had a nice meal at the quay
at rossinis
it looks very rsl club style with it all being on display but the quality is good

coffee was good too

we had veal parmegiana and a vegetarian mixed dish - huge servings and it only cost40 aud

watch out - the prices go up the closer you get to the opera house so this one is very reasonable

Probably could have got a great pub meal over other side in Rocks area for near half the price, a few having Al Fresco or indoor dining, and some rooftop with harbour views towareds the Opera House - Australian Heritage I think it is or the Glen something or other just down the road, older style pubs with great character and drinking would I imagine be a lot cheaper.

Also great heritage style rooms at the Aussie.

It is one of the omissions in the set up round CQ (but probably by design). I'm sure the food in places like Aria is sublime but if you just want something to eat cos you are hungry (before or after the theatre) and you don't want to spend hours over it, there isn't a lot of choice. I'm talking snack really rather than meal.

You certainly don't want to go over to the Rocks and have a 30 minute walk back to the SOH!!

So Rossinis has been my hostelry of choice for a while now in the absence of anything better.

yes we thought of finding a pub
i know the orient from way back
but we wanted to be within cooee of the dendy- had a movie to see, see! but ill keep in mind the pubs for a meal next time

hey but that puppet shop is grand - the one near the g'day cafe- it hasnt a shop front but you gotta check out the wares
fabulous shopping for kids

" You certainly don't want to go over to the Rocks and have a 30 minute walk back to the SOH!! "

Some people do plan their outings a bit more and who said initially it was anything about a walk to Rocks and back, more like 30 minutes return!!!

And certainly nothing wrong with a stroll to go with dining, especially if it will offer possibilities of eating properly rather than snacking.

Well at least an approach that some may want to adopt and certainly an easy near level walk that travellers who like to walk as much as possible would take in their stride and enjoy for what it has to offer.

<<we had veal parmegiana and a vegetarian mixed dish - huge servings and it only cost40 aud>>

40 aud for two meals? Was this lunch or dinner? What are the typical prices for lunch and dinner in a moderate restaurant in Sydney? Any good fast food places (better than McDonalds)?

Thanks.

A damp cardboard box is better than McDonald's, isn't it?

In the general vicinity of the Opera House there's Wagamama, which is a chain and pretty cheap about $17AUD for a main course. It's two blocks back from the Quay. There's another one at Cockle Bay near Darling Harbour.

Also there's very cheap fast Chinese Malay food in Hunter St (about 3 blocks back from the Quay) at the Chinese-Malay take-away, that's about $14AUD for a fantastic Laksa soup.

You'll find a few food malls about, particularly up towards Chinatown which is quite a bit back from the Harbour - head up Pitt or George Streets which are the main streets running away from western side of Circular Quay/Rocks area and Pitt Street becomes a mall for a bit, maybe a Hungry Jacks about there, better than Maccas in my book, or look for Subway for some reasonably healthier take away, and if fancying some Chinese it's a good 15 - 25 mins to past Town Hall if you've taken George Street and a couple of blocks to Goulburn Street, turn right for Dixon Street and that's Chinatown but keep your eyes open for food halls and cheap eats all about that area, there being some non touristy pubs that'll have meals on for less than $10, cheapest I found when there last time I was about a year or so ago was $5 and $6 @ Great Southern Hotel in George Street got you a good feed.

The further you move up town away from the Harbour and tourism trade, the better you'll do.

Bushranger, what sort of "good feed" did you have at at the Great Southern, assume you're talking about the place up near Central Station? A long way from Circular Quay. For $5-$6 I couldn't eat at the Railway Hotel or Cape York, the two grottiest pubs in Cairns. At those prices, perhaps I should move back to Sydney, a 300g steak at my local pub costs $24.

Luisah
the servings were large
we bought one piece of veal ( albeit it may have been older than what is traditionally known as'veal' in australia but who's counting teeth?)
and the plate of vegetables was far too large to consume even for the most conscientious vegetarian
so we created two meals for the both of us with some clever interchanging and rearranging

we used to do that a lot in greece where the portions were always large, too

Thanks. You guys are great.

<<A damp cardboard box is better than McDonald's, isn't it?>>

Yes, but it's one of the few companies that's doing a booming business in the recession. I guess lots of people are willing to eat damp cardboard with tomato, lettuce and a side of fries.

Subway sounds good for a lunch and maybe I can find a salad place for lunch. I've heard Laksa soup is good too. I'll splurge on a good seafood dinner but don't want to pay high prices for every lunch and dinner.

Thanks.

Pat

The 300g steak at the pub where we play trivia is $17.

Come on down! We could use your skills in our trivia team!

Pat
Susan had taken as far as Hunter Street and it became a case of keep hunting
" You'll find a few food malls about, particularly up towards Chinatown which is quite a bit back from the Harbour................

