Latest favourites and wishlist by coathanger

On the Inlet - review by coathanger

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 15:28:38 +0000

On the Inlet - review by coathanger

Rating: 5.0

Location: 3 Inlet Street, 4877, Port Douglas, Australia

Tags: relaxed, george the groper, fish feeding, mature, seafood, family & home feel, good value, friendly

Probably my favourite place to hang out at in Port Douglas is at On the Inlet. It is a bar and seafood restaurant in a fabulous setting by the water. The whole place has an alfresco feel, and offers the best views over the inlet, especially at sunset time.

On the Inlet is 'the' place to go late afternoon for the 'Sunset special' - a bucket of prawns and a beer, wine or champagne, while you watch the boats returning to the harbour and the stunning sunsets.

But it gets better! At 5.30pm every day you can watch them feed George, the resident Groper. If you don't know, a Groper is a huge fish, and George is a hungry one that lives under the pier and looks forward to his daily snack.

We loved seeing George so much (not to mention those prawns and wine) that we went several times to enjoy the sunset special. Getting there extra early ensures you can get a prime position on the bench above where George is fed. If you want to see what all the fuss is about you can check out a video of the fish feeding on their website.

http://www.portdouglasseafood.com/

Soul n' Pepper - review by coathanger

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 15:24:31 +0000

Soul n' Pepper - review by coathanger

Rating: 4.0

Location: 8/2 Dixie St, 4877, Port Douglas, Australia

Tags: lively, top food, amazing brew, brunch, breakfast, friendly

Soul n' Pepper is a fabulous café located on the edge of the Dickson Inlet, by the small sandy beach (where you shouldn't swim cause there might be crocs!). It is a rustic looking place, with wooden tables shaded by coconut palms and sails. The vibe is very relaxed, and the laid-back service is friendly and cheeky.

My parents are regulars here and have gotten to know the owners, so a visit to Soul n' Pepper was a must for me. The best time of day to go is for breakfast or brunch, though you may have to wait for a table - especially on Sunday when everyone from the market wants to dine here.

They make excellent coffee and food is great too. Check out the big breakfasts which are served in a fry pan - very cool!

Quay - review by coathanger

Wed, 16 May 2007 08:20:12 +0000

Quay - review by coathanger

Rating: 5.0

Location: Overseas Passenger Terminal, The Rocks, 2000, Sydney, Australia

Tags: romantic, international, views, expensive, friendly

Sydney is a beautiful city and home to some world class restaurants. Even better is that a few of the city's best restaurants are located by the harbour, so you get a great combination of excellent food paired with fabulous views. One of these restaurants is Quay, which is located on the 3rd floor of the Overseas Passenger Terminal. The floor to ceiling windows allow for spectacular views&shame about the carpet!

Quay has a real 'special occasion' feel about it, which is part to do with those views, and part to do with the five star service and delicious food. We had a decadent lunch there one day with my sister, and were given one of the best tables in the house. We started with a nice cold glass of Australian Sparkling wine as we read through the menu and toasted to good health.

To start, we all had the Sea Pearls - sashimi tuna, pearl meat, caviar, smoked eel. This was an exquisite dish with amazing flavours - have a look at the picture to get an idea of it.

For main course, my sister and I both had the Crisp confit of pressed duck, with white turnips, sea scallops and chive flowers. The duck was amazingly rich and tasty, and the turnips and scallops were prepared in such a way that they looked identical to each other and it was a fun game to guess which flavour you would be having with each mouthful. My husband had the Crisp Murray cod with braised oysters, lettuce puree, baby leeks and shaved cuttlefish. He wasn't blown away by this, but did enjoy it.

And then to dessert. This was the main reason I wanted to come to Quay - I had heard about an evil chocolate treat that earned the accolade of being possibly the best dessert my sister has ever had (yes, she had dined at Quay before). Right then, we all ordered the Five texture chocolate cake. It is made up of 5 different textures of chocolate - a crispy chocolate biscuit base with a moussy chocolate filling and a thin dark chocolate top, sitting in a pool of white chocolate. But wait - that is only 4 types of chocolate....look, here comes the waiter with a small pot of hot chocolate fudge, a blob of which is spooned on top of the tart - the middle of the tart *suddenly* collapses - and voila! Dessert is served.

Bills - review by coathanger

Wed, 16 May 2007 08:15:56 +0000

Bills - review by coathanger

Rating: 5.0

Location: 433 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, 2010, Sydney, Australia

Tags: lively, amazing brew, international, brunch, breakfast

Bills is a Sydney institution, pulling in the crowds since 1993. It is owned by 'celebrity chef' Bill Granger, who is famous around the world for his simple cooking with good quality ingredients, and of course those creamy scrambled eggs! There are now 3 Bills cafes/restaurants in Sydney, but this is the original and possibly the best.

Located on a quiet corner just off the main drag at the Kings Cross end of Darlinghurst, Bills is a small, modern café with a relaxed feel. We went for breakfast earlyish one Saturday and managed to score the last available table.

Bills make excellent coffee, so we ordered one quick smart whilst deciding what food to have. As we had a big day of eating ahead of us, I decided to just have the Homemade toasted coconut bread. This delicious bread is made with large shredded pieces of coconut, and was such a big serve that I couldn't eat it all. My darling companion had Bills famous Sweet corn fritters with roast tomato, spinach & bacon, and he wasn't disappointed.

I can also highly recommend the aforementioned scrambled eggs - which must be made with way more cream than you want to know about, and also the evil Ricotta hotcakes with fresh banana and honeycomb butter.

You may well need a second coffee to wash it all down with - thankfully it is some of the best in town!

Ripples - review by coathanger

Mon, 14 May 2007 18:52:36 +0000

Ripples - review by coathanger

Rating: 5.0

Location: Olympic Drive, Milsons Point, 2061, Sydney, Australia

Tags: romantic, seafood, international, views, friendly

I love dining at Ripples. Yes, the food is generally good, but it is the location that gets me. It is located at Milsons Point, right down by the water near the North Sydney Pool and the entrance to Luna Park. You can sit and enjoy your meal while watching ferries go by and checking out the bridge and the city. Love it.

One of the tricky things about dining here can be getting a table, especially for lunch on the weekend when they don't really take bookings. Oh well, get there early or perhaps late (when the early diners are leaving) and hopefully you will be in luck.

I have been to Ripples for breakfast and lunch and always really enjoyed the experience. The last time was for lunch on a sunny Saturday - there was four of us adults and one 18 month old who wasn't as impressed with us. Thankfully the waiting staff were fantastic and kept coming by to speak to the young man and keep him smiling.

The restaurant is BYO, so don't forget to bring a bottle or two of white along to accompany all the delicious seafood on the menu. At lunch we had the Pan seared John Dory on crushed kipflers with saffron pernod sauce and the Ripples famous crisp-fried fish and chips. Both dishes were really good, and the extra order of chips was a great idea ; )

The desserts were also excellent - our friends shared the Crème Brulee and my dessert eating buddy and I shared the decadent Chris's famous chocolate and honeycomb cheesecake with fairy-floss (candy floss) on top. It was as good as it looks in the photo!

(The map doesn't show the location correctly - it is at the end of Olympic Drive, to the left of the place marker)