As some of you know, The Beautiful Mrs. Tas and I were extremely fortunate in that we won a trip to Australia through a promotion/fund-raiser at her place of work.

We tried to make the most of this trip on all facets, including trying foods that we would not have the chance to sample otherwise, either due to geographical location or financial situation. We did a pretty good job of fulfilling this goal; but in all honesty, we barely scratched the surface. We're already thinking hard about saving up for a return trip to try so many of the things we missed out on the first time.

I took photos of almost everything we ate, and will post them as I am able to on this thread, in no particular order. I'll add as much detail as I can, but if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.

Also, as I posted on another thread, this link should go to a photo album of our trip, including the sights we saw and some of the things we did:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nFvXAX9GmHCxoSPL7

Enjoy, and please feel free to ask questions about any of the photos - I didn't include any captions.

Ron

One of the tours we took was an excursion to the Blue Mountains on 26 October, which finished with a cruise down the Paramatta River through Sydney. The tour company was Oz Trails Blue Mountains Tours, and I highly recommend this company. Our tour guide, Les Goldworthy, grew up in the very areas that we toured; his love of his home was a huge stroke of fortune for us, as we gained insights of the area including the flora, fauna, history, people, culture and geography that we probably wouldn't have experienced otherwise. I share a similar love for my home territory, and I easily recognised Les's passion as he shared his world with us. If anyone reading this happens to be heading to the area, you will be doing yourself a favour if you got in touch with Oz Trails and planned a tour with them; They can be contacted here:

http://www.oztrails.com.au/

For lunch on the day of our tour, we stopped in the village of Leura in the Blue Mountains, which has a unique history all of its own. We ate at a small diner called Loaves and Dishes; it turned out to be a great choice! Here is their website:

https://www.loavesanddishes.com.au/

Even though it was a lazy weekday, the place was bustling during the Noon Hour, which is always a great sign; in spite of this, we were greeted quickly and they found a table for us right away. We took a look at a nice menu that had a lot of variety:

https://www.loavesanddishes.com.au/menus

Right away, I zoomed in on the Kangaroo burger, which was dressed "Aussie Style." Here is the description from the menu:

quote:

100% Kangaroo meat, handmade relish, caramelised onions, cheese, beetroot, tomato, mixed lettuce and mayo, all on a Bushman's charcoal (black) bun served with chips.

I told The Beautiful Mrs. Tas that we came to Australia to try everything, so we might as well give this a go, and she agreed. We placed our order and proceeded to fall into conversation with a visiting couple from South Dakota who happened to live in the same town as the godparents of our children. After a short wait - not too long at all - our food arrived. Here it is:



The burger was very good - I had of course never eaten kangaroo before, and found it to be very similar to good venison or elk, but also unique in its own right. It was quite flavourful and in all honesty I would prefer it to a lot of beef that I have had. The dressings, many of which were unique to us, were also very good with the burger; The house-made relish seemed to pair perfectly. I'd never had a charcoal bun before, but it went well with the kangaroo, as far as I could tell. The chips were crispy outside, tender inside and well-seasoned with what I assume is a house seasoning blend; I enjoyed them quite a bit. My only gripe is that the burger itself seemed small in relation to the bun, but what it lacked in size it definitely made up for in flavour.

The café also had a nice-looking display of desserts, as well, so we decided to try a local favourite: a citrus tart garnished with kiwi fruit.



This was truly delightful on a warm, Australian spring day and made a perfect ending to our lunch, leaving us ready to enjoy the remainder of our tour of the Blue Mountains.

What a grand experience + introduction to new exotic (to us) foods.Bon Appetite amigo!

Glad you're enjoying the story, so far!

One "food goal" that I had while in Sydney was to try "real" Fish and Chips; this, of course, is a very common pub, diner and street food in Australia, so there were numerous opportunities to do so.

On 27 October, The Beautiful Mrs. Tas and I toured Sydney's Wild Life Zoo and Sea Life Aquarium, both located at Darling Harbour in Sydney. There are actually two zoos in Sydney, but we did not know this when we left our hotel; as a consequence, our cab driver took us to the Taronga Zoo in the suburb of Mosman. No worries - this turned out to be rather fortuitous, because during the cab drive he provided a lot of useful information about the history, people and suburbs of Sydney, and we had a very enjoyable drive.

When we got to the Taronga Zoo, we considered staying and touring it as well, but time was not on our side. The staff there let us through so that we could take a cable car ride down to a ferry that would take us back across to Darling Harbour; we saw a few animals and birds along the way, so it was not a total loss, and the cable car ride offered some wonderful views. Once we made it to the ferry, we took a beautiful ride across the harbour that was truly fun, and we got to stand at the bow and play "Rose and Jack on the Titanic." After a few brief stops, we arrived at our true destination at Darling Harbour and were back "on schedule." The takeaway from this was that we learned that ferries are a great way to get around to various areas of Sydney - affordable, efficient and enjoyable - so, it was definitely worth the time spent on an erroneous cab drive, in our opinion.

