Darlinghurst: Food: Miss Chu

Ah, Miss Chu, I missed you. For a while there, I thought I may never eat here again after Ruby Molteno decided she had eaten enough Miss Chu to earn her honorary Vietnamese citizenship. Ruby lives across the road, you see, and she quickly became addicted to Miss Chu's efficient service, delicious desserts and handy location on Bourke Street.

So Ruby went on a Miss Chu fast, which happily for me, ended last week.

From afar Miss Chu's shopfront doesn't look all that interesting. But move closer and you'll find the finest Vietnamese attention to detail, character and colour:

The service window with bamboo awning, bamboo steamers and bunches of bananas.

The blackboard specials with opening hours.

Note: Miss Chu does not open weekends.

Some extra specials

So you order at the little window, give the server your name and within 10-15 minutes your food is ready in a white paper bag. If you don't want to take it with you, you can eat it at a little footpath table:

Because we were breaking a fast, we ordered up big and spent about $45 on food for two:

Fresh Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls - $6 for two

Deep Fried Spring Rolls - $5 for four

Lemongrass Beef Vermicelli Salad - $12

We also ordered some Traditional Peking Duck Pancakes ($2.20 each) and Steamed Dumplings ($5 for three), but I scoffed them before I remembered to pull out my camera. Oh, and I ordered a dessert too, which was like a coconut agar-agar wrapped in a banana leaf jewel box ($3).

Refreshing Lychee Crushie - $4.50

Now there's something I really should tell you about Miss Chu. She doesn't take any shit and has zero tolerance for idiots. But lucky for this idiot Miss Chu's present target is the City of Sydney council who last week fined her $3000 for loud music and for having more outdoor tables than she is permitted. Soon after, this sign appeared in her window:

WHAT NO MUSIC??

No because the City of Sydney Council received an anonymous call complaining of misschu's music and extra seating on the footpath so council were obliged to issue us with a $3000 fine; and no, council will not approve our application for more seating other than the existing nine chairs and three tables which were originally approved 25 years ago, and definitely no music!

And then in finer print:

Misschu will move out of the neighbourhood when our lease is up so that the neighbourhood can return to its foccacia and muffin greasy average food ways and those who love it the misschu way can still order in - we'll just deliver to you from our new store at the Opera House on our electric push bikes.

The Electric Push-Bikes

I told you Miss Chu was feisty. But the predicament outlined in her ballsy letter, just exemplifies the stupidity of the City of Sydney council who publicly say they are promoting the "Villages of Sydney" in trendily-designed fliers that bomb our mailboxes, but then behind the scenes refuse to be reasonable to small business owners.

The letter also highlights the nonsensical fools who move to buzzing, busy Darlinghurst and then complain about noise. I believe the complainant lives on William Street, which is possibly one of the noisiest streets in the neighbourhood, so I am assuming that personal reasons - and not noise - were behind their complaint to council. Or perhaps they really are a fool.

I just hope Miss Chu is not being serious about the move to the Sydney Opera House when her lease expires next year. As the Queen of Vietnamese Finger Food, she already provides catering for the Opera House, so it's not such a big leap. And she already offers electric-bike home delivery within a 1km radius of the Miss Chu tuck-shop, so that's nothing new either.

Oh, Miss Chu, please don't leave us to die a slow food death from foccacia and muffin-greasy-average-food!

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Miss Chu

1/150 Bourke Street

Darlinghurst NSW 2010

02 8356 9988

www.misschu.com.au

Darlinghurst: Food: Forbes and Burton

After a week of cold weather and a few days of gales, Spring finally stuck its head out from under a rug of clouds to make Sunday a fabulous day to head outdoors again. I spent the morning running errands and by 2pm I still hadn't eaten a scrap, so when Ruby Molteno called and suggested a late lunch, I swung by, scooped her up and we landed promptly at the doorway of Forbes and Burton cafe.

On such a lovely day we were surprised at first to discover an available outdoor table, so we donned hats and sat in the sun . . . until we became so sickeningly hot from its rays, and realised why most diners were sitting inside.

We placed our order and moved inside too:

Forbes and Burton is located in an 1850s building that stretches all the way from 238-252 Forbes Street, and is listed on the Register of the National Estate. I'll be doing a post soon about the history of the building, known as the Belgrave Terrace.

But I still can't talk about its 21st Century life without mentioning the building's historical sandstone walls with their chip marks from the workers' picks. The building is right across the road from the National Art School and former Darlinghurst Gaol, which is mainly built from sandstone that was dug out from the local area by convict workers.

