Welcome to Sydney! — David Jones Yogurt and Grill’d Burger

Because of my excitement, I came to Sydney with little amount of sleep and too much excitement…hence, my energy crashing by the second hour of my stay in Sydney. But I was more than glad to finally be with my best friend, Ana, for the next 3 weeks to explore and eat my way through the greatest places she has ever eaten in Sydney. After the airport, we headed to the apartment so I can unload and unpack some stuff and get settled. She also gave me my birthday gift…her 50mm 1.4 D Nikkor Lens. Something I’ve only been dreaming of for the past couple of months since I’ve been wanting to go back to photography (Thanks Ans!).

On the way to the city, I was beginning to feel the effects of the lack of sleep but I wanted to soak in whatever I could. We went to the malls up in the city where we were able to browse around the stores and this high end gourmet store named David Jones. This place had a fantastic array of everything gourmet and the best and most beautiful produce you could ever see. It is really no surprise how the Australians propagated this natural look for food styling…their produce is simply perfection in every way!

For a first snack, I grabbed a mixed berry yogurt from the juice bar. I can’t really say this was healthy at all in any way because of the richness and the overall goodness of the yogurt (you know they say that good tasting things are usually bad for you). It was buttery and the most creamy and thick yogurt I have ever eaten. It was thick, pleasantly sour and sinful. And the berries like raspberries, blueberries, blackberries were deliciously were mixed beautifully into the yogurt creating a wonderful marbling that reminds me of a pretty painting. Their small size was eventually too big for me, and I had hoped that I ordered the one with the lid.

Then to Darling harbor where we decided to go to the Sydney aquarium after lunch. We went to a small mall called Harbor Side where we saw this place called “Grill’d” where their poster says that critics have called this “one of the best burgers in Australia and even the world”. Couldn’t resist a line like that!

Moroccan Lamb with Panini – Grilled lean lamb patty with roasted peppers, tzatziki, salad and relish. This burger was delightful! The bun, despite being a panini type (not the one that is pressed) reminded me of a light ciabatta – crisp on the outside and slightly roasted for a smokey flavor. The lamb patty was grilled (and you can really taste the wood smoke) to perfection which retained all its juices but still had a good meaty texture. The roasted peppers, tomatoes and lettuce complemented this patty and bread and gave it a fresh character that really screamed Mediterranean. I didn’t really realize that what I was biting to had tzatziki though, my brain cells might have been confused. But the meal definitely made me wake up.

Kung Fu Fighter with Whole Wheat Sesame Bun – Grilled 100% Lean Beef, shredded carrot, coriander, satay sauce, salad & relish. The burger reminded me a lot of the Vietnamese “Ban Mi” where pickled carrots were often included inside the sandwich as a tart complement to the cold cuts and pate.  In this case, the beef patty was perfectly grilled revealing good wood smoke flavor and texture and the satay sauce added a subtle peanut flavor to the burger. The coriander was too little to really make a big impact of flavor but it was still a good mix of the flavors coming together to make this really great burger.

After our meal, Ana and I quickly headed to the Sydney aquarium for an afternoon of looking at fish and other sea inhabitants. This was just my first 8 hours in Sydney! Even more interesting blogs to come after I’ve found time to stop wandering and start writing hehe. Thanks to Ana’s great discoveries, I’ve been actually too busy and overwhelmed the past week! 🙂