The Wild Life Zoo was really nice; it has 10 "zones" including habitats for nearly any variety of wildlife I could think of as being native to Australia. One experience that really sticks out in my mind was a large area where butterflies of all sizes, shapes and colours are free to flit and flutter about among the visitors. In another zone, we were able to walk with kangaroos, koalas and various birds. Some other animals that I especially enjoyed seeing were wallabies, a kookaburra, a platypus and a very large saltwater crocodile. You can learn more about the zoo by visiting this website:

https://www.wildlifesydney.com.au/

The Sea Life Aquarium - located adjacent to the zoo - was no less spectacular; home to 13,000 animals spread out among 700 different species, the aquarium was an opportunity for the two of us - from land-locked Montana - to see things we would never see otherwise. The aquarium was designed to showcase the sea and water life from all areas of Australia, from Sydney Harbour in the south to the Great Barrier Reef to the north, as well as the eastern and western shores. Some memorable creatures that we encountered included seahorses, jellyfish, clownfish, starfish, and a dugong named "Pig" who had a really amazing story. The highlight of the visit was a series of underwater tunnels that visitors could walk through; here one could observe all manners of fish and sea life, including sea turtles, skates, rays and sharks. Near the end, there was an exhibit of penguins, who seemed to really enjoy playing around both on the land and in the water. You can learn more about the aquarium by visiting this website:

https://www.sydneyaquarium.com.au/

All-in-all, The Beautiful Mrs Tas and I had a truly fun and spectacular day visiting both the zoo and the aquarium, and it was a day that we will not be forgetting anytime soon. For me personally, the best part of the whole experience was seeing the absolute joy and excitement in my wife's eyes every time we turned a corner and saw a new animal or exhibit; I was very glad and consider myself very fortunate to be married to a woman who can - even after almost 30 years - approach this experience with the wonder of a young girl.

We took the ferry back to Circular Quay, an area not far from our hotel that throughout our trip seemed to serve as a starting point for all of our tours and excursions. Here, there are wharves, parks, shops, stalls and three-story buildings devoted entirely to hosting restaurants highlighting cuisines from all over the world. While The Beautiful Mrs. Tas was in one shop, looking for a few souvenirs for friends and family, I sat out on a bench overlooking the wharves; from here, I could see street performers of all kinds, and watch people passing by as they went about their day. Amongst all of this, my favourite thing to see was the antics of the seagulls, who seemed to number as many as the people who were there. They would strut along the promenade, perch on umbrellas and awnings and constantly look for any opportunity to snatch a bit of food; indeed, at times they could be rather aggressive. I watched one fellow walk by with a sandwich of some sort in his hand; as he passed under an awning, a seagull swooped down and pounced on his food, grabbing a large chunk of it and knocking a good portion to the ground, where several other seagulls crowded in to join the feeding frenzy. The gentleman seemed to take this rather in stride; he shook his fist at the seagull flying away with its prize, then started walking again, eating the remainder of his sandwich.

Soon after this, a lady who was a resident of Sydney sat down at the same bench, and we struck up a conversation. She graciously welcomed me to her city and asked me how we were enjoying our visit; before long, we were chatting as if we had known each other for years. As we parted, I told her that we were going to be after some Fish and Chips, and she told us that the best place in Circular Quay for Fish and Chips was - of all places - a small stall at Wharf 2 called Greek Odyssey, and that we just HAVE to try their Fish and Chips.

With a recommendation such as that, how could I refuse? When The Beautiful Mrs. Tas re-joined me, we made our way to Wharf 2 and found the Greek Odyssey. I walked up to the counter and told the fellow there that we had come 8,328 miles to try his Fish and Chips, and he replied that he would give us the best Fish and Chips that he could. We selected our beverages and sat at a table; shortly after, our lunch arrived:



I am not in any way an expert on Fish and Chips, but this looked like a really good representation to me, with great colour and generous portions; the aroma wafting up was heavenly, promising some good eats, indeed. We wasted no time digging in, and were duly impressed; the coating was crispy, and the fish inside was tender-flaky, moist and flavourful. The chips seemed perfectly done, as well, and we were quite amazed with the results that could be achieved with such simple ingredients and methods, with only a sprinkle of salt and lemon for garnish. Regrettably, I neglected to ask what kind of fish was used to make our meal; but whatever it was, it was delicious! We came away confident that no better Fish and Chips could be found, and thanked the friendly and attentive staff at the Greek Odyssey for such a wonderful lunch.

Greek Odyssey doesn't seem to have a website, but you can visit their Facebook Page here:

https://www.facebook.com/Greek...ey-1793173537391897/

None better, in my opinion - if you are ever in Sydney, drop in and try their Fish and Chips!

I must say, I am a really big fan of the way that information is right at our fingertips these days! After a quick note to Greek Odyssey, I learned that the fish used for their Fish and Chips is called Hoki, also known as Blue Hake or Blue Grenadier:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_grenadier

And of course you ate it with vinegar as we did in London.

On this particular occasion (served at a Greek place), lemon juice!

But, I have had the malt vinegar, and really enjoy it.

Never tried lemon juice,but then again I never tried vinegar until I went to London.I'm all for giving it a try (stateside of course).Keep us posted on your epecuniery sojourn.

