We have spent a fair amount of this trip eating at a variety of places, going to grocery stores and generally getting into the food scene. It is not surprising that the food scene has changed quite a bit in the last 30 years and it is fair to say that Sydney (and also Melbourne) consider themselves food destinations.

Back in our Amex Era (1989-1992), there were certainly a fair number of fine dining restaurants and the whole Modern Australian style of cooking was starting to take off. Tony Bilson, who recently died (link to his obituary here), was considered by many the father of that movement and we ate at his then-current restaurant, Fine Bouche, a number of times. I actually met Tony Bilson a few times because that restaurant was located right behind the office of my friend, Renos Ross, who was running wine business at that point. One particular memory is going over to Bilson’s restaurant one afternoon, where a distributor was pouring a range of champagnes, including some very pricy vintage ones. We also went to one of Bilson’s other famous restaurants, the Berowra Waters Inn, which he started with his partner Gay and which she ran after they separated. (More on that restaurant below.) Another memorable restaurant back in the day was Tetsuya’s, a sort of Japanese/French?modern Australian restaurant run by Tetsuya Wakuda, a great chef first hired by Tony Bilson as a sushi chef and dishwasher. It was pretty new then and off in untrendy Rozelle. Now he is incredibly famous and Tetsuya’s is a very expensive destination restaurant in the CBD, with offshoots in places like Singapore and Las Vegas. He is one of the most famous chefs in the world and it is cool that we ate his food way back when. All of this is not to say that there wasn’t a big dining scene and some fine restaurants in Sydney, during the Amex Era. It just pales in comparison to what it is like now.

Pub Food: Maybe it was because we were eating out with infant Alex or because we couldn’t afford to eat in those fancy places too often, but I recall us doing much of our eating out at pubs. That is certainly still a major part of the dining scene here. On this trip we have had some good pub fare: Lamb burgers at the Lord Nelson and a dinner at the Hero of Waterloo (our two favorite pubs in the Rocks, the oldest part of Sydney. We had our Valentine’s Day dinner at The Oaks, a famous pub in Neutral Bay, where everyone tries to sit outside in the courtyard under a big, old oak tree (we managed to snag a table). See the four of us with our friend, Di Collins, below:

Not surprisingly, pub food has evolved over thirty years. Back in the Amex Era, my recollection is that pub food was dominated by meat pies, burgers, fries, steaks and, my favorite, barbecued baby octopus. I’m sure that there was fish and chips (and lamb in the nicer ones) and probably some kind of curry and I’m doubtlessly missing some standard. Now things are a bit more upscale, at least in our limited experience. Meat pies are no long ubiquitous and the octopi have, unfortunately, disappeared completely (I wonder if they ate so many that they became endangered). Arancini seems to be a big appetizer (they call appetizers entrees here and entrees mains) along with salt and pepper squid or prawns and padron peppers. Pubs are more likely to have some type of asian dish, which probably reflects the increased number of asian immigrants living in the Sydney area. Grilled barramundi is everywhere. Lots of artisan pizzas, which don’t rely on tomato and cheese and, instead, might have feta and lamb or seafood or figs, etc. There is a possibility of getting kangaroo, which you rarely saw in the Amex Era. Most pubs still do not have waitress service. You go up to the bar or a counter and order your food and they bring it to your table.

Berowra Waters Inn: As I noted above, this restaurant was created back in the 1980s by Tony and Gay Bilson. Besides the fact that it was an incredible restaurant, what was and is most notable about it is that it can only be reached by boat (or seaplane if you are a really high-roller). You have to get to the Berowra Waters wharf (not the easiest thing to do as it is almost an hour north of downtown) and they send a little boat to pick you up.

In the Amex Era, we went there when Judie’s sister Robbie and her husband Bob were visiting. Gay Bilson was running it then and it was one of the more memorable meals of our lives. Robbie was so taken with the experience that she gave Kathy and Jim a gift of a meal there when they were visiting. We booked for Valentine’s Day dinner, but the day before we arrived in Sydney a massive storm knocked out their power and, being where they are, it was not fixed in time for us. Fortunately, we were able to re-book for a lunch the next week (when they had gotten generators in). We were actually wondering if the restaurant had survived Gay Bilson’s retirement, but I guess the name had so much good will that it was able to continue. Our friends told us that they had heard that the quality had slipped for a while, but there is now a new executive chef and it is highly rated again.

