320 Crown Street Surry Hills
(02) 9332 2344
info@thebentley.com.au
Tues-Sat
Lunch and Dinner
The day is not going as planned. We are all set to have lunch with Cooty at Criniti's, but early this morning she phones to say she is feeling a little under the weather.
Not ones to let a lunching opportunity go by, we make the snap decision to head to Surry Hills and once again indulge in another spectacular Bentley lunch.
When we arrive at around 12.45pm we have the entire restaurant to ourselves, we are seated at our 'regular' table and are really looking forward to the lunch ahead.
503-511 King Street
Newtown
Wednesday-Friday from 5pm
Saturday-Sunday from 4pm
We are catching up again with C1 & C2 and alas, once again, C2 is absent (we are starting to feel a tad paranoid!).
The three of us decide that some wine/cocktails & a few share plates are just what the doctor ordered! So it's off to Bench we go.
Finally! a drinking establishment in Newtown that seems to cater for us (ok, mainly me), the more geriatric set. I look around and I feel positively in 'bloom' again.
It is very pleasant indeed walking into this sleek, dimly lit bar. It is tiny, granted, but also very inviting.
We grab a spot at the end of the long communal bench, order a cocktail each and decide on what plates to share.
32 Burton Street Darlinghurst
BREAKFAST
Weekends from 8am
LUNCH
Thurs-Sun 12pm-3pm
AFTERNOON DRINKS
Thurs-Sun 3pm-6pm
DINNER
Tues-Sun 6pm-Late
It is 10.30am on a Sunday morning & we are famished. We cannot decide where to go to for brunch. We hop onto the internet & google 'Brunch Sydney'.
One of the first listings we come across is a Gourmet Traveller article mentioning The Commons, and in particular its Corned Beef Hash.
Needless to say, I am a sucker for said hash, and as far as I'm concerned it is "decision made".
The Commons sits in a lovely old sandstone building just across the road from my hairdresser 'Get Smart'.
We grab a table in the front courtyard & glance over the menu.
80 Campbell Street
Surry Hills
9280 1980
enquiries@barhsurryhills.com
Lunch
Thurs-Fri Noon to 3pm
Dinner
Tues-Sat 6pm to late
Unfortunately we are heading towards the end of our week off. It has been a great week that has seen us visit Becasse, Four in Hand & Biota.
We have been meaning to visit Bar H for ages & a quiet Thursday lunch seems the right time to do so.
We secure a parking spot pretty much across the road, walk by cafe ish & grab a table at a very empty Bar H.
Kangaloon Road,
Bowral
(02) 4862 2005
info@biotadining.com
mon: lunch & dinner
tue: closed
wed: lunch & dinner
thur-sat: breakfast, lunch & dinner
sun: breakfast & lunch
Bowral has long been on the Buggles and Squeak "places to retire" hit list. It sits there comfortably next to Daylesford (current leader) & Blackheath.
So it is with much joy & (not curbed) enthusiasm that we head down to one of a favourite locales for a spot of lunch at Biota.
It is freezing when we arrive at Bowral. Driving into the carpark we are immediately taken by the look of the restaurant, it looks cool & modern, yet warm & inviting all at the same time.
4 Pitt Street
Redfern
p: 83990070
Brunch
Tues - Sun: 8am - 3pm
Dinner
Thurs - Sat: 6pm - 10pm
Squeak has long regretted moving away from her beloved Redfern. Even before it became 'up and coming' she had seen its potential and always enjoyed the village vibe along with its proximity to all things Surry Hills! The Fern is just one place that has tapped into the potential of the 'fern along with Pitt Street Diner, Patagonian Toothfish, Dryland Bar, Baffi & Mo and Eathouse Diner. The Fern is perhaps a little removed from the rest of these, being closer to Cleveland Street, but, being set a little back from the street in a lovely old terrace house makes for a charming setting for a spot of Sunday brekkie.
85 Bronte Road
Bondi Junction
p: 02 9389 9950
e: veda@veda.net.au
5.30pm - late
7 nights
I look back on my time at Curlewis Street, Bondi with fondness.
Back then the ‘beautiful people’ were anyone who didn’t regularly put needle to arm.
Swimming in summer inevitably lead to an encounter with the ‘Bondi Cigar’; and in winter it became a ghost town, where the ever present junkies & grotty, old buildings just added to its abundant charm.
It was rough and scary, but thrilling at the same time.
Who can forget late nights drinking at the Bondi Tram; the blood splattered walls of the pool room at the Bondi Hotel and the freaky goings on at the legendary Astra Hotel….those were the days indeed, my friends.
There was no Icebergs, no North Bondi Italian. Fine dining was a counter lunch of meatloaf and 'deb' at the Bondi Hotel; or a dodgy pie from The Flying Pieman (rumour had it they contained cat food).
I miss the ‘old’ Bondi.
Buggles and I very rarely return to Bondi these days. We have made the trip for Icebergs, the occasional breakfast at Blue/Orange, the odd pizza & gelato at Pompei’s and the fantastic tempura vegetables & chips at Mongers.
We visit Bondi Junction even more rarely, usually just for a Gold Class session at the Event Cinemas.
So it is odd, that this Monday night, finds us standing outside Veda on Bronte Road.
