Eating Sydney

 

For almost a year we have been waiting for this trip. A chance to get back to Sydney, to escape the longest wintry-weather misery of home and defrost and to get to see a show at the Opera House. Not any show, but one of Gudge's favourite bands, Swedish Prog-metallers, Opeth.

Before we got to the airport, we have a little tradition...

My usual: Whopper with Cheese

And at the airport, I have a little tradition (wink and smirk). On a side note, our flight was delayed. We live an hour from the airport so once we're there, we're there. I received a message to let me know of the delay 25 minutes after we were supposed to have boarded. Thanks for that Jetstar. I fly Virgin 90% of the time and I'm going to try to up that to 99%. Our flight home was also delayed, both for plane problems. Nope. Done.

The upside to this, and something I haven't been asked in some time, would I like a small or large wine. I think there's only one answer to that question, and I was very happy with my massive glass of Rose to get me through the delay. 

But we arrived eventually (we also had to circle around Sydney in the air for 40 minutes to wait for a storm to pass, I don't blame Jetstar for this.)

We stayed at the Meriton Pitt Street. My third time. I love its central location and walkability. I LOVE staying in an apart-hotel. Sydney accommodation is quite expensive and the Meriton is no different but we worked out the extra money for accommodation can be made up by eating one or two meals a day at home instead of at cafes or restaurants. So we were quite frugal but still ate well and had a wonderful time. I won't bother writing up the toasted sandwiches or cook at home pizzas.

View from room 3903 Meriton Pitt Street

Our first day involved a walk around Surry Hills and a visit to the Museum of Australia to see the Relics Exhibition. Gudge adores lego and we has certainly got me into it too. This was created by 2 of the winners of Lego Masters and depicts a futuristic, post-apocalypic world. Humans have ruined the planet and died out and mini-figs have taken over. It was extraordinary, so well done and very witty.

We stopped in back home for a midday siesta before walking down to Circular Quay for a ferry ride to Manly to take in the perfect weather before some afternoon window shopping.

As you can imagine, we were pretty knackered and opted for an easy, eat in meal.

I picked these up from the Woolies downstairs and reminded me so much of being in Japan, grabbing some bites to eat from the conbini and relaxing back at the room. These were certainly NOT the Japanese prices I fell in love with. 

Nigiri, Sushi roll, Takoyaki, Matua Savignon Blanc

Our second full day, we started with more window shopping before grabbing a little brunch of pistachio cheesecake to bring back to have with a cup of tea.

Pistachio Cheesecake, English Breakfast Tea

And a solo afternoon trip to the Botanic Gardens and specifically the Calyx for me. It was everything I hoped it would be.

The Calyx

As tonight was Gudgies special night, he was to choose the dinner destination. We had been on our last trip and it was very good. Of course it's for tourists and has the views to justify that, but the food and service was great so I was happy to go back to Wahlburgers.

It was one of those Tasmania-esque type days where all day it was coolish, but by the afternoon it was very hot in the sun, so we opted to sit in the shade, but still got to take in the surrounds.

It was happy hour and Monday night meal deals so I was happy with all of that. I started with a pornstar martini which was excellent, despite having to google the correct way to drink it (alternate sips between the martini and prosecco)

I couldn't go past a $25 Porterhouse (usually $44) with onion rings and salad with a side of truffle aioli and Gudge ordered a Chicken Burger. 

The steak, although it felt like a lower quality steak was cooked really well and was delicious. Good salad, the truffle aioli was excellent and very tasty accompaniment but the onion rings were cold.

His burger was not, in fact a chicken burger. But he was still happy with the burger and the tasty chips.

I decided I needed a little caffeine to get me through the night and I thought some sugar wouldnt hurt either, so we ordered an espresso martini and a serving of their Fried Dough- All American with cinnamon apples, ice cream and cream.

Although still pretty delicious, this was not cinnamon apples but chocolate sauce- The Classic. 

We certainly couldn't complain with 2 cocktails, soft drink, coffee, a steak, burger and dessert for not much over $100 but I don't think we'll be back after the incorrect meals brought out on two cases. (I still love Mark Wahlberg though.)

But the night was young and we were off to the show that was the reason we were in Sydney afterall.

