The girls food and booze tour of Manly

Idea: Grab the girls and do a foodie/ drinking tour of Manly

Making sure to steer well clear of places like The Steyne and similar venues, the girls were rounded up and off we went to Manly. We went on Sunday, a day that started out amazingly hot and sunny by the water, turning into a slightly cooler and rainy night by the time we had settled into a darker bar.

The itinerary:

Manly Wharf Hotel
4 Pines
Shore Club
Manly Wine
Jah Bar 
Miss Marleys (scratched due to it being closed. Another time it will have to be!)
Artichoke Gallery Cafe
Frankie's Number (added upon my discovery of the bar)
Izumi (a last minute addition to fulfill our Japanese fuelled late night hunger)

I thought it would be a good idea to start at the Manly Wharf Hotel Pier bar. When it's a beautiful day you don't want to be stuck in a dark venue with no view. We had the view, we had the lovely breeze and we had the sunshine (as well as shaded options for when it really got just too hot and sunburny). Waiting for the rest of the girls to turn up, one with baby in tow, we ordered a bottle of Sauvognon Blanc. I can't remember which company it was, but it wasn't really that important. It was chilled. It was refreshing. And it was a white wine. It was the perfect place to catch up with friends over a drink or two. We decided it was too early on to start the eating yet, but I've ordered the garlic prawn with spanish onion and chilli pizza here before and I can safely recommend it. They come served on wooden cute boards with handles, thin crust, and enough chilli to satisfy. Another benefit of this part of the Manly Wharf Hotel, (which I always enjoy on a Sunday afternoon), is that it can easily fit a pram without annoying anyone. Something I had never realised before.

After all the girls (and baby) had arrived and wine had disappeared, we decided to head to our next stop: 4 Pines. It was across the road. Very convenient. By this time, we needed some food. It was around 2pm. (We had started our "Manly Tour" at midday after all). We chose to limit ourselves to the "Peckish" section of the menu, so that we could still fit in food later on. We ordered the Ploughman's Platter (cold cuts, vintage cheddar, preserves and farm style bread), Arancini Balls (filled with mozzarella and herbs), Margarita Pizza and Chunks (4Pines beer battered chunky chips.) The Chunks were just as my friend who suggested them had remembered. They were fat, hand cut, crunchy and very tasty chips that came with a tomato, bbq and some aoli sort of sauce.

The Margarita Pizza (although I usually hate them because they're just so boring) was surprisingly tasty. It had some Spanish onion and herbs on it, as well as some fresh tomatoes, which lifted it from just cheese on dough, to something else. I also quite liked the board with long handle that it was served on (similar to the serving implement at the Manly Wharf Hotel).

The Ploughman's Platter didn't really do that much for me or anyone else. The cheeses were fine. The cold meats were fine. The damper like bread wasn't the best (a denser, brown bread would be better), and overall the effect wasn't the best. But it wasn't bad.

The Arancini Balls were also fine. Not the best I've had, but we did eat them all (although we did have to wait a while for our food and were quite hungry by this point). I think implementing a numbering system, rather than the "table with the baby" might be a good idea. Just making a suggestion...

I have heard that the mussels are quite good, so I'll have to try them another time. They weren't on the "Peckish Menu." However, it is the beer that most people go to 4 Pines for, seeing as it is a micro brewery. I tried out the 4 Pines Pale Ale, which went down nicely with the food. It was a deep ruby colour with "full bodied malty flavours with a tight and bitter finish." It also had notes of Grapefruit. Not a light Ale, but one with a bit more body to it. A good idea is to try out the Seasonal or Special beer they have going when you visit, or try out the smaller sample sizes of a few of the beers served in a cute wooden Harbour Bridge looking holder.