It took us around two hours to get there. Ferry, two trains and then an Uber driver who got lost when his GPS failed on the way down the gorge to the wharf. It was well worth it. There is a fixed menu and we ordered the suggested accompanying wines (and any extra that come up). Here is the menu, with the accompanying wines: (1) Oysters–one natural and one with a Tasmanian pepper sauce, (2) Raw kingfish with Nashi pears, pressed cucumber, coriander and lime (2019 Hughes & Hughes Reisling, TAS), (3) Crab and this thick miso custard and some crab broth–amazing (2017 Moon Marsanne, VIC), (4) Chicken & Mushrooms (2018 Coriole Sangiovese, McLaren Vale, SA), (5) Beef, Garlic and Leek (2016 Artwine Graciano, Clare Valley SA), (6) Blue Cheese with Honey & Quince Paste (Coates LBV Shiraz, McLaren Vale, SA) (7) Pumpkin & Mandarin–dessert (2017 Glenguin “The Sticky” Botrytis Semillon, Hunter Valley, NSW) (8) Tooheys Old, Barley & Caramel–another dessert (NV Pennyweight Fortified Muscat, VIC). We took an Uber all the way back to Manly and promptly took naps. Photos from the lunch follow:

Asian Foods: This probably the biggest change in Sydney, I think and, as I said above, it has to be a result of the huge influx of asian immigrants over the last 30 years. Sydney always had a big Chinatown and Sydney was the first place I had incredible Thai food, and, back then, every little town seemed to have a Cantonese takeaway, but the quality and sheer number of asian restaurants today is notable. The Thai food here is particularly amazing. I’ve eaten at three or four of them already and each has been very good and one, Long Chim, near Judie’s office, was spectacular. Some say that a Sydney has the best Thai food in the world outside of Thailand and it might be true. Early on in the trip we went to Chinatown on a Sunday morning to have Yum Cha with our friends Jill and Graham and their (adopted Korean) son Webster, who is Alex’s age. Yum Cha means “drink tea” in Cantonese and it refers to going out and eating dim sum and drinking tea. Great food in a huge noisy place, although I’ve had equally good dim sum around NY. Chinatown is still a big area near downtown Sydney, but I seem to remember it as more of a shambles, chaotic and busy and less buttoned up. Last weekend, we went with Di Collins to Cabramatta, a largely Vietnamese suburb about 45 minutes west of downtown. Tons of great, inexpensive restaurants and shops. Many languages spoke and only the young people seems to be speaking English. We walked around the main drag after lunch at a noodle place that specialized in crispy chicken and it was very lively and very Vietnamese. More the way I recall Chinatown, although I may have it confused with a different Chinatown from my past. Some photos follow.

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Grocery Stores and Home Cooking: I don’t know about you, but I really like going to grocery stores when I’m traveling. I’ve spent a lot of my life doing the grocery shopping for the family and I find it an interesting view of the society I’m visiting. The grocery stores here in Manly are on the smaller side and I suspect that I might find bigger US-scale stores if I shopped someplace only reachable by a car. Actually, the Manly stores were kind of a disappointing cross between London and US groceries. Mostly Australian fruit and veggies and nothing too exotic unless you go to someplace like Cabramatta or Chinatown. More lamb than you might see in a US store. Cordials, British candies, lots of Vegemite, Kangaroo skewers, frozen meat pies, Bundaberg soft drinks. We went there the other night and there had been a run on toilet paper and it was completely sold out. Three women at a store (in Melbourne, I think) were arrested a few days ago for getting into fist fight because one of them had completely filled her cart with the remaining toilet paper and refused to share! When Kathy and Jim were here, I went out and bought Balmain Bugs and marinated lamb for dinner. The bugs are really clawless crustaceans about the size of your hand that taste like lobster. They are not bugs and I’m pretty sure that they are not from Balmain. See below:

Other Restaurants: Manly has some nice restaurants, since it it a summer tourist spot. We particularly like Hugo’s (right by the ferry wharf with a great view), Pantry Manly (right on the beach), The Herring Restaurant (extremely good, but a bit of a long walk), Garfish, the Shelley Beach Boathouse and Manly Wine (the closest place to our apartment). All good, but I don’t want to bore you with reviews of restaurants you will never go to, unless it is a unique place, like Berowra Waters.

This post is entirely too long. And the photos are a pain to add on the laptop. Future posts will be shorter with less photos.