A spectacular evening to wait. In a remarkably beautiful city.

And finally to the Opera House, great seats to a spectaular show. A bucket list item ticked off in having been to a show inside the Opera House and Gudge was so happy with the set. The band were outstanding, and had all the professionalism of a band formed 35 years ago.

Off to the airport in the morning and a quick eat before our lunchtime flight (once again delayed).

There's a lot of things we don't have in Tasmania- Ikea, Aldi and 2 weird things that we probably wouldn't miss if we had access to them, Red Rooster (oh gosh we get cravings for Red Rooster) and something I didn't even remember I had missed til I walked past. Roll'd spring rolls. I also ordered a Bahn Mi, which is good because we didn;t get home til close to 4 pm.

And that was our not-so-fancy but 100% enjoyable trip to Sydney. Done and dusted til next time.

New Sydney Hotel, Hobart

Tonight we had tickets to see a show from one of my all time favourites authors, Ben Elton. I have read every one of his books at least 3 times.  My favourites are Two Brothers, The First Casualty and Blind Faith. Gudge is a huge fan of his scriptwriting including Blackadder and Upstart Crow. 

The show was at 7.30 at the casino so we had time to grab some dinner.  

There's not too much I love about Tasmania's State Government, but of the few good things they've done is they provided us residents with tourism vouchers to boost local businesses during the quiet winter off-season. 

We were talking our voucher to the New Sydney Hotel, THE quintessential Irish pub in Hobart City. 

Photo courtesy of New Sydney Hotel

We've had drinks there in their wonderful beer garden and have tried some small bites. But every time,  service and ambience is excellent, from their open fire to their perfectly poured Guinness pints. 

Arriving at 5.45 without a reservation,  we were snuck in on the proviso that we would clear the table by 7. I actually LOVE when this happens as it's almost a guarantee that service will be quick!

We start with a Coke for Gudge and a Swinging Gate Pet Nat for myself.  

We order the 300g Porterhouse, chips, salad and pepper sauce for myself.  

Chicken Parmigiana, chips for Gudge as well as Buttermilk fried Chicken to share. 

My steak was fantastic! Perfectly medium-rare, nice char, and THICK! Great crispy chips. Salad was a dressed lettuce mix as the salad (which I'm so-so about at a $2.50 extra charge) and a lovely and peppery gravy. I'm totally happy to give this 9 out of 10 for $42.50. 

Gudge really enjoyed his Parmy,  noting the delicious smokiness of the ham. 

The Buffalo Chicken was cooked and seasoned very well, delicious dip but didn't think $16 was very good value for essentially 3 small tenders. 

We left very full,  satisfied and happy.  Headed to the casino with time enough to throw $20 into the pokies and head to the auditorium for an excellent show, surpassing all of my expectations.  If you have a chance check out ANYTHING from Ben Elton, you should. He also seems like a lovely man. 

The hour drive home went smoothly and were blessed with an aurora viewing before bed.

Fantastic night all round!

If you're in Hobart, do stop in to the New Sydney Hotel.

Address: 87 Bathurst St, Hobart TAS 7000

Phone: (03) 6234 4516

Menu: newsydneyhotel.com.au

Driving and Eating In the Midlands of Tasmania

I recently had yet another beautiful friend visit. Queenslanders seem to love coming down in the winter. I imagine for some REAL winter (it's early spring as I write this and I can still see snow on the peaks out of my lounge room window). We love it because it breaks up what we find can be a long, dark and dreary time of the year. 

It's also really the only opportunity I get to go and eat out. We live a pretty frugal lifestyle and don't eat out very often at all, so it's a real treat when I do.

*I get the irony of having a food and dining blog and hardly eating out. But this is the path we chose and I wouldn't change it for the world.

My lovely guest had planned a trip to Campbell Town and I volunteered to come for a drive. It's maybe 1 and a half to 2 hours to Campbell Town from my place not far from New Norfolk and I have decided to include a map for my many readers who aren't all that familiar with Tasmania.

