Grill'd, Cairns

When The Lakes Resort and Spa shuttle bus driver said we should go to Grill'd for burgers, Nathan's ears instantly opened. He won't listen to anything I say, but say the word 'burger' and you'll have his undivided attention. For once, I really thanked Nathan for this quality.

After hearing too much about Nathan's craving for a burger, we reach Grill'd. The decor inside reminds me of Year 10 woodwork classes. The large, high-ceilinged room is flecked with communal wooden tables and metal stools. Low teal lights hang over the tables and comfy cushions line the southern wall. The place is cool, but its cartoon-lined walls and the generally cheap vibe of the interior makes me feel as though I am in a fast food restaurant. It's also stinking hot, the few fans aren't doing much.

The staff at Grill'd are hip and super friendly on approach. Upon ordering, we are given a Little Creatures lid and told to choose one of three jars to put it in--the coins representing a dollar and the jars, three different charity organisations. Overall, the place is pretty refreshing, and is made even better given the relatively low prices. (If you want a comparison for the style of eatery: think Mad Mex, Guzman y Gomez and Crust Pizza).

What sets the chain apart from fast food outlets is the taste. The burgers are better at Grill'd. It's also licensed, which is always a plus. And they stock WA's Little Creatures and, while I'm not a beer drinker, Nathan informs me this is definitely a pro.

We order at the counter, then wait. A while passes before our meals arrive. Nathan's Big Queenslander: seriously has the lot with a grilled 100% lean beef, tasty cheese, crispy trim bacon, free range egg, a couple of slices of beetroot with salad, relish and herb mayo. Everything blends so smoothly resulting in a luscious and perfectly grill'd burger. Sure, $14.50 is more than you'd pay for a standard burger, but the expense was definitely proportional to the delectable morsels of food.

Although incomprehensible to most (and sometimes myself) I don't eat chips. This is one of those days that I will regret my choice not to consume the delicious, fatty food. Apparently the chips below were simply smashing. Nathan says they were crisp and the rosemary and sea salt gave them an edge. Seriously, he wouldn't stop raving. Below is the 'snack' serving of Grill'd's chips with rosemary and sea salt ($3.30).

I opted to have my Simply Grill'd burger with lean beef, salad, relish and herb mayo ($10.50) on a panini as opposed to a traditional bun. The bread was crisp, the patty moist and juicy and the relish and herb mayo just gelled. The flavour of the patty was unlike any I have ever tasted in terms of the balance and layers of flavours.

Grill'd was just what we needed (bar the sweltering heat inside the eatery). The burgers were some of the best I have ever tasted. And although the price was a tad steep and the service not the best--we never received water we requested and the meals took a while--all is forgiven considering the extraordinary taste.

But most importantly, I am excited to learn that Grill'd has multiple locations in Sydney! Burgers anyone?

Grill'd, 77 Esplanade Cairns

Sai Cuisine Indian Restaurant, Ashfield

Nathan and I are very fond of Indian. We eat "curry" quite frequently at home and must I say that it is one of the easiest, most delicious things to cook. But after dining at a proper Indian restaurant, the canned variety (I know - shame) just doesn't compare, and I am even more hooked.

Sai Cuisine Indian Restaurant is tucked away on a little one way street heading to Ashfield Station. We walk in the door and are straight away greeted with wide smiles. The service remains the same throughout our meal: friendly and unpretentious.

We order chicken vindaloo, chicken korma (both $13.15), roti and a plain rice ($2.95). Our meals arrive very quickly and oh my is it delicious. The vindaloo is extremely hot and spicy (I could only just handle it), yet with the perfect balance of flavours.

My chicken korma is lovely. With its tender chicken, the smooth, creamy sauce and the added bite of the nuts, it is hard to beat. And it is ten times better intricately wrapped in a torn piece of roti. The roti is so delicious and crisp; it makes the meal. Nathan and I previously had not eaten our curries with bread, but after our visit to Sai, I vowed to change that. Now, not a curry goes eaten without being accompanied by some gorgeous roti ($1.90).

All the food we order is presented beautifully and cleanly in metal dishes. All serving sizes, particularly the rice (which is perfect, by the way) are generous and well worth the price tag.

The only downside to the restaurant is its ageing decor, but such is the norm for so many restaurants of this kind. It's not awful, with bold bright walls and basic tables and chairs, but it's not great either. Still, it's an easily looked-over pitfall when the food is so good and cheap!

We didn't order much given our limited budget, but Sai serves a variety of curries with several different meats. The restaurant also serves takeaway at great prices. We will definitely be back to try everything.

