Goodtime Diner, Bondi Junction

Miss Piggy dined as a guest of the Goodtime Diner.

I’ve not paid a visit to Westfield Bondi Junction since the place very first opened. And even then I didn’t really have a very good look around – a quick look at Target, a glance at the “posh shops” and then it was off to the beach for Fish ‘n’ Chips.

Needless to say on this visit I was pretty amazed to find a huge, multi-level pub nestled into the building. At first I couldn’t figure out of The Eastern was part of the Westfield building or something that existed before Westfield took over Bondi Junction. Turns out the pub has been in Bondi Junction for decades and Westfield was built around the structure. It’s quite nifty looking and from certain angles the circular façade of The Eastern reminds me of a lighthouse.

On this visit I’ve been invited to the Goodtime Diner on level one to try a selection of New Orleans inspired eats where meats are cooked in an American Yoder smoker for up to 18 hours. Let me at it!

Our foray into the good old days of America start off with a Charcuterie Plate featuring smoked pork belly, smoked cheese, gherkins, smoked nuts and salumi. The cheese was a bit light on the smoke for me, but I loved the smoked nuts and smoked pork belly. Both had a good whack of smokiness about them.

Next up is a serve of garlic bread. It was nice and buttery, and the wasn’t too pungent from too much garlic.  There's not much you can say about garlic bread really other than my piece was pretty good.

I think EVERYONE at this dinner loved the Mac n’ Cheese which came served in a little, cast-iron pot. Beneath the layer of crunchy breadcrumbs was a pile of tender macaroni laden with stringy, gooey cheese. I think this dish was the highlight of the night for me.

Coming a close second though was the spicy hot Cajun Corn that was generously slathered with butter. If you’re shy of chilli just beware of this dish as it has a slow burn.

Next up is the meet platter. I felt so sorry for the vegetarian sitting next to me whose eyes brightened for a moment before she realized that the Beef Short Rib was in fact, NOT a chocolate brownie. More for me though, which is great as I really enjoyed the short rib. The meat was tender, fatty and quite moist though I didn’t detect much of a smoked flavor. Accompanying the beef was some Smoked Chicken – again, not overly smokey, but still tasty.

Our feast came with two salads - Cous Cous salad with chickpea, pinenuts and roast pumpkin and a lovely, fresh goats cheese, fennel, walnut, pear and spinach salad which I really loved. The creamy, rich goats cheese paired really well with the zesty pear.

I think if you’re in the area the Goodtime Diner is a great spot to catch up with friends or family. Just don’t try to share your Mac ‘n’ Cheese – it’s too good to share!

The Goodtime Diner is at The Eastern Hotel, Level One, 500 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction. Phone them on 9387 7828.

Keg & Brew, Surry Hills

The KB Hotel on Foveaux Street in Surry Hills has recently received a bit of a facelift and reopened as Keg + Brew, serving up a menu of delicious eats inspired by the "deep south" of the USA.

You'd be forgiven for walking right past this pub in its former incarnation as it did have the look of a bit of an "old man's pub". The sympathetic refurb has spruced the place up but the pub still retains many of its glorious old features such as the stunning bar that takes center place.

Once you get closer to the bar you'll notice a bank of stunning looking beer taps - each one is a work of art in its own right. Whilst I'm not a beer lover I can certainly admire the taps, of which there are over 30! Keg + Brew serves a HUGE array of local craft beer along with a few Aussie staples like VB (that is still their highest selling brewskie). If you're not into beer they also specialize in a bespoke range of Bourbons...many hailing from the US of A.

I'm not really into beer or bourbon so I opt for refreshing apple cider. The Pink Lady Cider is a brew made by cider-makes, The Apple Thief.  The cider is so sweet and crisp, almost like eating an apple but in liquid form. I like this drink A LOT!

We start our lunch off with a few morsels from the "Fixin's" section of the menu. I of course can NEVER go past Buffalo Wings ($10) when then are on offer and Dave is quite smitten by the sound of the Monterey Jack Fried Cheese Sticks ($10).

