Kürtösh, Surry Hills

This homey café is about one thing - Delicious, passed-down-from-mama recipe pastries and cakes. They're pretty proud of their house specialty - the twisty Hungarian pastry called (funnily), Kurtosh. It's quite good. Honestly, I'd say forget the pastry twister and go one of the Slab Cakes instead. Oh, so good! So far, my favourite has been the Catastrophe Flourless Choc Cake. Or mayyyybe actually the Lemon Crumble Cheesecake. Pretty much mention Mum's Chocolate Cake and I'm ready to trip a blind person for a bite! If you can't choose, you could order a sliver of each and call it day. This is the best bit about Kurtosh - everything is sold by weight, and there's no minimum (or maximum) for what you buy. So you can literally order a sliver each of four kinds of cake. Hoorah! 

Lemon Crumble Cheesecake and Catastrophe Flourless Chocolate Cake

Extra bonus: open late so you can pop in for after dinner dessert.

Kurtosh
Crown Street, Surry Hills; and Willoughby Road, Crows Nest
Mon- Fri: 7am - 10pm
Sat + Sun: 8am - 10pm

Victoria Street, Darlinghurst
Open until 11pm on Fridays and Saturday

Brickfields, Chippendale

A contradictory cookie: Rosemary, oat, apricot and white chocolate - BOOM! The combination of savory herb with sweet apricot and white chocolate, worked wonders. Chewy, crumbly, sweet and salty. 

Daily cookie: $4

Brickfields
206 Cleveland Street
Chippendale, NSW
Breakfast + Lunch: 7 Days

House of Crabs, Redfern

What a hoot! This place packs in so much fun. Order your crustacean of choice, bib up, dig in and get messy. Brilliant for birthdays or to bring a group of acquaintances/strangers. First date venue? Bold!

For the sauce, you've got to get the Cajun - cinnamon, cayenne pepper, finger-licking good. Don't gloss over the sides though. We gobbled down Chorizo Occcy balls, kale salad and the cheesey lobster fries, om nom nom.

The downer was that its rreeaallly noisy, we could hardly hear each other speak. Also, that unisex toilet - a tad awkward. All in all House of Crabs is howling good time.

House of Crabs

Level 1, 305 Cleveland Street
Redfern, NSW 2016
Upstairs at The Norfolk
Lunch: Friday
Dinner: Tues - Sat

Jed's Food Store, North Bondi

Zapatista Eggs, $16.50

I'm a morning person and I love a vibrant café scene, but honestly, I don't like spending money on breakfast. I'm always more pleased with what I can make at home. Jed's however, debunk my breakfast-bitterness with an eccentric brunch menu that I'd happily part with pennies for. Breakfast eggs get exciting with themes of the Yucatan, Jamaica and Japan. Case in point: the 'Zapatista Eggs': Chiapas style egg scramble with corn tortilla, pickled cactus, white corn, coriander, avo, crumbled cheese and green salsa. Colourful, creative, wholesome meals where exotic spices and garnishes bring the flavour, rather than buttery sauces and bacon fat. My kinda breakfast place.


Jed's Food Store
96 Glenayr Avenue
North Bondi

Breakfast + Lunch - 7 days

Vasco Bar, Surry Hills

Photo from Vasco Bar owners

Boisterous, fun, unapologetically loud, and a bit rough around the edges. Not really a place for conversation, quite likely somewhere you'll do shots and definitely somewhere you'll leave with ears ringing. The mischievous Italian bar tenders are insistent that you have a good time. In a few words: Italian Rock n' Roll bar.

Vasco Bar
421 Cleveland St
Surry Hills 
Night: Tues - Sun

Chur Burger, Surry Hills

Oozey gooey beef burger, $10

These burgers are the bomb. They're not made from a catalogue of ingredients, just a few select things done really well. Indulgent, sweet, oozey and damn good (check the photos). The light, sweet brioche bun is the hero here, and ordering a diet alternative would be missing the point. Don't overlook the perfectly cooked sweet potatoes fries, either.

If you set up at the bar, you get a very intimate look into the burger prep. Hip-hop beats and the swift chef work = contagious energy. 

Chur is probably the best burger I've tried and funnily enough, the cheapest too. Fish, beef, pork, chickpea or chicken; all of them check in at $10. Thank you, Good Chur.

The main thing that separates Chur from other burger joints? They're made by chefs, not cooks.

Chur Burger
48 Albion St
Surry Hills 
Lunch: Mon  -Sat
Dinner: Tues - Sat

The Apollo, Potts Point

Village Salad, olives, Karanika Wine

I came to The Apollo for my Birthday a few months ago and couldn't be happier with the choice. 

First is the restaurant itself. That romantic Grecian room is damn easy on the eyes. The décor is dramatic, but somehow understated.  Those arched windows, the time-worn columns, golden lighting and the peeling white walls. Warm, sultry and lively with diners. The perfect mix of good feelings. One might call it an ambience trifecta. 

The Greek food here is as beautiful. It's what I love so much about Mediterranean cuisine; the ability to extract so much flavour from a few well-sourced ingredients. As a cheese enthusiast, ordering the baked cheese dish was a no-brainer. Golden fried haloumi came out sizzling in a little pan, covered in bubbling honey and dried oregano. So friggen good. 

We had a group table, but the L shaped bar is super sexy. I want to sit there next time.

Our waitress was so accommodating and lovely that we felt compelled to invite her to sit and have birthday cake with us afterwards.

The Apollo
44 Macleay St
Elizabeth Bay
Lunch: Fri - Sun
Dinner: Tues - Sun