The Victoria Room - Darlinghurst, NSW

after fifteen minutes wait outside where we contemplate going to a tavola (seemingly impossible without a booking) or seduce the doormen... we were let in and up the stairs to the bar where we had to wait another hour or so... accompanied by tasty cocktails it wasnt so bad afterall...

Sugar Daddy
wyborowa vodka, peach liquor and freshly torn mint leaves, sugarcane juice, lychee juice and lime juice... on the hands of every other girl (and some boys) and shamelessly mine too...

Turkish Flat Bread, Zat'ar and Olive Oil
definitely worthy of my weekly portion of wheat... soft and warm.... whatever Zat'ar is... me likey

New York Style Steak served medium rare

Fried Haloumi, Oven-Roasted Tomato, Asparagus & Basil Salad
the flavours mixed-in nicely... and i simply love fried haloumi cheese...

Scallops, pan fried with Parsnip Mash, Caper & Parsley Butter Sauce & Crisp Pancetta
parsnip mash was surprisingly nice... although, wasnt much different from potato mash

Prawns, pan-seared, with Garlic, Parsley, finished with Chilli & Lemon Olive Oil

Oven roasted Chicken, provincial style with Tomato, Anchovy, Black Olives & Thyme

Tarte tatin with double cream
the best thing about this place... tarttartaaannnnn!!!! i'm not sharing this next time... *insert evil laugh*

then we stayed so late its supper time and we got the hard sell from the host... he said the fondue's amazinggg...

Bourbon and Bitter chocolate fondue with turkish delight, marshmallow, seasonal fruits and taleggio cheese
worst tasting chocolate fondue ever... and taleggio cheese was disgusting... euughhhh....

rating: 7/10
minus points for the wait and the horrible fondue...

Fujiya - Sydney

This place is certainly the most popular izakaya in the City area. The food is okay, but the service is really really slow due to the fact that they're severely understaffed for such a big and crowded place. They only open for dinners, and expect an hour queuing time plus another hour wait for your food to arrive if you dine on weekends.

Strictly speaking, the food is nothing special compared to other izakayas in Sydney. However, their convenient location and spacious venue made it popular among drunken Japanese students. As expected from an izakaya-style restaurant, the place is as noisy as Tsukiji fish market when packed on weekends. Prices are on the higher side considering the rather small portions, and some waiters do not even speak English well.

However, they do serve a wide variety of cocktails and chuuhai, most of them really yummy and do justice to their original counterparts in Japan.

One word of advice - order everything you can possibly expect to consume in one go - because as I said before, there's a looong waiting time for the food to arrive. Ordering extra stuff would cause frustrations as your appetite might wane by the time the extras arrive. And also, don't expect all the food for your party to arrive at the same time. Really frustrating, I know - especially when it's highly possible for you to finish your food before your friend's food even arrive.

...or just go to other places. There are better izakayas like Ju Ju in King's Cross.

Sushi & Sashimi Boat

Gyoza

Tempura set

Beef Teriyaki set

Mochi spring roll

Takoyaki Gratin
(Note: not as good as it looks.)

Agedashi Tofu

Strawberry Cocktail

Grape Chuuhai

Z'bar - Night Safari, Singapore

It's like...having drinks in the middle of an African savannah - complete with an occasional cockroach fluttering around. (Seriously).




Snack - Calamari rings, samosas & spring rolls



Mango & Mint Tropical Julep



Pina Colada