More to come - I simply need some time to get it organized!

Great stuff, Tas. That roo burger on the charcoal bun sure looked interesting, and I agree on the lovely finish on the fish with the chips.

Probably the best fish - in New Zealand anyways - for fish and chips is shark. Cheap and cheerfull , holds together well with a nice texture and good taste .

Its getting difficult to find decent fish and chips in NZ these days as most of the takeaway places are owned by asians and they dont come from a fish and chip culture - so the end product is disappointing

I don't know if I want to see any more. I'm drooling here in central Texas.

Tas, very refreshing to see that you and your wife enjoyed a positive experience in our country.

Thanks for the comments, everyone.

Paul, I must say that Sydney was indeed simply bursting with hospitality, and our experience was beyond positive. We were very fortunate to be able to go, and are making active efforts to visit again, in a couple of years.

October 25th was our first full day in Sydney, and what better way for The Beautiful Mrs. Tas and me to get ourselves acquainted with our temporary home than by taking a bus tour?

We booked our tour through Big Bus Tours and had a really nice time; we were able to see all of the major areas of Sydney and learn quite a bit of history as we rode on the open top level of a double-decker bus. As we saw the major landmarks and destinations in and around Sydney, I was most impressed with the mix of old and new that I saw; a building from the 1830s - or even earlier - would look no more out-of-place than the ultra-modern skyscraper just adjacent to it. Three sights that stuck out in my mind were the El Alamein Memorial, the Chinese Garden of Friendship and Cadman's Cottage, which was built in 1816 and is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Sydney. Of course, we also had several chances to view the Sydney Tower, which is the tallest structure in Sydney.

As an added bonus, the tour was of a "hop-on, hop-off" nature, meaning that as you went along the tour, you could disembark at an area that you found interesting and then catch another bus later on at the same stop after exploring around. The Beautiful Mrs. Tas did an outstanding job when she found and booked this tour; the rate was quite affordable and the staff was friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. We couldn't have asked for anything more, and it was a great return for such a small investment.

You can learn more about Big Bus Tours by following this link:

https://www.bigbustours.com/en...ey/sydney-bus-tours/

At the conclusion of the bus tour, we found ourselves in Circular Quay right about lunchtime; we decided to walk around a bit and see what we could discover, intending to choose a place for lunch entirely at whim. Before long, we found ourselves at The Galeries, a major shopping centre in Sydney with a whole section three floors high devoted to a very diverse selection of restaurants, eateries and dining establishments; from what I could see, one could nearly tour the world right there, as far as food was concerned. We learned later that this section was just a food court and that there were many other restaurants located within the centre.

One place that caught our eye was Jimmy's Recipe, a food counter devoted to Malaysian Street Food; it was really hustling and bustling with lunch traffic, and we noticed that the diners seemed very happy with their food. We decided that this might be the best chance for a couple of Montanans to try Malaysian food, so we went up to the counter and took a look at the menu.



I asked the girl at the counter what we should order if we were only going to be able to visit once in our lives; her immediate and enthusiastic answer was, "The Laksa!" The Beautiful Mrs. Tas ordered the combination (chicken and seafood) variety, and I ordered the beef; we also ordered some chicken satay and roti with a curried dipping sauce. We selected our beverages and went to a table, which overlooked a spacious, open-air lobby. It wasn't long before our order was ready, and it looked amazing:



It would be hard for me to explain what a truly unique experience this was for both of us; where we live, this sort of food simply isn't available, and tying to cook it yourself often isn't an option, due to availability of ingredients. I was really looking forward to trying this and dug right in; The Beautiful Mrs. Tas, who is a less-adventurous eater, took a huge leap of faith and tried hers as well. We were both immediately impressed with the absolute symphony of new and unique flavours that filled our awareness; Laksa may be a typical staple of Malaysian street food, but like much of the food in Southeast Asian cuisine, it is a complex work of art incorporating many layers of ingredients and techniques to achieve a spectacular balance. When we ordered this lunch, I was concerned that it might be too spicy for The Beautiful Mrs. Tas, but the beauty of the recipe and the skill of the chef kept the dish gentle and in wonderful harmony for her. Opting for a little more heat, I added a bit of chile paste, which added a nice kick to my experience. There's really no way that I could provide a detailed or in-depth description of the Laksa - because I just don't know much about it (yet) - so here's a link to a fairly-good discussion of Curry Laksa, which is the variety that we ordered:

https://www.sbs.com.au/food/re...ry-laksa-laksa-lemak

The satay was also very good, mildly spiced and flavourful, with a good textural component provided by the pulverized peanuts in the sauce. The roti was in many ways a highlight of the meal for me; tender, flaky, crusty in the right places and wonderfully complimented by the curried dipping sauce. As for the beverage, I decided to try something entirely new to me: a "grass jelly herbal tea" from Taiwan:



This was quite different indeed! It reminded me somewhat of mild hop teas that I have sampled while brewing beer, with an added element of bits of whatever herbs or grass that were used to make it. It went well with my meal, and I certainly have no complaints, even if I don't have much of a way to describe it.

