Gone but not forgotten 2019 - a sad goodbye to some old favourites

Our annual goodbye to places closed and some we will truly madly and deeply miss.

Farewell Ching Yip Coffee Lounge ~ Hong Kong Chinese - Chinatown

The marvelous 1980's Hong Kong timewarp that is Ching Yip Coffee closes on 31st on December 2019. Go there now.

Dixon House Food Court - Still Standing!

Folks have been calling the end of our beloved Dixon House Foodcourt for as long as we remember, but the end is in sight now as we are told the building is going to be redeveloped, there's only a few short months to enjoy the splendour.

Tamaleria & Mexican Deli ~ Dulwich Hill

Tamaleria & Mexican Deli in Dulwich Hill is a sombrero free zone with dishes that move beyond the Mexican fast food stereotypes.

CBD Vietnamese Pork Rolls - 2019 round up of new additions and closures

Updates on new city pork roll openings and closures that have happened in 2019. They come and go, but there's no shortage of places to get a banh mi in the city.

Enjoy Cafe ~ Indonesian\Strayan - Sussex Street, City

Another great slashy Indonesian/Strayan cafe, we love any place where we can get a flat white with our ayam bakar.

Lai's Family French Hot Bread and Lai's Banh Mi - Glebe

Lai's Family French Hot Bread has been dishing out banh mi at the top of Glebe Point Rd for some time. They've taken a punt with a new store at the bottom of the street, topping and tailing Glebe with pork roll goodness.

Golden Crown Yummy Express, Chinese-Malaysian, Campsie

Campsie's Beamish Street is getting busier and busier over the years. It's much more Chinese than Korean these days, like a battler's Chatswood. The usual chain restaurants haven't taken over Campsie yet, it's a great spot for mum'n'pop Chinese restos, such as today's lucky dip, Golden Crown Yummy Express.

Kusuka on Sussex ~ Indonesian/Strayan - City

Kusuka is one of those places we keep going back to long after doing the blog thing there way back in 2017. Since then Kusuka  moved to a little-bit-bigger venue, a fine excuse to do it all again.

Tea Square Cafe ~ Hong Kong style - Glebe

Spam alert: A little bit of Honkers cafe style at the end of Glebe Point Rd.

Slurp Slurp ~ Chinese, Rosebery

October's obession has been the wonderful soups, noodles and dumplings of Slurp Slurp in Rosebery.

Chongqing Street Noodle ~ Chinese - Chinatown\City

The fire and spice of Chongqing noodle soup is something we get a craving for at least once a month. Fortunately there's a whole bunch of options for it in Sydney these days, and it's usually pretty much as good as you get in Chonqing, China. For this month's craving we hit Chonqing Street Noodle in the city, which is just a schooner throw from the Sir John Young Tavern, for those of us who pubnav.

A Bowl of Noodles, Chinese, Chinatown

We have a bit on the side Shanghai-style at Bowl of Noodles on George Street.

Valencia Sandwich Bar - Wynyard, CBD

Is this the last true sandwich bar in the CBD?

Warung Ita ~ Indonesian, Lakemba

Holy moly we love us some Padang food, to the point where we made a food pilgrimage to Padang not so long ago. And holy moly we love Warung Ita Padang Restaurant, there's a freshness to the food at Warung Ita that grabs us by the booboos.

Cafe Porco ~ Japanese, Neutral Bay

More top shelf Japanese in Neutral Bay, Sydney's Japantown.

Port Vila Market ~ Vanuatu

The one where we find ourselves in Port Vila, Vanuatu, just a handful of hours away from Sydney.

Banh Cuon Ba Oanh ~ Vietnamese, Marrickville

Banh Cuon Ba Oanh does something a bit different to the other zillion Vietnamese joints around Sydney - fresh thick rice rolls, congee and sticky rice. And they do it well.

Mirasa ~ Indonesian, Mascot

Kingsford is now Mascot...

Shine Food ~ Chinese, Mascot

More great Sichuan kinda Chinese in the new bits of Mascot...

Chinatown Noodle Restaurant ~ Chinese, Haymarket

There are eight million Chinatown Noodle Restaurants in the Naked City, this has been one of them.

Fajar Indonesian Chinese Restaurant ~ Kingsford

It's several years since our last visit to Fajar Chinese Indonesian Restaurant in Kingsford and it's even better than we remembered.

Pak Afghan ~ Afghani & Pakistani - Auburn

Every weekend we mull over where to go for lunch, at length, it's a serious decision. Afghani food is the first to cross our minds, Kebab Al Hojat in Merrylands to be specific. But we can't spend our whole lives at Kebab Al Hojat, so we stretch our wings and try some Afghani in Auburn, with a touch of Pakistani for good measure.

Dapur Ibu Alya ~ Indonesian - Lakemba

Ah Lakemba, the suburb that keeps on giving up copious and generous food gifts. We've been a-campuring at Dapur Ibu Alya and getting us some mighty fine Indo.

L'Annexe ~ New Caledonian, Noumea

L'Annexe is the premier spot for locals who lunch in the Place des Cocotiers in downtown Noumea.

La Perle d'Eram \ Le Restaurant Black Pearl ~ Kanake New Caledonian - Noumea

Noumea is well known for its French food, but the food of the Kanak locals is a little harder to find. So we take a good crack at exploring some local fare when we find it at La Perle d'Eram, the Black Pearl.

