Blue Plate Grill, Neutral Bay

You won't eat a hot dog in a fancier restaurant.We arrive at Blue Plate Grill to find a dining room much fancier than its American menu would suggest, with curved booth seating along one wall, a Roman column in the middle, and a spectacular chandelier above the bar.We are a group of seven tonight, and immediately agree to share a mix of dishes for entree.Deep dish pizza $16 for halfThe deep dish

Yummy Chinese BBQ, Haymarket Chinatown

Oops, I did it again.I often say that I'm too old for buffets. Those university days of maximum value on student budgets are far behind me now, I say. And yet, still, the offer of the all-you-can-eat bounty will still draw me in at the weakest of moments.BuffetAdmittedly we'd been drawn to Yummy Chinese BBQ in search of the rotating skewer buffet I'd enjoyed at its sister restaurant in Ashfield.

District Dining, Surry Hills

EDIT: District Dining has closed

It's a sardine tin!

Words cannot describe my giddy excitement when I spot the sardine tin with "District Dining" printed on the sticker on its side. It's the kind of excitement reminiscent of your six-year-old self on Christmas morning, a sense of wonderment and joy that greets the arrival of each dish during our weekend lunch at District Dining.



District

Freebie Friday: Win a gold double pass to MasterChef Live worth $140

Poh-lercoaster. Invention Test. Kiddie mafia. Bags of flavour.MasterChef Australia has generated more expressions than you can poke seven lucky skewers at.Now fans can revel in MasterChef Live, a premiere event that will see judges Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston unite with celebrity chefs and former contestants in a three-day festival of cooking demonstrations at the Hordern

La Paula, Fairfield

There's a surreal moment when you first step inside La Paula. Its bare shopfront gives no indication of the colour and vibrance within. I headed here for this month's Time Out Sydney column, and as we sat on plastic chairs in a dining room filled with gaudy streamers and Chilean flags, sinking our teeth into warm empanadas and lomitos, I almost convinced myself I was somewhere in Santiago, and

Bentley Restaurant, Surry Hills

Do you know lemonpi?I was always amazed by the incredibly crafted and exquisitely plated desserts by Y until eventually she revealed she was a qualified pastry chef, patient enough to invest time on her food blog even after early starts and long shifts in the kitchen.Unfortunately I never managed to make it to Sepia during her stint there, but we do catch her in her final week working at

Charlie & Co Burgers, Westfield Sydney

After two years of construction, the $1.2 billion Westfield Sydney redevelopment is finally open. I joined the throng of crowds on its opening day last Thursday, but found most of the food court besieged by curious, hungry and patient office workers. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to see the new development in much more relaxed style, hosted by Westfield on a special tour for media.Charlie & Co