If you want to learn more about Jimmy's Recipe, you can follow this link here:

http://jimmysrecipe.com.au/

There is also a wealth of information and photographs on the restaurant's Facebook and Instagram pages:

https://www.instagram.com/Jimmysrecipeofficial/

https://www.facebook.com/jimmysrecipe/

In all, our lunch was very, very good and unquestioningly affordable; the large bowls of Laksa that we had did not cost much at all, and were gigantic. I am a large man with a large appetite, but it was nearly too much food even for me; the only reason that I was able to finish it all was because I knew that this could be the only time in my life that I would be able to have this wonderful meal...or perhaps not! The Beautiful Mrs. Tas was so impressed with it that she asked if I could learn how to make it, so I am currently researching and gaining understanding of this delicious Malaysian dish; with luck, I might be able to attempt it before the end of the year.

Tas,you should think of a career change. With your recipes,format,great pics,+ international cuisine you could have a TV show that Rachel Ray would have to run to keep up with.

Hey Tas, I love me a good Laksa too !!!! and average about one a month.

If you do make it back try and visit the Victor Churchill butchery (Sydney). I think that with your appreciation of fine food you may not want to buy anything (it's very expensive) but the attention to detail in curing, presentation and care of meat is second to none, at least here in our country and potentially anywhere in the world.

I'm going to pass this info on to a buddy from college that has some restaurants in Australia as well as Houston. He most likely already knows but it does'nt hurt to spread the word.Thanks for the tip.

Simply outstanding!

Hi, guys -

Many, many thanks for the comments. The end of the month is a real killer at work - I'll try to post more after the beginning of December.

Wanted to drop a quick note to Paul: we weren't able to try any, but charcuterie trays seemed to be prevalent during our stay. I saw several places that appeared to specialise in them, and many others featured them as part of a comprehensive menu. We do plan to return one day, and the Victor Churchill Butchery is on my list!

Really enjoying this read.

Thanks for taking the time to put it together.

Very interesting and VERY well done!

Hi, Fish, and thanks ~

I'm working on the next one right now; hope to post later today or tomorrow ~

I do need to post one major correction to a previous dining report: regarding the laksa that we enjoyed at Jimmy's Recipe, the location that we dined at was not at The Galeries on George Street, as I previously posted; instead, it was at 1 Macquarie Place, also known as Gateway Plaza on Alfred Street. There is a Jimmy's Recipe at the Galeries, but that one is on the ground floor. I'm not sure how I managed to commit such an error, but I did. Mea culpa!

October 28th was our last full day in Sydney, and we wanted to make the most of it. The Beautiful Mrs. Tas had booked a whale watching tour that departed from Circular Quay and we also had plans do visit the National Opal Museum before doing some shopping for souvenirs and a few other things. Early that morning, we walked the now-familiar route to the bustling hub in Sydney's Central Business District (CBD). The sky was grey and there had been some rain not long before; we noticed that there was also a bit of a cool breeze, in contrast with the previous days, which had been much warmer. On the whole, however, it was a very pleasant morning, and we enjoyed the walk.

We left our hotel early so that we could have breakfast at Circular Quay, and on our arrival we began sifting through the absolute plethora of options to be found just within the immediate area. We ultimately found ourselves again at Gateway's amazing food precinct and, on the ground floor, spied an interesting offering:

Traditional Turkish Breakfast!

The name of the establishment advertising the breakfast was The Gozleme Co., a small stand nestled between a German schnitzel haus and a French crêperie. Once again, we both noted that something such as this - which we could probably never find at home - would be a great way to fulfill our goal of trying as many different things as possible, so we decided to check it out.



The folks at the counter were friendly, patient and more than happy to answer our questions about the breakfast, explaining that it consisted of a traditional Turkish sausage called Sucuc accompanied with eggs and garnished with mushrooms, feta cheese, olives, cucumbers and tomatoes. This is served with a traditional Turkish flatbread called gözleme - similar to a pita - and homemade jam; cherry, on this day.



We were impressed with this description and ordered two, then chose a table nearby. While we waited for our breakfast to cook, we saw an elderly gentleman - apparently of Middle-Eastern descent - sitting at another table, nursing a cup of tea and reading the morning paper. He had the appearance of a regular there, and his face broke into a huge smile as his breakfast was brought to him. Based on this, we suspected that we were in for a really nice meal.

In a few short minutes, our order was ready, and I was pretty impressed with what we saw:



Once again in Sydney, we were getting generous proportions of very good looking food, with incredibly friendly and courteous service; a wonderful way to start our day!

The Sucuc sausage tasted great, spicy and flavourful with a hearty kick of good paprika, but not hot at all. We both enjoyed it, especially with the accompaniments on some of the gözleme. The tomatoes and cucumbers were fresh, bursting with flavour and wonderfully accented by the savory kalamata olives and sharp feta cheese, which had been marinated in olive oil and herbs.



We also reserved some of the flatbread to try with the cherry jam, which was simply amazing. The cherries were dark, not too sweet and about the same diameter as a dime; the jam seemed to have a warm kiss of cinnamon, but that could have been my imagination.

