Reuben Hills

Cool kicks, yep. Tattoos, yep. Soy chai lattes, nope. If you’re a lover of teas and chai lattes, Reuben Hills isn’t your scene, it’s for the caffeine enthusiasts, or unless a fresh juice or milkshake takes your fancy.

Reuben Hills is an industrial inspired coffee roastery, stripped out bare with back to basics enamel tin mugs, mosaic tables, polished cement floors and lit with both sunlight and neon beams. Don’t forget to look up where there is an amazing cut out to peer into the roastery.

Double Shot Latte

Mint & Lavender Tea

Wishing I practiced what I preach, the mint and lavender tea is sweet smelling, but the taste is definitely much more of the acquired taste. Coffee is clearly king on the table.

Berkshire Ham

The Reuben Hills menu has a Latin American flavour with a great mix of brunching and lunching items. Good ol’ sandwich delights are dished up in retro plastic baskets toasted held together with toothpick pickle.

My fav is the berkshire ham sandwiched between toasted rye and juicy with machego and rocket. Toasty and dripping with tomato and red pepper chutney.

the NOT reuben

Dirty Bird

The others munch on the NOT reuben filled with wagyu salt brisket and the slightly usual suspects of pickled slaw, machego and horseradish. The boys munch on the Dirty Bird; a spiced grilled chicken on fluffy brioche and stacked with plenty of aioli, cheese and pickles.

Give a Dogg a Bone

Doggs Breakfast

The Dirty Birds are on the smaller side for the appetite of hungry boys but only for the better to allow space for sugary delights. A sucker for a ice cream sandwiches, both delights were a hot favourite. Think melting marshmallow fluff, chewy biscuit toasts and incredibly, addictive salty caramel. Both same same but different.

A great addition to the alleyways of Surry Hills. Just don’t forget to BYO a bib for dripping burger juices and the extra stomach for dessert.

Reuben Hills
61 Albion St
Surry Hills, Sydney
http://reubenhills.com.au

Stitch

Cleverly concealed underneath the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle of Sydney’s CBD, Stitch is our first stop on the cocktail trail. From the outside, it could easily be missed as the dry cleaners with business shirts hanging, an old Singer machine and plentiful of yarns and threads. Push through the old wooden doors and follow the grand stairs to the bar that meets you at the bottom.

Stitch’s interior is quirky chic with dimly lit intimate little booths and private areas for groups. The no bookings policy means we’re left to eagle eye all the diners like prey and prepare to pounce on them as they begin to leave.

We’re fortunately lucky though to score one of the relatively private areas decked out with a velvet drapes, ol’ fashioned lights, spoon collections and a rather intriguing royal dog painting…

The French Poodle

Pork Burger

First things first, food is on the agenda – and for once, it’s not the “tease your tastebuds” tapas to share but solid hearty dishes of hot dogs, burgers, potato chunks and curly fries. The French Poodle sounds ever intriguing with a Toulouse styled sausage (French, pork & smoked bacon) flavoured with red wine and garlic topped with brie, pickled pear and dijon mustard. The Pork Burger also catches my eye, with BBQ pork with the usual burger suspects of carrot, cabbage, slaw and homemade spicy BBQ sauce – simple but oh so delicious. And not to forget the mountains of curly fries.

The cocktails were a hit and miss, my Pineapple Head was a delicious mix of rum and citrus flavours, whereas my fellow girls didn’t quite enjoy their overwhelming cocktails. Though if you like them straight up, here’s the place to go.

Perfect bar for a catch up after work with “hit me up I need a serious drink” attitude.

Stitch
61 York St
Sydney
www.stitchbar.com

El Loco

Three day weekend means, tequilas and tacos! And there was without a doubt that there were plenty of people thinking the same with either a Corona or a margarita in their hand. Attached to The Excelsior Hotel by the hip, Dan Hong’s next adventure is here at El Loco; dishing up simple tacos, nachos, burgers and some tequila liquid courage to down everything down with.

