The Forrester's, Surry Hills

Lunch or dinner after uni classes is a regular routine for me and my friends. There's this place in Surry Hills called The Forrester's, they serve decent pub food at decent prices, and a good atmosphere too. Also, they have daily specials during lunch time where they just punch down the prices a fair bit.

Crushed Apple Cider- $7

Waiting for the food with a glass of Monteith's Crushed Apple Cider. I'm a big fan of cider, this one is on the sweet side but still a tinge sour and crisp.

Chicken Schnitzel Parmigiana- $12

Meet The Greek, Brighton Le Sands

Meet the Greek is undeniably one of the best restaurants I've been for Greek food. I'm in love with the cuisine but it's just that there is no Greek place near my house. It's such a shame. This quest for Greek food brought me to a part of Sydney that I have never been to before. Definitely a bit freaky at night. But the food was totally worth it. 

Inside, the whole place was packed out. So glad that we even had the chance to snag a table. Everyone was white or Greek or Lebo, yes, for once I have felt out of place. 

Taramosalata x Melitzanosalata x Tzatziki x Skordalia

All good stuff. Ditch whatever preconceptions you may have coming from those tubs you get at the groceries. This is definitely nothing like it- so freeeeeeeeesh. 

My Go-To Food.

Well, I must admit, I do love dining out*, however, I can't always do that cause: 

1. It's EXPENSIVE

2. Normally, it's not healthy

3. It's time consuming

So.. Here are some of my absolute favorite things to chow down when I'm at home or at uni.

BREAKFAST

Poached Eggs on Wholemeal Toast

I was never a lover of poached eggs up until I had a fantastic salad with poached eggs on top at Cafe Sopra with Daryl. There's something about it, soft, silky whites with a oozy center. It's delish! Definitely a must to have bread or some greens with it to soak up all that goodness. I do variations of this with some smoked salmon, spinach, or harissa tofu on side. Sometimes, I also dribble sriracha on the top.

LUNCH

Salad

That picture above shows what a typical meal for me would be at my uni. Basically, this place called Stock Market mixes up some salads according to your specifications. You start with some salad leaves, pick 7 toppings and a dressing then the salad mixologists toss everything together for you. I frequently have a salad with eggplant, double serving of pumpkin, feta, olives, sundried tomatoes, and pumpkin seeds! Salad+eating on the lawn makes my breaks more satisfying, and uni more bearable.

Grounds of Alexandria, Alexandria

This place has been getting a lot of attention lately. I'm not 100% sure, but, I think they do roast their own beans in store. Well, this was the stop right after my friends and I hammered the 2 hour marketing exam. 4 essays, 2 hours, NOT enough time. My brain fully melted after. 

They've got this charming yard outside. But then, everybody is cooped up and dining indoors.

This table of pastries would greet you once you step into the cafe.

Shakespeare Hotel's Epic Cheap Steak.

I've been skipping breakfast to catch up on sleep.

It's really bad.

Midday, I crave steak.

Big fat juicy hearty steak.

My friend Adara is adventurous, and craves just as much as I do.

We headed to Shakespeare for the infamous $12.50 T-bone.

The T-bone comes with a side salad, mash or chippies, and your chosen sauce.

We had a good meal and ended up with full, really stuffed bellies.

It's a classic.

Good pub, good grub.

A tad dodgy looking sign outside. 

Classic.

The beers on tap.

Sometimes, Party Like a 5 Year Old.

Sometimes, my friends and I party like rockstars 5 year olds. No, we didn't do extremely stupid stuff. We just celebrated my friend's 21st with 5 year old party food! No drinks drinks, it's pure 5 year old party junk! It was so nice loosening up, and it was sort of a sem-ender.

How could you live without strawberry clouds, 

gummy worms, and marshmallows? 

Oh wait, the more appropriate question is 

how could you live without 

wedges with sour cream and chili?*

What would a party be without fairy bread?

Charlie & Co. Burgers, Westfield Sydney

Is change good? I reckon it is. Without change, there wouldn't be any spice in life. Yes, I agree that it's nice to have something stable, but how does life move forward if we just stick to one thing? Change is the only constant.

There's been a change of pace in my life recently. Cause now it's "study period", and I suddenly find myself having time on my hands to do things that I actually like/love. I get to go out and hang with friends, chow down a meal or two, or just have a nice cuppa coffee. I've been getting the ultimate busting gym sessions. Also, the appropriate amount of sleep. It's terrific- relaxing and heck of a good time altogether. But of course, that burden of studying still remains. 6 more days until my official freedom, and 8 until my vacation.

Charlie & Co. in Westfield

On the coldest day that Sydney has experienced so far during this year, my friends and I decided to go out. We didn't have any plans in particular, we just wanted a nice fun maybe lazy afternoon.After meeting at the Apple store and marvelling at the new iPad 2*, we decided to grab lunch at Charlie & Co. I was expecting grand things since the place is owned by Justin North. Justin North is the brilliant mind behind Plan B and their cheapo $10 Wagyu Beef Burger. Love it.

Moo Gourmet Burgers, Newtown

Moo Gourmet Burgers on King Street.

I've heard great things about Moo Burgers. How their chips are perfectly crisp, how their burgers are so tall, how the milkshakes are to die for, and how crusty the sourdough bun is. It's my second time in Newtown for the week, and might I just say that I absolutely love Newtown. I'd say it's a slightly more hip and cheaper version of beloved Surry Hills. 

Artwork inside

My friends in the courtyard.