The gaol was constructed between 1821 to 1841 and I wonder if the sandstone used on the Belgrave Terrace was hacked out by its convict neighbours or was left-overs.

The interior design of Forbes and Burton makes the most of the building's heritage aspects, but also includes nice modern embellishments, such as this crimson-pink, reflective panel:

The building was home to the very trendy Dov cafe until 2006 when David Pegrum, a former head chef at the internationally acclaimed Sydney restaurant Tetsuyas, took over the kitchen.

I ordered the special of the day, which the waiter incorrectly recited to me, and which turned out to be Braised Chicory and Salmon Fillet en Papillote with Asparagus ($22). The waiter wasn't far off the mark though (he thought the chicory was witlof) and he was right when he said it was a good-looking dish:

It tasted great too and there was some wilted greens, drenched in deliciously fattening butter, hidden beneath the fish. Ms Molteno, the all-day breakfast queen, ordered poached eggs with whole-grain toast, bacon and tomato:

I asked Ruby why on earth she always orders bacon and eggs when she could easily cook them at home. She said it's because she doesn't like to have bacon in the fridge as she wants to keep fatty temptations right out of sight. I suspect the real reason is because she doesn't much like cooking. Ruby then went on a discourse about how such a seemingly simple dish can be cooked so many ways and how each cafe's bacon and eggs tasted completely different.

Ruby said she didn't truly realise this until she went to London many years ago and discovered to her horror that some cafes didn't know how to cook bacon and eggs. As for the Forbes and Burton version, Ruby was full of admiration: the eggs were plump and free range, the tomatoes were Roma and the bacon wasn't too salty.

Then because I hadn't eaten all day and because I had to work in the evening and life is too short to say no to anything, I ordered the Chocolate Brownie with Raspberry Coulis and Yoghurt:

We weren't quite sure about the yoghurt blob - surely it should have been double cream - but the sourish yoghurt and raspberry were a good foil for the sweet chocolate.

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Forbes and Burton

252 Forbes Street

Darlinghurst NSW 2010

02 9356 8788

http://forbesandburton.wordpress.com/

Darlinghurst: Food: Tigerbakers Cafe

With gale force winds hitting Sydney and Plane tree dust hazard-alerts issued by the Bureau of Allergies, I ditched my usual Saturday morning food trip to the Kings Cross Markets yesterday for the safety of indoors at the cosy and colourful Tigerbakers Cafe.

It was a well-timed visit too, because the cafe at 292 Victoria Street only reopened a couple of weeks ago following a mini-renovation and makeover.

I'm not a regular at Tigerbakers so it is hard to notice the changes, but it seems cleaner and more comfortable. The outdoor tables have been upgraded, the inside bar has been redesigned, embroidered cushions appear new and the walls are now lined with little boxes containing curios. There's also a chainsaw sitting on a top shelf, just in case some rogue Daleks should make an appearance.

I suppose it could also come in handy for night-time Plane tree removal.

On this Saturday morning Tigerbakers was packed with a diverse range of people, from modellish-looking young trendies, to older men in love, mothers with their daughters and lone women with laptops.

Tigerbakers recently introduced free wi-fi. It also now has a liquor licence and offers bar food and drinks in the evenings, when previously it was closed.

Tigerbakers is not just about the food and drinks though, art takes a starring role: a brilliant tiger leaps across an emerald blue backdrop on the cafe's roller-shutter and the same beast can be found on an inside wall:

There's also a mural decorating the ceiling and canvases and framed paintings lining the walls from the front door, all the way to the bathrooms out back. Tigerbakers's website features profiles of the artists, which include Justin Feuerring, whose chalk, pavement illustrations of men's faces were once a regular part of the Darlinghurst street-scene.

Despite all these great visual distractions, the chef hasn't forgotten to take care with the food, which is lovingly prepared. My friend, Hildred Moore, had hotcakes with berries and maple syrup, which she described between mouthfuls as ''really good''.

I ordered a BLT, which came within a hot, crispy round bun:

It was a perfectly balanced sandwich and a bit of a bargain too at only $8.

On top of everything, Tigerbakers's waiters were very friendly and super-efficient. I was so happy and comfortable on my cushioned bench that this could easily become my new brunch haunt.

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Tigerbakers Cafe

292 Victoria Street

0415 200 474

www.tigerbakers.com