we love the best.