Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - OZ- Good, reasonably-priced restaurants

I've already found some good restaurant info on this forum, but am hoping for some additional information.

We will be travelling to Sydney, Melbourne, Port Douglas, the Great Ocean Road (Melbourne to Port Fairy), Adalaide and Kangaroo Island next month. Looking for any and all restaurant recommendations. We like good food, but good, local, ethnic, inexpensive (reasonably priced) food. We don't like to eat in the trendy, hottest places (usually overpriced), or even the places where the guidebooks send all the tourists.

Any recommendations for these areas would be greatly appreciated. We eat everything, but especially love seafood, Italian and Asian food...

Thanks!

just got back,

couple of quick recommendations

Pt Douglas - On the Inlet, great seafood, reasonable
Pt Douglas - Nautilus, excellent food, atmosphere, expensive
Melbourne - Il Bacaro, tiny Italian restaurant, great food, reasonable

I've already found some good restaurant info on this forum, but am hoping for some additional information.

We will be travelling to Sydney, Melbourne, Port Douglas, the Great Ocean Road (Melbourne to Port Fairy), Adalaide and Kangaroo Island next month. Looking for any and all restaurant recommendations. We like good food, but good, local, ethnic, inexpensive (reasonably priced) food. We don't like to eat in the trendy, hottest places (usually overpriced), or even the places where the guidebooks send all the tourists.

Any recommendations for these areas would be greatly appreciated. We eat everything, but especially love seafood, Italian and Asian food...

Thanks!
As a Sydney sider I can reccommend a great Asian restaraunt at Cockle Bay- Chinta Ria. Very affordable and the Beef Ria ie to die for. For Good Italian go to Norton St, Leichardt. Its the little Italy of Sydney and around 5 mins away from the City Centre-v affordable prices and most of them are BYO wine/beer so pick up a nice bottle of Vino before you sit down from one of the local bottle shops.

I know you said, not in guidebooks, but in Melbourne and Sydney you can buy a book called "Cheap Eats" (in Melbourne called The Age Cheap Eats, in Sydney called The Sydney Morning Herald Cheap Eats). It focuses on exactly what you're after - cheap, local, good quality meals.

My tip for Melbourne is the Florentino Cellar Bar. It's part of the Grossi Florentino restaurant, but in the basement. Excellent Italian food, the only drawback is that it is very popular, so it is not the type of place to eat if you want a long, lingering meal.
http://www.grossiflorentino.com.au/

Izakaya Chuji (also in Melbourne) is great for Japanese.

thought of one more very inexpensive option, we enjoyed the Myer's food hall in Melbourne very much, particularly for good, inexpensive sushi. Great place to grab a quick lunch. Feel free to PM if you have any other questions.

In Sydney, for something different, go to Stanley Street, East Darlinghurst which runs off College Street next to Police Headquarters and there are many Italian restaurants are reasonable prices. My favourite is Bill & Toni's which is unlicensed/BYO so you can take your wine, and there is a hotel 50 yards away.

Bill & Toni's is two level with the restaurant being on the first floor, but when you have finished your meal you go downstairs where you have your coffee and desert. You will not be hungry after two courses upstairs, and "both" courses will not cost more than AUD$25. By the way, I believe they have the best coffee in Sydney downstairs.

In Melbourne:

Lanna Thai, 283 Exhibition St, City - reliable Thai food (green curry excellent, IMO) at reasonable prices, forgotten whether you can BYO wine

Arintji, Federation Square, City - "modern" food, excellent food, a little bit pricier than some (say AUD25 - 35 for main course), but nothing outrageous. No BYO drink.

Old Rangoon, 101 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn - really nice and well-prepared Burmese cuisine (I hadn't tasted Burmese food prior to this, but it, not surprisingly, has similarities to Indian and Thai cuisine. Well priced. BYO Wine. Out of the city, perhaps 5 or 6 km, catch the No. 75 tram from Flinders St (BTW, this tram takes you along Bridge Rd Richmond, where there are a squillion restaurants).

And in additon to what HighFlyer71 said, there are several Chinta Ria in Melbourne - have eaten at couple and found them both good.

Enjoy your trip!

You say "we" so assume it is 2 persons?

Buy a few Entertainment Books. Millions of great places in each, and one "2 for 1" meal will often save you cost of the book.

Also Lots of very nice oz restaurants are "BYO" .. . that saves big bucks. Indeed more than 50% of all SYD restaurants are BYO I'd guess.