Sai Cuisine Indian Restaurant, 23 Hercules Street, Ashfield

New Shanghai Chinese Restaurant, Ashfield

Spending most of my upbringing in Port Macquarie has meant that I know absolutely nothing about Asian cuisines. Sure, there are several Chinese restaurants in Port, a couple of Japanese and a lot of Thai places, but apart from the latter, we never really ate at any of them. And, if we did, knowing nothing about such cuisines meant that we would order the same dishes, all the time. Sweet and sour pork, lemon chicken, green curry, fried rice, chow mein et cetera et cetera.

Now I live in Ashfield and am faced with the exact opposite. The main street, Liverpool Road, is bursting with Asian restaurants and, apart from the odd pub, not much else. I had tended to stay away from these restaurants, knowing nothing of what they had on offer. That was until I uncovered this little gem.

I was roped in by the crowds that queue outside for a table, and have now visited the local haunt on two occasions. One of those times we became the queue that I had passed so often. We were given a number and directed to stand outside the restaurant until said number was called. This took around 20 minutes and would've dampened my perspective of the restaurant had the food not been so good.

First, I must say that you don't go here for amazing decor or service. The decor is boring as hell. Plain white walls, equally dull tables and unappealing black metal chairs. Several televisions are suspended from the walls, a bit odd in my opinion - you visit New Shanghai to socialise. The only hint of fancy is the glass wall that separates front of house from the kitchen staff, who quickly, yet oh so smoothly, put together dumplings.

The service is the same as the decor: boring, dull and uninspiring. The restaurant cares more about its turnover (and perhaps it should considering the queues) than intimate service. As a result the service is all about speed. This should be looked on positively as orders are taken quickly, and our meals shortly follow.

The dishes we ordered on both occasions are all very nice and tremendously cheap. Anything with pork appeals to me, and the oddity of "rice cakes" meant the stir fried Chinese rice cake with shredded pork and vegetables ($9.80) was a dish I just had to try. Mind you, I also chose it because it was either that or noodles. I have not yet mastered the art of chopsticks so attempting the latter would have been disastrous. The rice cakes are very very hard to describe. They have little flavour themselves but act as an excellent sponge for the sauce. The pork is extremely tasty and there's actually a lot of it. The vegetables are a bit more sparse. All in all the dish is bursting with flavour and filling. I would order it again.

We try the steamed mini pork buns ($6.80) and pork and chives dumplings. Both are excellent. Eatability tells me that New Shanghai is known for its dumplings, and there's no questioning why. The serving sizes are generous and the ratio of dough to meat is spot on. I see that many people in the restaurant are ordering the fried dumpling varieties. I'm tempted but have to refrain given it's almost Christmas and I need to prepare my waistline.

Nathan orders the combination fried rice with beef, chicken and king prawns ($8.80) and spring rolls. He devours the rice, but not before dousing it in soy sauce. He praises New Shanghai for the large amount of meat in the rice and is clearly satisfied with the spring rolls as they're gone in a matter of minutes.

New Shanghai is an excellent Chinese restaurant, perhaps the best in Ashfield. This is certainly saying something considering the locale is basically a second Asia.

While living in the area I will probably continue to go back until I have tried most of the dishes, namely the xiao long bao which appears quite popular.

New Shanghai Chinese Restaurant, 273 Liverpool Road, Ashfield

Night Noodle Markets, Hyde Park

The Night Noodle Markets took place in Hyde Park over half a month ago now. I am very behind with posts, hello crazy end of semester work load.

Anyway, the Night Noodle Markets are a major event of The Sydney Morning Herald's Crave International Food Festival. And what an experience it was! Being new to Sydney this year (10 years in Helensburgh nine years ago doesn't count) and hailing from Port Macquarie, I am quite unfamiliar with Asian food. This is definitely something I would like to change, and the delicious food that is yum cha has definitely set me on my way.

The Markets have a lot to offer: an array of stores offering Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Malaysian, Nepalese to name a few, as well as desserts such as ice cream and dutch pancakes and alcohol by the [plastic cup] or bottle. There was really too much to choose from, so I just HAD to go on two separate occasions. One being a quiet and relaxing Monday evening in the park, the other a bustling Friday night with queues and waits and limited seating. If I have any recommendation: don't go for the latter (especially if it is the Market's last night). Being able to find a table without eyeing families like a hawk and avoiding the queues is definitely the better option.

Nathan had prawn kushiyaki ($4) and beef on skewers (beef on a stick - as he refers to it). For the $4 price-tag the prawns were a hit, not so much the beef.