Sans baby, we decided it was time to head to a bar. Walking down the Corso we chose the Shore Club on the Manly Beachfront. The Shore Club is a place that I always avoid on a Friday or Saturday night (unless you're into that slightly trashy crowd that doesn't think they are. I'm not saying that you necessarily are if you go there, so need to get all cranky on me, it's just a likely possibility. That's all I'm saying). I was thinking that it would be harmless enough on a Sunday afternoon. Sure enough it was. They also have bands in the afternoons. Unfortunately they have moved the comfy, low bench like seating at the front and have replaced it with high stools and tiny high tables. Obviously wanting to please the late-night party crowd that the day or afternoon one.

We decided to have a quick cocktail, while getting some serious people watching in. Manly was absolutely packed. There were tourists and locals everywhere. Well, it was a beautiful hot Summer day after all, even at 3.30pm is was still very very hot.  We were in the mood for refreshing, fruity cocktails (without being too sickly sweet). I ordered the Watermelon & Mint Martini (Smirnoff vodka, sugar syrup, watermelon and mint), which tasted like... well... watermelon and alcohol. I was in the mood for a fairly straight forward cocktail at this point, so I didn't mind.

One of my friends wanted the Passionfruit Martini, but being out of passionfruit (quite a vital ingredient), went with the French Martini (Vodka, Chambord & Pineapple Juice). This was also fine. The Caprioska was far too sweet for my other friend's liking. Overall, all cocktails were drinkable (which I can't say about every bar in Sydney), but nothing memorable. The deck upstairs (the more intimate one) is also a nice spot to watch the sun set, but overall Shore Club still isn't a place that I'm ever going to frequent often, even living just up the road.

Next up, a place that I knew I'd still like: Manly Wine. Part of the Gazebo chain, Manly Wine has the quirky, kitschy decorations that the others have. Hanging stuffed peacocks, live plants growing out of the walls, zebra cushion covers, lots of melted candle wax and other bits and pieces. My friends who had never been there before were instantly impressed. It remained one of their favourites from the whole night. The wax from the candles alone, sitting right next to us, being enough to entertain anyone. Everyone who walked past them felt the need to give them a bit of a touch up. To see if they were real wax I'm guessing? We may have also done this...

The Pimms Cocktail in a jug immediately caught our attention on the menu, being the Pimms lovers that we are. It had all the proper trimmings. Fresh pieces of cucumber, mint, strawberries, lemon and more. Yum! It was delicious and tasty at the same time. This was one of our favourite drinks from the whole night. We decided that the only sensible thing to do would be to order two jugs.

Although you do need an expert pour-er to do this (otherwise all of the fruit and trimmings will go all over your table). Luckily, we had one at hand! Way to go B!

 

After we had done "our quota" of drinks per venue, something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. It was another table full of girls with cocktails with real roses sticking out of them. I immediately had drink envy. After a little bit of pouting, one of my friend's retrieved one of these beverages from the friendly bar staff. Ah I love my friends! This is why a good pout can get you a long way, even amongst female friends. It was a champagne based cocktail with some rose liquor in it. Although it tasted a little bit funny with a Pimms taste in your mouth, it was a sparkly, refreshing, tasty cocktail. We decided that it was the perfect drink to buy for a date. Cheesy: Yes. Tasty: yes. Destined to get your girl happy: Yes. Judging by the number of girls around us with this cocktail, you could tell it was a big hit. And then you can play with the rose all night, or even place it in your hair...

Blurry shot of the bar (although I was feeling slightly blurry by then too...)

After two bars in a row, we needed some more refueling. I had Jah Bar in mind for this. Some tapas and sangria sounded like a good plan. The sangria was good with large pieces of fruit and quite a dark colour (a lot of red wine).

We ordered the Tasting plate; Spanish morcon, jamon serrano, boquerones, roast capsicum, almonds and manchego cheese and the Potatas Bravas; baby new potatos topped with spicy tomato sauce. 

The Jamon Serrano and manchego cheese were extremely delicious on the tasting plate, however the potatoes were our favourite. Soft in the middle and crunchy skins on the outside with a spicy tomato-ey sauce. The weather had just started to change, it was getting much later in the afternoon and big raindrops began to fall from the sky suddenly. This was a nice little snack to warm us up. I would highly recommend Jah Bar. It has great food, great drinks and a really nice vibe, whether in the outside area in the front of back, or in the narrow corridor style bar in the middle.

