My Favourite Places Eat | Cookbookmaniac

Silvas Portuguese Restaurant in Little Portugual

By Amy @ cookbookmaniac

Pizzaboy and I had been looking to dine at a portuguese restaurant for a long time and for some strange reason I always thought that Little Portugual at Petersham was a little too hard to get to. It turned out that it was within walking distance from Petersham station and the cluster of Portuguese shops wasn't too long either. Silva's was easy to spot being on the main corner of Little Portugual and from the outside it looked quite charming. We enter the premises through a side door and I think we could be forgiven in thinking that we had just stepped into the local tuckshop. The takeaway bar was not the reason for our visit tonight, but the sight of freshly barbecued portuguese chickens in the display glass was enough to warrant a huge jaw drop from Pizzaboy and myself. Just over the partition next to the take away bar is the warm wooden dining area. There is a large mural of the owners hometown, Madeira, across the main wall. It all adds to the cosy and inviting atmosphere of this family run restaurant. We take a lot of time to order and settle on the chorizo with pickled vegetables for the entree. The chorizo was wonderfully fragrant and delicious. The sausages are sliced and then char-grilled. The lightly pickled vegetables were surprisingly moreish. They complimented the sausages really well, it could have been far to rich without them. We order the Espetada a Madeirense expecting the conventional skewer…

CBD & Inner City

Perama Greek Restaurant – Perfection in every bite

By Amy @ cookbookmaniac

This restaurant is so freaking awesome. I cannot think of a more appropriate introduction other than... YUMMO!! I dined at Perama with some always-entertaining food blogger friends Maria, Betty, Richard and John. We were looking forward to a great meal at a much applauded restaurant. However, what we got was a blow your socks off experience. We started off with the traditional greek salad. The vegetables were incredibly fresh and crunchy. The feta was creamy and perfectly salty. The tasty olives were my favourite part of the salad. All three dips were fantastic. However, it was the tzatziki dip that I kept coming back for and it was also the first dip to wiped clean from the dish at our table! The dried shitake mushrooms are pickled in white vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, fennel and coriander seeds. It's rich woody flavour works impeccably against the pleasantly sour pickling liquid. The pickled cabbage is a genius mixture of zucchini, leek and celery in white vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and garlic. This didn't seem to be a huge blimp on anyone's radar, but I absolutely adored it. It must've picked up on my love for it, grew legs and sat down next to me. The char grilled Cypriot haloumi cheese was well liked by my always-beautiful dining companions but was a little too smoky for my tastes. It was also a lot more softer and less salty than the haloumi that I am used to consuming. The dried fig was…

CBD & Inner City

Bangbang Espresso Bar and Cafe in Surry Hills

By Amy @ cookbookmaniac

Breakfast on weekends is a very big deal for me. During the week I am always running late for work. I either miss breakfast altogether or pick up something quick on the way. I know its bad for me but bad habits die hard. One weekend I woke feeling inspired to have a great breakfast at a nice cafe. Pizzaboy thought I was insane, but I would not let the idea go. So I jumped on Urbanspoon and came across this lovely cafe in trendy Surry Hills. It is located uphill amongst some lovely terrace houses. Its clean, bright and quirky decor made me feel wide awake and relaxed. I loved the giant sketch of a headphone set across the wall - a not-so-subtle hint to the owner Alan Thompson's days as international DJ extraordinaire. We quickly order our coffee because I am not capable of making a sensible breakfast menu choice until after my caffeine fix. Bangbang use the deliciously fragrant coffee beans from Campos Coffee. Our lattes were perfectly smooth, creamy and the best remedy to an early morning wake up call. No need for sugar here! I feel quite daring and ordered the traditional Scottish Breakfast. It consists of a slab of black pudding, square sausage, tatty potato scone, fried eggs and a roasted tomato. The tatty scone was amazing. I slowly pick at it so that I can extend the enjoyment throughout my meal. The sausage patty is love! After a bite of the black pudding…