Sardine Room

In our third INSEAD reunion in as many weeks, we celebrated Reika's 28th birthday at a totally undiscovered place for me - Sardine Room in Pott's Point. Opposite Lotus, it is a tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant (seating 40 at a pinch) that specialises in all things seafood.

And what a gem it was - with grissini and sardines to whet our appetites, the owner of the restaurant outlined the specials of the day making us very hungry! I opted for one of the specials of the day - cod in green curry on a bed of kumara, broccolini and with toasted almonds, and it was spectacular. The whole snapper and sardines across from me looked pretty good too.

It didn't stop there - desserts were also fabulous. The man and I opted to share a passionfruit brulee tart with honeyed icecream and it was swoonworthy.

Didn't get a chance to sample the entrees this time (although the scallops, soft shell crab, tuna tartare and salt and pepper calamari whizzing past us looked great) so will have to come back and explore the menu further!

Sardine Room,

2/31 Challis Ave,

Pott's Point

thesardineroom.com.au

(re)discovering Sydney

Although I've been back for a couple of weeks, it was only today that I was finally able to venture to Petersham aka Little Portugal to give the man a taste of a home away from home. Seeing New Canterbury road close-up for the first time was an experience as I'd never noticed how many Portuguese-chicken-shops-per-square-metre there are there.

We started backwards with dessert, at Sweet Belem after reading numerous posts about the cinnamon custardy goodness and were not disappointed. Crispy, flaky, sweet and just-warm, they were perfect with a latte. We're coming back for more (the palmier rechados were very very tempting!).

Sweet Belem

35B New Canterbury Road, Petersham