I decided to add Artichoke Gallery Cafe to the itinerary. This is because we always enjoy it and it's still a little bit of a Manly secret spot. There is always great chilled out music, this time it was a jazzy style band, and it was also jam night. Artichoke Gallery Cafe is an art gallery upstairs that offers life drawing classes and downstairs is a cafe/restaurant/ great place to listen to music. I love the Artichoke Stir-fry and the Chicken Green Curry. But this time, we were only allowed to continue our grazing style dinner. We ordered another jug of sangria (this time smaller pieces of fruit, and a lighter colour than the previous jug), some piping hot edaname and grilled capsicum and haloumi.

Both snacks hit the spot.We stayed for the music and enjoyed the artworks around us. We were feeling quite full by this point.

We decided another bar might be a good idea. We were going to go to Miss Marley's, but it was closed. After climbing over a bit of tree in what was now pouring rain, we started to walk to In Situ, when a bar I'd never heard of came into view. It was right net door to In Situ. It was: Frankie's Number. I liked the name of the bar, it looked like it had a good crowd in it and I liked the decor, which wasn't trying too hard. Comfy, vinategy looking chairs and a few interesting features.

One of the girls was in the mood for a nice glass of red wine by this stage (as you can tell by the thirsty fingers in the photo). Which red wine? No one can quite remember, but she did like it. And that's what's important.

The other two of us (all that had survived on our tour by this point in the night), decided on the Punch and Frankie (Pimms with blueberrys, lemon slices, blood orange, cucumber, topped up with ginger beer.) This was a GOOD cocktail! Although lacking in blueberries, and having a glace cherry instead (eww), this was a great cocktail that we both thoroughly enjoyed. Sitting at the bar, we had a bit of a chat to the others at the bar and the bartender, which is always nice to do. And watching the bartender make cocktails is a hobby of mine.

The guys sitting to the left of me were drinking Manly Beer, which I've never heard of before. After trying it out, I thought it wasn't bad, and though that it was something that tourists would love to order.

My friend's decided to pick on the punctuation in the menu, and mention the fact that it's a piece of paper with no prices on it (all valid points). We decided after them "patronising" (their words not mine) the bartender, whilst I made a trip to the ladies, that it may be a good time to go. I just thought it quite funny. Despite this, I really liked Frankie's Number, and decided that I'll add it to my regular drinking venues list.

The Menu (with additions from the girls)...

By this point we thought we would call it a night. However, right at this time we happened to walk past the Japanese Restaurant: Izumi. BIG mistake. This is because we are all Japanese food freaks and all want to go live there. The gyoza and udon were calling to us! We had to go in. At this point, we lost another one of the girls, who after almost 11 solid hours of eating and drinking needed to go and put herself to bed. So we were down to just the two of us.

We had to go in. It all looked so tempting. We went with the Vegetable Udon soup, misu eggplant (grilled) and gyoza (pork). It was exactly what we needed. The vegetable udon soup was perfect for the end of a day/night of eating and drinking to calm our stomachs and fill up that last little bit of space. Especially when we both added lots of chilli to it. Yummo.

The gyoza disappeared extremely fast. And the misu eggplant was also very tasty (soft and crispy). After finishing all of this we felt as if we just might explode. It had been a great day and night and now we needed to go and rest our bloated stomachs. It hurt, it really did. But it had been worth it. I had discovered some new places, revisited some of my favourites and introduced the girls to some new places. For our second last day of the holidays before heading back to work (groan), we had done well.

Billy's at Balmoral Beach

Billy was a local street sweeper's dog who all the locals knew. A statue was built to commemorate Billy and the special relationship between dog owner's and their faithful pooches. Being a dog owner, I love this cute little statue on Balmoral Beach. And, after seeing this statue, the name of the cafe directly opposite it makes a whole lot more sense.