Khao Neow Thai Street Food - Thainatown

In this latest gripping episode of B-Kyu, we get hooked on Khao Neow Thai Street Food, a Thai takeaway where all the goodies are pre-made, pre-packed and pre-tty delicious.

La Herradura Coffee Stable ~ Colombian - Chippendale

Just off Broadway along Shepherd St is La Herradura Coffee Stable, a Colombian spot in Chippendale that means arepas, empanadas and hearty meaty soups. Giddy-up.

La Marmite ~ French \ New Caledonian, Noumea

n

We've been visiting Nomea for a weeklong foodfest for the last seven years in a row. We've had a fair handful of 'best ever' meals there. And about the same amount of  disappointments.  The highs are highs and the lows are low, especially for the price.

Cang - Chinese, Mascot

We've been loitering Mascot again...

Ho's Bakery & Cafe ~ Vietnamese \ Strayan - Sydenham

We salute Sydenham's local lunchtime saviour, Ho's Bakery & Cafe.

Northeastern Chinese Cuisine ~ Wentworth Point

New Sydney suburbs are popping up all over, which brings new eating adventures. We find a favourite Northeastern Chinese Cuisine nestled in among the spanking new high rises.

Granny's Noodle ~ Chinese, Waterloo

We take an accidental left at Alberqueque\Waterloo and find a whole new bunch of restaurants to explore.

Penang Hawker ~ Malaysian - Campsie

It's the noodles that are the pick of Penang Hawker, Malaysian Chinese in Campsie. The char and smoke of the famous food town comes through most vividly in their fried kuey teow, chuck in a duck egg for extra googie goodness.

La Fiesta ~ Basque / New Caledonian - Noumea

One of Mr Shawn's all-time top three feeds...

Saigon Sandwich ~ Vietnamese, Noumea

Deep in the heart of Noumea we can still sniff out a spot selling our favourite sandwich, the Vietnamese banh mi.

Taste Gallery ~ Chinese, Mascot

The high-rise insta-suburb around Mascot station has a new cheery little buzz during the day. There's half a dozen great little b-kyu restos to try. Taste Gallery is the current blip on our radar.

Supermarkets of mystery - Koji ~ Japanese rice mold

Fermentation. Umami. Mold. Now that we've got all the buzzwords out of the way, we can freely talk about the moldy Japanese rice grains called koji that create all the flavour in the soy sauce, miso and sake products we love.

Xinruyi Chinese Streetfood ~ Broadway Food Court, Ultimo

Broadway Food Court comes up with the noodle goods yet again with Xinruyi Chinese Streetfood.

Simply Fusion ~ Malaysian - Surry Hills

We have a #mee-too moment at Simply Fusion in Centennial Plaza, sister store of Island Dreams Cafe in Lakemba.

Afghan Sufra ~ Afghani - Lakemba

We usually head out to Merrylands whenever we feel like an Afghani feed, which is often. We love Merrylands but its quite a trek from our pretentious innerwest bubble. So we are thrilled to find Sufra Afghani in Haldon Street Lakemba, one of the Sydney's best and most underappreciated food strips.

Island Dreams Cafe ~ Christmas & Cocos Islands - Lakemba

Christmas Island is closer to Indonesia than Australia, but Lakemba is conveniently closer to us. The food at Island Dreams Cafe has a transporting sambal hit, the Malaysian influence in the dishes will get you there faster than a scuttling red crab.

The Burman Kitchen ~ Burmese, Surry (Gasp) Hills

 Surry Hills is not our usual source of B-Kyu eateries. Often the places are just too dang hip for a couple of dags like us. But when an all time favourite like The Burman Kitchen moves from west to east we rise out of our bubble to try it.

Valentine's Day Romance - Over the Moon Koon in Petersham

Fancy a beer and Chinese feed, love? Valentines Day done Petersham style.

Student Biryani ~ Pakistani, Surry Hills

Off all the joints we've loitered around, few have quite the cult following that Student Biryani enjoys. Since 1969 they've been dishing out plates of fluffy rice and nan across Pakistan and more recently in Auburn. Surry Hills, it's your turn.

Little Canteen ~ Chinese, Waterloo

We used to spend our weekends out west seeking the finest hole-in-the-wall restaurants. But now, fortunately for us, there's been a population explosion around Waterloo/Mascot/Zetland that has brought golden b-kyu goodness within walking distance of our inner west bubble.

Zaab Ver ~ Thai - Broadway Food Court, Ultimo

$5.99 for a bowl of Thai noodle soup? A hot lunch doesn't get much better for a few bucks at Zaab Ver.

Lazza ~ Filipino, Marrickville

We are back in love with Marrickville when we stumble upon the Pinoy joy of Lazza.

BBQ Prince ~ Chinese, Marrickville

In Sydney's revolving door food culture we are more interested in the places that have managed to survive a few years, rather than what's flashy and new. The stayers not the players. Such as BBQ Prince in Marrickville.

Beirut Falafel Cafe and Bakery ~ Lebanese - Darlington

Can't decide between a falafel roll or a manoosh? Have both! Have it on a roll, have it in a bowl. At Beirut Falafel, oh the places you'll go!