about eating out in Sydney:
– They are all about banana bread. I like it.
– On the whole, service in cafes is very ordinary – Melbourne does beat them out by a long yard on this. The number of times I’ve had to ask for water, for cutlery… and – this is the worst – there’s often no table service. That last one kind of blows my brain. I’m kind of wondering if it’s because Sydneysiders are generally friendlier and more laid back than Melbournians? I think it’s the warmer climate challenging a rigorous approach to service.*
– They have freakin’ AWESOME Thai food here.
– There are weird laws about licensing, so most places are BYO. I don’t drink, but it feels a little… less cosmpolitan… less grown up than Melbourne? This reminds me of Qld. I’m not sure it’s a good thing to be reminded of Bjelke-Peterson Qld.
– Pineapples, out of season, are always under $5. Civilization, at last.
– They don’t have a proper, community pub culture. Most pubs are full of pokies, shitful cheap furniture and crappy beer. Also, they advertise ‘$5 pastas!!!’ No thanks. I think I need to find a pub run by a nice middle aged gay man, where the food is good, the bar staff are friendly, and there are no pokies. Where will we meet our friends for a quick ‘arf on Sunday afternoon?
– The seafood is sweet.
– There are a few too many places serving hot drinks in cups without handles. I can handle that in a French cafe, but it’s just bullshit when we’re talking cups of tea. This made me irrationally angry at 7am this morning as I waited for my train.
– There are far too few places selling decent gelati. This does not please me – perhaps emigrating was a mistake? Same goes for pide – people just buy 2, 3, 4 day old pide like it’s ok. Maybe they just don’t understand? Perhaps I am just not checking out the right suburbs?
– They have tiny steamed buns that are then pan-fried. This is apparently a Shanghai thing. I like them, which is strange, as I don’t much care for steamed buns generally. I think it’s because they’re smaller.
Generally, I approve of fewd in Sydney. But I think they need to think more about their indoors recreation. Less with the giant flat screen tellies, more with the badass service. I don’t mind if it’s surly, so long as it’s quick and efficient.
[*Edit: I make this startling generalisation based on a sample size of about 20.]