Being New Year's Day and an extremely hot day, we decided that Billy's looked like the perfect place for a lazy breakfast. It was extremely packed, but we managed to get a table outside for two, with a slightly wobbly table and solid stools. We could see through the giant window next to us that inside had some funky mismatched furniture and a lot of takeaway orders coming on. There was some friendly banter going on inside with the locals and their takeaway orders, and judging at the rate that the muffins (made on the premises) were ordered and sold out, they seemed to be a hit.

I assumed, being New Years Day, and very busy (including a lot of takeaways), that service would take quite a while. But we were handed menus and ordered coffee within minutes of sitting down. And our food order came before we had a sip of our coffee. Considering how nightmarish getting a carpark was, this came as quite a surprise.

I have to say that I was extremely impressed when my order came out. The grilled haloumi, avacado and balsamic on oven baked sourdough bread looked and tasted amazing. The olive oil had a great green tinge to it and the balsamic reduction had a lovely sweetness to it. Although everything at Billy's isn't exactly cheap, I didn't feel that $16 for this meal was a rip off. It was just the right amount of food for breakfast, and the bread, which they make, was delicious. As we were sitting there a fresh batch of croissants came out of the oven, so you could tell that their baked goods were extremely fresh. That's what brought such simple ingredients into a great meal. Sun ripened cherry tomatoes, perfectly grilled haloumi, great olive oil and balsamic and of course, freshly baked bread.

My companion's meal was eggs (he chose fried) with freshly baked bread. (It also had tomatoes, which weren't listed on the menu). A great simple tasty breakfast he said. We also had a side of bacon. It was cooked to how I like it (not crispy), but not quite to how he likes it, so some may be disappointed with it.

Both meals were plated simply, but I thought quite elegantly. I liked the relaxed vibe, although my companion thought that all the shouting going on inside about which muffins they had left sounded a little bit stressful. We had amazing views of the beach and got to watch a Japanese wedding in the white pagoda across from us. Our meals gave us enough energy for our lazy day ahead of us, including lounging at Balmoral Beach, climbing around the rocks and discovering a great cave, and then "chillaxing" with books, more great food, and some movies. Ah, a perfect start to 2011!

Moltofino

Moltofino, Dee Why

So, there are a lot of restaurants/ cafes on the Dee Why beachfront. My friends and I often stroll down this patch. The location alone secures them a lot of customers. We were in the mood for a tasty lunch to have a great gossip over, while escaping from the horrible weather we've been having in Sydney in this month. We randomly picked Moltofino, as the rain made us dash into the closest building.

One friend ordered the Salt and Pepper Squid (Fried in Szechuan Pepper with Pear & Fennel Salad). This was the only meal that was plated well, but even for this meal I felt no desire to whip out a camera to take any photos. This meal was described as ok, but the batter wasn't very nice.

Another friend had the Vegetarian Risotto (Tomato Based with Shaved Parmesan). Similar to my meal, this was described as a bit bland and not very exciting. Not bad enough to complain about, but just very ordinary. I ordered from the specials menu. Friend number 3 and I ordered the same meal of rigatoni with olives, sardines and grilled capsicum in a tomato sauce. It came out of the kitchen and I have to say that I wasn't feeling very excited about eating it. There was no garnish. It looked like something you would whip up at home from leftovers from the fridge. However, if I had made it at home it would have a). tasted better and b). looked better. It was fine. Ok. Just. Although, I would also like to point out the difference between penne and rigatoni pasta to their chef. Maybe they ran out of rigatoni? I hate to be a food snob, but the food was just plain boring. Maybe we had come on a bad day? Maybe the Moltofino dinner menu is a lot better? Having great view of Dee Why Beach is a plus, but they need to work on the food to match the location. We decided the only thing to do was to go and grab an ice cream to forget about the whole experience.

