Essentials for Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth?

[rschwim]

I'll be in the aforementioned Australian cities playing on a big music tour for the first time in June and early July. What must I not miss? I'm particularly fond of seafood but I enjoy everything...I'm searching for local things that I can't get in NYC where I live... Thanks in advance!

[PhilD]

My guess is that you will be able to get most food things in NYC as it is so cosmopolitan, however the dining experience is going to be very different. Best advice is to soak up the atmosphere and the views.

In Sydney and Melbourne get a good mix between the fine diners and the local inner suburban restaurants (they are not far from the centre - 10 mins in a cab). Sydney try Darlinghurst, or Surrey Hills.

For Sydney have at least one meal with a view of the harbour - Quay, Aria, Aqua Dining, or even Guillaume at Bennelong (actually in the Opera House). They are all fine dining restaurants but the view is worth it.

Drink lots of coffee - it is great in Australia and NZ. Combine it with a good breakfast in one of the many cafes. A rule of thumb is that mid-week is to follow the suits, the bars with big queues are best (avoid all chains), at weekends head to fashionable suburbs and follow the relaxed suburbanites. Bills in Sydney is a little past its best but still good.

Try some grungy local thai/vietnames places and contrast with up-market fine dining. The good ones are great - Sailors Thai or Longrain in Sydney (plus Longrain in Melbourne), and Nahm in Perth (my favourite).

Go to the Crown Casino in Melbourne. It has a great selection of up-market restaurants. Also try the fashionable: Melbourne Supper Club; or Movida Bar De Tapas; or The Botanical Hotel. Also add a few old stagers, places like Cafe di Stasio, or Cafe Cuccina two old style Italian with fantastic fresh food (far far far better than NYC's little Italy).

Adelaide is a wine town, thus a good place to really test the wine lists in the restaurants. It is small so easy to get around. It is a long time since I lived there but some good food at both the upper end and little local places. Head to the Central Markets for breakfast - great stalls and some great cafes.

Perth, is also a wine town but my "must do" recommendation is the "Little Creatures Brewery" in Fremantle. It has a number of bars, great open air decks and very good food especially the pizzas (get the fresh prawn) and burgers. The beer is also very good with four types. Best of all is the music. It is almost like Don Letts (BBC Radio 6 DJ, film maker and founder of Big Audio Dynamite with Mick Jones) has put the soundtrack together, a very eclectic mix, with lots of laid back dub reggae for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

PS - Are you Art or Paul?

[rschwim]

Thanks so much for your reply! Very helpful!

PS--keyboard player

[irisav]

I would recommend google searching melbourne gastronome - a blog about all things dining out related in melbourne. I think 'grab your fork' for sydney is a good source.

If you're a coffee fiend I think it is worthwhile posting a question about where to get good coffee in Sydney because I'm yet to have found one when I've been up there, and family who live in Sydney tell me it is not easy to find - they think it is to do with the mineral composition of Sydney's drinking water.

Sydeny is great for high-end dining and thai food. In Melbourne the cafe scene is hard to beat although stylistically its is quite distinct across different portions of the city. As an inner north resident I can't go past the following:

Auction Rooms (North Melbourne)
Sugardough (Brunswick East)
The Kitchen (Newmarket)
Gingerlee (Brunswick East)

for evening meals:
Hellenic Republic (Brunswick)
Rumi (Brunswick East)
Laksa King (Newmarket) best Laksa ever! (outside Malaysia/Singapore)

[Samuelinthekitchen]

Brisbane’s food scene is mercifully finally starting to grow up

For cheap and incredible Thai food I recommend Thai Wi Rat in Chinatown – extraordinarily good, very informal. They do a stunning Bamboo Salad that will rock your socks off.

Further up the scale is Montrachet in Paddington, which is lovely French Bistro fare. Any Brisbane-it will know it and back it up.

My absolute favourite is Mondo Organics in west End. I think it is unsurpassed in Brisbane for quality of food, service and attention to detail. It would be a pity to eat out in Brisbane and miss it.

Also worth a look is Alto in New Farm, very rich Italian food, served in a casual environment on the river, the food is very elegant and the service is delightful without fussiness.

There’s also Crosstown Eating House in Woolloongabba. It’s quite new and I only tried it on Saturday night, so can’t vouch for its consistency. I was quite impressed by it’s casual menu and emphasis on shared food. I recommend the spatchcock.

If you like carnivore overload, then Cha Cha Char in the city would be worth a visit, you can order a myriad of steaks that are always done perfectly, really very very impressive totally vegetarian-hostile.

