Yiamas Greek Taverna, St Peters

Yiamas Greek Taverna is one of those places you've sped past hundreds of times, a burst of colour and noise that suddenly appears out of nowhere on a busy highway. It's a spot that only locals seem to know about, as drivers whizz past obliviously.


Mythos Greek beer $7 and Yia Mas Merlot $6

You'll find Yiamas just past St Peters station, where King Street turns into the six-lane Princes

Lantern by Wagaya, Sydney

Deep fried chicken at the press of a button. Have we arrived in some kind of heaven? The beauty of the touchscreen menu at Wagaya is not just the ease of ordering (no need to flag down disinterested waitstaff) but the lightning speed at which it arrives.

Lantern by Wagaya is the newest offering by Wagaya, the touchscreen izakaya-style restaurant opposite the Entertainment Centre. Lantern by

Hai Au Lang Nuong, Canley Vale

You can smell it from a block away. It’s the smoky hiss of charcoal and the tantalising aroma of slowly barbecuing fish and chicken wrapped up in banana leaves. Every Aussie loves a barbie, but this is food by fire, Vietnamese-style. It all happens on the weekend, when Hai Au Lang Nuong starts up the massive barbecue that faces onto the street, giving passersby a bird's eye view of all the

Sixpenny, Stanmore

Are restaurant gardens the new must-have feature for 2012? As diners start to pay more attention to locally sourced and sustainable produce, the restaurant garden provides instant kudos, creating a tangible connection between the food from the soil and the food on your plate.

At Sixpenny in Stanmore, head chefs James Parry and Daniel Puskas have transformed the backyard of their restaurant

Swimming with tuna, the 1kg $100 oyster and Coffin Bay Oyster Farm, Eyre Peninsula

This, my friends, is the one kilogram King Oyster. This impressive beauty is the result of patience and tender loving care, taking 6-7 years to grow. Compare that with most bistro oysters, which are grown for about a year-and-a-half.

For someone who builds even her holidays around food, Eyre Peninsula is one destination that seamlessly combines good food with stunning scenery. Hiking trip?

Umi Kaiten-Zushi, Haymarket Chinatown

So it's no secret. Fried chicken is my weakness. Southern fried chicken, Korean fried chicken, Japanese karaage... if it's deep fried poultry then I want a piece of it. Maybe three.

What makes good fried chicken? Surely crunchy batter is a must. The kind that makes a splintering noise like you've eating a handful of potato crisps. An armour of crunch protecting a core of juicy tender chicken.

Hartsyard, Newtown

I'll admit it. It was the fried chicken that brought me here - a promise of cold-smoked fried chicken with biscuits and gravy that had me grinning with glee in anticipation.

In the midst of a hitherto unseen cyclone of Sydney restaurant closures, it's heartwarming to see so much buzz around Hartsyard, open for less than a week and already fully booked on a Friday night. There's no celebrity or