Caveat: I went there some time in July, but just decided to give this place a review to expand the knowledge base of HGW. Memory is definitely not that great so please pardon the sketchy details.

Ambience

Ambience is posh, with orange lighting and lovely setting. The place itself exudes an air of grandeur. Almost a high society sort of place, where you will routinely hear the tinkling of champagne glasses and polite conversations. There is a coatroom to hang bags and coats and the restaurant is all in all, a romantic / beautiful backdrop.

Service

Service is very good. The waiters are all very well trained, dressed impeccably and are very knowledgeable - both of the intricacies of the menu as well as general italian food. Very professional.

Food

The pastas are very very good - you can taste the pride they take in making the pastas and the ingredients are very fresh. Unfortunately I can't recall all the pastas we had and what they were called, but there was traditional italian pasta and a more modern adaptation of others. I had the house signature dish - the Fettucine al tartufovo - fettucine served in a cream sauce with a lightly fried, truffle-infused eggresulting in a dish.. fabulous stuff.

Value

Definitely pricey but fine dining has it's costs.

if my memory serves, this is 1 of the best places any sashimi/sushi lover would beg to visit. the last time i visited was in 2002, during my winter uni break..... my frens had to peel me away from this stall, simply because i couldn't stop emptying my wallet for the freshest catch.

Low key, tablecloth-free laminated tables. Hard uncomfortable chairs. Washroom is outside in the food court. The restaurant is in the food court.
They have a huge menu. From sashimi, sushi to meat and noodles. The sushi fell apart but was okay tasting. All the noodles have the same soup base. Most dishes from salad to beef use the same two sauces- a vinegary one and a richer gravy one. So really the menu isn't that extensive. Nothing memorable or "must try".
We went a few times to try the menu. We might keep going back because it is easy to get into, and it is a little cheaper (not cheap) than the other Japanese restaurants. But the service is outrageous. The last time, the manager was scolding a patron who had dared to take a paper serviette from the next table. The service is so slow, I don't blame the patron. When she told the manager she thought he was rude, he pointed her out the door. Noone needs to witness that. I felt mortified for the patron. I expect better service and would enjoy myself more at McDonalds.

Bourke Street Bakery is a landmark in Sydney for all foodies, so we knew we just HAD to go there and get some pastries or forever regret it.

Ambience

This is a really old school bakery, nothing fancy. Next to a cute bookshop cafe and there are some seats outside for al fresco dining - okay, so maybe they are just seats and tables. But the beauty of this place is that it is so charming and old-school. The 'authenticness' of the place just creates such a nice warm atmosphere. The smells of the pastries and baking will just melt your heart.

Value

It's not cheap. But worth every single cent. You'll kick yourself if you hold back and not buy more (like I did) which is why I had to go back there the next day to buy more.

Service

The lady there is really really nice. When I went there on the second day, it was about 3 and they were almost sold out of everything! They lady gave me the extra 'damaged' tarts for free and they tasted as divine as the rest, never mind the ruined looks. When in the mouth, all the same!~

Food

This boulangerie in Surrey Hills makes the most exquisite bread, tarts and muffins, better than any bakery I know in Singapore. Peerless.

The savoury breads were excellent, we bought back a walnut sourdough for our hosts who were having a barbeque that night and they loved it. It was gone so fast each of us only managed to get one slice!

The lemon curd tart is yummy. The sweentess and sourness was just right, producing that tangy taste which whets your appetite. The smoothness of the cream teases the tongue and fills the mouth with this awesome feeling. The crust is balanced and perfectly baked, reflecting the years of experience that this tiny shop has under its belt.

But to me, the five star pastry is the Vanilla Brulee with Strawberry. This must be the pinnacle of pastries. It could easily send you into an orgasm with each bite. (Reminds me a bit of the catalanian creme brulee I had at taller de tapas in Barcelona, but I digress). It was beautiful, marvellous and unfortunately, you will never fully understand unless you sink your teeth into one. The creme brulee top, caramelized sugar browned to perfection, the soft sweet filling and the strawberries at the bottom. Can't even begin to describe how wonderful this tastes.

They also serve an assortment of other pastries, inter alia
- plum & almond tart, Chocolate and raspberry purse tart, rhubarb almond tart. Each with its own personality and flavour to excite the senses and ignite a passion.

It's quite simply love in a tart
=)

If you ever have a chance to go to Sydney, please could you try to eat at this place. Cafe Sopra is absolutely the cutest cafe you can find - only reserved for those in the know.

The girlfriend and I went there earlier sometime in June this year, and it was an unforgettable experience. Only for the discerning, here's the secret (it's unfindable if you are not local), it's actually in a warehouse and on the second floor. The girlfriend and I trekked like 20 mins to get to Danks Street and another 30 minutes to find it. We must have walked passed it three times as we hiked up and down the stretch in vain. It's in a artist alley, where there are many art gallerys and a few cafes (which all look good). Believe there's a Hillsongs nearby too. We had nearly given up and gone to Burke Street Bakery, our next destination, but we gamely pressed on to find this gem.

Ambience

The facade is a warehouse/factory. When you enter into it, you can see a forklift and some cars. Then irrelevant italian marble/plaster statues decorate the place. If you venture even further in, you will see that there are actually a lot of people there buying italian grocceries, (and the ingredients look really fresh and good!!). If you look carefully, there's a staircase which brings you upstairs and when you climb up, you will see that it is an extension of the grocceries where you can buy premium coffee, pasta, etc etc. And all the way inside is, this amazing place called Sopra. In terms of ambience, it scores in terms of originality and homeliness.

