Pancakes on the Rocks - Darling Harbour

Pancakes on the rock is a cafe located in Harbourside Shopping Centre, Darling Harbour.

There are many branches of this restaurant and we visited the one at the basement of Harbourside Shopping Centre. Queue starts to form as early as 6pm. The crowd include the locals, office workers as well as the tourist.

Lots of seating place

Chicken & Bacon Pizza ($17.95) - Thin crust pizza with generous mixture of chicken breast, bacon, tomato, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese on top of it. It was a very big piece of pizza, good for sharing on the table. 

Devils Delight ($14.95) - A stack of 3 chocolate pancakes topped with a scoop of chocolate ice cream, chopped bananas and strawberries, and drizzled with chocolate sauce all over. Pancakes are thick, fluffy and served warm. The generous serving of fruits are large and fresh as well. Portion is big enough to be share among at least 4 people. It would be too sweet and sick to finish all by oneself.

Beef Crepes ($15.95)  - thin layer of crepes filled with minced beef and topped with cream and tomato paste. Minced beef is nicely marinated and the crepes is not that oily. I don't really like the cream but the tomato paste is delicious, sweet and savoury  

Verdict 3/5

Overall satisfactory with the food and environment. Serving of all dishes were big and very filling. Food was palatable though not outstanding. 

There is another branch nearby at The Rocks which opens 24hrs everyday, so you can have pancakes anytime of the day!

Address: 227 & 229-230 Harbourside Shopping Centre, Darling Habour

Opening Hours: Sun - Thur 7.00am - 11.00pm

Fri - Sat 7.00am - 12am

Tel: 02 9280 3791

Adriano Zumbo Patissier - Queen Victoria Building

Located in Queen Victoria Building, Zumbo sell nice looking little cakes and tarts and are well known for their Macaroons 

Delightful tarts and cakes on display

Freshly made colourful macaroons with unique flavours and fanciful names

Top 

The best selling Salted butter popcorn & Passionfruit honeycomb ($2.50 each) - This sweet and savoury salted butter popcorn is certainly a unique flavour of Adriano Zumbo and it is unlikely to find this flavour elsewhere. Macaroon biscuit was cripst more than chewy, hardness done just right. Cream was thick and flavourful. Passionfuit honeycomb had a sweet and sour taste, very refreshing too.

They also collaborated with Tim Tam and came out with their our flavour of Tim Tam too. Check it out at the supermarket. 

Verdict: 4/5

Grab some cakes or macaroons along the way when you are shopping along George street!

Address: 455 George Street, Shop 58 Ground floor, Queen Victoria Building, Sydney, NSW 2000

Opening Hours: Mon - Sat 7.00 to 6.00pm

Sun 9.00 - 5.00pm

Sydney Fish Market - Pyrmont

What do you expect at the Sydney Fish Market (SFM)? Well, both the locals and tourist flock in to this place for their fresh seafood by the bay everyday. Besides the seafood market, cafe, bakery and wine shops are available at the SFM too.   

Outdoor dining area with a chillax environment by the bay under cooling spring weather. Beware of the seagulls flying above, your food may end up with them.

All the freshest seafood could be found here. The source of the seafood in this market comes from Australia as well as other countries. Choose to eat it raw or cooked. These seafood are so fresh that I would recommend to eat it raw directly. Oysters are sold at different prices for different grades, It can go as cheap as $3 for a dozen till $15+ for the same dozen. The better grades are those with smaller shell size. Seems to have a better taste compare to those bigger ones.

Bakery Shop

It is wiser to compare the prices at different stalls as there are several shops in the fish market selling similar items. Purchase these fresh seafood and they will cook it for you.

Scampi! One of the best find at this place. It is a kind of variation of lobster or prawn with a smooth and slimy texture. Absolutely fresh and tasty on its own, a highly recommended item to try when you are here. 

Wide range of sashimi from Nicholas Seafood. Definitely spoiled of choices. We tried the scallop sashimi from here and it was absolutely sweet and fresh even without sprinkling lemon to go with it.

To complete your experience at the SFM, you may pre-book for a tour to witness the live auction happening in the early morning. The tour is available on certain days at a cost of $30. For more details do visit their website. 

Address: Bank Street, Pyrmont, NSW 2009, Australia ( Light Rail: Fish Market Station)
Opening Hours: 7am-4pm daily except Christmas Day

Bourke Street Bakery - Surry Hills

Wide choices of freshly baked breads and rolls

Colourful display of tarts and cakes.

There is limited indoor seats. However, i would suggest outdoor seats as you get to dine under the canopy trees and at the same time enjoy people watching. It is a great atmosphere especially when we visited this place during spring time.

Pork Fennel Sausage roll ($4.50) - I am impressed with this pork fennel sausage roll. The minced pork was thick and chunky,  and does not have a salty or strong meaty after taste, marinated just right. Absolutely divine to pair it with its flaky and buttery crust. 

Ginger Tart ($5.00) - Ginger tart is one of the specialty tart of this bakery shop. Served cold, tart was firm on its crust and within its filling. The subtle ginger taste makes the tart appetising to eat, sweet but not greasy. Taste just nice and unique. The chopped pistachio adds a nutty crunch and fragrant to the tart.

Carrot Cake ($5.00 ) - Carrot cake does not have any fanciful decoration or cream icing frosting on top, however taste exceptionally good from usual ones. The moist carrot cake is sandwiched with a thick layer of cream cheese and you could see bits of carrots within it. Though its just the cream cheese and carrot cake, both combines perfectly.  

Pork Fennel Sausage Roll

Mocha ($4.00) - mocha is unique of its own with a bitter after taste

Verdict: 4.5/5

Opening hours: Mon- Fri 7am-6pm

Sat -Sun 8am-5pm

Address: 633 Bourke Street, Surry Hills

(right at the junction of Bourke street and  Devonshire street)

Bakeries Around The World You Should Visit Before You Die