EDIT: CLOSED

Hold onto your hats hipsters, there’s a new joint in town! Sly (212 Devonshire St, Surry Hills) opened last month on former Sly grog shop of the underworld gangster Kate Leigh. Owner and chef Dean Wilkinson has created a tempting menu with jaffles and toasties all $10 and under and a couple of larger items if you’re feeling ravenous.


There’s a whole bunch of Nudie juices available but I opt for the cold drip which is fruity and refreshing.


On my first visit I tried the Duck and Chestnut Jaffle ($8.50) and it was pretty damn tasty! The pieces of duck were plump and juicy and I loved the satisfying crunch of the chestnuts in each bite.


The Fromage D’affinois and Pear Jaffle ($8.50) is the absolute bomb though. Like, seriously, how good is melty cheese in a jaffle? Oh and the pic above is only half the jaffle lol I uh ate it. Melty cheese jaffle waits for noone!


On my second visit Raff has his heart set on the Jamon and Manchego Toastie ($10). Jamon and Manchego go together like sprinkles on a donut- it just works and makes the world a happier place.


I used to hate mushrooms growing up but woo look at me now! This picky eater is completely, madly, deeply in love with mushrooms! The Mushroom Stack ($14) is all kinds of amazing, there’s a pile of baked mushrooms, sorrel, tomato chutney, PX reduction and bits of labna scattered throughout the open faced sandwich.


The Notorious P.I.G ($16) brings a smile to my face and not just because of its name but at the sight of the mountain of tender braised pork shoulder, the crispy ribbons of smoked speck, cute mini chorizo and bringing it all together is oozy poached egg bliss.


We happened to be sitting right next to the pastry display case which meant I was eyeing the Chocolate Tart the entire time. All the baked goods are made every morning for all your sweet tooth needs.


Innards shot! The chocolate tart was as rich and decadent as it looked and luckily not overly sweet thanks to the wonders of dark chocolate. I loved the crumbly chocolate biscuit tart base and the cute bottle contained gloriously smooth vanilla bean anglaise.


At the mo they’re only open 7am – 4pm, Mon – Sat but here’s hoping they score a liquor license soon!

I heart fried chicken. ALL types of fried chicken. Japanese Karaage, Southern style buttermilk chicken, Korean style spicy fried chicken and even good ol Colonel Sanders. So when I read about newly opened Mad Fo Chicks (18 Railway Parade, Eastwood) on Bunny Bloggers, I was super excited at the prospect of more fried chicken out in the hood.


The menu is short and sweet and because they’re still new there’s some menu items not available just yet.


Place your order at the counter, stand to the side and watch as your chicken is fried to order before being dunked in your choice of either the mild or spicy sauce.


Take your tray of foods and either sit inside or out the back where there’s a garden vibe happening and also happens to connect to the froyo store next door.


The Small Mad Crispy Original ($6) is pretty bang on, while the pieces are boneless the meat is still surprisingly juicy and not all boring breast meat pieces. The batter is indeed crispy and tasty with its secret herbs and spices.


The boy has ordered the Small Mad Crispy Spicy ($6) which also comes with bonus Topokki, a Korean chilli rice cake (mochi) that has an addictive chewy texture. Since the chicken was freshly fried the batter still retained its crunch even when smothered in the spicy sauce and my god was it spicy. IT BURNED!! I retreated back to my original chicken after one bite but Noods powered through and enjoyed the burning haha


Couldn’t resist the lemonades on offer- the Blue Lemonade and Peach Lemonade were $4.50 each and came in the cute hipster mugs I do so adore. The blue lemonade tasted just like childhood! Blue lemonade icypoles! Sticky and sweet! The peach was a little less sweet which made it more refreshing though reminded me of peach Zappos.


I needed carbs and because I’m a sucker for novelty I had to get the 50cm Tornado ($5), a swirly, thinly cut potato with a whole heap of chicken salt that set my lips a-tingling.

Mad Fo’ Chicks is located on the other side of the station, on the ‘Korean’ side opposite the Eastwood Hotel. It’s child friendly with heaps of colouring in pencils for the kids and er the young at heart 😛

So the good people at Arnott’s sent me 2 cases of Tim Tams to celebrate their 50th birthday and while most normal people would just rip into them and scoff the lot, the boy and I wanted to build something like last time when I built a giant Tim Tam Colosseum!

Most normal couples spend their weekends doing normal things- watching a movie, going shopping or playing sport. But us? We like making things. Back in March the Sydney Harbour Bridge turned 82 and we thought it’d be fun to build it out of Tim Tams but unfortch time got away from us and we couldn’t find a weekend free but finally the time was right! So armed with the 2 cases of Tim Tams which worked out to be 48 packets/528 Tim Tams, Noods googled some pics of the Bridge and set out an outline. He didn’t draw anything or plan anything and pretty much just winged it!

Guesstimating at its finest!

Originally we were gonna attempt to glue the Tim Tams together for the road and HOPE that it could be suspended over the ‘water’ but that was totally not gonna happen. We ended up cutting some foam board, wrapping it in foil, painting it in chocolate and placing the Tim Tams on it instead.

So while Noods worked out the logistics and pretty much the architecture of the Bridge, I was on cement duty and melted in total 2.6kg of milk chocolate to glue everything together.

We made 4 Jenga towers for the Bridge Pylons

Pile o Tim Tams

We’d started this lil project late in the arvo and it was beginning to get hard to see because the lighting against the wall is terrible so we slopped on the last of the melted chocolate onto all the joints and edges before covering the whole table in cling wrap and letting everything dry overnight before we attempted to put everything standing upright.

The next day we ducked out to the shops to buy more chocolate and lol get a flu shot (super important guys!) and then began the nerve wrecking task of standing the Bridge. As you can see our Coathanger broke in about 5 pieces on the table. This is when we started partaking in adult beverages. The ‘road’ was also way too heavy for the foam board and we ended up having to put more Tim Tam Jenga piles underneath for support

Halfway there! It’s aliiiiiiiive!

Just when it looked like the finish line was near, we started having major issues with the final pieces of the Bridge. The damned thing just didn’t want to fit!! Second round of beverages and much swearing ensued.

Finally with a crapload of melted chocolate and a whole lotta luck, we finished the end of the Bridge and carefully slid in a Tim Tam for the panels in the archway.

FINISHED!!!!!!

From above!

Ain’t she a beauty?

Oh but something’s missing! The Aussie flags on top of course! We also chucked on 1kg of blue tinted coconut for the ‘ocean’ lol

Originally I was going to make blue buttercream icing for the ocean but it was late and we just wanted to clean up. We attempted to move the Tim Tam Jenga blocks holding up the bridge to see if it was stable enough to hold for one pic but alas the Bridge was too heavy so it’s up the power of Photoshop!

And before you question if it all went to waste, worry not! All the Tim Tams safely packed and ready to be eaten 😀

What do you think we should build next?

After an expensive trip to Thomas Dux and Formaggi Ocello buying ALL the cheeses, the boy and I headed to The Winery (285A Crown St, Surry Hills) for a much needed beverage break.


Bone Marrow


Spanner crab pasta with chilli, garlic and basil ($28)


Chicken parfait with green apple chutney ($17)