Just got back too & can heartily recommend in the Adelaide area:

Alphutte - Wonderful Swiss cuisine (bit pricey, but great) early reservations required.

The Duck Inn - Coromandel Valley, the 1/2 price lunch specials can't be beat!

Not exactly OZ food but you can find branches of the excellent noodles giant Wagamama (http://www.wagamama.com.au/) in MEL and SYD. Also in MEL and SYD you'll find branches of the Israeli based Max Brenner Chocolate cafes (http://www.maxbrenner.com.au/) - quite an experience for chocolate lovers.

In ADL there is an excellent Belgian beer cafe (http://www.oostende.com.au/).

A must visit gourmet dining experience (average cost $A3) is Harry's:

http://www.eatability.com.au/au/sydney/harrys_cafe_de_wheels.htm

Port Douglas
Make reservations, no matter where you are going. Pt Douglas may not be very crowded when you go (Feb is bad for jellyfish & school holidays will be over), but better safe than sorry. You can make them same day. IME, if you decide to just rock up on the night, you may find yourself settling for dinner from one of takeaway joints. In addition to the other restaurants mentioned above, my parents loved Salsa Bar & Grill. http://www.salsa-port-douglas.com.au/

Adelaide
T Chow Restaurant - 68 Moonta Street. Its an Adelaide institution.

Melbourne
CBD
Il Solito Posto - 113 Collins Street. The entrance is down the laneway (known as George Parade), and the food in the bistro (right when you enter)is more reasonable than the restaurant (down the furthest set of stairs). Great for a quick lunch if you're shopping on Collins Street. Excellent for a quick latte as well. http://www.ilsolitoposto.com.au/

Italy 1 - George Parade. Across the laneway from Il Solito Posto, just off Collins Street. Again, excellent Italian cafe. The owners also own Bistro 1, which is 126 Little Collins Street. http://www.italy1.com.au/

Pellegrini's - 66 Bourke Street: A Melbourne institution. An espresso bar which will serve you amazing fresh pasta. Friday's are fresh gnocchi, but you may run into a queue. Or you may get lucky and have lunch in the kitchen with the owner.

South Yarra - Great shopping and lots of cafes & restaurants - particularly on Chapel St. Also on Toorak Rd, between Chapel St & Punt Rd.

Cafe e Cucina - 581 Chapel Street. I've only been there for lunch, but have found the food to be great. Might be a bit pricey though.

Cosi - 68 Toorak Rd. Classic Italian which I've enjoyed alot. Good food, but you have to stay on top of the waiters for service.

Kanpai - 569 Chapel Street. Relatively quick and inexpensive Japanese.

Oriental Tea House - 455 Chapel Street. Fantastic "Dim Sim" (Dim Sum everywhere else but Oz) which we enjoy at brunch every so often on the weekend. Relatively new to Chapel St, you get can get great tea here as well (I know, what a surprise!).

Pacific House - 210 Toorak Rd. Good cheap Chinese food. Particularly good if you've been watching a game in the pub for a couple of hours.

Sydney
Bondi Beach
Hugo's - 70 Campbell Pde. Great for breakfast (only Sat& Sun). I think there's a cutoff on Saturday at noon, but brunch on Sunday may be a bit longer.

Jackie's - 132a Warners Ave (corner of Campbell Parade). Also breakfast, but at the north end of the beach.

Ravesi's - 118 Campbell Parade (corner of Hall St). I like this hotel's restaurant, up on the 1st floor... but it might be a bit pricey (~$50, 3 courses/person). But I love their salt & pepper calamari, which I believe you can also order from the bar on the street level.

Darlinghurst
bills - 433 Liverpool St. Try the ricotta hotcakes, with banana, honeycomb butter and syrup. Brilliant. Open 7 days a week.

Dov - 252 Forbes St. Also great for breakfast.

Onde - 346 Liverpool St. Across the street (roughly) from bills. Classic bistro, and pretty reasonable.

East Sydney
Bill & Toni's - 74 Stanley St. I used to live down the street from here... great coffee and good food.

Cafe Pacifico - 95 Riley St. If you're looking for Mexican (I know - in Australia?!?) I would recommend this place. On the first floor, above a garage, it'll either be rocking, wild, dancing on tables, and doing shots with the waiters or it'll be dead. Either way, I like the food.

Hard Rock Please don't go there... and if you do, please don't admit it to anyone in Australia. Its really embarassing. Unfortunately, if you're dying for an American hamburger (you'll know what I mean after you have an Australian one), it may be your only option. Btw - McDonalds & Hungry Jack (Burger King) don't count as having hamburgers!