The Buffalo Wing Board isn't stingy on the wings and comes with a really dang good gorgonzola docle blue cheese dip. Just as an aside nearly everything you order will go fantastically with this flavoursome dip (trust me, I know as I dipped everything into barring the Twinkies we had for dessert).

The cheese sticks are also quite a generous serve and we're impressed at how well the cheese has held its shape despite being crumbed and deep fried - is there anything that cheese cannot do? The texture of the cheese is almost like a cross between a fluffy-on-the-insidi-crisp-on-the-outside hot chip and a Kraft cheese stick. The plum sauce is sweet and smokey and the bartender tells us it's one of his favourite sauces on the menu.

Moving on to the "Grub" section of the menu I feel compelled to try the KBFC ($19) as fried chicken is so "in" right now it would be remiss not to order it (also it goes SO well with the aforementioned blue cheese sauce). For your nineteen bucks you'll get a half Southern-style buttermilk fried chicken that has a light, crispy coating. The serve is pretty big so I think it's great value.  The chicken is SO tender and moist, it really is quite amazing. The chook is served with a hot mayo, french friends and a crunchy salad (that I don't rate at all - needed more dressing and seasoning I think, but we're here for the chook not the salad).

For our second main Dave orders the Chipotle Pork Ribs ($19) that are so tender the meat practically falls off the bone. The ribs are doused in a smokey chipotle sauce that is sweet and finger licking good. The ribs are topped with a slathering of chimichurri which helps cut through the richness of the chipotle sauce. This is one messy dish but that's half the fun of eating ribs isn't it? Again this main comes with french fries and a salad (again with the meh for the salad).

It wouldn't be an American-style meal without a deep-fried dessert now would it? Behold the deep-fried Twinkies ($10 for 3). There was a bit of a miscommunication when ordering dessert and we each end up with our own Twinkie platter...possibly too many Twinkies but we gave it our best shot (and failed to finish either platter). These were quite nice - not overly sweet and definitely not oily at all. The batter was quite soft (almost like a dagwood dog batter in texture). For those not in the know a Twinkie is similar to a light sponge cake with a creamy filling...I don't think there's one natural ingredient in them which explains why they handle the deep-frier like boss! Only think that would've made this better would've been a scoop of ice-cream on the side. Vanilla of course.

Dave and I really enjoyed our lunch at Keg + Brew. The fit out is really great, reminiscent of an old style of pub with a few quirky elements of Americana thrown in (like these hulking guys in the photo below). The food is very hearty, filling and epically good value I thought. We only made the smallest dent in the menu and there are a lot of items I'd love to come back and try (po'boy anyone)?

The Keg + Brew is at 26 Foveaux Street in Surry Hills.

(almost) 48 hours of eats in Melbourne

WAY WAY back in December The Boy and I made a quick weekend trip down to Melbourne. Why? Well, to eat...of course!

We started the weekend off with dinner at one of our tied and true favourite places, Mamasita. I honestly don't believe we have Mexican as great as this in Sydney so we go almost every time we're in Melbourne. The corn, oh the corn!  I've written about Mamasita before so you can check it out over here...

Bowery to Williamsburg

Set in a sub-basement level space you can't help get the nod to all things New York Subway as you descend the stairs into the cafe.  Owned by the team behind our beloved Hardware Societe, Bowrey to Williamsburg is every bit as good as I thought it would be. The menu has a decided bent towards Americana (in a good way)...bagels, pastrami beef hash, lox latkes...and not a slider to be seen anywhere folks.

The Boy (of course) goes for the Big Breakfast and I cannot help but covet his slab of farmhouse, thickcut bacon that is hidden beneath all those eggs, tomatoes and spinach. Me, I wanted something lighter as we had a special lunch planned in the not too distant future. I ADORE onion bagels and when I found out these guys have them I was sold! Whack a bit of smoked salmon, scallion cream cheese and capers on there and I'm as happy as a pig in...an onion bagel!

Bowrey to Williamsburg is at 16 Oliver Lane, Melbourne.




