Sydney 2010: Random Sydney Eats

Welcome to the final in my series of posts about our trip to Sydney. It was quite an effort to fit all these foodie destinations into one weekend, but by gum we did it!

One of my must-visit destinations was the Ben & Jerry's scoop shop in Manly.


Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop
Shops 5 & 6
25-27 South Steyne
Manly, 2100 Sydney
Ph: (02) 8966 9219
Website

I'm not sure why I've become so obsessed with Ben & Jerry's. Maybe it's because of their strong yet non-preachy commitment to social justice. Maybe it's because they seem like super-friendly happy stoner hippies. Or maybe it is because they are 2 normal guys who built an ice-cream empire out of their living rooms.

But I think mainly it is because of their philosophy of generous, decadent ice-creams, with big fat chunks all the way through. *Faint!* (Their marketing strategy of giving away free ice-cream when opening new stores is also a plus.)

Back during my Ice-Cream Sunday project, I made their butter pecan ice-cream, mocha and choc-chip cookie dough flavours, as well as hot fudge sauce and hot burgundy cherries. (Stay classy!)

It's a half-hour ferry ride from Sydney Harbour to Manly Harbour. (How good is a noun that doubles as an adjective?!)


Manly seemed like a really nice area; close to the beach with lots of shops and eating places. I would have liked to spend more time there, but we were on a limited schedule and had only one place in mind!




It was busy, but luckily there wasn't a long line. If we'd had more time, I would have sat down and had a sundae, but we were in a rush to get back to Oxford st. The ice-creams were quite pricey, but very, very generously served. I had a waffle cone with Chunky Monkey and Peanut Cookie-Burra Dough. I didn't get a photo of it, but trust me. It was massive. Even I struggled to finish it.


The ice-cream was a little meltier than ideal; we had a look at the freezers and they were at 5~6C! Probably because the freezer doors are always open due ot the high business volumes.

Sandra's cone: Vanilla and Berry Berry Extraordinary. I normally don't rate B&J's fruit flavours, preferring the crazy-chunky-rich ones, but the berry sorbet was lovely, with a pure berry flavour.

An, that crazy boy, had a triple scoop. I can't remember what he ordered, but one of them was a coffee-based flavour.

I can now say my ice-cream craving is well and truly satiated!

Oporto
45 Oxford Street
Sydney 2000
Ph: (02) 9262-9555

I know, I know, Oporto isn't really a foodie destination, but they are a Sydney chain. We shared some nuggets and chips as a snack. (Sometimes after a big sweet hit, you need something salty and savoury to cut through it, hehe). The nuggets were made with real chicken breast, but for some reason had a super-strong lemon flavour.

I think I prefer the processed KFC nuggets. Does this make me a bad foodie?

And later that night... our friend Diane took us to Darling Harbour for ribs. Doesn't it look pretty at night?

Reminds me of Clarke Quay in Singapore


Hurricane's Grill and Bar Darling Harbour Restaurant
Harbourside Shopping Centre
Shops 433-436
Level 2, Darling Harbour, Sydney
Ph: (02) 9211-2210
Website

I like the fact that things in Sydney tend to stay open quite late. For example, on the Friday night, people were still coming into Spice Temple for dinner at 10, and on Saturday, we didn't get seated at Hurricane's until 10:30. We were worried about how our friend Di would get home, but apparently the last bus is at 4am, so we didn't need to worry! (I wasn't sure if the late opening hours were just for Mardi Gras weekend, but according to Sydneysider Di, the city is usually pretty crowded most weekend nights).

Bread with lurpak butter. (I'm such a butter dork, I was impressed by the good butter).

Garlic mushrooms - $11. Super garlicky, super buttery. Yum.

Full rack of beef ribs with chips - $34

We shared the full rack between the 3 of us, which was a good amount. I loved the sticky, sweet, salty sauce, and found the meat juicy and tender. They gave us bibs to wear, which were dorky but necessary. I am a messy eater!

Pretty view from our table

And finally, we have our Sunday morning breakfast destination...

Luneburger German Bakery
Shop 72 Lower Ground
Queen Victoria Building
455 George Street
Sydney 2000
Ph: (02) 9264-2377
Website

I have been keen to try Lüneburger, Sydney's German bakery chain, since I read about it on Duncan's blog. The closest one to our hotel was in the QV building, on the lower ground level near the train station. (And also almost opposite the Krispy Kreme, if you are feeling more indulgent than I did!)

Sandra: "That bakery looks very German."

I had to be stopped from buying EVERYTHING in the cabinet.

Lüneburger QVB primarily does takeaway, but there are a couple of tables outside, so we sat down to eat. My latte was better than expected - a good temperature and not burnt or overly bitter.

Chocolate croissant - I ordered this one because they just came out of the oven. Warm and fresh, but the dough was slightly heavier than what I'm used to.

An had a "strawberries and cream" pastry, which I think was even nicer than the croissant.

PRETZEL!!!!!!! Sandra said these were better than the Bretzel Biz pretzels that we get in Melbourne. I should have bought a dozen to take home and freeze.

What I did buy to bring home, though, was a Krustenbrot, or "Crusty". It was my favourite bread in Germany, and I was looking forward to having more.


The hard thing about transporting bread is that it gets soggy if wrapped up in a paper bag. By the time we got it home to Melbourne that evening, it actually felt soft. However, a quick flash in the toaster restored it to crusty goodness. It was great!

And that, my friends, was our foodie weekend in Sydney! Time to start saving up for the next interstate weekend trip. Does anybody have a favourite foodie destination in Australia?