Zilver, Haymarket

Zilver, a popular chinese and yum cha restaurant is situated on level 1 of 477 Pitt St which is predominantly a commercial business building.  It's a modern looking, decked out restaurant with splashes of red which is beautiful.

Come early around 11am or be prepared to queue at lunch time, much like most other popular Yum Cha Eateries in Chinatown. The dumplings are freshly steamed, generously proportioned and full of fresh seafood. I tried the prawn dumpling (har gow) below and the snowpea prawn dumplings (above).  Both were delicious with a dab of chili sauce.

A particularly strange looking dish was offered up so I jumped at the chance to try the prawn meat and avocado wrapped in tofu dish. This dish was accompanied with a wasabi mayonnaise. It was nice and something different but not sure if I would order this one again.

I would also give the mango pancakes a miss until mango is back in season. The mango tasted tangy and was small in portion. I'm certain I've had delicious mango pancakes from Zilver but in mango season.   The cream and pancake casing was beautiful as always but it's the mango that makes all the ingredients come together.

Prices - About 4 dishes was $30 including tea for two

Location: Level 1, 477 Pitt St, Haymarket, 2000

It's a little more dear than Marigold and The Eight but I would certainly argue that their portions, particularly in their dumplings are larger than your norm. I would probably say it's on par with Sky Phoenix in price and cheaper than Fat Buddha.

I used to work above Zilver so this was a regular lunch venue but it was hard to compete with all the other chinese restaurants with high quality yum cha in China Town and CBD, in particular Marigold, The Eight and Sky Phoenix (Westfield). I come back here for something different and the atmosphere.

Mad Mex, DFO, Homebush

If it wasn't situated in a food court, I probably would have been convinced that this was a local mexican restaurant somewhere in the burbs or within a pub.  Max Mex in Homebush was brightly lit up with decorations not worthy of the food court.  I haven't been to Max Mex before so I had no expectations.

Spice up your life (and meal) with the hot sauce.  It's a cut above the "hot" sauce which I thought was mild so go nuts if you are a fan of spice.  I used a little bit of hot sauce in the chicken quesadilla ($10.90) that came with a bit of salsa, hot sauce (which was mild) and cream. It was a nice lunch, probably on par with Guzmez Y Guzman, another mexican chain.  You can't really go wrong with toasted tortillas, cheese, chicken and sauces. Yum.  I love the El Loco version too.  See my blog here

The three hard tacos of steak, chicken and chorizo ($9.90) were not bad with avocado ($2 extra).  The quesadilla was much more tasty. The mexican cola tasted like a pepsi but I had to try it out of curiousity.

Prices: $10 to 12 for mains

Location: DFO Homebush.  This one is in the entertainment book Sydney and Sydney North where you can buy one main and you get one free!

Quesdilla

Corona lighting

Trio of tacos

Il Tratto Ra Ro Pizzeria, Concord

II Tratto Ra Ro Pizzeria is a posh suburban Italian restaurant in Concord.  It's painted red and yellow which makes it look a bit like mustard and tomato sauce.  It's a nice place for a quiet meal in the burbs or you can even order some gourmet delivery.

They have a pizza oven hidden behind that yellow wall which will cook your pizza favourites.  The pizza crust is nice and thin.

Supreme pizza at $25.90 

 I love a nice glass of red with any Italian meal.  The supreme pizza ($25.90) was very tasty.  The crust was thin, crunchy and really brought out the toppings.  I love a good supreme pizza, it's the pizza with the lot with salami, double smoked ham, italian sausages, mushrooms, roasted capsicum, onions and my two favourite toppings on any pizza are olives and pineapples.

Fettuccini Bosciola $23.90

 I also ordered the Fettuccini Bosciola at $23.90 which was freshly cooked pasta with sauteed button mushrooms, double smoked ham and shallots cooked in a creamy white wine sauce. The sauce was not over powering or too rich. It was well balanced and was very tasty with the fresh pasta.

