Burgahs! So if you follow me on Instagram it would seem I’m well on my way into turning into a burger. There’s just so many delicious burgers in Sydney and try as I might, I just cannot resist! Fine dining restaurant Ume Restaurant recently closed in May and have rebranded as Bar Ume with a more izakaya snack focus and a couple of burgs on the menu. Head chef Kerby Craig is well known for his monthly burger popups with queues around the block and I was super keen to finally try them.

Let’s start with the Bacon Cheese Burger ($17), a gloriously juicy beef pattie with a rasher of crispy bacon, melty double American cheese, lettuce, onions, rice vinegar pickles with UME’s Special Sauce and housed on a lightly toasted milk bun. Each ingredient ticked all the right boxes and while I usually hate salad in burgers I was fine with this because the lettuce was nice and crisp.

The Double Bacon Cheese Burger ($20) is much more my jam though, there’s just something about the ratio of that extra pattie and the extra cheese to send me flying to the moon and back. I mean, JUST LOOK AT IT! Look at cheesy ooze! And that bacon! So fricken crispy I’m getting shivers just thinking about it!

The Ebi Burger ($15) is a revelation, I’ve never had prawn in a burger before and this did not disappoint! The prawn pattie is crumbed and lightly fried so there’s that earth shattering crunch against the soft, slight bounce of the prawn, a dollop of creamy Japanese tartare sauce and a pile of shredded cabbage. Definitely a contender for new fave burger though next time I might ask for some cheese 😛

I had doubts about the Ume Burger ($15) solely because I have issues with mince being on anything other that spaghetti bolognese. Yeah I dunno, I’m working on it! Anywhos I was pleasantly surprised with this burger, the juicy pattie is made with a Wagyu blend and then there’s a layer of minced Wagyu sauce with fresh truss tomatoes, Spanish onion, Japanese mayo and double Jack cheese. Pretty much everything just worked with this burg, the mince sauce made it super saucy which I like in my burgs (hi Blame Canada) and it’s one I’d order again.

Aaand I couldn’t resist ordering the Koji Karaage ($9), Ume’s famous marinated then lightly fried chicken. The coating on the chicken was crispy and not too bready and the innards were perfectly juicy.

I’m keen to try the rest of the menu at Bar Ume, the Marinated Hanger Steak sounds the biz and with a specials menu constantly rotating I know I’ll be back stat! Also looking forward to when Ume Burger opens up in Barangaroo in September!

Bar Ume
478 Bourke St
Surry Hills

Trading Hours
Mon — Sat: 11am — 10pm
Sun: 11am — 9pm

MAR-TINNY! Heh it’s a martini that’s been canned, geddit? Continental Deli Bar & Bistro has been open for about a year now, located down the road from Black Star Pastry and next door to the Newtown fire station. The downstairs deli stocks European cheeses, small goods and tinned seafood- Continental sources the best products from all over the globe but they also have an onsite cannery to can local produce. Upstairs in the bistro, the Mediterranean inspired menu is share style, featuring ingredients from the deli.

We’re a group of 3 and choose to have dinner in the bistro where the chairs aren’t stools because lol I’m uncoordinated. We start with the Chicken Liver Pate ($16) which is an absolute DREAM. It’s rich, creamy and pretty much perfect slathered onto the buttery toasted brioche. That’s right- PERFECT! Oh and those preserved kumquats were ace, slightly sweet and the perfect acidity against the pate.

The Steak Tartare ($20) with parmesan is a must order, the cubes of hand cut Northern NSW grass-fed beef are tender and the gaufrette potatoes aka waffle chips are ridiculously tasty.

The Continental Cheese & Charcuterie Plate ($45) is great value, that day’s selection we had Wagyu bresaola, Mortadella, Culatello, Comté, Midnight Moon goats cheese and a Saint-Nectaire washed rind. Comté cheese is the friggen bomb and the ribbons of culatello were melt in your mouth deliciousness. This baby came with a plate of crackers and preserved fruit that we couldn’t stop nibbling on, alternating bites of meat and cheese with pickled chillies.

And couldn’t resist the Continental canned Australian seafood plate ($30) which came with a bit of Cambados octopus, Cambados mussels in marinade, Cambados razor clams, Espinaler tuna belly, Oritz anchovies and La belle-iloise sardines. My fave of the bunch were the curls of octopus, followed closely by the soft chew of the razor clam.

The Crispy Lamb ($30) is last to arrive and our eyes rolls to the heavens at first bite of the lamb. The meat is so freaking tender but my god that tile of crispy skin! It was like crackling! There was nothing but silence as we concentrated on how amazing that skin was! There was a swirl of creamy white polenta with a rosemary & anchovy sauce and some roasted cauliflower florets hiding underneath to provide me with my daily vegetable intake.