For beverages, The Beautiful Mrs. Tas went with Coca-Cola, while I tried a wonderfully exotic coffee that was nicely rich and deeply flavoured. It seemed to alternate between slightly sweet and incredibly savory as the breakfast progressed; I have no accurate way to describe it, but it was truly something unique, in a great way.

You can learn more about The Gozleme Co. by visiting their website:

http://www.gozlemeco.com.au/

The Gozleme Co. is also on Facebook, Instagram etc.

In all, it was a terrific breakfast and we both agreed that it was money very well spent. Completely satisfied, we thanked the staff of this wonderful eatery and rejoined the merriment at Circular Quay.

Ron

Fratelli Fresh on Hickson Road

Wednesday, October 24th was our first day in Sydney, and it was hectic. The Beautiful Mrs. Tas and I landed at Sydney International Airport that morning and promptly went through two of the Outer Levels of Hell; the first was named "Customs," while the second was named "Baggage." Everyone, including the staff, was very friendly and patient, but the process was time-consuming, involving a lot of time spent standing in lines and waiting around. Once we were through, we were turned out into one of the major cities of the world, without a clue as to what to do next. The first thing we saw coming out of the airport was a pair of friendly black pigeons that followed us around while we waited for our shuttle.

Our ride from the airport to Sydney Harbour was rather frenetic, as well; the conditions were something we had never encountered before, with very narrow lanes, fairly high speeds and vehicles of all sizes going every direction. I did manage to tap into one of Sydney's street cams, and here's a shot of what it looked like:



Unfortunately, due to some sort of communication error, our shuttle dropped us off at the wrong hotel, and then drove off while we were trying to sort things out. No worries; a cab driver who also happened to be there took us where we needed to go, giving us a lot of great information about Sydney along the way.

We arrived at the Pier One Sydney Harbour in the early afternoon and checked in with a toast of champagne that was brought to us. When we got to our very comfortable-looking room, we were suddenly hit with either jet lag from the 13-hour flight or the excitement of the whole experience...or perhaps both. We fell down on the bed and took a short nap, waking up a little after 3:00 in the afternoon.

We realized that we hadn't eaten all day and decided to have a quick, late lunch, with supper late in the evening...but what would we have? We didn't know where to go or what to get for our first meal in Australia, so we finally decided to just walk out the front door of the hotel and see where our feet took us. After walking up Hickson Road for a short time, we came across a nice-looking sidewalk eatery called Fratelli Fresh:



It was obviously Italian and looked very inviting, so we went inside. Immediately, we were impressed with the aromas coming from the kitchen in the back; the wood-fired oven was an especially welcome aspect of the visit, for me, and I decided then and there to get a pizza of some sort. Thankfully, The Beautiful Mrs. Tas was of the same mind, and we decided to share one. Looking over the menu we decided on a Prosciutto di Parma pizza, with Parma Ham and smoked Mozzarella, and topped with shaved Parmesan cheese as it came out of the oven. There was also an option to get fresh rocket (arugula) on the pizza, but we elected not to do so. We were still a bit tired, so we ordered it to go, intending to eat the pizza back in our hotel room.

The restaurant was quiet at the moment, so we waited at a table near the front window. While our pizza was cooking, the manager came out with a friendly smile, a warm greeting and a pair of very refreshing-looking beverages; this last was most welcome, as it seemed us like it was quite a warm day, especially when considering that our temperatures were in the 20s just 24 hours before. We chatted with him for a while, telling him that we had just arrived from Montana and this was our first meal in Sydney. He was very happy that we chose Fratelli Fresh for such a watershed event in our lives and told us everything that we must see and do while visiting the area. The time passed quickly in such good company and before we knew it, our pizza had arrived.

We walked back to our hotel and proceeded to try our pizza, which was very, very good. The Beautiful Mrs. Tas especially was impressed; she has always been rather ambivalent about pizza, taking it or leaving it - however, this time she proclaimed without equivocation that this was the best pizza she had ever had.

I was in no position to disagree with her, as I found everything about it to be a delight. The crust was perfect; thin where it should be, puffy where it should be, crisp on the outside and very tender inside. The red tomato base was simple - just crushed tomatoes and perhaps a bit of seasoning - but it was absolutely rich, tangy and wonderful. The Prosciutto di Parma was aged 18 months and sliced very thinly, all the better to showcase its complex, nutty, umami-filled beauty. The blend of smoked Mozzarella and shaved Parmesan was a terrific combination, adding to the whole experience and reinforcing our decision that we had made the right choice.

For some inexplicable reason, I didn't get a photo of this first pizza, but it looked perfect, to me. It was at this moment that my mind started building up the idea that we would have to find some time during our visit to return to Fratelli Fresh and get another pizza, if for no other reason than to get a photo of this treasure. This goal remained with us throughout our stay in Sydney; even as we tried so many different, wonderful foods from so many unique and new places, we both agreed that Fratelli Fresh was worth a second visit. Toward the end of our time in Sydney, we decided that we would save our return trip for our last meal in Australia; a perfect book-end to our first.

