Sweet Willie

Hey all, I really enjoy regional/local dishes and seek out such establishments that serve them.

What are some regional/local dishes that Sydney'ites' enjoy?

--

number_6

Sydney oysters (Tweed River) are famous throughout Australia -- and quite good flatheads (a kind of fish). Pubs have astonishingly good food (and cheap); not like pubs in the rest of the world. Often the best food in country towns will be at the pub, and the same holds true in the CBD of Sydney.

There are earlier threads that give lots of restaurant recommendations, at all price points and cuisine types. My personal favourite is Sake in the Rocks, which is Australian fusion Japanese (sushi made with non-traditional ingredients like kingfish and jalapeno -- fabulous!).

Sweet Willie

thanks number_6, the searches I did really didn't pull up a thread that popped with the info I was looking for, will try again. I really enjoy non-traditional sushi, we have a Korean owned sushi bar near us where the chef is extremely creative and usually successful with his creations.

bensyd

I went to Sake a couple of weeks ago, and was very disappointed. The food was ok, but overpriced for what it was, my local Japanese place probably does it at about 90% for about 40% of the cost, perhaps without the "fusion" but I can live without that. The service was hurried when you could find someone, we were served from beginning to end in 50 minutes, and it seemed the staff had been told to try and ply us with as much alcohol in that 50 minutes as they could. Nice dining room though.

Of course YMMV.

number_6

Some earlier threads in this forum:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/austr...ts-sydney.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/austr...staurants.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/austr...ggestions.html

Sad to hear that Sake has gone down that road ... so common for "in" restaurants. I haven't eaten there in the past 6 months (but will next month), however a friend of mine takes clients there weekly and still thinks it is good. Sounds like success has gone to Sake's head. Lots of good cheap Japanese sushi places in Sydney, though generally not great quality (Melbourne seems to be better for that, particularly for Chinese restaurants).

bensyd

I was surprised, given that the restaurant has gotten a pretty good write up here, among other places, and that Shaun Presland was lauded on the local version of Masterchef, but it really was below par especially given the price.

number_6

Consistency is the mark of a truly fine restaurant. Very few live up to that standard. Modern life makes good chefs celebrities, which sometimes takes them away from running their restaurant. Even Rockpool has gone through cycles of this, despite Neil Perry being both conscientious and competent and dedicated to having a fine product.

Rand0mized

Harry's Cafe De Wheels on Cowper Wharf Road, just below the Finger Wharf.

http://www.harryscafedewheels.com.au...t=1&category=1

It is nothing fancy. In fact, you eat your meat pies write on the wooden barrier of the wharf. However, the food is excellent and very reasonable. I highly recommend the 'Tiger'. This is many of local's favorite.

It is a place with a lot of history. Has been in that area since the 1930's.

number_6

That is the original Harry's de Wheels, which seems to have now gone franchise as there are other locations (near Paddy's market for example). Personally I think the chili is exceptional (quite different from US chili, more like beef stew but tasty; maybe it is the meat pie filling without the crust ).

Sydney has a lot of good Turkish food (be sure to try Turkish bread and also gozleme which are savoury crepes). Best hummus I have ever had was in Sydney (small Turkish restaurant by the post office at Bondi Beach). Mint cafe is stunningly good moroccan food (but Aussie style, don't think the chef/staff are actually moroccan). Because of the climate mediterranean food in general does well. But Sydney even has some excellent Austrian restaurants, for example -- there really is everything here. The Pyrmont fish market is a good starting point.

8dimsum

We visited Sydney earlier this year (March) and near our hotel in the world Square is a wonderful Chinese restaurant Din Tai Fung that specializes in xiao lung bao and dumplings. It is very good. It is a chain of restaurants--I have eaten in the one in Shanghai!, Singapore and will be visiting the SoCal location soon. Our friends are allergic to shellfish and it makes it hard to yumcha/ have dimsum and order the variety we want.

mario33

The correct word should be Sydneysiders

Visit the Sydney Fish Market in Pyrmont ....

bensyd

I went out to Cabramatta for a meeting a few weeks ago and ended up having lunch out there. Some of the best Vietnamese food I've ever had. Bit of a mission to get to though.

henry999

Harry's Cafe de Wheels at Woolloomooloo

HansGolden

Any specific pubs you'd recommend in The Rocks area? (Staying at PH.)

BadgerBoi

Yum Cha (dim sum to you foreigners ) around Dixon St. The bigger and noisier the restaurant the better.

Thanks for that, "Sydney'ites" is like fingernails down a blackboard to anyone who lives here.