This gold patterned little French hideaway on the sleepy streets of Neutral Bay is a hidden gem. In an age of share plates, it was nice to settle in for a three-course-meal of continental cuisine. I started with the delightful Chicken Liver Parfait ($16) with cherries, while my dining companion opted for Scallop and Crab Boudin Blanc ($18) – a kind of seafood sausage, served swimming in crab bisque and caviar, basically the south of France on a plate.
The empire has landed in World Square, giving shoppers a step up from the usual food court fare. Here you can have a bottle of wine - the T'Gallant Juliet Pinot Grigio ($36/bottle, $7.50/glass) goes down swimmingly - and gorge on dumplings all day and night.
Hellenic street food in a sleek modern restaurant, that’s the premise of Zeus, the second joint in the Sydney empire. Like their god, the food is lightning fast, and there seems to be a staff member for every guest on this busy Sunday.
Down the business end of The Rocks you’ll find a hole in the wall café that looks like it has been plucked straight from Surry Hills. Outside you can order from the ‘Little City Window’, from stuff like P. B. & J. Toasted Sandwiches ($7.50) and House-made Doughnuts ($4.50) but it’s worth getting cosy inside on the recycled oak furniture.
Taking someone who has just arrived back from Peru to a South American restaurant is a double-edged sword. They’re full of helpful advice, but they’re also a little, well, full of it. Luckily La Puerta’s Colombian owner Catherine Espinosa was there to step in: “We’ve taken our favourite dishes from the whole of South America and adapted them to the Australian palate.”
It doesn’t feel like a food court restaurant inside a shopping mall, in fact it doesn’t feel like you’re inside at all. Mrs Mi in Chatswood Chase brings the authentic taste of Northern China's Shanxi region into what appears to be a bustling and vibrantly coloured street-side location.