Late in the afternoon on Sunday, October 28th, we achieved our goal. The Beautiful Mrs. Tas, who had been fighting some fatigue during the entire visit, decided to lie down and rest while I went to get the pizza and bring it bring back to her. We looked at the menu and decided that we would make a full supper of it, rather than a quick late lunch; because of this, we chose a couple of other menu items, and then I went on my way. Walking up the now-familiar canyon that was Hickson Road, I looked at the tower of Sydney’s famous Harbour Bridge on my left - as well as the Piers extending out into the harbour on my right - and considered myself thankful to be in this city at this time in my life with my wonderful wife. We had already decided that someday, we would make our way back to Sydney, so while I was sorry to be leaving the next day, I was already looking forward to our return.

I arrived at Fratelli Fresh and placed our order. The manager who had greeted us so warmly during our first visit was there and we chatted again while I waited. When the meal was ready, I walked back and we shared our last meal in Sydney.

For a starter, we selected something we had heard about many times, but had never tried, Prosciutto di Parma with Melon and Buffalo Mozzarella:



This made a fine serving for the two of us, and we enjoyed it quite a bit. The prosciutto was the same, beautiful product that we had had on our first pizza, and it was even better when wrapped around the luscious melon, creamy Buffalo Mozzarella and crisp, bright basil. We had never tried “the real thing” before where the prosciutto and Mozzarella were concerned, as the true products simply are hard to come by where we live. It was - in a word - memorable; a perfect opening to our meal.

Next, we tried Panzanella Tonno con Capperi, which is a Tuscan salad that includes tuna, capers, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, fresh bread from the brick oven and a nice dressing:



For this salad, we tore the bread into pieces and tossed it with the other ingredients. It was very good, with many flavours and textures that were new to us; the tuna was much better than any we had ever had at home, and the capers were a nice, piquant and slightly salty contrast to the heavenly, tender bread. We were very glad that we had tried this, and were impressed with how easy it was to get such flavours from such simple ingredients.

Finally, we cast our eyes on our pizza, which was a repeat of the Prosciutto di Parma, Smoked Mozzarella and Shaved Parmesan pizza that we had enjoyed on our first day in Sydney:



The photo really doesn’t do it justice, but it’s all I have. It was as outstanding as the first one was, and we truly enjoyed the return to these wonderful flavours that we had experienced on our arrival. Because we had eaten some other foods with this order, we saved some of the pizza for breakfast the next morning before heading to the airport and - eventually - home.

Was this our best food in Sydney? No, not quite, but it certainly was excellent, to be sure. As we told the manager, the food here was so good that it was the one restaurant that we decided to visit twice; to me, that’s very high praise, and in this case very much worth it! In many ways, it was certainly one of the most memorable experiences, as it happened on the cusp - and at the conclusion - of one of the greatest adventures we have yet had together.

You can learn more about Fratelli Fresh by visiting their website:

http://www.fratellifresh.com.au/menu/walsh-bay/

You can also find them on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/fratellifresh/

And Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/FratelliFresh/

I am certain that if you find yourself in a position to try the food here, you will agree that it was worth the trip!

If you ever would like to come review my restaurant dinner is on me! I have been in the restaurant industry for 22 years and your food reviews and cooking skills are top notch!

Colin

I agree.Your reviews,pics,+ recipes have been top notch.Always a pleasure to see.

Guys - thank you, sincerely, for the kind words. I'm writing these partially as a "report" on the restaurants, but also to preserve a story of our trip to Australia. Each day we were there, we got to see and do things that we would never have been able to see and do otherwise, and this is a good way to remember them.

Colin, I may take you up on that. Kentucky is definitely on my list of places to go, for a couple of reasons. I have a good friend in Richmond, and need to get over that way one day to meet him for real, rather than on the internet. Possibly this year, more likely next.

I’m 45 minutes from Richmond.

The Pier One Sydney Harbour

During our stay in Australia, The Beautiful Mrs. Tas and I stayed at the Pier One Sydney Harbour, and in all honesty I do not think that we could have asked for a better place. The location of this hotel used to be a major center for commerce and trade, and is truly an historic building with little treasures to be discovered here and there for anyone who is interested in the past. Even in our room, you could see planks and iron fixtures in the ceiling which pointed directly to the rich history of this unique and important building.

Simply put, our stay was awesome. Every member of the staff was friendly, helpful and accomodating; we felt as comfortable there as we would have had we been staying with a valued friend of beloved family member. Our room was clean and the amenities were excellent and thoughtful without being over-the-top. The view from our room looked straight up at the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge, while the view from the pier offered stunning views of Sydney Harbour and the city skyline that took one’s breath away, both day and night.

Due to a variety of factors, most of the meals that we ate in Sydney came from the kitchens of the Pier One Sydney Harbour. The main restaurant, The Gantry, had its own menu, as did the lounge. On the pier just outside of the hotel was an on-site “food shack” called The Kerrigan, which featured a charcoal grill and smokery. To be honest, we often never really knew from one meal to the next which kitchen we were getting our food from, as we ordered from various menus, including a general "room service" menu; however, this is no great matter, as all of our meals were very well-prepared and presented...and tasted great!