We decided to stop at Ross for a bite to eat. Ross is a beautiful historic town almost half way between Hobart and Launceston. We stopped in firstly at Convict Coffee and Bakery 31. It was warm and homely and lovely. And we would have one of Tasmania's local delicacies, Scallop Pie. As a general rule, most scallop pies are sea scallops in a curry sauce. I prefer it in a bechamel (white) sauce and low and behold, we managed to track one down. And it was excellent. Great pastry,  a generous amount of good sized scallops and a delicious and well seasoned béchamel.

We wandered up and down the main street of Ross after our pie to admire the early season daffodils starting to emerge, indicating the end of winter, but many of the stores were closed (off season, this is very normal). 

One place that was not closed and looked too adorable to skip, was Rossco's Deli. It was so charming inside and we were greeted by the friendliest woman. Her made-on-site sweets stopped me in my tracks and the kind and wonderful woman said she'd happily cut the vanilla slice in half (so I could take half home to Gudge) because it was HUGE. It was a 10 out of 10 vanilla slice too and one I'd drive all the way to Ross for in a heart beat.

10/10 vanilla slice.

The lovely Town of Ross.

Campbell Town was actually a lovely destination. I had only ever stopped there as a loo stop on trips to or from the North of the Island, but it had a variety of lovely shops that we spent the afternoon perusing before journeying back.

Convict paving on the main street of Campbell Town

A day or two after we spent the day in my local town of New Norfolk and stopped into the Agrarian Kitchen Kiosk for a light lunch. You may have read my previous posts or heard of the Agrarian Kitchen as having won Tasmanian and Australian Restaurant of the year in 2025 and 2024 respectively. The kiosk on a sunny day is one of the nicest places to have lunch. Snacks, light meals and sweets mostly under $20. I had the chard and cheese danish and a hot chocolate and both were just wonderful. The most buttery, crispy pastry with a warm savoury filling. It was perfect.

Perfect blue skies, green grass and rosemary, firepit on the lawns at Agrarian Kitchen
in the Grounds of Willow Court.

And the last of my Midlands (and Derwent Valley) eats was an old favourite and local cafe, The Possum Shed at Westerway. Consistently good food and drinks, always an outstanding view over Tyenna River and more often than not, a pup or two to gush over. My standard order: Possum Shed BLT and an Earl Grey (T2) Tea.

And that was a brief trip around the middle parts of our lovely island. I hope you enjoyed.

A Drive to the Huon Valley

The destination was Tahune Airwalk. The party was myself, and my guest and very good friend from Brisbane and his daughter. From my house Tahune Airwalk, not far from Geeveston is just shy of two and a half hours by car, and with a five year old on board, we opted for an overnight stay.

First stop was one of the prettiest towns in Tasmania, Cygnet. As it was time to eat we stopped into Cygnet Japanese Diner which had opened when we lived down this way (over FIVE years ago).

I ordered the Traditional Okonomiyaki as well as the Takoyaki (Octopus Balls) while my guest ordered a ramen and Miss 5 had a tuna hand roll and an inari.

A short wait and our food arrived, steaming hot and looking wonderful.

I absolutely adore how unpretentious this little cafe is, it totally feels like being back in Japan, with well made, authentic Japanese food and service with a smile.

We had booked a two bedroom, self contained unit at Kermandie Hotel, Port Huon and had dinner at the on site Pub.

photo courtesy of booking.com and Kermandie Hotel

The room was comfortable and very good value and the pub turned out to be quite a surprise.

We were very grateful the pub and restaurant were open, as winter in Tasmania is definitely the OFF season. We were one of only groups occupying the accomodation, but I love this time of year and I love having the state virtually to myself, even if it is cold, and foggy and wonderfully British.

With glasses of Tasmanian wine, we both opted for the fettuccini with scallops and it was absolute perfection. For a creamy pasta, it was delightfully balanced, not heavy at all, great seasoning with a generous amount of delicious scallops.

As it was my birthday, I thought I'd treat myself to dessert. This was the Pina Colada terrine and it was vey lovely indeed. A refreshing frozen pineapple and lime dessert topped with roasted coconut and warm candied pineapple.

We made it to the beautiful Tahune Airwalk, my first time. This area was decimated by bushfire in 2019 and closed for many year afterwards, It is open once again and the forest regeneration is spectacular. It was absolutely worth the drive. We did the airwalk as well as one of the riverside walks and we all enjoyed the whole experience.