Paddington
Arthurs - 260 Oxford St. Great pizza, pretty good Italian food and good value for money.

Eat Thai - 229 Glenmore Rd (Five Ways) - Good, cheap & fast. Great for a group - but you may want to make reservations. http://www.eatthai.com.au/

Royal Hotel - 237 Glenmore Rd (Five Ways). The restaurant is on the first floor... its had a bit of a bumpy road over the past 5 years, but I'd say its pretty good Australian fare at a decent price.

Surry Hills
bills 2 - 359 Crown St. On the ground floor of the Medina hotel, this is same restaurant as bills in darlinghurst, with a much more modern decor. What it lacks in ambience, it makes up for in food. Again, I'd recommend for breakfast only.

Billy Kwong - 3/355 Crown St. Kylie Kwong only shows up about once a month, but its still great food. If the line's too long, head up the street to the Clock or Prasits.

Cham Sae Bang - 437 Elizabeth St. Korean, and open late.

The Clock Hotel - 470 Crown Street. When the owner sold the Royal Hotel at 5 Ways, most of the staff went with him to the Clock. While this was some years ago, its still my one of my favourite places for a good meal. http://www.clockhotel.com.au/

Prasits on Crown - 395 Crown St. Excellent Thai (some say best in Sydney) at decent prices.

Random info
Don't tip more than 10% - ever. 5% is often plenty.
Wine - If it costs more, you can safely assume it's going to be a better drop. Price strongly correlates with quality here.
In every bottle shop you'll find someone willing to make a good recommendation if you can't make up your mind.
Most kitchens close at 10 or 10.30.
Most restaurants have one seating per table per night.
Be prepared for a new definition of "good service".

(Sorry this is so long... have a good trip!)

Most restaurants have one seating per table per night.



Really? :confused:

In Sydney,

Try Hurricane's Grill in Bondi Beach (just off Campbell Parade). You can get a full rack of ribs for $26, and trust me, you'll be full. I usually just get the full rack and an entree and share. Ribs are the best I've ever had. But you'll need a booking if you go on the weekends.

[QUOTE=jrk1998
Hard Rock Please don't go there... and if you do, please don't admit it to anyone in Australia. Its really embarassing. Unfortunately, if you're dying for an American hamburger (you'll know what I mean after you have an Australian one), it may be your only option. Btw - McDonalds & Hungry Jack (Burger King) don't count as having hamburgers!

ROFLMAO - Burgers at the Hard Rock suck, regardless of it's location :)

Random info
Don't tip more than 10% - ever. 5% is often plenty.

Tipping in Australia is based on how you feel about the service you receive..not some random percentage. If you like it and want to tip 10% then tip 10%. If you thought it sucked then don't tip at all.

Be prepared for a new definition of "good service".

Just a tad of over generalisation here :)

Phoebe

Be prepared for a new definition of "good service".

Just a tad of over generalisation here :)

Phoebe

Happy to be proved wrong... but its been eight years, so I'm not holding my breath any longer! :)

Most restaurants have one seating per table per night.

Really? :confused:

Definitely not for cafes, but IME - if a restaurant has a booking, the table is locked for the night. Again, most of the time.

On our first night in Port Douglas, at 6.00pm, we were told at the Salsa Bar & Grill that they were booked out for the evening. We "negotiated" with them, finally getting a table that had been reserved for 9.00pm. We had to promise to be gone by 8.30pm - I think they were shocked when we were leaving at 7.30pm. I've been able to get into "completely booked out" tables at Icebergs, Rockpool, Flower Drum, Ezard, and numerous other restaurants by asking them the same thing - an early seating if we promise to be gone a half hour before a late reservation. In contrast, most NYC restaurants automatically have 2 and sometimes 3 seatings, for at least some of their tables. Then again, they have the rent to make... maybe its a requirement that they turnover more often.

IME, in most US cities, you'd never have to negotiate to get a table at 6.00pm if that table had a reservation for 9.00pm. You'd just be shown to the table.

Tipping in Australia is based on how you feel about the service you receive..not some random percentage. If you like it and want to tip 10% then tip 10%. If you thought it sucked then don't tip at all. Actually, I always advise the opposite - if service is bad, still leave a tip, but make it ridiculously small. Leaving no tip doesn't send a signal that you aren't happy, they may just think you aren't a tipper. making an extremely small tip (something like 5¢) sends a clear message that you aren't impressed by the service.

Dave