Spice Temple, Sydney

Riesling, says Peter Barry, introduced thousands of Australian teenagers to wine. The sweetness of riesling makes them very drinkable for youth, and Peter appears to puff his chest proudly when he theorises that for many of us, rieslings are the first wine we will ever drink, sneaking a sip from our parents' glass.

Today I'm at Spice Temple, attending the national media lunch hosted by Jim

Baroque Bistro, The Rocks, Sydney

I'll admit it. We ended up at Baroque Bistro lured mostly by the promise of dessert.  We'd taken the selection of venues quite seriously - I'd even knocked up an online survey with a shortlist of options - and when the votes came in, the sweet tooths won with an overwhelming majority in favour of combining a bistro lunch with a patisserie finish.


Fresh baguettes
The last time I'd been here,

Au Lac Vegetarian Restaurant, Dickson, Canberra

It looks like roast duck, doesn't it? We lean in closer and admire the golden crackle of thin crisp skin, marvelling at its beauty, because guess what, this dish is completely vegetarian.

I'd been drawn to Au Lac not just for its entirely vegetarian Vietnamese menu, but for its reputation at creating mock meat dishes. The idea of vegetarians eating mock meat may sound a little ironic but

Central Hotel and District Dining, Surry Hills

EDIT: District Dining has closed

How can you eat a meal by Warren Turnbull for only $10? It's easy.

We all know Warren Turnbull as the head chef and owner of both Restaurant Assiette and District Dining, but few people realise that Warren and his team design and prepare the bar food menu at the cheap and cheerful Central Hotel.



The Central Hotel sits beneath District Dining, facing the

Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale

Beef nachos $12.50

Many a poor and thirsty student has ended up at the Lansdowne. For years it was famous for its $5 meals, and students from both USyd and UTS flocked there for a cheap feed and a schooner.



Prices have increased since then, but only slightly, and renovations have turned the first floor of the Lansdowne Hotel into a bright and airy space.



The main dining room has a school

Kammadhenu, Newtown

Egg hopper $3

The crispy bits are always the best part. That's what makes the hopper — a popular Sri Lankan breakfast or dinner — so delicious. It's nothing but crunch, a thin batter that is delicately lacy around the edges. The batter is fermented from rice flour and coconut milk, giving a slightly sour taste similar to sourdough. Hoppers can be cooked as plain or sweet, but we like ours with

Cho Dumpling King, Haymarket Chinatown

Cho Dumpling King is always surrounded by a queue of people. Often you'll find a staff member acting as bouncer to the crowds. She hands out menus with brusque efficiency, and it's only when you've placed your order that she'll put your table numbers down in her notepad queue.

The restaurant name is a bit of a misnomer. There are no dumplings to be found here. Instead it's a mix of Taiwanese

Restaurant Arras, Walsh Bay, Sydney

Don't look for a seat belt. Restaurant Arras is simply one helluva ride. Head chef and co-owner Adam Humphrey believes that all food should be fun, injecting the British dishes of his childhood with whimsy and humour.



A historic former bond store houses Restaurant Arras, awarded one hat in the SMH Good Food Guide in 2008, 2009 and 2010. The heritage-listed building is a moody mix of

Balut at Diem Hen, Canley Heights

Balut. If the thought of eating brains wasn't terrifying enough for many people, the word "balut" is usually uttered with shock, repulsion or -- conversely -- back-slapping bravado.

What is balut? It's a fertilised duck or chicken egg, incubated for 17-21 days so an embryo develops inside. The egg is steamed and eaten as a high protein delicacy in Southeast Asia. It's called khai luk in

Mad Cow, Sydney

Use your brain, I say, what did offal ever do to you?

Hearts, livers, intestines and tongues... I find it odd that so many people who fear offal, or think of it as 'disgusting' are the same ones who will happily plough into hot dogs and chicken nuggets: high processed foodstuffs that are commercially manufactured using mechanically separated meat or meat slurries. Liquefied meat never looked

La Casa Ristorante, Russell Lea

Polpette della Mamma $14
Mama's original style meatballs served with woodfired bread
The meatballs, says Tony Ruggeri, started off as a joke. He and his sister Carmel, co-owners of La Casa Ristorante, had always kidded around about putting their mum''s meatballs on the menu of their new restaurant. As the restaurant opening drew near, Tony said, why not? Let's put them on.

"Meatballs? Are you

Chilli Cha Cha, Haymarket

Somtum Pu papaya salad with fermented crab $11.90
You can smell a great papaya salad even before it arrives at the table. It's the strong whiff of fish sauce, the tingle of chilli, and for full flavour seekers, the salty pungency of fermented crab.

Diving into this birds nest of papaya salad is guaranteed to awaken the palate. Crunching your way through a tangle of shredded papaya, crunchy

Joe Papandrea South American butcher, Bossley Park

Entraña
A shopping adventure with Mr and Mrs Pig Flyin last weekend led us to Uruguayan butchery, Joe Papandrea in Bossley Park. We'd made our way there on recommendation of friends, who'd rejoiced when they finally found the South American cuts of meat they'd been missing from home.


Joe Papandrea Wholesale Quality Meats

The Bossley Park Shopping Complex is a strip of shops fronted with