Jamie's Italian, Sydney

It's been a while since I've wanted to try this restaurant. I love Jamie O. Initially the lines were absolutely long but since it's been open for a while it's eased up. My friend and I went for a really late lunch and we were starving.

I absolutely like the feel of the place. It's a bit narrow but it feels like you're in the streets of Italy. Posh streets. I haven't actually been but that's definitely what I envision it to be.

Meat Plank- $13.50/person

Famous planks that Jamie is popular for. I've got a thing for cured meats. Too good. I'd always have it in my sandwich if I only could. Peppers and olives are some of my other favorite things too! And that crunchy shred salad was awesome sauce, so fresh and minty!

End of Sem Part 1: The Fish Shop, Potts Point

The BEST way to end a semester is to have a smashing night out with friends followed by a sleepover and brunch the next day. 

No pressure, no stress, just pure chilling. #YOLO

Ps. That's probably the reason behind my atrocious food photos as well. 

View from Potts Point

Clearly, I wasn't able to take a picture of what The Fish Shop looked like outside. But obviously, as you can see, the decor was very beach-y in the most American-beach-shack way, I reckon.  I thought it was fantastic though. 

Who knew this could be so tastyyy?
Drink for the night! 

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.

Damn Skippy, It's THE DIP.

So the place is puny, and this is the sign you should look for up front! 

Amidst all the deadlines drama with school work, me and my friends actually got to sneak out for dinner. Which was fantastic cause a lot of school work definitely becomes overwhelming after a certain point. Biggest understatement of the year. I've probably never been more busy, tired, and stressed! But let's leave the miserable note at that! I get to escape all that when I blog- it's just so pleasant.

The Dip is inside GoodGod.

We decide to hit up The Dip on Liverpool Street. It's actually been getting a lot of coverage lately via blogs. In my opinion, their food is straight to the point sorta comparable to fast food but with a touch more pizzaz. It's American, duh. 

Bangbang Espresso Bar and Cafe, Surry Hills

Bangbang on Reservoir.

Surry Hills is the place to be. The place is teeming with restaurants, cafes, and other foodie finds. It's my go-to place during breaks in between classes and day-outs as well.

View from the inside.

Gigantic headphone illustration up on the white wall.

So Bangbang opened sometime in 2009 and it's been thriving since then. It's owned by some renowned Brit DJ, and all over the cafe there's that street, retro hip vibe.

Got to love that tomato container.
Kitsch & Quirky

They're known for their breakfasts but it's such a shame since it wasn't an all-day affair like I was expecting. They had a very casual and relaxed lunch menu that's just typical of a cafe offering burgers, sandwiches, and salads with slight tweaks and modifications.

Banapple, Katipunan

That's my MUSCULAR sister.

The folks over in the Ateneo have been going loco over Banapple the past few years, and I think the fad has faded a bit. Nevertheless, they still serve some darn decent grub. They've also branched out opening up various satellites over the Metro.*

Cool, sorta greeky tables.

Totally retro interiors with all the
figurines and hippie things gracing the shelves.

Cake selection for the day.

Breads, brownies, and cookies!

There's something about Banapple, maybe it's their charming homy retro interiors, or their over excessive use of smileys, or the perfectly mastered Banoffee pie. It's simple, down to the bare essentials, basic, good grandmomma-kinda home food. Yeah.

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.

BBB: Big Better Burgers

Look for HOT STUFF at the very end.
That's my sister.
She whopped ARSE today.
I'm proud of her!

I watched my sister compete today for Nationals Swim Thing at Rizal Sports Complex.

She's so talented and focused. Props to that. She won!

While she was warming up, amidst all the hustle and bustle; I made time to have lunch with my friends, Pierse and Trizha. Pierse is a talented musician while Trizha is an epic artist. They're bundles of fun!

We we're going to have lunch at Solomon's or something but we ended up at the University Mall (where I often frolicked a couple of years ago!). They suggested BBB cause the burgers were good! I staged no argument and went with the flow.

Bills, Surry Hills, Australia

This is BILL.
He's the King of Breakfasts.
I think he's brilliant!

This is one of the places that you ABSOLUTELY MUST GO when you're in Australia. They are famous for their all-day breakfasts! Especially their heavenly eggs and fluffy ricotta pancakes.

Daryl and her hot chocolate!:)

Merchelle and her Chai Latte & Honey!