Ec’co Bistro is always a good standby as well, it won best restaurant in Australia a few times in the 1990s, though they have been dining out on that for a long time in my view without many recent feathers to their cap. Plus it just seems a bit dated to me, like dining out in 1995. Minor gripes aside, their food is unquestionably good though.

There are many other lovely places, and Urbanspoon’s reviews are usually pretty reliable for Brisbane, but these are the ones that have really stuck out for me in the last six months or so.

Virtually al of them have websites I think, so shouldn’t be hard to find or get in touch with.

[PhilD]

"...where to get good coffee in Sydney because I'm yet to have found one when I've been up there..."

Irisav - it depends where you come from. We are in the Uk at the moment and I think it is safe to say 99% of coffee in Sydney from real cafe's beats 100% of coffee in the UK. IMO most cities in Australia and NZ have really great coffee, maybe my palette isn't as refined as Irisav's but I don't see a noticible difference between the renowned coffee shops in any of the major cities. Irisav are you comparing short blacks, or caps?

[mr_gimlet]

There is plenty of good coffee in Sydney, and there is plenty of bad coffee in Melbourne. Over the past three years, the standard of coffee has risen in Sydney and, to my mind, has slipped in Melbourne.

irisav, which locations are you looking for in Sydney?

I'm 100% with PhilD on UK coffee. It is truly abysmal, and the couple of palces in London we've made a pilgrimage in for have had Australian/Kiwi owners or baristas. It is so bad that of the five boxes we brought from Melbourne, one was our espresso machine and half of another was the grinder and emergency start-up coffee. However, I've been impressed by the number and quality of good roasters in the UK (mail order of course).

Phil, if you're ever near Windsor....

[PhilD]

Mr Gimlet - like you our coffee machine had pride of place in our shipment.
When we were back in Aus in March the best coffee we found was the street stand in Bridge St. which is the favourite of all the cycle couriers. I must admint we didn't travel to far. I used to work in North Sydney and would follow the top barrista's from bar to bar.

We are in Bath, so also west of London. If you ever head out west there is a great pub; The Red Lion at East Chisenbury, we could meet for a bite.

[kmh]

I'm with Paul and Mr Gimlet on this one!
where do your relatives live?

And... I wouldn't recommend GRab your Fork as a guide. It is broad in the resto's mentioned but little by way of critique.

[PhilD]

I agree about "Grab Your Fork", although I find the restaurants featured are all similar, my guess is that reflects the budget. I also note that the restaurant PR machine has got hold of a lot of the Sydney food bloogers....always a worrying development. It is difficult to be critical of a host.

KMH - are there any good Aussie food blogs?

[mr_gimlet]

Helen is a great food blogger, if ever I want Asian (or cheap!) food in Sydney she is my first stop. I discovered Mamak and Petersham Charcoal Chicken through her.

Blogs: I like tomatom for Melbourne but interested in others across Australia

[kmh]

Helen is a prolific blogger, but not a great one.

PhilD I have stepped back from reading (and writing) blogs in recent times, so I can't say there are no good ones. There are none I regularly would consult for a "where to go" list. Jules Clancy at thestonesoup.com is the only Sydney blogger I now visit semi-regularly but her blog is about cooking not restaurants, albeit one of the best blogs (IMHO).

Unfortunately many of the Australian food bloggers are caught up in a debate over the worth of print media vs. new media, rather than actually focusing on food writing.

I value the opinion of Pat Nourse at Australian Gourmet Traveller and am more likely to consult their website (or him) than visit a blog nowadays. The thing with restaurants (and blogs) is, it's very subjective anyways... and I have my own bias. ;)

[AussieBeth]

Hi

For fine dining in Melbourne, I would try Pearl (amazing seafood) or Vue du Monde (be prepared to pay $$$$$ for Vue though! - for still wonderful food, at a more reasonable price, I would try its sister resto Bistro Vue)

For something more cheap and cheerful, and much more particularly Melbourne try the Cellar Bar at Grossi Florentino (Italian) or pretty much anywhere in Little Vietnam on Victoria Street (Loi Loi, Thai Thai 1 or Minh Minh are all good bets).

You should also not come to Melbs without having a cocktail at one of our little laneway bars - try Sweatshop or if you really want crazy, the Croft Institute.

Have fun!!

[Ditto]

i reckon a visit to Source cafe http://www.sourcefoods.com.au/ is a must do for perth - its got great food, great atmosphere, right in the inner city. have their big eco brekky!

[unclepete]

When in Brisbane and you feel the need for cheap and cheerful, head for Vespa in New farm great pizza from the woodfired oven and yummie olives.
Also take a sidetrip to Noosa and head for the sushi restaurants