I opted for the Nasi Lemak from the mamak village stall [curry chicken w/ fragrant coconut rice w/ an ensemble of sambal, peanuts, crispy anchovies, cucumber and hard-boiled egg (around $14)]. Let me say, it was all that I expected. The rice was perfect; the subtle coconut flavour meaning that, for once, I did not have to mix it with the accompanying sauces for it to be palatable. The anchovies offered a bit of bite, as did the sambal. And the curry... (apart from the bones) was just lovely. I have become so lazy that even removing meat from bones is laborious. Eating should be easy.

Still feeling a bit peckish (no I didn't consume everything on this page, so far just the curry), I opted for the BBQ pork buns (4 for $10) from the aptly named "Yum Cha" store. Divine, divine, divine. I am sometimes turned off by yum cha, the amount of fat that goes into the cooking is known to make me feel sick, but these were perfect. On my second visit I tried some dumplings that could be similarly described. We also ordered yum cha from the "Chinese Dim Sim" stall, coerced by the cheaper 6 for $10 deal. These were no were near as nice.

The boys ordered ice cream from curly moo: vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce and chocolate sprinkles and vanilla ice cream with strawberry sauce. They were smitten.

The Co. Cafe, Port Macquarie

 Plain hamburger ($5.50)

Mexican hamburger ($9.80)

Nathan is such a stereotypical Australian 'townie' when it comes to food. If he had it his way he would live on hot chips, hamburgers, steak, sausages and jacket potatoes (with a side of tomato sauce and chicken salt). And so, I apologise in advance for the amount of posts featuring hamburgers. My only hope is that through these posts I will be able to bring to you Sydney and Port Macquarie's best burger.

Port Macquarie's Hamburger Heaven closed down a few weeks ago. Nathan was on the edge of becoming an emotional wreck. Not to fear, it reopened at the start of the School Holidays, but not before sprucing up its decor, adopting a new chef, changing its menu, and lastly, a sparkling new name. The Co. Cafe, as it is now called, is the same at heart- plating up cheap, takeaway or dine-in food, ice creams and milkshakes in Port Macquarie's holiday and tourist hub. More than anything, I think the renovation was a successful business move, as well as the re-naming (if only they had chose better...) Previously associated only with hamburgers, The Co. Cafe now has a varied breakfast, lunch and dinner menu that sounds (we stuck to the hamburgers on our four visits there in two weeks) delicious. And the owners haven't changed, so diners can still expect smiles and genuineness all-round.

So far, Hamburger Heaven/The Co. Cafe, holds my title for best burger in Port Macquarie. And they don't just offer beef, but also chicken schnitzel burgers, Mexican burgers, vegetarian burgers and don't forget The Works. Their burgers are generously sized, contain juicy, tender patties and are seasoned so well that not much more than lettuce is needed.  

I do think the new decor is a bit cheap. With large mirrors and intricate lighting The Co. Cafe tries to be sophisticated when a better design would exude homeliness.

The Co. Cafe, 66 Clarence St, Port Macquarie

mongers, Bondi Beach

 BBQ baby Octopus with chips ($13)

Grilled NZ Hoki fillet with corn, salad and basil pesto ($13)

Nathan and I made the trek out to Bondi Beach on a lovely Spring day last week. What better way to spend the day than getting buried in the sand (this may be a bit sarcastic), lying on the beach, walking along the coastal walk and having a good ol' fish and chips picnic overlooking the pristine blue water.

I suggested that we get seafood from mongers, having read raving reviews of the place that morning. 

I thought the prices were quite steep just glancing at them on the blackboard. Needless to say, my grilled fish, corn and asian salad was well worth it. The shaved corn cob was such a lovely and tasty touch, as were the pumpkin crisps. The salad was fresh and bursting with flavour, aided by the basil pesto. I would willingly pay more than 13 bucks. I tried Nathan's octopus and it was divine, although somewhat sickening if you were to eat all of the octopus you were given. He said the chips were crunchy and well-seasoned (something he's been searching for after uncovering that the concept of chicken salt is foreign to the Brits).

Mongers' concept of fish and chips really interested me, mainly the accompaniments available. You can choose to pair your seafood with rice, tempura vegetables, salad or chips. A fresh take on seafood- I am keen to go back and try the tempura vegetables. The service was also friendly and efficient. Moreover, Mongers does dine in and the restaurant boasts sophisticated decor. But then again, why would you dine in when you have the best al fresco dining a short walk away?

Mongers, 42 Hall St, Bondi Beach