EDIT: CLOSED

You would think with so many burger joints popping up in Sydney that I’d be sick of burgers by now but nay this is not the case when it comes to the newly opened Guilty in Darlinghurst. Run by Jimmy Hurslton, (owner of Easy’s in Melbourne) and eater of all the burgers in all the lands, Guilty is located in the old Civilian site in the Republic 2 courtyard.

The Rowdy Double Jeopardy ($17) is Sydney’s version of Easey’s Rowdy Double and is pretty damn awesome! There’s juicy double patties with melty American cheese, pickled jalapenos and uber crispy bacon. The patties were so fricken juicy it was insane! LOVE LOVE LOVE! The pickled jalapenos provided the perfect acidity so the burger didn’t feel overly greasy but man how I do love crispy bacon!

The Kecksburger ($10) is their classic cheeseburger with pickles, crisp lettuce and tomato slices. I love Guilty’s patties, they’re just so flavoursome and had a great texture with caramelised edges. I’m usually not a fan of salad in my burgers but it’s a great burger for lunch as it’s not too heavy and I don’t succumb to a burger coma.

The Double Kecksburger is much more my jam though, the meat to bread ratio works better with the double patties and that beautifully perfectly melted cheese.

Guilty isn’t all about the burgers, there’s also Eli’s Ruby ($10), Guilty’s take on the Reuben sandwich with layers of thinly sliced slow cooked pastrami, a layer of kale kraut, swiss cheese and house made seeded mustard mayonnaise on rye bread. There’s slices of pickles in there but I kinda wished it came as a whole pickle and on the side?

There’s a Chili Dog ($10) on offer too but we opt for the Mack Dawg ($10), a double smoked pork dog with a generous serve of rich 5 cheese mac & cheese and a handful of pretzel pieces for that salty crunch.

And you can’t have a burger without some form of fried carb right? There’s Chips ($5) and Chilli Chips ($10) but my heart has zeroed in on the tater tots. I fricken love tater tots! More places need to have tater tots! The Tots To Life ($8) are golden tater tots covered in cheese sauce, bacon bits and caramelised onions and it is the perfect bar snack to go along with their beers (they’ve even got Melbourne Bitters on tap!).

For dessert there’s the Pop Tart Ice Cream Sandwich ($10) but I’m can’t resist the Banana Split ($10) with mountains of whipped cream, rich fudge and maraschino cherries.

It gets a little chilly at night in the courtyard so be sure to rug up! I’ll see you soon Guilty!

Guilty
105/46-50 Burton Street,
Darlinghurst

Trading hours:
Mon – Sun: 11am – 10pm

MEEEEEEEAT! Sorry for the late post this week guys but I took a quick trip to Melbourne on the weekend and ate way too much as usual 😛 We started with a trip to Bluebonnet Barbecue to get my iron levels up and well, it’s just been too long between briskets 😛 Bluebonnet Barbecue were previously located in Collingword but after a fire they did a pop up at Carlton and are now based in North Fitzroy at the North Fitzroy Star.

The two dining rooms face out into the courtyard area where the smoker takes centre stage. Whenever anyone goes outside and tends to the fire, all eyes are immediately drawn when the lid is opened and out wafts that tantalising smoky scent <3

Pile o chooks fresh from the smoker!

Ahhh this brings back memories of Texas! On each table there’s bottles of housemade barbecue sauce, hot sauce and the classic roll of paper towel because barbecue is meat to be eaten wit yo hands!

The Rangers Valley Black Onyx Brisket (100g/$13) is a must order. I mean, JUST LOOK AT IT! Isn’t it beautiful?! Look at those fatty striations, that tender, juicy meat! The brisket didn’t have much of a bark on the slices we had but it was still pretty damn tasty. The St Louis Pork Ribs ($12/100g) were fall off the bone tender but it was the Crispy Lamb Ribs ($11/100g) that hold the keys to my slowly beating heart with an amazing smokiness and the perfect creamy fat to juicy meat ratio.

I was curious to see Porter Braised Beef Cheek ($11/100g) on the menu and while it doesn’t look too impressive on the platter (teehee it literally looks like a meatball), the beef cheek is freakishly tender and falls apart as I attempt to divvy it up. The Oak Smoked Chicken ($10/quarter) is a winner too- the skin is crisp, almost like chicken crackling, protecting tender, beautifully smoky meat. We also ordered the daily House Made Sausage ($12/link) and I’m really sorry but I have absolutely terrible memory and all I remember is that it was pork and it was super meaty and juicy.