The ambiance was laid-back. I'd say it's one of those places where I'd want to catch up with my friends after the stressful week that has passed.* There are sturdy bulky wood tables inside paired with colorful chairs and couches. Kids' artwork adorn the walls. There's a courtyard outside and a black wall where you could creatively express yourself with the pieces of chalk lying around.

There are plenty of tasty sounding burgers on the menu which made it tricky to pick what each one of us wanted to have. 

Vanilla and Strawberry Milkshakes- $5 each

Did you know, when you head to Moo on Mondays and order a burger and chips, you get a milkshake for free? FREE?! FREE?! Yes, you got it! I haven't had a milkshake in the longest time for obvious reasons but it was my binge day for the week! That explains everything! It wasn't as chilled as I would've wanted it to be and it would be more epic if they were thicker too! Other than that, they were slurping slurping good.

Sabbaba, Newtown

It's raining today! I specifically woke up early this morning to get a head start at the gym so that I could have a worry-free/ guilt-free day frolicking around Glebe markets and the City. But then, some things never really go as planned. Instead of moping about the sad gloomy day, I'll just write about my Sabbaba experience.

Sabbaba is a quirky name, don't you think? Sabbaba, Sabbaba, Sabbaba! HAHA. Sabbaba is slang for "no worries"! It's a Middle Eastern restaurant cafe that was founded in Bondi 11 years ago, I repeat 11 years ago. Such a shame that I've only been there recently. This branch in Newtown is their third one, and it's fairly new, opening late last year.

Pretty much all the walls look like this, snazzy ey?

I think Sabbaba is cool. The place is airy, graffiti line the walls, and a lot of white-wash wood tables are in sight. It's the sort of place where you'd want to chill with friends while having some good grub- not to mention everything is fresh and healthy!* NO WORRIES. 

Grill'd Healthy Burgers

Grill'd on Crown Street

See the wide range of drinks they have?
The staff were nice!
And the whole place had this retro-diner gone modern them going.
COOL.

I've been wanting to go to Grill'd for the longest time cause I've heard they serve lip smacking, butt whooping scrumptious burgers. 

Just to give you an idea of how good the burgers are..
"Hamburger connoisseurs should pray for one in their neighborhood" -Herald Sun
"The best hamburgers in Australia or the world" - Good Weekend


If at this point, you're not convinced, I'll do the convincing- NOW.

Took the this shot of the dish,
but it obviously didn't do the burger justice.

So I took another picture.
ALMIGHTY- $12.50
Grilled 100% lean beef, crispy trim bacon, tasty cheese,
free range egg, a couple slices of beetroot
salad, relish, and herbed mayo.

Since I haven't been eating much lately, halfway through,
I was STUFFED.

More often than not, these days, I avoid beef cause it's the catalyst to making me fat. I'm NOT kidding. But every week, I've got a cheat day- CHEAT SATURDAY. So, the ultimate indulgence would be a  BIG FAT JUICY (insert all the other yummy adjectives here) BURGER! The ALMIGHTY was perfect for the job. It was juicy, very juicy. The juices were dripping everywhere. The bacon was not a sad pathetic slice, it thick and chunky maple bacon. I had it on a wholemeal sesame bun. WHOLEMEAL. It was righteous, it was messy, it was tasty, it's the best I've had in quite a while.

My Steak Sandwich

So, I'm writing a list of things that I have to do before Friday. It's a heck of a long list, but hey, whatever, I love making lists. It's my thing, you know? I can make lists probably out of anything, I'm not kidding, mind you. I even make lists on my iPod when I'm on the bus. It sounds a little far fetched- the way I'm obsessive compulsive when it comes to these sorts of things! I even have a particular notepad for it. And a notebook for each and every other thing.* One of the things on my list at the moment involves drawing spaceships and space stations.** SIGH.

But there are days that I don't need to make lists, you know? It's free flowing cause I'll only have one or two items on my plate. It's not fiddly or hurried, it's relaxed. It's fun to have those sort of slow days every now and again- which brings me to My Steak Sandwich. 

I came up with My Steak Sandwich on a slow day. I went downstairs to make lunch, I was planning to have a plain salmon sandwich. But then I saw last night's leftover steak sitting on the counter. I could only swear that it was calling my name. Really. So with a little bit of thinking, I came up with My Steak Sandwich.

BenBry Burgers, Manly

Perfect Backdrop for the Perfect Lunch.

They have markets on the weekends!:)

Hey hey, it's SATURDAY. What better way would there be to start the weekend other than hanging around the beach with a burger and a bottle of ginger beer? My favorite beach, my juicy burger, crisp chips, and the ultimate spiced ginger beer. And Adriano Zumbo after. Bliss.

The weather is pleasant today, nah, actually more than pleasant, PERFECT! I think I talk about weather too much these days. That's the problem when you live in a place with four seasons! So it was really sunny today (yay shorts, flip flops, and sunnies!), fair enough, there was a breeze to go with it as well.

The plan was to have lunch at Chat Thai but unfortunately, we couldn't find it so we settled with BenBry Burgers.* There's a full range of stuff on the menu, they have a lot varied patties as well. There was beef, chicken, lamb, felafel, and tofu. Talk about choices. Everything looked enticing which made picking close to impossible.

Dad got the BenBry Burger with Cheddar cheese. He was playing it too plain and simple- boring! The burgers on the menu were all so inspired each having a similarity to one another and yet they're very different, like worlds apart different. I wanted to a nice beefy one too but beef makes me FAT, so I went for lamb which wasn't really a compromise!