Penne

Rigatoni

Reviews of foodie books

Idea: If you love your food, why not read about it and get some inspiration

One of the great things about having your Birthday and Christmas in the one month is the fantastic presents, the endless great food and the non-stop parties! Naturally, quite a few of my presents involved the theme of food. I was given some great cooking and food related books, and here they are:

Sushi & Beyond by Michael Booth (Vintage):

Every time I picked up this book to have a bit of a read, I became insanely hungry. And not just for any type of food. It was a hunger for Japanese food alone. I admit to going just a little bit crazy whilst reading this novel. The premise of the novel being that Booth sets off with his family to find out "what the Japanese know about cooking," and focuses on the health benefits of the traditional Japanese diet.

As I read this, I began to spurt interesting facts about the history of sushi, the deadly fugu fush, unami (two unami rich ingredients being konbu and katsuobushi, which are both in dashi), the production of miso, soy sauce, saki and more. I found out that it is almost impossible to find real wasabi (wasabia japonica) served outside of Japan. This means that most people will never know what real wasabi tastes like. It is a lot sweeter than that green stuff served in a tube here and does not produce that burn in your nose. I also discovered that chanko nabe is the traditional hotpot prepared and eaten by sumo wrestlers and Osaka is the home to the world's largest cooking school. By the end of reading this, I'm pretty sure that everyone around me was sick of these facts, but I couldn't get enough.

This novel reiterated the importance of colour in Japanese food, the use of the seasons and their desire to use the natural flavours of their ingredients. Booth's novel has only increased my desire to return to Japan and try out even more traditional Japanese food. In particular, there's a restaurant called Mibu that you can only visit on invitation (ie. somewhere I would never be able to get into). In this tiny restaurant the food served was "seasonal, fresh, local and simple." The food worked on "so many levels: visual, cerebral, in terms of flavour, and viscerally." I can still feel my stomach rumbling thinking about the food described in this novel.

I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who has a love for Japanese food. It's one of the few food related novels that I've read, which is well written, researched and makes you insanely hungry. You can tell that Booth has a great passion for food.

A little taste of... Japan recipes by Jane Lawson, photographs by Alan Benson and Gorazd Vilhar, additional text by Charlotte Anderson (Murdoch Books):

It seems only right to go to another Japanese themed book. A little taste of... Japan continues this idea ofJapanese food as seasonal food that is "prepared with a light hand" to emphasise their natural flavours and textures. The flavour being "delicate... and never overpowering." Each chapter begins with pictures and a brief history and explanation of food types in Japan, eg. noodles. Each recipe has one large image and a few smaller ones down the side of the page. The recipes are clearly set out and easy to follow. There is enough white space on the page and the photographs made me want to prepare everything in the book (as well as take another trip to Japan).

This cook book also mentions the origins of sushi, which "lie in the ancient Asian custom of preserving raw fish in fermenting rice." This type of sushi, or zushi, is called nare-zushi and can still be eaten today in Japan. Although there is always the East way of doing things in Japan or the West, this cookbook only claims to be a little taste of, which it is. It would be impossible to summarise the whole of Japanese cooking in such a slim book.

Lucio's, Ligurian Kitchen by Lucio Galletto and David Dale, Photography by Paul Green (A & U)

Lucio states that he draws his inspiration from both Australia and Liguria, drawing similarities between the two, such as "mellow climate, closeness to the sea, great produce and regular infusions of new ideas from other places" making for interesting eating. Some of the key ingredients of Ligurian cooking being olive oil, herbs, garlic, onions, mussles, cheeses, tomatoes and pasta. If you haven't been to Lucio's restaurant in Paddington yet, I would highly recommend doing so. You can taste the influences of Liguria, where he grew up and spent half his life, as well as these Australian influences.

I love the special touches in this book, such as the page titled "the equipment," which details all of the equipment in the kitchen that is needed for the recipes. This saves you time later on when you realise that you don't have some vital implement halfway through a recipe such as a mezzaluma, slotted spoons or a cooking thermometer.

