After months of searching and reviews, we managed to eat our way through several top restaurants and cafés in Sydney. Here's our list!One thing we knew going into this trip was that Australia, as a whole, knows how to do Brunch and sweets. They've perfected the cronut, got just about everyone hooked on Flat Whites, and had the world duplicating their Freak Shakes (google it if you're unfamiliar). But after talking to some friends from Sydney, as well as reviewing lots of blogs, we learned that Sydneysiders love a hearty meat dinner with a cold beer on the side. We were excited to try some local brew (beer and espresso) and dig into some barramundi along the way. Below is the extensive list of restaurants we visited. What can we say, we like to eat! Brewtown Newtown - Newtown neighborhood We got off the plane and made a plan to grab coffee so we had our Über driver drop us at Brewtown Newtown. It's in a southern suburb of Sydney and we knew it would be our one chance to get it before heading into the city. Again, coming from the airport we had our luggage (luckily we packed only carry-ons) but the crew there was so accommodating. Did I mention is was a Saturday morning so the brunch crowd was huge! But their hospitality set the tone for everyone we'd encounter in Australia. They took our luggage and gave us a table along the side wall so we'd have room. We both ordered some flat whites and a couple plates of food, I got a vegan toast and Chase ordered sour cherry pancakes. It was all wonderful! Harry's Bondi - Bondi Beach If you've been following along with our other Australia posts, we talked about going to Bondi on the first day. We had it planned out to get breakfast, go to our Airbnb and then head to Bondi for lunch at Acai Brothers. Well, that plan fell through when we arrived at Acai Brothers and they were closed (we had missed it by just 5 minutes). So we went to the next place on our list, Harry's Bondi. They weren't serving lunch anymore (it was nearly 4pm when we got there) so we grabbed our second flat white and some pastries and people watched from the window bar. The interior was adorable (especially the teal espresso machine) and the staff was attentive and sweet. It was a great pick-me-up to keep us going. Toko Sydney - Surry Hills Chase found a well rated Japanese restaurant in Surry Hills (15 minute walk from our apartment) called Toko. We didn't have reservations but the host took our name and directed us to the bar/lounge. We were sitting for nearly 5 minutes before he came back over and told us there was a spot at the chef's counter if we wanted it. We did! The menu was small plates so we shared everything and ordered roughly 8 plates. It might have been one of my favorite meals in Sydney! The atmosphere was warm and inviting, the food was amazing and watching the chefs perfect each plate was entertaining, to say the least. Highly recommend Toko if you head to Sydney (there's a second location in Melbourne too). Edition Roasters - Darlinghurst From our Airbnb, we headed down the street a few blocks to Edition for breakfast. Blog reviews had lead us here for their black sesame seed, mango ganache pancakes. They were mouth-watering! Umm, so good! The decor felt Scandinavian (stark and clean) but yet seemed very neighborly. There were loads of people coming in greeting each other by first names. We loved it... Definitely glad we added this to the list! A few places without photos: The Burger Joint - Darlinghurst We got to Sydney during their Labor Day weekend so by Sunday, things had closed early to observe the holiday. We had plans to try a more upscale steak restaurant but found out they were closed. So we headed to the suggestion list from our Airbnb host and he had the Burger Joint on there for a quick, close, and delicious hamburger. Chase added beets to his burger and fell in love. I made the mistake of adding "bacon" only to find out Australian bacon is the same as Canadian... Needless to say, I took my piece of ham off and enjoyed a nice juicy cheeseburger! Chapter E - Darlinghurst Another place we stopped at was a tiny hole in the wall café just up the street from our apartment. They had coffee, cold-pressed juices, pastries, sandwiches and Korean to-go. A weird mix but they saved us on a day when very few things were open. We got two Açai bowls to go and chowed down on them at our house. Ripples - Milsons Point Probably our biggest let down of the whole trip. The food was only ok and the atmosphere came across much stuffier than needed. The draw to this place was the location. It's right along the boardwalk in north Sydney so the views of the bridge and the opera house were unparalleled (there's a night photo in our last blog post, that was taken right in front of the restaurant). However, the patio, which normally is open air, had a clear cover around it to keep the chill out but it ruined the view. Maybe this place would have shined more during a warm, summer day instead of a chilly, spring night. Local Mbassy - Ultimo Hands down, best breakfast spot we visited! We took our chances and headed over to Ultimo (this involved the metro to central station, a change over to the light rail and then about a 2 mile walk) on Labor Day. To our fortune, they were open and we snagged a cute table at the front of the café. We ordered a couple cronuts, two red velvet flat whites, and a couple plates of food, including their famous red velvet pancakes. In between each pancake was a layer of strawberries and mascarpone, and served on the side, warm white chocolate sauce! It was everything I had dreamed it would be! The Pantry - Manly Beach After our feast at Local Mbassy, we headed to the beach! Ha! We shared about our time at Manly and discussed The Pantry a bit in our beach edition of Australia a couple posts back, but I thought I'd include it here as well. The setting was really lovely but we felt The Pantry was too upscale to be on the beach. It confused us that they'd have an unwritten dress code when the shack of a restaurant was literally on the sandy beach of Manly. However, we dined at a table in the back and ordered their Burramundi Fish and Chips as well as some local Sydney beer. Our waitress was really sweet and the food was great. Just wish we would have known the attire needed to be less swimsuit and more Sunday Brunch. Shortstop - Barangaroo Shortstop is a well known donut shop from Melbourne. Chase had found this place on instagram and told me they were getting a location in Sydney just a few months before we'd visit. We started following them and decided we had to make a stop there one morning. They had a lot of season reflecting flavors so their menu seems to change quarterly. We ordered 4 donuts and split each one. My favorite was the pumpkin with a cream cheese dollop and Chase enjoyed the Earl Grey, rose dipped cake donut. Pretty delicious and the coffee was great too! Nel Restaurant - Surry Hills We finished our first leg of Sydney at Nel. It was newer to the Sydney restaurant scene but had a lot of buzz around it. Chase researched it the most and decided the atmosphere and fixed 8 course meal seemed interesting enough to give it a try. We were so glad we got to experience Nel. It's recently been named one of Sydney's best restaurants and seems to be a favorite among locals. The food was incredible and every course was vibrant in color and taste. We left with a bonus course goodie bag of bite sized sweet treats including a sea salt caramel, peppermint bark, white chocolate fudge, and a candied orange. They rotate their menu every few weeks to keep up with the produce coming into season so if you decide to go to Sydney and want a special night out, check out Nel. We loved it. Until Next Time, C + D
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