Movida Next Door

We visited Movida about two years for my birthday and I whilst I thought it was...ok, I wasn't blown away. I totally thought Movida would totally rock my world and I walked away a bit flat. For starters, I think my expectations were too high, plus we didn't order very well (too many small plates and not enough biggies left us hungry...and broke).  The wait staff weren't particularly helpful in pointing our our ordering woes...and they weren't overly friendly either.

BUT I'm all for second chances and this trip I really wanted to lunch at Movida Next Door. AND I loved it!  LOVED IT!

Our waiter was super friendly and gave us great suggestions in ordering what turned out to be a specular and tasty lunch. I also loved the more relaxed feel of Movida Next Door as opposed to its  more dimly lit, slightly stuffy next door neighbour, Movida. This place felt light, airy, fun, modern and special....in a relaxed Saturday afternoon kind of way.

We ordered mostly from the specials menu - a lovely fennel salad; unctuous, fatty pork belly with a zesty apple salad; a sizzling pot of buttery tiger prawns; and a plate of massive, meaty field mushrooms.

Of course we had to order the bomba from the menu as it's one of the dishes that Movida is well know for - chorizo filled Catalan Potato Bomb with a spicy sauce. Delish. As was the Croqueta - a fried croquette of wild mushrooms that the waiter talked us into having for dessert.  This was an EXCELLENT lunch and I'd head back to Movida Next Door in heartbeat.







Movida Next Door is at 164 Flinders Street (cnr Hosier Lane), Melbourne.




Huxtaburger, Collingwood

What can one say about Huxtaburger other than "YUM"...oh, and "get in my belly" (and maybe "should I have a second burger so soon after finishing my first")?

This place is a well known institution for burger lovers.  We made our pilgrimage to the original store on Smith Street, Collingwood TWICE to worship at the alter of the best burgers around - soft buns people! SOFT BUNS - they really make or break a burger.

I'm not really sure I need to say anything about the burgers here.  I mean LOOK at them! LOOK! A picture really does paint 1000 words, especially if those words are just YUM repeated one thousand times.  And they burgers really are better than they look - so enough said really.

Oh, and crinkle cut chips? Still the best chips EVER I say.

Was this better than Shake Shack?  Hmmm. Yes...probably...maybe. The beef patty was so flavoursome and whilst the bun was quite sweet this was offset when you got a good mouthful of all of the burger ingredients.

Huxtaburger is at 106 Smith Street, Collingwood.



Jimmy Grants

To be honest, whilst Jimmy Grants was on my radar it wasn't at the top of my hit list for this Melbourne Trip. It was a case of too many great places to eat and not enough time or belly room.

And then my brain and my stomach had a negotiation and we decided that there was no problem having kebabs for lunch...no problem at all. I love that the souvas (aka kebab) comes stuffed with a few chips but the real winner for me was the grain salad - LOVED this so much! The salad was a medley of grains and lentils with toasted almonds, Spanish onion and parsley mixed through. The dressing was probably a mix of lemon and olive oil -- but so much better. And a fat dollop of Greek yoghurt on top was the icing on the cake for me.



Jimmy Grants is at 113 St David Street, Fitzroy/Collingwood.

Bridge St Garage, Sydney CBD

The recent opening of Bridge St Garage in the "big end of town" is another welcome addition to CBD dining. I remember first working in the city in 1995 and there was NOWHERE to eat after work unless you wanted to venture down to Chinatown (which is fine, but just not EVERY time you wanted to go out).


Needless to say, I really think it's wonderful that more casual style eateries are opening up in the city. Recently we've seen Jamie's Italian open, then Mejico and now Bridge St Garage (plus everything that's going on in Westfield too). It certainly makes catching up with friends in the city after work for a meal SO much easier.

Sometime in its past this building was a "car garage".  I'm not sure if this means cars were serviced here...or parked here but I'd LOVE to know (so if you know please tell me). I also wonder how recently this place was a garage..so many questions! Given it's garage-y past there are, of course, nods to the buildings history all throughout the restaurant - an oil can here, some spark plug boxes there. It's pretty cliche really, but it's cute and gives the vast space some personality. It seems like a lot of thought has gone into the fit out of this restaurant.

