Hemingway's, Manly

Hemingway's is one of those precious gems that I wish I would've found earlier. It's located in right on Manly beach, undeniably one of my favourite beaches here in Sydney.* That's why I just had to bring my good friend Heish over when she visited Sydney. We were fumbling around Manly, undecided where to go for brunch. Then I remembered this place right opposite Manly beach, pretty cool and chill.

Royal Copenhagen Ice Cream and Zumbo, Manly

It's time for a photo dump.

My hair was so flat and messed up from the wind.
So pay more attention to the ice cream!:)
The flavor itself was called Royal Copenhagen.
It had honeycomb and that sort of malted milk taste.
Love it is.

Mocha Almond Fudge
and
Tropical Passionfruit.

Check plus plus plus plus.

With the addition of slivered almonds,
and hot chocolate fudge.

Well, before all the shibang about modern day ice cream and desserts, there was Royal Copenhagen. It's honest to goodness ice cream. They even have a waffle contraption out back where they hand-roll the cones. That's why they're so golden crunchy and flavorful. Then the ice cream is heck creamy like you wouldn't even imagine.  Not to mention there's a self-serve counter where you could douse your ice cream with caramel, hot fudge, slivered almonds, and sprinkles. This is old school bliss. Classic.

Ola, Zumbo.

Are you sick of my ever recurring Zumbo posts? I have to admit, I love that man and his pastry. But this time, Zumbo was a rather unexpected disappointment. Like I've said last time, it was quite unfortunate when I reached Zumbo in Balmain cause they've ran out of macarons. This time, it was nearly 4pm and I was glad to see the display cabinet still filled with trays of macarons. I was anxious to give the new flavors a try.

The Adriano Zumbo Experience!

He's the cover of Time Out this month!
KUDOS!

Three cheers for Adriano Zumbo cause he's a genius. Heck they should give him an award for reinventing desserts. He could full like take over the world- Yes, his desserts are that awesome.

Macaron Tower.
Beetroot & Olive Macarons, specifically!

V8 Layered Cake.
8 Layered White Chocolate Cake!

I first heard about Zumbo from my friend, Min who wanted to be a pastry chef. And the next time was when I was watching Australia's Masterchef.* He made a macaron tower which was composed of beetroot & olive macarons- it totally amazed me. Following that, there was the perfectly crafted V8 Cake. Those two things alone got me hooked onto Mister Zumbo.

It's a hole in the wall, I'm not joking.

And it brings heaps of people in.

Mini Cakes Selection

Trays and trays of macarons, of course!

Finally the Adriano Zumbo Patissier has opened a more convenient and accessible location- Manly. I've been dying to visit the patissier, and obviously jumped at the chance! There wasn't really a whole lot of questioning about what I was going to get, cause macarons are a must since he fully like revived the whole shibang. On top of that, I wanted to get each and every one of those small cakes cause they were equally intricately constructed and all of them looked darn tasty! But there was no way I could- 2 reasons why. First, I'll get fatter- a lot fatter! Second, it will cost a fortune! These sweet treats don't play games, they're serious with your account.

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!

My Last Meal: Food Faves

Some memories from childhood include beaches, playgrounds, meat pies, and fish & chips. There were a lot of fish & chips because my parents owned a fish & chip shop in Manly. When my parents were working, I would just be there watching the cooks make batches of fish & chips! I'd often snag a mouthful or two! It's something that's nostalgic and close to my heart indeed. Each time that I go to Manly, the memories just keep rushing back to me. Sad to say, in my opinion, there isn't a nice fish & chip shop there these days.  So, for the best fish& chips, I head directly to the source, the Sydney Fish Market.

Peter's Fish Market

The Fisherman's Basket accompanied
by Charlie's Honest Juice

The fish market is such an interesting place to be. So many restaurants and shops to see & try. My favourite happens to be Peter's! It's the first place that I've tried when I first went to the fish market and I've been going there ever since. I always tend to get the same thing every single time, the Fisherman's Basket. It has pieces of beer-battered fish, crumbed calamari, chips! At $11, it's one of the best deals you'll ever find!

The fish was cooked to perfection, it was smoking hot when I got it, and boy, I have to tell you, it was absolutely grand. It was flaky and moist. The calamari was very much tender, but once it got cold had that tendency of getting hard. The chips were mediocre compared to the other contents of the meal. It was soggy, I was so sad because I'm such a sucker for hot crispy chips. I usually have some sashimi and oysters but I was definitely bloated after the Fisherman's basket and I couldn't pack in anymore. And after all, my friend and I had a whole lot of other foodie places to go to!

The Manly Bakery

Assuming that I'm really dying, I'd definitely pack in some meat pie after my fish & chips. Meat pie from the one and only Manly Bakery. It's a small bakery sort of hidden in the back streets of Manly, but boy do they know how to make good meat pie! My favourite would be the beef, cheese, and tomato pie. The cheese is blended in with the beef and it creates just the best sauce ever. The meat is in form of mince and small strips which is a good variety to have. The tomato rings are placed on top of the meat, it is very much soft and melted. And all these goodies are enclosed in a very pleasant pastry. It's more flaky and less brown than I remembered, but is, nevertheless, great. My friend had a vegetarian pizza, it had tomato, olives, onions, cheese, and peppers! He said it was tasty.

Beef, Cheese and Tomato Pie

scrumptious inside view

My friend's vegetarian pizza

These were a few of the things that I had yesterday on a food trip with my friend! We walked for ages through rainy and crazy windy weather but it was definitely some experience!:)