I also enjoyed the section on wines, and the best ones for the recipes in the book. Being a wine lover, this section is a great addition to any cookbook. The photographs in this book are also amazing, both those of Liguria and of the food, making you want to both eat and travel at the same time. They make a great addition to the well researched book and fantastic recipes. I love the pesce al cartoccio (whole fish baked in parchment), an easy to make recipe that I've made versions of before. The presentation is always amazing and it's difficult to mess up this recipe. Another fun to make recipe is the ravioli di carciofi alle erbe (artichoke ravioli with herb sauce). This is partly because I find making ravioli so fun and partly because artichokes, herbs and parmesan taste fantastic together.

The contrast of Japanese to Italian cooking (although there are of course some similarities, such as their appreciation for fresh flavours) was quite intense, after my last two Japanese reads (and the food that I cooked from them). Next up was a cookbook (the name of which everyone in Australian is familiar with) that looked at food that is "fast, fresh, simple." Her name of course being Donna Hay.

Fast, fresh, simple by Donna Hay (4th)

For me, Donna Hay's book is one of those ones which you flip through for inspiration. I don't always follow these recipes ingredient for ingredient, and the photograph of the meal is always a starting point. Take the barbequed lamb, eggpant and haloumi for example. Essentially telling you to barbeque all of the ingredients. When I looked at this, I decided to look in my fridge and see what was in there that I could barbeque and applied a similar sauce. But this isn't exactly the type of cooking that is so difficult that it will fluster you in the kitchen.

The torn pasta with chorizo and peas was also a great starting point for a recipe, which tasted fresh and tangy, with the mint and lemon in the sauce contrasting nicely. I love the photos in this cookbook, many of them filling up the entire page, with beautifully positioned food and simple white plating. This is why everyone has at least one Donna Hay recipe book in their kitchen.

Now, I've really got to go and make something to eat. All of this talk of food is making me hungry again...

Drinking & Eating at The Commons

I've been meaning to take a visit to The Commons since it was that pop - up bar The Pond. Luckily, they have a much wider selection of drinks, including a great bottle of Sangoivese that we tried out, as well as some great food now.

I love the feeling that you're at someone's house amongst friends at The Commons. In the warmer months, I would recommend sitting in the front outside section, on what feels like a front porch, and downstairs in the darker, moodier section in the colder months. It's one of those fantastic old buildings in Sydney that has a lot of character, including giant stone bricks that you can tell have been chipped away by convict labour. There are lots of hanging plants in the front section, including some herbs on the sides. There are cute wooden tables and stools. However, after waiting a while for your food, your tiny little stool will become somewhat of an enemy to your behind.

We both decide to go for the Farmhouse Menu, a four course degustation. On their website, The Commons states that they are "inspired by skilled, traditional cooking that uses regional produce and ingredients that 'taste of what they are.'" This is evident straight away. The first courses are a Charcuterie board and a Seasonal Produce Plate. There is some amazing pâté, gerkins, rocket, wholemeal bread, cured meat and other bits and pieces on these boards. 

For our entrees we had Ana’s ravioli w/ brown butter & sage and a Carpaccio of organic wagyu topside w/ shaved radish. The carpaccio was delicious, but was a little bit too oily. The raviolo however, was amazing, with two giant raviolis for us to share, and the butter and sage sauce was simple, but delicious. They disappeared very quickly. 

Now, what I haven't mentioned so far, is the fact that we had also been given some bread with oil to share and had already drunk half a bottle of wine and a glass of sparkling white. I was starting to get full. This is because after sitting there for over an hour, my dining and drinking companion was starting to get extremely hungry. I had just been to a work Christmas party, so I had already had some nibbleys and some vino. When I inquired as to how our food was coming along, we got a bit of a blank look. "Oh, I think I misunderstood your order" was the waiter's reply. "Huh?" We wondered? I stopped myself from a smart ass reply of "well, just bring us whatever it was that you thought we ordered." The waiters and kitchen then went into overdrive. We had a free plate of bread with oil and olives, our glasses of sparkling on the house, and all of our plates of food came shooting out of the kitchen at lightening speed. We could barely keep up. You could tell that they felt terrible about forgetting our order.