My hot mug of coffee <3

First off, for drinks, Daryl had the Hot Chocolate with Callebaut. It was a rather different take on the traditional hot chocolate! If I remember correctly, she loved it to bits! Our epic friend Merchelle had the Chai Latte! May I just say that it was oh so good!:) As for me, I had the Bills Own Organic Coffee by Single Origin Roasters! I used to be such a coffee freak! I just had to have one, a skinny one!:) I LOVED IT!:)

Counter Burger, Crow's Nest

I LOVE BURGERS. There's nothing much like it. Sandwiches don't count because they are incredibly lame compared to juicy dripping burgers.

Lately, I've been hearing so much about this place called Counter Burger. People have been raving on about it because you could customize your owns burgers. And their burgers are incredibly good, or so I've heard. I've been wanting to try this place for the longest time, and this was finally it!:)

epic interior, really.

The appearance of the restaurant is much like a diner with a surf shack vibe. It's awesome. I personally adore it, plus the color combo of blue and brown. It was much bigger than I expected and there were quite a few people dining there as well.

build your own burger!

Upon arriving, we were give a menu which is basically a clipboard with a sheet of paper and a pen. There, you could choose the kind of meat you want with your burger, whether it be beef, turkey, veggie, or grilled chicken. Then you could pick how big the patty would be- 150g, 300g, or 450g. Believe me, a 150g burger is more than enough. After that, you pick the cheese, fillings, and condiments.

Apple pie shake, I fell in love. 

I went for the famous apple pie shake which was basically a milkshake that actually had real pie crust and filling. When I tell people about it, they're grossed out. But I must tell you, it's good, it's DAMN GOOD. Don't criticize it before you try. You'll regret not having it. I love the way there were still tiny chunks of cinnamon apple and pie crust.

The 50-50 served with garlic aioli, bbq sauce, and thousand island dressing 

Then we also ordered the 50-50 which is a plate of your deep fried sides with a choice of french fries, sweet potato fries, and onion rings. I opted to get sweet potato fries and onion rings. It was definitely a 50-50 balance as well, flavor-wise that is! The onion rings were thin and crunchy! And the sweet potato fries were sweet (OH DUH) and a tad soggy. I cannot express how much I love onion rings, I just couldn't get enough of them.

stunning beef burger

The first burger came, it was a medium rare beef burger with American cheddar, beetroot, dill pickle, caramelized onions, dill pickle, and tomato on a hamburger bun. It was the typical burger, agree? Well, more like the typical Australian burger since it had beetroot. It was good, nothing really stood out though. Oh wait, the meat was gooooood, I think it was Angus.

turkey turkey

The second arrived and it was a turkey burger with blue cheese, grilled onions, olives, tomato, and garlic aioli on an English muffin. This one I loved. First of all, I love my turkey. I always have it on my sandwiches with a little bit on cranberry jelly, lettuce, and tomato. It's such a great protein and it has a little fat content as well. Second, the pairing of turkey with blue cheese was KEY. I never liked blue cheese as a kid, but I always tried it because I'm just really an adventurous eater like that. As time passed, I got used to it and boy, it's such a complex overwhelming flavor that I love. And what's even better is that they made sort of a patty out of the blue cheese so that it won't just crumble once you dig into the burger.

The only thing I wasn't too keen about would be the fact that the burger patties were sooooo thick. I wish that they made it a lot more thinner and wider- more surface area! It would cook faster too!

These burgers were such a mess to eat but nevertheless fun. A burger that is not messy is a DISGRACE.

600 Day Grain Fed Wagyu Beef Burger: Plan B by Bécasse

Bécasse is one of the premier dining places in Sydney. It's a modern French Restaurant owned by Justin North. For some of us, who are clearly incapable of affording meals at Bécasse, there's Plan B. Plan B is a hole-in-the-wall cafe just right beside Bécasse. It has a range of sandwiches, salads, sausage rolls, muffins, and seasonal soups that are made fresh daily!

What brought me to Plan B was an article of a blog claiming that the 600 day Grain fed Wagyu Burger is TO DIE FOR. To make things even better, the burger was priced at $10! I never really saw Plan B by Clarence Street whenever I passed because it has a really small shop front. I went into the shop and ordered myself the burger. I waited for a mere 5 minutes and my burger was there. As soon as it arrived, I could whiff the fabulous smell of the grilled wagyu burger.

The burger had a substantial bun which was really nice and dense. I flipped the top bun over to take a look inside, there was gooey cheese, beetroot, mixed salad, and finally, the plump burger patty. The burger patty was just oozing with all the nice juices! It was such a BEAUTY, I just couldn't wait to take a bite and indulge!

Scrumptious Wagyu Burger

Might I say, it was worth the time finding the place. It was heavenly! I reckon it just might be the BEST $10 I've ever spent!:) (converted= 410 pesos!) I'll definitely go back there again, and perhaps, try something different!:):)