From what I can see, the menus at the Pier One are in a constant state of rotation in order to remain fresh; however, here is what we enjoyed, in an order that loosely corresponds to when we tried each dish. We'd be hard-pressed to choose any favourites, but we did order some menu items more than once. I missed getting photos of each and every meal, but I was able to get at least one photo of everything that we tried. My descriptions are as close to accurate as possible as I neglected to take photos of the menus, but I did try to get a few words down as I experienced each dish.

Aussie Burger and Chips



It may sound a little eccentric for Americans to go to another country and then order "a cheeseburger and fries" - however, from what we could see, burgers are quite popular Down Under, although they are usually dressed with ingredients that would be somewhat unfamiliar in the U.S. This "Aussie Burger” was flame-grilled and covered with melty, creamy, tangy cheese and dressed with - among other things - cabbage and sliced, canned beetroot. It was served with mustard, mayonnaise and "tomato sauce" on the side. I found the tomato sauce in particular to really be wonderful stuff; it is similar to catsup, but not nearly as sugary and acidic. Part of the base for Australian tomato sauce is meat stock, which in my opinion provides a flavour profile that accentuates the spices within. I really enjoyed it, actually preferring it to catsup, and made sure to order some for myself as soon as we returned to Montana. The chips were also very good; crisp outside, fluffy inside and expertly salted to bring out some amazing flavours. the ones pictured above were a little lighter in colour than the typical examples that we received with our orders, but no less delicious.

Bircher Muesli



Not even three weeks before we embarked on our trip to Australia, I started looking into Bircher's Muesli as a possible project:

http://foodsoftheworld.activeb...uesli_topic5131.html

I hadn't gotten around to it yet, but luckily the Pier One took care of that for me! This cold breakfast consisted of grated apple, oats, honey, hazelnuts, almonds and dried fruits. The portion was slightly larger than I expected, but it tasted great and made a nice, refreshing start to our day, so I certainly have no complaints. I could easily get used to a slightly-smaller bowl of this each weekday morning before heading off to work

Eggs Benedict



While I was enjoying my Muesli, The Beautiful Mrs. Tas was feasting on Eggs Benedict dressed with a wonderful, small, grilled tomato, cabbage and some other leafy green that I assume was a variety of lettuce. This type of grilled tomato turned up here and there in many of our orders and was very good, with its naturally rich flavour heightened by the grilling. The Eggs Benedict was even better, with a perfectly-toasted English muffin, smoky Canadian bacon, poached eggs and expertly-prepared Hollandaise sauce. She allowed me to sneak a bite from her plate, and as much as I enjoyed my Muesli, I found myself wishing I had ordered this, instead!

Lamb Curry with Chutney, Yoghurt and Naan



This was actually my first time ordering a traditional "curry" dish, so I was relatively unfamiliar with it and not sure what to expect; consequently, I unfortunately don't have much to say about it from a technical aspect, but I can certainly declare that it was good! The slow-cooked lamb shoulder was seasoned very nicely, neither too spicy nor too bland, and prepared with what I believe were onions, potatoes and sweet potatoes. The curry was served with naan bread, yoghurt and a chutney that seemed to be based on pickled citrus fruit, most likely lemon, but possibly lime or a combination of lemon and lime. I was very impressed with this, and found it to be an outstanding introduction to this type of food.

Breakfast Sandwich



We found this on the room service menu, which you can use to order breakfast; you check off what you want on the card, hang it on your door and go to bed. Then, the next morning - as if by magic - the food appears at almost exactly the time that you requested it! When The Beautiful Mrs. Tas and I saw this breakfast sandwich on the card, we both knew that we had to try it as we often make a much simpler version at home, served on plain bread, bagels or English Muffins. This sandwich, I believe, used toasted sourdough as a shingle, and it was a very good choice. Each was contained a generous portion of smoky, thick-cut, delicious “streaky” bacon along with egg and cheese. In a unique (to us) twist, the sandwiches were served with a delicious, deeply-flavoured, house-made barbecue sauce on the side that really added to the experience. To top it off, our breakfast was served with what was arguably the best apple juice either of us have ever had, and I do not say that lightly. We both tried the juice at about the same time and had to actually stop and do a double-take, as it was that good. I thought maybe it was just me, but The Beautiful Mrs. Tas herself exclaimed how good it was, so I knew I was not alone.

Now would probably be a good time to mention something that happened with this breakfast. Along with the sandwiches, we ordered "a side of bacon" for each of us since - let's face it - we love bacon. We were expecting two or possibly 4 slices of bacon each; the usual, rather-thin bacon that we almost always get at most restaurants in the U.S. However, when the breakfast arrived, our "side of bacon" was in a rather large oval bowl serving, piled embarrassingly high with wonderful-looking, crisp, thick-sliced bacon; I would not be surprised if there was a full pound of bacon there - perhaps even more - and it was very good, very smoky and possibly one of the highlights of the whole trip. We couldn't possibly eat it all during that sitting, but we did keep the leftover bacon covered and in the mini-refrigerator that was in our room, to snack on throughout the remainder of our stay. Who could ask for anything more?