It's slightly noisy though because of the number of people who want to eat there and are eating there. =P


Service

The wait can be long. Be prepared to wait 20 minutes at least. I don't think reservations are possible. You can take get drinks/wine from a bar counter whilst waiting or just wander around the interesting variety of italian ingredients on offer. But rest assured, the food will be worth it.

Service of food is warm and friendly, as waiters skip from table to table and they are an affiable bunch. Very obliging and professional.

Value

It's extremely good italian food at very decent prices. Food in Sydney generally is not cheap, but in terms of value for money, this would be pretty high up there in my opinion.

Fooooooood

The food is simply amazing. There were soooo many things we wanted to try but just didn't have the opportunity to. Watch out especially for what's on the special's board or ask the chef.

We had a lamb ragout which was simply amazing. Coupled with the fact that we were famished from our adventure, we devoured it with gusto. We couldn't help but savour the smoothness of the sauce and the tenderness of the meat with eat bite. The potatoes and tomatoes were delightful and it was just one of the great culinary highlights of our trip. It was so hearty and satisfying, I drool trying to recall the sensational taste.

We had a ricotta cheese on a fruit bread which was yummy (but there is a better one which I will write about in due course). The ricotta and honey was a perfect blend on top of the freshly baked bread.

We had poached salmon which was ever so fresh and well done. The natural flavour of the fish was enhanced by the way the chef cooked it, locking in that amazing taste. Some times you have to taste it for yourself to understand, and this is definitely one of those places.

For dessert, we had affogato. Italian coffee with italian ice cream. If heaven doesn't have this, I'll have to reconsider. It was , and I exaggerate not, breath-taking. The smoothness of the coffee coupled with the sweetness of the vanilla ice cream (freshly made!) was just perfect.

This place, I would highly recommend. Please do try this and I hope you have as wonderful an experience as I did!

I've been there 3 times and my experience seem to drop a little each time I go.

The key and best things Rambutan can boast about is the bar (downstairs), and the live cooking beneath the beautiful decor behind the curtain covered window-panels of the restaurant.

The service staff is top-notch. Attentive and many a times, humourous. There's this one waiter, tall, short blond hair= super humourous, but I didn't get his name.

The cocktails are very unique. With sake mixed cocktails and lavender martinis, you know they are serious enough to give Longrain (another established modern thai restaurant) a run for their money.

I got to know this little hidden place because of my colleague's birthday lunch. I enjoyed the decor as it resembled a cosy cottage like Japanese eatery.

The bento set that I got was massive. It had 4 pieces of Sashimi, 5 pieces of sushi, terriyaki chicken (which was a tad too salty), tempura (Very well done!) and miso soup.

I must say that on the whole, the price was reasonable to sustain a little place away from the hustle and busy from the city. But judging from the food alone, I'd say there are other japanese places offering dishes with better value.

Nonetheless, I'd definitely come back for a quiet night, bringing your own wine (they don't serve alcohol i think) and enjoying a dimly-lighted dinner for two.

If there is one combination of food you can order at "Le Petite Creme", it is "Eggs Benedict" and a big cuppa hot chocolate.

The alfresco tables are tiny and the seats are for people who don't eat much. Ironic: because the food served, are in big plates. It's simply a clever job of juggling when it comes to arranging the food on the table to accommodate all your orders.

Be as skinny as a cigarette holding Parisan lady and you can fit into the tables. :)

The first time I've been there: Loved it loved it loved it.

The food was unique, and well cooked. The price: reasonable for the portions served and the decor, modern brick work along with huge modern lamps, Poliform style.

Second and consecutive times: Not so good anymore. The service was bad, and the staff was poor at managing queues and gave preference to big groups: this caused a huge pile up in couples and trios caught out in the cold (winter time). Not to mention Sydney has seen it's windiest and coldest winter this year. (2008).

With all the big groups hogging the seats within the restaurant, people tend to chat without any limit... and sometimes having more friends add on to the table.

At one point, I waited 1.5 hrs and walked away. No place is worth waiting so long for and definitely not Chat Thai.

The last time I went, the "Emerald Duck" was highly disappointing. It was an almost vegetarian dish with little to almost no duck at all. Too much Emerald huh.

Nonetheless, if you have a craving for some authentic thai food, while enjoying a warm and pretty decor, check out Chat Thai.

When I first arrived at Zilver, I just couldn't stop chuckling at the name... It was like someone waking up drunk, deciding that he loved the colour "zilver" and decided to name his new restaurant, ZILVER!!!

There is a lion dance going on at the entrance while I was waiting for my turn. I was quite excited by it as it's been a while since I've seen a lion dance and I was like, "do some stunt! do some stunts!".

Okay. I digress...

Upon entering, the place was massive. It was like a foot ball field, changed to a food field of people. In traditional Hong Kong style carts, people serve Dim Sum and asking each table if they won't want a plate. In Australia, people call them "Yum Cha"- I just can't understand why "drinking tea" (direct translation from the word) can be a term for having Dim Sum meals.

The portions of the food were massive. It was not as salty as other "YUM CHA" places that I've been to, so I would recommend most dishes. I don't know why they have lobsters and huge seafood dishes- but I realise only the aussie locals order them. My advise: eat the chinese things unless the seafood is freshly cooked man...

The price: not too bad. Cheaper than Gam Fook in Bondi Junction- so I would say, if you want to try another chinese "yam cha" place, go and check out Zilver.