June - August

Ragazzi (CBD)
Soo we didn't like the starters. The 🚩Wagyu Bresaola, was dry, basic, and I felt like I could do a better 🚩Sourdough with Anchovy at home. Meanwhile the ⭐Crab Mafaldine had the perfect texture & good flavour. The Duck Casarecce was not bad but lacked depth. I felt the same about two pastas from a previous visit (the Artichoke Ravioli & Truffle Tajarin).

This time the textures, however, were fantastic & carried the meal. Definitely seems to be an order dependent restaurant.

Edition Roasters (CBD)
Probably the most accessible, solid ⭐Strawberry Matcha around. Again I'm not a heavy matcha drinker, enthusiasts may disagree 😅

The Charles (CBD)
Lovely ⭐Scallop Agnolotti. The other dishes did not really wow me. Also ordered: Spanner Crab Croquette, Fruits de mer Tartlet, Whipped Sea Urchin, & Tartare. Whoever started the culinary trend of pureeing uni needs to be shot (jk but why desecrate high quality raw fish like that).

The Truffle Honeycake had an extremely addictive, nutty flavour but the crumb was dry. It was saved by layers of cream but I would have expected better 🫡 The Petit Fours were not remarkable. A general 🚩 for value?

The Tea Room (CBD)
I've only been to 3 high teas total but this was the best thus far.

My favourites were the ⭐Crab Croquette, ⭐Mushroom Quiche, & ⭐Pear Cake, although all of the baked goods were nice. The 🚩Sandwiches were a let down, all being sorely under-seasoned. They were giving Australian 7/11 or Coles tbh.

Mokomoko (CBD)
The 🚩Cream puffs were bad imo, I would rather get them from Daydream Sweet (which has opened in the city now ^~^). They add a premade puck of ice cream, sugar & torch it for the brulee. Puck being the most appropriate word because the ice cream was literally served as a round of compressed ice.

The Lava Cheesecake was also below average for me. There wasn’t nearly enough biscuit or brulee to give texture, the brulee being apparently just for show. It was cheesecake in soup form, with supermarket-like flavour.

🚩Potatoes Mochi (Burwood)
Places in Sydney you don't need to visit 🤪 Don't get me started lmao. I know this is a popular Chinese street food, I appreciate how generously they are filled, the mochi texture is great. However the cream cheese is totally unsweetened so it doesn’t match, tastes too savoury & there is a sickening amount of it. I am very open mind & didn't like it.

Old English Fish n Chips (Forestville, Naremburn)
I typically don't associate with British food but the ⭐Seafood Basket from this shop in Forestville was yum, crispy, & well seasoned, despite being a delivery order. Aesthetically challenged but a good dirty meal.

Kwafood Fried Skewer (CBD)
Tbh my second time going to a skewer shop ever but these were soo tasty & well seasoned. The ⭐Chicken Tender is a classic but the ⭐Mochi was also yum, crispy & chewy.

The Grounds (Alexandria)
The Grounds gets a lot of bad rap online but it has been decent 3/5 times for me (both misses were at the Galeries iirc). I think people are hypercritical because it's exxier than the average cafe.

The bread in the fish sandwich was dry & flavourless, a shame because the other components were fine. The ⭐Spinach Gigli Pasta was stunning. Ingredients included: zucchini flowers, roast zucchinis, stracciatella & pesto. Very moreish, & a unique flavour profile for a restaurant pasta. The madelines were average.

Juan Bowl & Tea (Redfern)
This is not a joke, please visit because if they ever close I will have a breakdown.

Their MB 9+ ⭐Gyukatsu special is so good it's fked up. I preferred this to the one I had in Japan. To be fair it did cost double, but the quality is so high that I don't care. I heard an American steak chef say that his favourite cut is Australian Wagyu, maybe we have something on them? (Google says Aus Wagyu is less marbled but more beefy) Reminded me of my first KBBQ experience, being mind blown & morphing into a carnivore but x10 the food high.

🚩Brewtopia Plus (Burwood)
This was icy (not smooth), the toppings were basic, I wouldn't recommend it.

🚩Bloods Bakery (Ultimo)
Iykyk this baker in Ultimo. I admire Instagram bakers but it's hard to find a pool of reliable reviews, making it a gamble as to whether the taste matches the marketing. I have had more misses than hits personally. I think that it's better to wait until they open shop & get on Maps. They probably also lack industrial equipment which can hugely impact something as complex as pastry making.

The crumb was very bready & hard. I'm a bit dumbfounded at the rave reviews because I found these actually unpleasant. Their signature is a Tonkotsu Pie. Pastries are not as neutral as noodles, so I don't think this worked. Tonkotsu is also enjoyed for its creaminess, which was interfered with by the pastry butter. The resulting bite is indistinctly salty & oily, the flavours seemingly cancel each other out.

Also what's with the trend of giving pies a big hat… It's so carb dense, adds nothing + ruins the filling to pastry ratio 🤡