Knocked up in 7 days, the exterior is bright and colourful giving some life to the easily missed Surry Hills street. Inside, it’s a mix of new and old with crazy colourful prints across the wall, heated lamps, fairy lights, a bungalow looking bar and open kitchen with chefs crazily working away.

 ”Carne Asada” Taco

Excelsior Hot Dog & “Al Pastor” Torta

It’s hard to snap up a table, so we’re huddled around the corner bench chowing down our Mexican feast. There’s tacos to suit all from pork, beef, tofu and even the secret taco of the night. My Carne Asada Taco; lemongrass beef with salsa verde quickly arrives in a paper boat, warm and delicious.

For my cheese loving companion, he dives into the Excelsior Hot Dog; a grilled pork frankfurt on a super soft bun with picked jalepenos, pico ge gallo (salsa), mayo and plenty of soft, finely grated cheese that melt in your mouth. The cheese looks crazy and scary (I am slightly lactose intolerant), but I was being reassured that there really isn’t as much as it seems! Peeking from the corner of the photo is the Al Pastor Torta; the grilled marinated pork from the spit sandwiched between a seeded soft bun topped with crunchy cabbage, pico de gallo, mayo and with asian twist, coriander and spring onions. Mmm, it has to be my favourite.

Even though Mexican is not too fancy, it’s amazing that quality ingredients makes all the difference – meat that have been given tender loving care, and damn fresh bread.

The bar is overflowing with slushie margaritas, Mexican beers and tequila shots. My favourite is the the El Loco slushy of El Jimador tequila, pink grapefruit and lime mixed with homemade coriander and raw ginger syrup. Definitely my sweet pick over the Classic Margarita.

When asked whether this is just a “pop up” or here to stay, the waitress was a little hush hush… so better get in regardless!

El Loco
64 Foveaux St
Surry Hills, Sydney
www.elloco.com.au 

Charlie & Co

This is probably old news by now, but in the food world, as soon as word spread that Justin North had opened up a burger joint in the new Westfields, lines snaked around the foodcourt, all eagerly waiting for a try. To see what all the fuss was about, we got in super early and choose our burger delights.

Classic Fried Chicken

The New Yorker

My foodie companion choose the Fried Chicken burger, with all the good ol’ classics of chicken, tomato, iceberg lettuce topped with herb garlic mayonnaise. Feeling a little iron deficient, I opted for the New Yorker, a baguette filled with grilled sirloin, onion, melted cheddar cheese with a spiced tomato relish, which was perfectly cooked but would have had the cherry on top if the baguette was warm and toasty. But unfortunately the chicken burger was very disappointing, with the chicken being pink and undercooked. Also, there was a very generous side of chips and aioli but were sadly these were overcooked and oily – perhaps, french fries would have done the trick. Hopefully our burgers are better next time!

Charlie & Co
Level 5,  Westfield Sydney,
Cnr Market & Castlereagh St
Sydney
www.charlieandco.com.au

Red Star Luxury Burgers, New Zealand

After beating the fatigue after our Treble Cone battle, we explore the town of Wanaka for Red Star, Fergburger’s arch rival. Rocking up with the expectation that it is another mass production line with burgers pumping out every single minute, I was surprised that it was a little corner burger joint run by a few local Gen Y’s.

It was refreshing to see the fact that the menu had a variety of burger options which was a good break from the usual Fergburger and potato fries. My choice was the Five-O, a grilled chicken burger with bacon, pineapples, edam and bbq sauce with a side serving of kumara (a type of sweet potato) fries and aioli. Despite the wait, my burger was delicious with generous fillings with a big dollop of sauce tucked inside two cosy warm buns. My foodie companions have also raved about the Beef Mofo and Chicken Satay… definitely next on the agenda.

Final verdict? All things naughty too many times in one week is never good. Although there is a divide in the group with this burger battle; Fergburger has this undupliacatable sauce and when caught at the right time of day (try at 10 in the morning) then the bread is wonderfully toasted, the wait is minimal and there’s a cosy bench for you to enjoy your burger. But this round, Red Star just stole my heart with softer bread, happier lettuce leaves and more creative burger combinations.

Red Star Luxury Burgers
26 Ardmore St
Queenstown, New Zealand