Tandoori Lamb, Tandoori Chicken and "Chook" Strips



One evening, we decided to order an late-night snack and selected these items from the menu. I ordered the tandoori lamb and chicken, while The Beautiful Mrs. Tas order the "chook" (chicken) strips. Once again, we were expecting fairly small portions; once again, we ended up with quite a but more than we bargained for...and once again, the food we got was absolutely delicious! The spicy, barbecued lamb (top middle) and chicken (top left) tandoori were wonderfully seasoned with a plethora of spices and cooked on skewers in a tandoor. The lamb was served with a unique and wonderful mint sauce, while the chicken was served with a refreshing cucumber-and-yoghurt sauce reminiscent of Greek tzatziki. The chook strips were seasoned, breaded, deep-fried and delicious tenders of pure chickeny goodness. At the bottom of the photo is the naan bread that came with our order for serving, and in the top-left corner are the usual, now-familiar and beloved condiments that we received with many meals, mustard, mayonnaise and tomato sauce. We were each able to try a generous portion of everything and found it all to be great, with no exceptions.

Grilled Wagyu Scotch Beef Fillet drizzled with Café de Paris Butter





Neither of us had ever tried Wagyu before, so we figured that since we were on the best vacation of our lives so far, we might as well splurge a little and give it a go. This particular beef is certified to have been raised and slaughtered in Scotland, and was of truly top quality, in my opinion. It was seasoned simply, with salt and pepper, and grilled perfectly over a charcoal flame with a sensational sear until just medium. The Café de Paris butter was also a new experience for us; I don't know much about it, except that it is a sauce that was made popular in the 1940s by the Café de Paris restaurant in Geneva, Switzerland. The exact, original recipe is a closely-guarded secret, but is reputed to include fresh thyme and thyme flowers, full cream, white Dijon mustard, butter, salt, and pepper. The version that we had is probably not quite as elaborate, and I am guessing that it was a compound butter that included a few herbs and seasonings beyond the original; however, it was extraordinary. Café de Paris butter is reputed to be a nearly-perfect accompaniment for grilled beef, and I am in no position to disagree, as I found it to really be something special. The Beautiful Mrs. Tas ordered her meal with a side salad, while I opted to try the broccolini, which is something else I had never experienced. Both meals were served with more of the wonderful house chips, which might possibly be the best in Sydney. In the top-right corner of the bottom photo, you will see a glass of the excellent beer that the lounge had on tap, Alpha Pale Ale, from Matilda Bay Brewing Company.

Lemon Tart



Neither The Beautiful Mrs. Tas nor I order desserts very often; however, we received this dessert as a complimentary gift from the house, due to some very minor (in my opinion) confusion over our order. I don't know much at all about it, except that for a guy who loves lemon meringue pie, this was absolutely exquisite and possibly one of the best desserts I've ever had. The tart was topped with a lemon sorbet or gelato that made a wonderful contrast to the crisp shell of the tart and the citrusy filling. The plating speaks for itself, making this officially the "fanciest" thing that I've ever had served to me; a feast for both the eyes and the palate. One thing I really like about Australian treats such as this (and the chocolates we tried, as well) is that they are less sweet than almost anything we usually find at home; in my view, this allows much more flavour to come out, and contributes greatly to the enjoyment of the treat. In this case, the bit of sweetness worked extremely well with the tartness from the lemon, making a perfect experience for both of us.

Taken together as a whole, the meals and the foods we tried at the Pier One Sydney Harbour covered a nice range of what Australian food has to offer; we found everything to be delicious, and could not have asked for better.

You can discover more about the history and the modern incarnation of the Pier One Sydney Harbour - including its current menus - by visiting its website here:

https://www.pieronesydneyharbour.com.au/

You can also see some fabulous photos and learn more about the Pier One Sydney Harbour on Facebook and Instagram:

https://www.facebook.com/PierOneSydneyHarbour/

https://www.instagram.com/pieronesydney/

This concludes my series on our experiences dining out in Sydney; as you can see, it was not in the least a proper review, nor was it expertly written. In spite of the fact that it is 100% honest, this series is long on praise and short on criticisms, and that is deliberate. Our trip to Sydney is one of the absolute highlights of our life together, so far; it ranks up there with our wedding, the births of our children and other milestones. It represents a time when we had an incredible amount of fun together and experienced so many new and wonderful things together. There were little problems here and there, both with the trip itself as well with the food; we took wrong turns, got on each others nerves and ran into other issues, but the over-riding memory was one of happiness, togetherness, fun, positive energy...and falling in love all over again. This series reflects that.

Our stay in Australia was an amazing experience for both of us, and we always be grateful for the opportunity that was given to us so that we could be there. We will never forget this trip; in fact, we're already saving up for our return, hopefully next year. I hope that you've enjoyed reading about it as much as I have enjoyed writing about it - and if you ever find yourself in this magical city, you could do worse than try these establishments that I’ve discussed. On our return trip, we intend to visit them all, and to also hit a few that we missed.

Ron