Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Light Meals and Snacks
The mercurial nature of Sydney's dining scene is visible
in the multitude of establishments that open and close
each year. With cafés, this situation is magnified and, as
a result of this competition, the standards are high.
Coffee is of good quality across Sydney and almost
every eatery has its own espresso machine. A surge in
the popularity of tea has made many places switch
from teabags to boutique, loose-leaf black teas, tisanes
and herbal brews. Tipping is unnecessary at takeaways.
While it is not essential at cafés, many have a jar on the
counter where patrons leave their change as a gratuity.
BEST BREAKFASTS
Many belive that the as
showpiece of celebrity chef,
Bill Granger,
bills
serves the
official best breakfast. Tuck
into his famous ricotta hotcakes
with honeycomb butter and a
healthy sunrise juice. At
Darlinghurst stalwart
Le Petit
Crème
, breakfast consists of
Parisian options, including
traditional bowls of café au lait
and
croque monsieurs
. For the
ultimate Sydney start to the
day, you have to head to the
water. Watch the surfers at
Bronte's
Swell
, or the
swimmers at the
Icebergs
Bistro
at Bondi Icebergs
Club. At the
Marina Kiosk
Café
, where the excitement
is in the location more than
the food, sit on the edge of
the pier and dangle your feet
over the harbour.
CAFÉS
serves some of the best
pastries in town, and their
food store is a great place
to buy supplies. The French
Café Sel et Poivre
is very
popular, while
Sloanes
in
Paddington is a great pit
stop for those weary after a
day of treading the Oxford
Street strip and Saturday's
markets
(see p126)
.
Cafés at attractions vary,
but generally, those at art
galleries and museums are
of a high standard, while
those at sporting venues
are not.
Opera Bar
(see p184)
on the
Sydney Opera House
concourse is hard to beat
(see pp74-7)
. The
Museum of
Sydney Café
(see p85)
is also
very good. Its shaded outdoor
tables look out on the
museum's paved forecourt
and office workers striding
by. The
Art Gallery Café
is a
smart eaterie at the
Art
Gallery of New South Wales
(see pp108-11)
that serves
delicious sandwiches, good
coffee and wine, and special
lunchboxes for children.
There is also a restaurant on
the ground floor (see p188).
Coveted outdoortables offer a
view over the Woolloomooloo
fingerwharf. At the
MCA Café
(see p73)
, they do a brisk
trade in breakfasts and lunches,
served with wonderful Opera
House views.
Lunch amid lush greenery
is possible at the
Botanic
Gardens Café
(see pp104-5)
,
attached to the lovely
restaurant
(see p188)
, and
at the breezy
Centennial
Parklands Restaurant
(see
p127)
, which also has a
takeaway kiosk next door,
a favourite of mothers
with prams.
Coffee culture was introduced
to Sydney by Italian migrants,
who flooded in after World
War II.
Bar Coluzzi
, with its
boxing pictures on the walls,
has long been the capital of
Darlinghurst's caffeine king-
dom. Media types, lawyers
and taxi drivers throng here
both for the company and the
coffee.
Toby's Estate
, a late-
comer on the scene, imports,
roasts and grinds its own
beans. Bondi Beach's
bookshop-cum-café
Gertrude
& Alice
is named after
Gertrude Stein and Alice B
Toklas. The vegetarian
Badde
Manors
in Glebe is
frequented by students.
Nothing revives quite like
a good pot of tea.
The Tea
Centre
is an oasis of calm in a
city shopping centre and can
serve you a pot of any of the
dozens of teas they import.
In the Rocks, the
Gumnut
Café
serves traditional
Devonshire tea with scones
and jam. Those looking for
a chocolate fix might try
Max Brenner
or the
Lindt
Chocolat Café
, where
treats come as dark, milk
or white, and in both solid
and liquid forms.
Most cafés offer a menu of
sandwiches, salads, cakes and
muffins throughout the day.
The fabulous food at
Danks
Street Depot
presents a
serious challenge to some
of Sydney's top restaurants.
The Depot shares a converted
warehouse in a rapidly
gentrifying industrial area
with a handful of galleries,
and is more than worth the
cab fare. As well as excellent
food,
Yellow Bistro
(see p189)
TAKEAWAY FOOD
All kinds of cuisine, such as
Thai, Turkish, Afghani and
Albanian, can be found in this
very multicultural city. Most
cheap local restaurants offer
takeaway. Connoisseurs of
ethnic cuisines might want
to catch a train or bus and
explore the areas specialising
in them. While Leichhardt is
Italian, you'll find Greek and
Vietnamese restaurants in
Marrickville, and Kosher cafés
in Bondi. A cluster of Indian
restaurants can be found on
Cleveland Street in Surry Hills.
At lunchtime, the food courts
of city shopping centres offer
a wide variety of quick, cheap
meals. Try
Galeries Victoria
and
Sydney Central Plaza
.
Above
Paddy's Markets
(see
p99)
at Haymarket,
Market
City
offers a selection of
Chinese, Japanese, Korean
and Thai food. The famous
Food Hall at
David Jones
(see
p199)
has the best supplies
for any picnic, snack, sweet
treat or takeaway dinner.
If you're craving fast food,
try a Bondi burger from
Oporto
, a Portuguese chicken
chain that has shops across
Sydney, including one in
Kings Cross and another in
Galeries Victoria. Takeaway
