When I was little I always looked forward to reaching the age when I'd finally be old enough to go out to a fancy restaurant and order beautiful food and eat with multiple numbers of forks and knives. Sadly, that dream is one yet unfulfilled, but I have come pretty close in the way of beautiful food. Sokyo is a one hatted restaurant on the outer skirts of The Star in Pyrmont, and it is far from an ultra fancy, butter-knife and salad-fork wielding fine dining restaurant (those seem to have diminished of late). In fact, it is quite the opposite - hip, dark, bustling, and not a stark white tablecloth in sight (actually, the fabric lap napkins are raven black). Perhaps the only similarity it holds with fine dining is the high quality of fresh, tastebud-tingling food. Not that it's not fine dining, but just fine dining in a different way - a fusion of modern Japanese cuisine.

You know those kitsch, funky cafes that seen to be popping up everywhere these days? The ones that serve the perfect cup of freshly ground and blended coffee, have a crowd-pleaser all day breakfast menu and a lunch menu with absolutely drool-worthy sandwiches and salads so large in number that you can't possibly choose what to order?

Demain Providore on the busy main road of Balmain is exactly one of those cafes. With a coffee counter and sandwich bar opening up to the front facade and a smaller kitchen out the back, it is appropriately decorated with coffee sacks and knick knacky decor in shades of red, green and brown. A chalkboard mounted high on one of the side walls lists the all day breakfast menu and lunch menu, and the front shelves are lined with freshly baked Brickfields bread rolls and loaves.

With the close or relocation of one of our favourite Flemington eateries, we were left bewildered one Saturday lunchtime as to where we were to eat lunch. Sure, there are heaps of cheap and fulfilling restaurants in Flemington where one can slurp down steaming bowls of pho or much away on stir fried noodles, but Khais' eatery in the arcade (near the ever-busy pho joint Pho Toan Thang) was a favourite of ours whenever we were in the mood for a Malaysian fix.


It was in this instance that we instead decided to try out Pho Hoang Gia, nestled in next to another Vietnamese restaurant in the lane way that leads to the car park behind the arcade. It's accessible from the street, but is an otherwise unexpected eatery situated in a rather peculiar location.

From the outside it is an unassuming place to eat lunch, but enter through the side door and you are greeted with a full, bustling dining area full of people munching away at large bowls of noodles and drinking icy coffee concoctions at lunchtime.

Papa's Pasticceria in Haberfield is famous for its light, fluffy and unique Ricotta Cheesecake, a cake no sweet tooth (or anyone, for that matter) could ever resist. The cheesecake is not heavy or 'cheesy', per se, but is wonderfully spongey, creamy and airy. Unlike traditional cheesecakes, Papa's cheesecakes is encased all around in a layer of spongey pastry, inside of which reveals a sweet, white ricotta cheese filling. Cinnamon and icing sugar is dusted on top in a criss-cross pattern, a sweet and delicate finish.

I've loved this cake from the moment I had my first mouthful, and have had it on numerous occasions since, one of which was on my birthday. It is one of my all time favourite cakes to eat, so when I stumbled upon this recipe post on Wholesome Cook by blogger Martyna Angell, I knew I just had to try making one for myself.

Step into the grand, glass-fronted building of Westfield Sydney off Pitt Street Mall and it becomes clear that this shopping centre boasts the allure of retail therapy on a whole new level. From the concierge with its exquisitely marbled counter to the array of plush, lily-pad-shaped couches dotted around the 6 levels of tempting designer and franchised stores, this is far from the local shopping plazas of my childhood.

A food lovers dream, Food on Five is located within the complex that is an upmarket, slightly more sophisticated food court that is a far cry from plastic cutlery and fast food chains that we are used to. Food ordered from the eateries is served on real white crockery (when eaten in, not taken away) and is of top-notch quality, even if it means that prices are a little higher than at a typical food court. But take the escalator up to the sixth level and you'll be greeted with a quieter atmosphere and a handful of tempting restaurants, with food that would suit those with a longer lunch break.


Chat Thai stands among these restaurants, its front kitchen - where chefs make salads and prepare a plethora of authentic Thai sweets - encased behind a glass window where passers-by can stop and take a little peek. I'd come with a good friend for lunch on a weekday, and arriving just after 12pm it was almost already half full. The good thing about this being a restaurant within another complex (ie. Westfield) is that it caters for both those who want a fast, cheaper lunch and those who'd like to enjoy a slightly more sophisticated, lazy lunch. I'd come with a friend, and we ordered a couple of yummy dishes to share and talk over.


The red curry of roasted duck comes out first, glistening in an exotic blue serving bowl that holds bite-sized pieces of roast duck, holy basil, capsicum, snow peas, tiny red and green cherry tomatoes, lychee and pineapple. The addition of tropical fruit gave the curry a sweet burst and complemented the spiciness nicely. The holy basil was something I hadn't experienced much of before, which added a slight anise flavour.


Pad Si-Ew is a popular Thai stir-fried noodle dish that appeals to both young and old as it's not spicy at all. Char Thai's Pad Si-Ew comes as a jumble of wide, slippery rice noodles, chicken and Chinese kale and is deliciously addictive. The slick noodles are wider than most versions and are hard to pick up if you aren't too skilled with chopsticks, but possess a smoky, charred flavour that is yummy and not too salty.

Some diners beside us share Pad Thai, King Prawns and Satay, and others have an individual bowl of soup noodles all to themselves. The variety of the menu is excellent. This is one of those crowd-pleaser restaurants that manages to offer popular dishes and authentic cuisine without compromising quality, and if we'd had more people we'd would have loved to order from all corners of the expansive menu, especially the amazing sweets and Thai desserts. Lunch for the two of us cost just over $15 a head, which isn't too bad considering the generous serving sizes and quality of the food.


This was just a quick pic I just had to share with you of the dessert we sought out a couple of hours after our yummy, satisfying meal - a Tiramisu Gelato from Meno Diciotto in Darling Quarter. What better way is there to end a meal?

Website:
http://www.chatthai.com.au/

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.

There comes a time during the day when I get so ravenous that a piece of fruit or handful of nuts won't satisfy my stomach. The aching feeling of hunger creeps up on me slowly, a hollow chasm that grows larger and larger until I have to eat something. You know that feeling of a persistent, begrudging hunger? The one that won't disappear unless you eat a big meal? I get that at around 11am on a weekday, and it's a feeling I often feel guilty fulfilling, wanting to wait until lunchtime to eat my proper lunch. I get scared that I'll get myself full before I'm meant to, at a time in the day that you're not meant to get hungry. Some may say you should have a bigger breakfast, but what if I've had one that has made me stuffed but am still hungry when it comes to the mid-morning munchies?
I've read about these healthy date snacks everywhere under the guise of a range of different names - Larabars, Energy Bars, Protein Balls - but essentially they're all made up of the same base of processed dates and nuts, just flavoured and shaped in different ways. They're raw, gluten free and good for you in all different ways, and only require a small amount of ingredients and effort to make. They make a perfect portable snack that will fill you up when you're feeling hungry, and are jam-packed full of good nutrients that nourish and replenish you when snacking time arrives.