For our mains we had Hunters Chicken braised w/ rosemary, lemon and cannellini beans and Best of farm vegetables. The chicken was cooked extremely well, however was a tad on the bland side overall, and the farm vegetables had some oven baked beetroot in it that was to die for.

For dessert (by which time I was so full, a nap on the table was looking like a good idea) we had Baked lemon & ricotta cheesecake. I could only fit a mouth-full in. It was good. Really good. And was served with a small bowl of fresh cherries. I love cherries, so I managed to fit some in. I'm not sure where I fit them in, but I did somehow. By this point I felt an explosion in my stomach was imminent, and we decided to leave. The food was good, the wine was good, but my bottom was very sore (as we had been there all night). It was quite late, and I knew I was going to sleep well.

Rambutan, Shady Pines Saloon and The Flinders

Being the silly season in Sydney at the moment, we had to wait forever to get our table (which was booked) and had to line up at every bar. Despite this, Rambutan, Shady Pines Saloon and the Flinders are all worth recommending.

First up, Rambutan. Whilst waiting for our table, we decided to order my two favourite cocktails at Rambutan in the Tiki Lounge downstairs. The reason for this, is the drinking vessel that they are served in. Although on previous visits, I remember being impressed with their other cocktails, such as Thai me up, Thai me down Sangria, which is a refreshing white sangria served in a jug, I can never go past a drink served in a giant Tiki glass or cocktail. The Flaming Lemon & Ginger Pina Colada is served in a cocktail and has a generous serving of Appleton VX in it. Dr Phil's Famous Flaming Rum Punch also has Appleton VX and is a rum based drinks that makes you instantly feel like you're on holidays. Especially when it's sitting next to another cocktail that's in a coconut. Anther reason to order these two cocktails is the fact that they both get set on fire! What's not to love about that?!

The downstairs Tiki Lounge is my favourite section of Rambutan. It's got funky lamps, a lit up aquarium and apparently the mint green stools are designed by Philippe Starck. By the time our cocktails were almost empty, it was time to eat. We skipped entrees in favour of our mains coming earlier and ordered the Blue swimmer crab Lon with yellow bean & green mango and wok fried King Prawns with pong gari and coconut cream, baby corn & curry leaf. In hindsight, I wouldn't recommend going for a giant coconut based cocktail followed by meals with coconut cream in them. I ended up feeling like I could have exploded, despite the food and cocktails being amazing!

The prawns were cooked perfectly and the curry sauce that they were sitting in was just spicy enough to be tasty, but without causing explosions in your mouth. The crab was also delicious, but by this point, I just couldn't eat/drink much more coconut milk or cream. You could eat it in one of the betal leaves or other leaves served with it. The sprouts and cucumbert were refreshing to eat in between spoonfuls of it, to counter out the saltiness. I'm not sure if I would recommend this dish however, if you're on a first date, because if you eat it from one of hte leaves, you will be guaranteed to get it all over you. I've had a banquet at Rambutan before, so I can safely say that the vast majority of their menu is amazing, including the desserts!

Next up, we were off to have a drink at Shady Pines Saloon. I'm always a sucker for a lane-way entrance. As soon as the door swings open, we're greeted by a pioneer-style bar with crazy stuff everywhere. I love bars like this! There's carved American Indians around the room, the stuffed heads of animals, and other random bits and pieces everywhere. There's lots of small round tables in the room, and a good buzzing crowd. They have the most random, banjo style music playing, that's such a nice change from the usual bar and club music in Sydney. It makes me want to get up and do some line dancing, or at least jump up on a bale of hay wearing cowboy boots and shouting "yeeeee haaawww!"

