Sugarmill's 2nd Birthday, followed by lots of eating and drinking

Original idea: Attend Sugarmills' Birthday Party and get our cabana on. Idea that we ended up doing: Eat and drink our way through Kings Cross/ Darlo...

So, we were going to just check out the Sugarmill’s 2^nd Birthday cabana style party in Kings Cross. But it started with some vino at my friend’s house and some humus with carrot sticks and pita bread (as you do). Then we got our cabana on at Sugarmill. There were leis aplenty, quite a few captains, and some fab tacky anchors and other shrapnel. Sailor hats, nautical stripes, bright colours and bikinis were surrounding us. Of course there were also lots of blue and white balloons and a giant birthday cake. We were entertained by some random girls with grass skirts (read: plastic) and coconut bras doing some very “authentic” Hawaiian moves. There was Jamaican music. We missed out on the free Pina Colada, but enjoyed cheapo drinks and some free fish and chips in little containers. The perfect start to a night out, even if it's not a place that I frequent on a normal night. I’ll never say no to a free or very cheap drinks!

Next we headed to Time to Vino in its new location, near the Piano Room. From the second that we walked in, it was the perfect mood. The right light levels, cosy tables (although we opted for the bar seats), and some vino books scattered around. This would be the perfect date location. We had a look at the menu, and seeing as we were grazing all night, chose the last option of cheese on the menu, with our waiter’s help, served with sun ripened sultanas and lavosh. 

To call the cheese amazing would be an undersight. It was heaven. It disappeared very fast. For wine, we had the Sangiovese from Chianti with our cheese and soaked up the atmosphere. We easily could have spent the whole night here. Only after we had paid our bill and started to make moves did we realise that we hadn’t even seen the full menu. We both gasped. Our eyes soaked in the menu. My stomach began to get excited. Another time, another time, I kept telling it. The sundaes on the menu (all with some type of alcohol) the waiter told us were to die for. We decided to believe him. They looked great. We were told that you wouldn’t want to share them, and that it was a nice bit of alone time to have with your sundae. We had amazing service all night, great cheese and fab wine. Time to Vino is one of those few bars that just gets it right. It will be on my regulars list from now on. And I am going back to try out the rest of the food. And one of those sundaes. Hmmm…

We decided to keep walking in the direction away from the Harbour, and ended up at Mad Pizza. I’ve been here before, and it’s hard to resist. Again, we go for the bar stools, ending up with a charmingly (most of the time) bizarre English man telling us his life's story. We needed some wine to help us through his strange stories, so we ordered some Malbec. I love the quirky decorations in Mad Pizza, and I prefer this one, which is a bit bigger than the one down the road on William Street. 

I quite like Frank (in above piccy), the deer on the wall that overlooks us as we drink the night away. The shutters that open to reveal a dj are also a nice touch, with things written on the walls and some plants here and there. Our stomachs were starting to growl by this point, so we ordered the Alamfi pizza to share, as our new "friend" continued his story about his search for love.

The prawns were cooked perfectly, the soft, white cheese was delicious, and the chilli flakes just the right amount of hotness for me. I love how the pizzas come out on their own little stands, allowing more table (or in our case), bench space. The thin crust was also exactly how I like it. The stories flowed, the wine flowed and the pizza was gobbled up very fast. I was too scared to try the organic wine: "voice of the people," but maybe next time I will be brave enough. I also had, perhaps, by this point, had enough vino. A point proven by the mild hangover I had this morning.

Next door, my friend insisted that we get some Wow Cow into us. We choose the Volcano to share, which had frozen coffee yoghurt on the side, crushed Tim Tams, and some pancakey, chocolately richness with chocolatly hot sauce all over it. By this point, I was struggling and had to let my friend do most of the eating. My desert stomach just isn’t as large as my savoury stomach I’m afraid. And I thought that I might actually have exploded. Which could have been messy. Wow Cow, just like Mad Pizza, were both packed. You can tell that the locals love them both. I quite like the upside cow too...

We decided that we had eaten and drunk enough, being a bit tipsy and extremely full, and decided to call it a night. We had done a kind of progressive dinner and drinking session in Kings Cross/ Darlinghurst and we had done all that we could do. It was a school night after all and there was a long ferry ride ahead of me to get home.