The space occupied by Bridge St Garage is HUGE! The front part of the building is a bustling (and very busy) bar.  I'm glad when we're lead around the back of the restaurant to an equally large area that is reserved for diners only. Whilst this space is also pretty busy and also noisy (you have polished cement floors to thank for that I think) it's more more spacious feeling as everyone is sitting down...and eating.

Bridge St Garage seems to have a "thing" for red lighting and as we all know red lighting = BAD BAD BAD food photos. I struggled to take a photo of my lamb burger (don't you love it's pink hue) with the crazy lightening so you'll just have take my word that everyone's meals looked great and that the ribs got two messy thumbs up from Swah and Katie.

The menu is a mix of American diner-style food with some South American options. I've heard good things about the burgers so I already know what I'm having before I even arrive.

The lamb burger ($20.00) is massive and unlike the burgers my friends ordered, it comes on long roll (and a plate rather than a wooden board, thankfully). I like the Greek flavours in this burger - feta, olive tapenande. YUM! All of the burgers come with a side of fluffy hand cut potato chips and mine had the added bonus of a side of coleslaw too. It's not the best burger of my life, but it's flavoursome and filling and I feel like I got my $20 worth.

 

Bridge St Garage is at 7-19 Bridge Street, Sydney. Phone them on 9251 9392 (they take bookings)!!!

Shake Shack, London

In between all the eating we do in London manage to squeeze in a bit of frenzied London sightseeing. The thing with sightseeing though is that it's hungry work...

Is is tragic that one of the food places I was MOST excited about visiting in London was Shake Shack - my beloved Shack Shake that I fell in love with in NYC?  It seems like fate that Shake Shack opened up their first UK restaurant mere moments before I arrived in London.

Located in the bustling Covent Garden area of London I feared that we'd face epic, New York-esque, type queues. Thankfully we didn't...and we even found a seat really easily in The Piazza where Shake Shack is located. I think London knew I was feeling blue and decided to cut me some slack.

Behold the buzzer of future happiness!

And behold the tray of greater happiness! I cannot tell you how happy I was right at this moment...but it was pretty darn happy let me tell you!

We start off with a tray of crinkle cut chips with cheddar cheese sauce (GBP 3.50).  I love "the shack's" crinkle cut fries as they remind me of the rustic style of chips of childhood (that makes me sound really old, but you know what I mean). I actually think these fries were better than those I had in NYC (yes, really)! The chips were more crunchy and I loved the velvety, rich cheese sauce.

For old times sake I just had to have the Cheeseburger (GBP 4.75). The burger comes plain, with just a meat patty and a slice of cheese.  For no extra cost you can choose to add pickles (an absolute must), onion (good, but not necessary), lettuce and tomato (get that salad OFF my cheeseburger I say).  I enjoyed every single mouthful of this burger - especially how soft the bun was.  A soft bun is something we just don't seem to get quite right here in Australia...Mary's is the closet to bun perfection I've had in Sydney.

I bet your wondering if this burger was good as Shake Shack in NYC. It's close...but not quite. But beggars can't be choosers can they?

I'd been hyping up how awesomely amazing Shack Shack was to The Boy so I was VERY relieved to report that he really enjoyed his Smoke Shack (GBP 6.50). It didn't blow his mind, but he loved it enough to order a second one when I went back for a sneaky second burger. The Smoke Shack is a pimped out Cheeseburger topped with British free range Wiltshire cure smoked bacon, chopped cherry peppers and Shack Sauce. I had a taste of this - it was SO good, really flavoursome and the smokey bacon was genius.

For my second burger (aka "dessert") I decided to try the Shack Burger (GBP 5.00) - a Cheeseburger topped with lettuce, tomato and and Shack Sauce (not sure what Shack Sauce is but it's goood)!  I also added a pickle to my burger because, well...just because.

And this post, my friends, explains why I put on 5kgs in just one month in Europe. French cheese, Rilette of every type, Scottish deep fried Mars Bars...and now Shack Shake in London. 

You'll find Shake Shack at 24, Market Building, The Piazza, Covent Garden, London.