Prices: Pizzas/Pastas will set you back about $25 and Mains will set you back from about $30-40

Location: 108 Majors Rd, Concord

Thai Curry, West Ryde

My guilty pleasure is revealed.. I must confess after a long week at work, one of the best guilty pleasures I have is ordering pick up pad thai with prawns from Thai Curry and accompanying this with a nice glass of wine.

The delicious Pad Thai with Prawns will set you back $12.50.  Thai Curry is very generous with their prawns and I love the little egg parts, peanuts and noodles.  I have ordered this a million times and the pad thai flavours are so consistent.

I have also been known to order the Pad Kee Mao with Beef or the Pad See Eww with Chicken.  But my guilty pleasure on a Friday night is definitely the Pad Thai with Prawns.  And when no one is looking, I sometimes sneak in some ice cream. Shhh don't tell anyone.

Price: Vegetarian or Meat noodle dishes are typically about $10, Seafood is a little more but worth it

Location: 80a/1-55 west parade West Ryde, NSW

Mrs Chan's (better known as Charlie Chan's), Haymarket

Charlie Chan's has a laid back, low key sort of vibe.  The front has a fireplace which is rustic but then there's a television above the fireplace.  The middle is a corridor of green cushioned seats and the back is where you order your thai food.  The thai is reasonably priced and well cooked.

When I used to work in Haymarket, Charlie Chan's was a regular venue for your after work drinks.  They have great cocktail specials but it's now changed. They have very reasonably price bottles of wine too.

They have what they call the 555 special which means there are $5 James Squires, $5 House Wine and Sparkling and $5 house spirits from 6pm to 9pm.  You better get there on Thursday or Friday nights though for their half price cocktails from 6pm to 9pm.

My favourite cocktails were the Berry Chi or your classic cosmo.  However I had to settle for my normal Vodka Cranberry as I was last here on a Wednesday evening.

Enjoy a quiet drink and a quick thai dinner in good company.

Location: 631 George St, Sydney, 2000

Lobo Plantation Bar, Sydney CBD

The Lobo Plantation Bar is a trendy basement bar hidden on Clarence St in the middle of the CBD.  Be prepared to be greeted with girly, flowery type furniture with a few greeny plant areas. It's a bit trendy and has a relaxed sort of atmosphere.  The bar has a nice wall of booze.

You will be drunk on the highly visual cocktails. Get there early to get a nice girly couchy seat. Enjoy my darlings. My photos were a bit dark but there are some beautiful shots of the bar on their website here.  I'd recommend this place for a nice first date or a few cocktails with your gal pals.

Prices: A Cocktail will cost you back roughly $20

Location: 209 Clarence St, Sydney

Kuletos, Newtown

2 for 1 cocktails between 5:30 and 7:30pm? Yes please! Kuletos, a Newtown favourite is a nice little bar on King St is a great place to start a night out.  There's a few levels so you can sit down while you enjoy sipping on those cocktails.

What I didn't realise was that there was food.  Probably a good idea after a few drinks.  A quick, medium and cheap pizza will set you back $10.  My tipsy boyfriend was very impressed with the chorizo on the pizza considering it was bar food. I though the pizza was quite nice, if they made the bases then it would probably be quite amazing but the base just tasted like a frozen base.

I had some long island ice teas and few others including sneaky lychee martini and chocolate martini. I quite enjoyed the flavoured martinis.  Delicious. Who can resist ?  Not me.

Prices: Cocktails will cost be $15 to $20. If you can get there during happy hour then you'll get two of the same cocktail for one.

Updated photos from January 2016 below:

I came back in happy hour and ordered some deadly long island ice teas. They didn't taste too strong to me but my fellow friend thought they were deadly! After an hour or so, I agreed. They were stronger than originally thought.

We also ordered the lychee and vodka based cocktail as well. Enjoyed!!