Everyone is Sydney who is sick of the usual same-same bars, has to come have a drink here. Although I feel like I'm meant to be drinking  straight up whiskey or something similar here, we decide to order tow Salty Dog cocktails. Not a cocktail that you can drink fast, or the salt with get you, followed by the pieces of fresh pineapple. But these cocktails were nice and refreshing for a hot Sydney night in Summer.

We decided it was time for one more drink, and thought what better place than The Flinders? Although greeted by the "Boobs for Bubbly" sign as well as noticing that the drink of the week was a Mel Gibson: Gin + Pickled Onion + Dry Sherry, I thought I would decline both offers, and go for a beer instead.

The Flinders is the sort of pub that would be great on a week night, to catch up with some friends to grab a drink or two. By the time we got there on a Friday night, it was jam-packed with people and had obnoxious bouncers out the front. I did love the random bits and pieces hanging from the ceiling and the great selection of music. Talking Heads in a pub anyone? Again, like Shady Pines Saloon, any place in Sydney playing music that's a bit different to everything else is always a good thing.

By this time it was time to call it a night. Until next time...

Eau-de-Vie

Anyone who prepares cocktails for me wearing safety goggles and heavy duty science-lab style gloves gets my tick of approval! Deciding it was about time I get myself to one of Sydney's best cocktail bars of the moment, I chose to celebrate my birthday party at Eau-de-Vie. Now, it wasn't quite the easiest bar for my friends to find. This might have something to do with a lack of signs out the front (as it's in the Kirkton Hotel), and you have you walk through another bar to get there. But I quite liked this. Just a little bit secret squirrel, which only adds to it's charm. This means the trashy crowds having trouble finding it!

The second that we arrived and walked to my reserved seated section, I could tell that I had chosen the perfect location for my birthday drinks. It was a great crowd of slightly dressed up, but without being pretentious, crew who were all very chatty. The level of noise never got so loud that we had to shout, but if was definitely buzzing. I was far too distracted by catching up with all of my friends to remember the style of music that was playing, but I'm assuming that it was good, because it didn't annoy me. It's a great intimate sized bar, but without being too small, or feeling squashed (although it was definitely busy).

The cocktails impressed us all. Some were served in great vintage-y crystal jugs, some served in tin cups with handles and most importantly there were the cocktails that weren't on the menu. My friend and I happened to look to our left when we were waiting at the bar. All of a sudden test tubes, goggles and dry ice could be spotted. We wanted what they were having! We were told my the bar tender that he could make us something even better (still off the menu) to which we eagerly agreed. Again, the safety goggles, dry ice and gloves were pulled out, liquids were poured here and there, shaken, stirred and evaporated. We stood bug eyed watching. We were extremely impressed. Everyone around us soon had drink envy. After this we were informed that it was a Martini. This was no Martini I had ever seen before. To prove his point, it was served with a small dish of delicious green olives to go with our many piece drink.

Most cocktails that they make at Eau-de-Vie will not disappoint, as they take any opportunity to bring out a blow torch, dry ice or something similarly exciting. This is why they've had rave reviews all round. The Sydney Morning Herald loved it, Time Out loved it, Two Thousand loved it and I loved it. The service is unlike any other bar I've been to in while, even when they're extremely busy and are making complicated drinks. I have also always liked a barman in a bow tie! The staff will always be more than happy to help you choose the perfect cocktail for yourself and talk you through the cocktail list, or other options they can whip you up on the stop.(Even if you're being a bit difficult!)

Although meaning “water of life” as well as describing a style of fruit brandy, Eau-de-Vie has much more than water or fruit brandy on offer. It's my style of bar. And the food that my friends ordered looked great too. But I have to admit filling up on Thai around the corner before hand, so I can't comment on it.

This has been officially added to my list of bars to come to regularly (when I'm not in the mood for a quick, cheap drink). This was the perfect venue for birthday drinks when you actually want to be able to hold conversations and I think it would also be perfect for a date (provided you wanted to be able to hear them).

Next up for the night, we were off to a club...