Classically, we took the ferry from Manly to Sydney which offered a beautiful enlarging view of the city’s skyline, Harbour Bridge, and Opera House. We had less than a day to spend in the city, so after a quick walk around the botanical gardens (seeing an angle of the Opera House and Harbour bridge I had never seen before), we filled our afternoon with the most important thing: eating.
In our effort to find a spot our local friend recommended, we accidentally ended up in a slight tourist trap. Whalebridge offered beautiful views from harbor-side tables, but besides the deliciously fresh, local oysters (served with a vinegar sauce that I was practically drinking), the food was quite mediocre. We ordered a lobster roll, which featured a tangy curry sauce that deliciously offset the freshness of the lobster, fried to flaky perfection, set on too-big of a “French” bun which decidedly reminded me of gas station Wonderbread (a little suspicious for a French restaurant), the whole thing a size fit for an infant (sorry, I was hungry). We also sampled the French onion dip, which had a nice taste, but also could probably be bought from a grocery store, again sliced fresh “French” bread that was literally the texture of a hard rock (not just a rock, a hard one). The calamari was fresh and good, albeit slightly soggy, but otherwise nothing to write home about.
We were then hankering for a lil somethin sweet, so we headed to Gelato Messina, and wow were we impressed. After sampling almost every flavor they had, we chose boysenberry, and one of their special, limited-edition flavors, Tres Leches (one of my favorite cake flavors). Boysenberry was delightfully tart, soft and creamy on the tongue. But Tres Leches blew us away with its layered milk flavor, thick and decadent but not too dense or sweet, and chucks of moist, melt-in-your-mouth cake pieces. Definitely worth a stop.
We then decided to check out some of Sydney’s world-famous Asian food. We had decided weeks in advance that we had to stop for Malaysian food (my favorite cuisine considering I am half Chinese-Malaysian). We used the 30 min walk to Mamak Haymarket to walk off the fullness, and ended up having to wait in a 15 ish minute line just to get a table. All is forgiven because we got to watch experienced hands throw and stretch the dough through the window as they prepared my (and everyone’s) favorite dish, Roti Canai.
Everything was QR code order and pay, making the line outside move quickly, which we appreciated.The roti inside was chewy, stretchy, and doughy; everything a good roti should be, but lacked the characteristic crisp outside, and to be completely honest, the side dishes lacked a bit of flavor. The fish curry was good, perhaps lacking a bit of body and maybe a little salt, but had the classic Malaysian flavor profile we were craving. The Mee Goreng was the star of the show, in my opinion, boasting a sweet flavory to offset the savory, with thick, bouncy, chewy noodles that held it well. We stuffed our faces and were unable to find room for the famous Roti Tisu, or Ais Kacang, unfortunately. Just another reason to head back to Sydney!
Zoe's World 