G'day From Sydney Australia Part II

Sunset in Darling Harbour

For the first week of our stay in Sydney we decided to rent an apartment rather than stay at a hotel. A friend of a friend suggested we stay at the AEA Grand, they gave a good review and thumbs up so we booked a week before we left the States. I liked the idea of having a working kitchen and the option to cook over eating out AND there were laundry facilities right in the room. The staff couldn’t have been nicer and the rooms were clean and very comfortable. We would stay there again without hesitation. The harbor view we had wasn’t prime but it wasn’t bad either (see above). We spent each morning sipping coffee and watching the boats zip by and each evening sipping wine and admiring the sunsets, it was entertaining and pretty and not a bad way to start our first week.

A skyline view from the Opera House

We were a little overwhelmed and more than a bit jet-lagged for the first few days so it took us a while to get used to the lay of the land and decide what it was we wanted to do first. We did have specific things to take care of right away; like purchase and set up mobile phones and buy a three wheel stroller. Until the purchase of the stroller we were forced to move around town using the convertible car seat we brought from the States, a smartly designed chair really, but something that looks so silly when used as a stroller that we were cringing every time we had to use it in public. Nothing says these folks are not from around here like a car seat on wheels. Not knowing where to go to buy the stroller we stopped into David Jones on Elizabeth Street and after seeing what they were charging for strollers we turned right around and went back outside. We did eventually buy a stroller after walking to Homemakers Supa Centa in Moore Park which seemed like a moderate walk to us but a few nights later surprised our dinner companions when we told them what we had done. I guess it's not considered walking distance from where we were, hee.

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Speaking of dining and dinner companions, we have not had a bad meal here yet. Because we have a toddler in tow we have been very selective of the places we are choosing to dine at, kid friendly is just as important to us these days as good food and fresh ingredients. Having said that, kid friendly for us doesn’t mean fast food and children’s’ menus either, we want to expose Ellie to all the foods and cuisines we love so we usually just share with her what we have ordered for ourselves and so far that has worked well. Ellie seems to be coming around to the idea of eating out and does a pretty good job of sitting and behaving, the key has been not to let her get bored.

For the first few days we were eating all our meals out, hitting mostly tourist spots in and around the Darling Harbour area but after the third day we went on a little grocery shopping spree at Paddy’s Markets and got some staples for a couple of meals in. We had a kitchen available to us and it was silly not to use it, besides, it was nice making breakfast and sometimes dinner in our room. With the view of the harbour from our living room it was a very pleasant way to start and end the day. Lunches have been on the go and usually from a little shop or café. Okay, there was one pretty taste-free sandwich at the Taronga Zoo but did I really expect better? I’ve become addicted to vegetarian sandwiches on Turkish bread; grilled eggplant, roasted red peppers (called capsicum here), feta cheese, baby lettuce, sun-dried tomatoes and cucumber or a variation of that on lightly toasted bread and with a cup of coffee. Yummo! By the way, the coffee here is excellent too and while there are almost as many Starbucks here as in the States there really is no reason to set foot in any of them. The cafe's serve a mighty delicious brew and for a resonable price too.

It didn’t occur to me to take any pictures of our meals until I sat down and started writing this post but I guess since this is a food blog I should be on top of that a bit more, if you will forgive me this one time I promise to try to be a little better at photographing them in future. I did take some notes and the following is a short list of places we recently dined at that I thought were worth mentioning:

• Nove Cucina: We had the pleasure of meeting and dining with a couple whom we met through Tom’s website. They have a newborn and so kid friendly is a priority for them these days too. They picked us up in their car and whisked us away to the wharf in Woolloomooloo (this has become one of my top 10 favorite names of places) and we spent a very enjoyable evening eating good food, sipping wine and getting acquainted (and taking turns walking Ellie up and down the wharf in the freezing rain). We shared the Pizza Speciale: Pepperoni with sun dried tomato pesto and provolone and the Pancetta, Mushroom, Roast garlic, Sage and Provolone as appetizers-very tasty. I’m sorry to say I don’t remember what everyone ordered (ditto on the wine) but for my entrée I ordered the penne with pumpkin, spinach, sage and almonds and was quite pleased.
• Sumac: Wow! What a great little treasure this was. The decor was lovely and the serving dishes were amazing, so pretty in and of themselves that it was almost a shame to put food on them. Our waitress was very helpful yet unobtrusive and quite patient with Ellie's repeated requests for "Water El-yie" whenever Ellie spotted her walking by with the water jug. We shared the selection of breads and dips as appetizers-it was fresh and delicious and we were very happy eating all that good hummus, baba ghanoush and tzatziki. I also ordered the Garlic Chicken Fattoush salad which was also excellent and which Ellie enjoyed too and Tom had the Lamb Kafta, Tzatziki, Sumac, Onions, Rocket, Pickles, Pita and gave that two thumbs up.
• Emperor's Garden-level 2 corner Dixon & Hay Street Haymarket NSW 2000 Tel: (02) 9211 2135 We were in the area and starving so we decided to stop in and try the Yum Cha (dim sum) and were pleasantly surprised. One of the things we were saddened about leaving behind when we moved from NYC was the wonderful dim sum we used to get on the occasional Sunday morning. The food here was quite good and fresh. I didn't think there was much of a variety but after a few servings of pork dumplings and tasty bean curd who cared.
• Blue Fish: I think Ellie experienced her second crush here, she never took her eyes off of or stopped smiling at our waiter every time he came to our table or even passed through the general vicinity of our table. It was kind of cute to watch. Anyway, the food was excellent and that came as a bit of a surprise to me because when Tom said he wanted seafood I thought he meant his usual craving for a fried seafood platter-something which often times in the past landed us at a mediocre restaurant and Tom vowing to lay off seafood platters for the rest of his life, but this wan't like that. Oh sure people were ordering fish and chips by the boatload but also on the menu was a sizzling garlic prawns appetizer served in a clay pot that was out of this world (order the garlic bread for dipping). I don't see it on the online menu but I had the steamed barramundi fillet served with yellow curry over jasmine rice with crispy garlic bits and steamed broccoli and green beans that was excellent. EXCELLENT I TELL YOU! Much to my surprise, rather than order the usual fried seafood platter Tom ordered the Fish Blue Seafood Marinara Boat which came with "fresh squid, oky, mussel, pippies, and prawns that were quickly pan fried with tomato, garlic, chilli & parsley"- it was also excellent but since it wasn't my dish I won't scare you by typing that in caps.

To be continued...

Written by Deb on December 21, 2005 12:12 AM