Friday, December 31, 2010

Review : The Norfolk on Cleveland

305 Cleveland Street
Surry Hills


Open 7 days for lunch & dinner

We were on our way to Fratelli Fresh, but with rumbling bellies we decided to stop in at the newly refurbished Norfolk on Cleveland for a spot of lunch.

The Norfolk is the new venture for Thomas Lim (ex Tetsuya's), following Duke Bistro at The Flinders Hotel.

We were looking forward to sampling the 'Mexican' inspired menu.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Review: Spice Temple


The alluring 'curtain' that invites you into Spice Temple
 10 Bligh St
Sydney  NSW
(in the cavern beneath
Rockpool Bar & Grill)

Lunch
Mon - Fri  12pm - 3pm

Dinner
Mon - Sat
from 6pm

Regular readers of the Buggles and Squeak reviews will notice a relative lack of Asian restaurants in our repertoire. There are a couple of reasons for this: 1) It is generally not one of Squeak's favoured cuisines; and 2) Neither of us can use chopsticks!!! This is true, and we are completely aware of how odd this is when we always have to shame-facedly request cutlery. There are some places however where we just have to suck it up, potential embarrassment and all, and Spice Temple is one such place.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Review : Restaurant at the 3 Weeds

193 Evans Street
Rozelle


Dinner
Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm
Lunch
Sunday from 12pm

It had been a long time between visits...a VERY long time.


The last time we dined here Darrell Felstead was still behind the burners...and he has been at Foveaux since 2007!!!!
So it was definitely time to check out what Leigh McDivitt (ex Est., Pello) has been up to.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Review : Danks Street Depot (Lunch) - CLOSED

1/2 Danks Street
Waterloo

Monday-Thursday:9am-3pm
Friday:9am-3pm and then dinner from 6pm

Saturday: 8am-3pm then dinner from 6pm
Sunday and Public Holidays: 9am-3pm

After a very long & tiring morning of Christmas shopping, we were hot & we were hungry; we needed food & we needed it fast.
Our thoughts first turned to Cafe Sopra & mine to the divine Vitello Tonnato in particular.
We arrived at Waterloo & miraculously found a parking spot on Danks Street. We headed over to Cafe Sopra, only to be confronted by a very long queue of people waiting for a table. We could wait & eat lunch at around 3, or we could cross the street to Danks Street Depot.....we chose the latter.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Review : Razors Bistro

Razors Bistro
Queen Victoria Hotel
167 Enmore Road,
Enmore

Bistro:

Monday-Friday Lunch: 12noon -3pm
Monday-Friday Diner: 5pm until late
Saturday: 12 noon until late evening
Sunday: 12 noon until 9pm

à la carte dining on Level one:

6pm until 10pm Friday & Saturday


Razors Edge was a restaurant that we had visited quite a few times over the years.
We had gone there for the Sunday roast, the schnitzel & the risotto...one memorable night we accidentally stumbled in on a performance by the 'Cunning Linguists'...a feminist poetry slam of sorts!
So while the food was not what you would term spectacular, it was always consistently good. The roasts were a standout as was the creme brulee.

Whilst driving down Enmore Road recently I spotted a sign for 'Razors Bistro' outside the newly re-furbed Queen Victoria Hotel, the name & location led me to one conclusion..."this must be where the boys from Razors Edge have moved to".
After then checking their website & confirming that this was indeed the case, we headed there for dinner to celebrate C1's birthday.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Review: Brasserie Bread Cafe

1737 Botany Road
Banksmeadow

Mon - Fri: 7am - 3pm
Sat - Sun: 8am - 2pm
Public Holidays: closed

Squeak and I were making the trek to Croquembouche at Banksmeadow to order some Christmas treats so we thought we'd pop into Brasserie Bread for a shot at breakfast.  Whenever Squeak and I think of the name 'Brasserie Bread' memories come flooding back of the first ever time (many, many moons ago) we tasted the sinfully warm caramelised garlic bread with melted parsley butter poured over the top - courtesy of Danks Street Depot.  Anyone who can concoct such a bread really does deserve a visit.  Squeak and I had dropped in (and 'dropped in' is a euphemism for driving significantly out of our way to a rather industrial part of Banksmeadow) some time ago, but were not overly fussed by the variety of options on the cafe menu.  This second visit proved more fruitful.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Review : Aperitivo

163 Norton Street
Leichhardt 2040

Tuesday-Saturday
5pm to Midnight

Sunday
5pm to 10 pm

Summertime and the living is easy….not so, if you live in Sydney. It was a hot & sticky night as we headed out to Aperitivo.


Aperitivo occupies the former home of Pavarotti on Norton. The space has been suitably ‘spruced’ up & nothing remains of its former incarnation.


The restaurant is deceptively large & has a very modern feel; dark brown tones with the odd splash of colour, courtesy the bright red chairs & the wonderfully decorative wall.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Review : Marrickville Road Cafe

212 Marrickville Road
Marrickville

Mon-Sat
07:00-16:00

Sun
07:30-16:00


So the quest continued. Buggles and Squeak had once again decided to forgo our Sunday morning ritual of breakfast at Bar Mattino (and now occasionally fouratefive), to once again see what our local suburb, Marrickville, had to offer.
We had recently read quite a good review of Marrickville Road Cafe & wondered if finally there was a local that might just cut the mustard!

And so it was that Buggles and Squeak ventured to Marrickville Road in search of sustenance.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Review: Gigi

379 King Street

Newtown


Tues-Sun: 5-11pm


Following our visit to Top Level Woodfire Pizza Bar, Squeak and I were on a pizza mission and Gigi in Newtown seemed to call us - largely because of a potato pizza we spied sitting on their menu. On arrival Gigi already has a number of tables taken, and we opt to sit towards the back where we expect things will be significantly quieter... how wrong we were!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Review : Top Level Woodfire Pizza Bar - CLOSED

Level 1
196 King Street
Newtown


Wed-Fri
From 5.30pm

Sat-Sun
From 12 noon




Newtown has no shortage of pizza restaurants, they are scattered throughout King Street & beyond. Some are genuinely bad, some average & some quite good, but there has never been a truly great pizzeria in Newtown....until now.


Ruggiero Lattanzio of La Disfida fame has opened Top Level Woodfire Pizza Bar on King Street, finally Newtown joins the ranks of heavy hitters Surry Hills, East Sydney & Haberfield, with a pizzeria truly worth raving about.