We also ordered some sides- the Cheesymite Cornbread Waffles ($7) surprisingly worked for me, I do love me some cornbread and the best thing was the drizzle of melted butter on top! There wasn’t a heavy Vegemite flavour which I was worried about, but I guess with Cheesymite it’s more mellow? Whatever, there was a nice salty balance and I loved the crisp waffled edges whilst still retaining fluffy innards. I would’ve loved a pot of more melted butter but now I’m just being fat.

The Apple, Kohlrabi & Coriander Slaw ($7) was perfect to cut through the richness and prevent us from getting the meat sweats. It was light and refreshing and made me feel somewhat healthy. I always try and give grits a chance so ordered the Jalapeno Cheese Grits ($8) but to be honest after one or two forkfuls I’m still meh about it, I’m just really not a fan of polenta unless it’s been deep fried 😛

One last shot of the platter of awesome! I think the only thing that was missing was slices of white bread and a pile o pickles (there’s deep fried Mc Clures’ pickles available as a side tho!) but mmm that meat was on point!

Aaaand then I couldn’t resist dessert, especially with the recommendation of the Smoked Banana and Salted Caramel Donuts ($10)! After eating so many donuts this past month (damn you Shortstop!), I had high expectations from Bluebonnet and luckily they did not disappoint. There was a bit of a wait for them to arrive but I didn’t mind because they were freshly fried to order, rolled in cinnamon sugar and man, each donut was just so incredibly light! And the filling! Smoked banana is something I would not have thought would work but oh boy I just could not get enough of that filling, please make a pie out of it guys!!!

I’m planning a return trip to Melbs asap just so I can eat more delicious meats from Bluebonnet haha stay tuned for more Melbs eats 🙂

Bluebonnet Barbecue
North Fitzroy Star
32 St Georges Rd South,
Fitzroy North
VIC

Trading hours:
Mon – Fri: 5pm – 11pm
Sat & Sun: 12pm – 3pm, 5pm – 11pm

I fricken love kaya toast. I’ve seen the mothership occasionally make kaya from scratch, stirring the coconut milk, eggs and sugar for hours until it turns into a fragrant, caramelised jam that we would then slather onto thickly buttered bread. Cafe Rumah opened in February, up on the quieter end of Surry Hills (opp Bar H and next door to Wild Rover) with a Malaysian fusion menu and I excitedly stalked their Instagram account when I saw their menu had Kopitiam Kaya Toast ($7) with Onsen Eggs ($4).

Mmm check out those slabs of butter! That’s the way it should be! Sadly Rumah don’t do the traditional kopi coffees or teh tariks but my piccolo was pretty tops and fyi Rumah sources their beans from Cabrito Coffee Traders.

Breakfast of champions! Side note: I know everyone says that you’re meant to dip the kaya toast into the onsen eggs but I’ve never been keen on the idea of mixing egg yolk with sweet jams so I usually eat the middle section of the toast, saving the crusts to dip into the eggs with a dash of soy sauce and white pepper. Surely I’m not alone in this, is it just me guys???

On another visit we arrived after 11.30am and ordered the Asian Cuban ($14) from the the list of sandwiches on the lunch menu. It’s a pretty filling sammich with slices of fatty 5 spice roast pork, grilled luncheon meat, pickles and mustard and toasted until the swiss cheese is nicely melted.

The Bak Kwa French Toast ($14) is a Saturday special, fluffy French toast holds candied five spice bacon, squiggles of kewpie mayo and a lightly fried egg with a perfectly gooey centre. It’s rich, slightly on the heavy side but oh so satisfying and perfect after a late night out on the town 😛

For beverages, Noods orders the Green Bliss juice ($8) which is a healthy and refreshing mix of cucumber, greens, apple, mint and ginger. I opt for the Malaysian classic, the Milo Dinosaur ($6) which is an icy glass of milo, topped with a generous amount of milo powder on top.

There’s a 15mins wait when you order the Kaya Madeleines ($6/3 or $8/5) as they’re baked to order but they’re well worth the wait! These shell shaped buttery cakes have that signature bump and there’s a bit of kaya piped into em. I think I’d be happy having the madeleines plain and with the kaya on the side to dip?