The further you move up town away from the Harbour and tourism trade, the better you'll do.

pat_woolford on Apr 10, 09 at 07:36 AM
Bushranger, what sort of "good feed" did you have at at the Great Southern, assume you're talking about the place up near Central Station? A long way from Circular Quay. For $5-$6 I couldn't eat at the Railway Hotel or Cape York, the two grottiest pubs in Cairns. At those prices, perhaps I should move back to Sydney, a 300g steak at my local pub costs $24."

Think we've described location/distance well enough, the GS being about in line with Central R/Stn. but over on George, reasonably good clean hotel with nicer dining room where you'll no doubt pay more if you do not like the bar, but one of the less rowdy kind of places and as to food value, your typical cheaper counter lunches there run from Bangers and Mash through fish of day/chips and salad to Chickem Schitzel, deserts [cheesecake from memory] was about $6 if you wanted one and yes they have Trivia there on Wednesdays and if you want Crab racing, that's the SCUBAR Monday Nights, back up Rawson Place towards station, downstairs about alongside the YHA Central.

If you ever stay up that end of town, plenty of more restaurants/pubs back towards Uni and about there, City Rd to southwest or Glebe Point Road to NNW.
Sure a bit of a hike from downtown but there's always more to a city than the tourist dollar areas.

point is though
when youre hungry and youre at the quay you just want to eat right there and then
it is not for the ;just peckish' it is for the 'im dying from hunger' that i posted this thread

lots to eat round sydney
just not great value round the quay when you need it

I agree, lanejohann. The trouble is, Bushranger was born without the ability to see that other people have a valid point of view, or even a contribution to make. I won't go beyond that. It would be a waste of time wondering if anyone else could ever be RIGHT and Bushranger WRONG in his universe.

And since when was a snack something that by definition was unbalanced and unhealthy. Not in my world it isn't.

Well you have your view afterall and I have not stated that anyone has an invalid view but initially made reference of Rocks areas, Susan took us as far as Hunter Street and I have stepped out my walking a bit further.

Now if lanejohann had started off with
" point is though
when youre hungry and youre at the quay you just want to eat right there and then "
That is something different again

There is something called an open mind afterall but I do imagine that if consuming too much of gthe wrong kind of snacks it could diminish brain power but you need to talk to your nutitionist about that for more detail.

Point proved, methinks.

Me thinks also.

Ah, a Foodie Chat...!

Lanejohann - re: the Orient - the last time I ate there,we had:

I had the "American Style Spareribs",(IRONIC)w/french fries and cole slaw - excellent! My husband had Lemon Pepper Calamari (just "okay"); 1 glass of wine, 1 pint of beer - $43.

You might be wondering why on earth I'd remember the cost & what I ate - seriously, I'm not THAT obsessed - I tape record that kind of stuff just because clients want to get an idea of costs and where to go - so I have a kind of Sydney "cheat sheet" that I hand out, and HEY, I can't be everywhere and eat everything (only I do try!), so I'm always open to locals' experiences like Lanejohann's!

(I'm still waiting to send someone to the Thai place that's a favorite of Pat Woolford's - it was an awesome meal!).

That was lunch - but here's the thing - the portions were huge and we never needed dinner that night. so - a bargain!

Also, that's so funny that you mention the puppet place, because a client of mine just returned back last week and I called to follow up on how his trip went and he was going on and on about that shop; and he doesn't even have kids! I've never even seen it before - maybe because I'm not much of a shopper, especially for puppets, but he said it was great.

Agree with Susan about MickeyD's and apologize to all Australians for sending that company (not me, personally of course) as well as others (Hungry Jack)to contribute to obesity and high colestral levels to the population.

Egads. I try to steer clients to the bakeries; they MUST have a meat pie and/or sausage roll for sure...I mean why travel to Oz to have fast food that you can get in the States? (although we don't have SATAY at our fast food restaurants!)

Another place I DO steer clients is the food courts - they are VASTLY different from the ones in the US which are all "chain restaurants". In Sydney, there's such an amazing selection of Asian stalls with great food! Singaporean, Malay, Chinese, Indian...wonderful.

I was really sad to learn that a discovery of mine, last trip, "Hokka Hokka", located at the food court near the entrance of the Monorail went under. I loved that place! I wanted to open one here! I understand they have a restaurant in the Domestic terminal (unless that's changed too). Geez, I even got one of those "stamp cards" where you eat there 10 times and get a free main! Alas.

Pat and Margo: why have we never discussed Trivia before?! This is right up my alley!

Afterall & Webboe - agreed.

Best,

Melodie

Bushranger, I can only say that a bit of minced offal would be an improvement on SOME sausage rolls, I mean the pre-frozen taste-of-nothing things you may find at a service station eatery and obviously the type you're used to. But Melodie's talking about decent freshly-made ones from good bakeries, and am sure she's not suggesting her clients live on them. Won't even address your last juvenile comment.

Melodie, would love to meet you and Margo for a game of trivial pursuits, even though I haven't played it for years and I know you'd both thrash me. BTW, Melodie, for your records, the restaurant we met at for a meal near Cairns now has a website - www.stratfordgardenroom.com.au and still has a brilliant menu.