Ladurée, Sydney

One of the higher end HSC study snacks: macarons. I've heard many amazing stories about the original Ladurée store in Paris so cue me jumping around like a squirrel on crack for these.

Home Thai, Sydney

Another Chat Thai? It's totally trendy (the waiters take orders on and iPad that they carry around in LV bags...).

Musashi, Sydney

I settle into my seat at Musashi and then I'm like "what is this jazzy music I hear?" Yep, jazzy. It's already shaping up to be more and more like the "dining bar" that they call it. The amount of Japanese eateries I've been to that have been shy of shoddy, I'm weary of this establishment. Is the music and fancy deco here to distract me?!

Chef's Gallery, Sydney

Walking from the QVB toward the movies, you can see this place straightaway, especially at night when the big letters are lit up. I step into this semi-spacious, modern-looking restaurant...

Fluffy Chinese roti with pork floss $8.90

Snag Stand, Westfield Sydney

Snag, frankfurter, sausage, wurst, hot dog, wiener. Same thing. Sort of... But 'haute dogs'? Artisan sausage-on-a-roll-with-mustard-and-ketchup? Nowadays it seems you can 'artisan' almost anything.

Din Tai Fung Dumpling Bar, Westfield Sydney

We've all heard about the new Din Tai Fung Express Dumpling Bar that just recently opened in shiny Westfield Sydney. The only question: is it as good as the one in World Square?

While you wait, you can also loiter for a bit and make creepy eyes at dumplings do the same thing you would at World Square, watch the dumplings being made. Also note, a lack of bowls.

Charlie & Co., Sydney

There’s two options of how you want to be served; In or Out. In being, you sat inside and had table service. But honestly, who needs table service for a burger? Although gourmet, having a waiter is taking it a bit too far. Out meant that you just sat in the food court seats and get the food yourself. Another thing was that if you wanted to eat In, your burger cost $2 more.

Madang Korean BBQ, Sydney

At first, Madang Sydney looks dodgy because it’s in a sort of alleyway off Pitt St, but I assure you that it’s not shady at all!

Din Tai Fung, World Square

Ahh... the famous Din Tai Fung. Is there anything else I need to say besides huge lines and really long wait for some nice dumplings.

TokyoRia, World Square

Tokyoria is owned by Seoul-ria so I'm not sure about the Japanese food here. On the flipside I get to play with cool touchscreen menus. It's a lot emptier in comparison with its neighbor Din Tai Fung though...

Tetsuya's, Sydney

At Tetsuya's, food isn't food anymore, it's art that you can eat; delicious art too. We called in March and managed to book a table in November after playing reservation ping pong with the people who picked up the phone. (Apologies for the fact that I felt seriously self-conscious about pulling out a dslr and snapping shots of the food in somewhere like here).

The compound

Sepia Restaurant & Bar, Sydney

I apologize that there's no pictures because I'm not a seasoned food blogger so I'd feel a bit daft if I was waving a camera around in a restaurant that had little lighting
So here is a month-late post on my trip to a SMH Good Food Guide 2011 2Hat winner. It's located in Darling Park and Chef of the Year Martin Benn heads the kitchen. Can you guess what it is?

We decided to try it out after chef Martin Benn won the Emirates Chef of the Year 2011. You don’t really notice the outside because it’s right next to the Nestle building and the sofas that people sit on inside, are quite tall so it blocks what you can see and the SEPIA sign is small and high up as well so you don’t notice it!

We (obviously) ordered the degustation menu and about 15 minutes later the first course came out and then each course came out anywhere between 30 minutes to 45 minutes after each other. It gave time to digest! Because otherwise we would be so full after 3 courses!