Continental Deli & Bistro
210 Australia Street,
Newtown

Trading Hours:
Deli
Mon – Fri: 11am – late
Sat & Sun: 10am – late

Bistro
7 days: 6pm – late

Edit: CLOSED

So after lamenting about not having a Snorlax for my Pokemon Go collection, I finally hatched a 10km egg and behold! I am now the happy owner of a Snorlax! But it doesn’t mean that I’m stopping the game, nay, instead it’s made me slightly more fanatical and has seen me walking around in parks like Victoria Park near Sydney Uni. And a girl’s gotta eat so a short walk later I arrive at the newly opened The LOJ in Forest Lodge just a few doors down from In The Annex.

I’m immediately drawn to the Stockholm Morning ($21) with curls of citrus cured ocean trout gravalax, green pea guacamole, crispy house made hash brown, poached eggs and pickled veg. I loved the pops of whole peas hidden within the mountain of guacamole and those hash browns were fricken amazing.

SAH PURDY! I was worried I’d still be hungry but it was actually a pretty generous serving and I’m glad the hashbrown was there to fill my carb quota.

With a name like Fat Boy Roll ($13), it’s no wonder Noods picks this! It ticks all the boxes he loves in a b&e- a soft white roll with crispy bacon, a fat, golden slab of hash brown, and a fried egg with a gooey yolk.

On our second visit, I wanted something sweet and chose The Proverbial ($17)- buttermilk hotcakes with roasted seasonal fruit, vanilla yoghurt, lemon curd and macadamia crumble. I was pretty damn impressed with the hotcakes, they were so light and fluffy! And the lemon curd had the perfect sweet to tart ratio so I could slather it over every inch of the hotcakes. But that macadamia crumble <3 Give me a bucket of that crumble please!

I may have hinted pretty heavily for Noods to order the Crispy Gooey Eggs ($17) because how amazing does deep fried crumbed poached eggs sound? And you betcha it was awesome, the golden eggs had the perfect crunchalicious exterior, safely encasing the orbs of perfectly poached eggs. There are nubbins of braised smoked ham hock hidden in the depths of the slightly wilted seasonal greens, and a schmear of miso & smoked paprika mayo adds a richness and lifts this into lunch-food territory. I’ve added a hashbrown ($3) because well, how good are fried carbs 😛

Egg yolk porn shot oh baby oh baby.

There’s a cabinet at the front filled with house made baked goods that rotates daily, and The Loj is cranking out some seriously delicious coffee. I’ll be back to try their Reuben Sandwich!

The LOJ
35E Ross St,
Forest Lodge

Trading Hours:
Mon: 7am – 3:30pm
Tues: Closed
Wed – Sat: 7am – 3:30pm
Sun: 8am – 3:30pm

So the boy and I were out west and in need of burgers and I realised I could finally check out the Bella Shack food truck that’s parked over in the Bella Vista Hotel. Raff and Grace were in the area so we joined them for a nice lazy Sunday lunch and strategised our plan of attack. All burgs comes with rosemary salt fries and a drink hence the slightly higher prices. Ready? Here we go!

Raff orders The Bella Big Boy ($20), a towering behemoth with 2 x house ground beef patties, a crispy rasher of smoked bacon, triple American cheese, Bella Secret Sauce, dill pickles, Spanish onion, tomato and lettuce on a toasted milk bun.

I mean, JUST LOOK AT IT! That sauce! That cheese! Roll up your sleeves and be prepared for a lip smacking, saucealicious burger!

Grace has opted for The Bella Cheese ($13), a single pattie with double the cheese. It’s plenty tasty, the pattie is the biz, super juicy with caramelised edges.

Noods orders the burger special, the JAL-AP-EN-YO-FACE ($23) because he’s always a sucker for chilli. The burg is a bit on the pricey side considering it’s basically the single pattie Bella Boy ($15) with tapioca fried jalapeños, jalapeño relish and creme fraiche mayo. Considering I melt at the very thought of chilli, I thought it could’ve actually been more spicy but hey it was a delicious and saucy burg.

Aaand I’ve gone for The Bella Chicken ($15) and added a slice of American cheese ($2). This burg is surprisingly my fave of the bunch, with buttermilk fried chicken, chix sauce, dill pickles and lettuce on a toasted milk bun. I fricken loved the crunchalicious chicken, it was perfectly juicy with a freakishly light batter and I have nfi what the chix sauce was but it was creamy and provided that extra oomph of flavour to knock this outta the park.

Bella Shack (outside Bella Vista Hotel)
13-15 Lexington Drive,
Bella Vista

Trading Hours:
Weds (Outside BCF on Victoria Ave): 11:30am – 3:30pm
Fri: 11am – 3:30pm
Sat: 11:30am – 3:30pm
Sun: 11:30am – 9pm