Pancakes on the Rocks, Passion Flower, etc.

For this post, I will be sharing with you my favourite places to eat in Sydney, without going into deep, thorough details. These places are scattered across the city, and I’ll even throw out one that’s in Newtown, and no, it’s not a cafe and you cannot have brunch and a latte here. Ready? Let’s go!

First thing first, you need breakfast. But what to have for breakfast? How about some pancakes? If you would like to go for a jog or a run or simply a walk with a view, head over to Darling Harbor. I spoke about this place briefly on my post about Adriano Zumbo’s Zonut at The Star, but in brief, Darling Harbor has a spectacular view of the city. And after all, it’s a harbour so it has that beautiful balance of water and city. Once you’re here, head over to the end of the mall and into Pancakes on the Rocks. They do serve breakfast here and there are many things you could choose, but one thing you need to avoid, is any breakfast with scrambled eggs. 

I had a simple breakfast after a long night here, and it was horrible. I went for a massive hash brown, grilled pineapple, bacon and scrambled eggs. You could see from my photo here that the scrambled eggs didn’t have that shiny, wet, creamy look that it should have. It was dry and not at all pleasant. So my tip to you, as attractive as they may sound, is to not order a breakfast with scrambled eggs. However, I would recommend that you get what this place is known for: pancakes! I like my pancakes simple and I honestly feel that that’s the best type of pancakes they do best here. Just get a few pancakes, and none of that chocolate or strawberry sauce non sense. Just go for plain pancakes, maybe with a scoop of vanilla ice cream just because you deserve it after your morning exercise, and just syrup. If you get these three things, you will leave as a happy customer, and that will be sufficient for your breakfast here at Pancakes on the Rocks.

Next, I would like to take you to what I believe is the best katsudon and Japanese curry for cheap! Right opposite Oiden in the same complex on George Street, you will find its Japanese sister, and it’s not Mappen. The concept here is very similar to Oiden but the food menu is different. You can get great Japanese curries here with deep-fried pork, chicken and even fish cutlets. They also have really good katsudons and similar dishes. This place is a must and during my time in Sydney, I was a real regular here. They also have other deep-fried items that you could choose from, and also have great sauces that you could help yourself to to accompany these goodies (wasabi mayo was an interesting one!). You could either order a take away or take a seat in one of the few tables that they have, so be warned, that during lunch periods on weekdays, this place is bound to be really busy since officer workers in the area love to come to this complex for their lunch break. 

And lastly for dinner, you may have made yourself deeper into the heart of the city’s CBD, and find yourself at Westfield. There is one place at the basement level of the shopping complex - that’s the side opposite Zara, with Hype at the corner - which serves great roasts with various sides, as well as salads and cold pastas. I can’t remember the name of the place, but one you walk down, it’s in the corner somewhat opposite Nando’s. If you’re here, you must get the pork belly and make sure you ask them for crackling. I always get my roast pork with either mash potato or roasted pumpkins and potatoes. They make really good roast pork here, but you can also choose from other options like roast chicken, roast beef and roast lamb. They have a deal where for $10 you get once choice of meat and one choice of side. The portion is decent for what its worth. $10 here goes a long way for the quality and taste you pay for. Oh, be sure to also ask for gravy! And just one last thing to add, after around 5:30pm or 6:00pm, they will mark down the prices to clear out their food for the day. This is the golden period where you get things for half the price, or even cheaper. You can buy pastas and seafood salads and bring home for the next meals. Overall, this is probably one of my favorite places in the whole food court. 

And lastly, how about we wrap up this post with some dessert? Let’s do that, and how about ice cream to be specific? Does this sound good yet? If not, how about ice cream that has the flavour of pandan or thai iced tea? Okay, now we’re talking real business; there’s just the place for that further down George Street towards Central, at Passion Flower in Capitol Square. This is strictly a dessert place and they make really good ice cream here. From my experience, the staffs are so-so and are really a pain in the way that take away ice cream cannot be consumed at the store. That means, when you buy your ice cream for take away, which is at a different price, you’re not allowed to sit there and enjoy your ice cream. This happened to me on more than two occasions, but I sincerely hope that this has changed. So as I said, they have some unique flavours here, but I would highly recommend that you try either their panda ice cream or their thai iced tea ice cream. As this point, you would either know what these two things taste like and would really want to try the ice cream, or you’re just curious as to what they taste like. For those not familiar with this, I would suggest that you try them here for an experience as close to having the real thing as possible. 

So there we have it, breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert! You’re more than welcome to try any of these places for any meal of the day, or even for the ice cream for breakfast; whatever rows your boat!

Passion Flower - http://www.passionflower.com.au/Home

Pancakes on the Rocks - http://www.pancakesontherocks.com.au/

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