The baked goods rotate each day, on the weekend there was steamed tapioca kuih covered in shredded coconut and also a fluffy pandan chiffon cake.

Seating in Cafe Rumah is spread out in two rooms, with clothing displayed in the larger dining room. Up the flight of stairs is 15sheets, a premium men’s boutique store stocking small independent labels from across the US and UK and is the second outlet for owner Riszal Nawawi.

Service at Cafe Rumah is warm and efficient, and with a menu price range within the $10-$15 mark, it’s firmly on my revisit list. Especially for that kaya toast. Mmm kaya 😛

Cafe Rumah
71 – 73 Campbell Street,
Surry Hills

Trading hours:
Mon – Fri: 7:30am – 4pm
Sat: 8am – 4pm

You know when you see something on Instagram and you just immediately know that you need it in your life? That’s totally how I felt when I saw all the pics of Nathan Sasi’s newly opened Mercado, located on Ash St just around the corner from Ash St Cellar and Felix.

The Smoked Wagyu tongue in brioche ($14) is a must order. I normally have issues with tongue (especially when it’s sliced lengthways and still looks like a tongue…) but this gourmet toastie is next level. The entire surface area of the pork fat brioche has been perfectly toasted to ensure max tastiness and the gruyere cheese is at the optimal melty stage, melding with the slices of smokey tongue and pickled green tomato.

The Foie gras parfait ($29) is absolutely swoon-worthy. The parfait is incredibly rich but with a super light texture that just melts on the tongue. This parfait has got to be the best I’ve ever eaten and I had to force myself to push the plate over to Raff when I started eating past the halfway mark because that’s one friendship point I don’t want to cross 😛

Nathan sends out the Buffalo milk ricotta ($16) on the house and it is amazing, the ricotta is ridiculously light and fluffy. It’s roll your eyes to the heavens delicious with the sweet truffle honey and savoury oregano combo and best slathered inch thick onto the grilled house made bread. It reminds us of the goats cheese churros at Nomad buuuut so much tastier 😛

The Fish and chips ($12) is exactly my kind of whimsy- the potato chips are earth shatteringly crisp and we gleefully dunk them into the house cured fish roe dip.

The Ortiz anchovy tart ($14) is a delightful snack, I think I imagined the tart would be round but nay they are rectangle in nature. The tart is buttery and crisp and holds up well against the sweet roasted bull horn peppers, pickled onions and salty anchovy fillet.

Ribbons of ruby red Wagyu cecina ($22) are dotted with sweet wood fired beets and blanketed in curls of salty queso garrotxa cheese. Dat sweet and salty combo was on point!

Oops sorry for this blur blur photo haha I was just too excited to dig into the Truffle mortadella ($19)! Each fold of mortadella was delicately soft and with that heady unmistakable fragrance of truffle. Oh and a plate of pickled guindillas peppers arrived on the side which were awesome, sweet and sour and just mildly spicy.

We decided to share the Spit roasted David Blackmore wagyu beef blade ($52) and we couldn’t help but coo upon its arrival. With beautifully caramelised edges and a perfect blushing pink centre, the wagyu was everything I had hoped for and more! Super tender, ridiculously juicy and just so fricken tasty <3 Sidenote: looks like the menu has changed since we visited and there’s now a Wagyu beef shortrib instead of the beef blade which sounds amazing.

Oh and we ordered a side of Dripping potatoes ($16) because, carbs. The potatoes are gloriously crunchy with fluffy innards and just begging to be smothered in the roasted garlic creme fraiche.

I would’ve loved to order some cheese from the cheese trolley as Mercardo make some of the cheeses in house but alas! Too full! Instead, Raff and I chose to share the Fat from Heaven ($16) so we wouldn’t completely miss out on ending dinner on a sweet note. The flan is deliriously smooth with the perfect amount of richness.

Mercado mills their own flour to make their bread, check out this contraption that sits at the front of the open kitchen!

I love Mercado’s push to try and make as much as possible in house, from the charcuterie to the breads and even their own vinegars and dressings. I can’t wait to return for the cheese trolley and the beef rib!

Mercado,
4 Ash St,
Sydney

Trading hours:
Mon – Thurs: noon – 3pm, 5.30pm – 10pm
Fri: noon – 3pm, 5pm – 11pm
Sat: 5pm – 11pm