It’s Australia Day next week and I’m lucky enough to be heading back for it. Gourmet Traveller just did a story on the things Expats miss the most about Australia. While I’m not as famous as the gorgeous and wonderfully inspiring Napoleon Perdis or the spunky incredibly talented Chef, Curtis Stone I thought I’d share the five things I miss the most. Why don’t you share yours.
- Coffee. My husband makes great coffee at home but I miss being able to pick up a takeaway coffee from wherever you are and genuinely know it’s going to be good.
- Fish & Chips. And Dim Sims. My love for fish & chips goes way back. Fortunately we have a great deli nearby whose fish and chips come close. But! They don’t have Dim Sims (I prefer mine with Lea & Perrins to the traditional soy sauce) and they don’t have chicken salt. My fondest memories are fish & chips on the beach or in the park. I miss being able to pick them up then head to Elkington Park or the end of East Balmain and gaze out onto the Harbour.
- Egg & Bacon Rolls. Nothing better than a BBQ at Saturday morning sport when the Dads are making Egg and Bacon Rolls with chilli sauce. And the coffee van. Heaven.
- Asian food at great Asian Restaurants. Billy Kwong, Longrain, Blue Ginger, Red Lantern. I love LA’s restaurants but I love (and dearly miss) Australia’s top quality Asian restaurants. I have to bundle Indian food in there as well as our favourite by far is Indian Palace. And proof they can be hip and groovy and don’t have to be dodgy.
- Long lunches. Upon thinking what would be strong enough to make my Top Five it wasn’t about a particular place but a “brief”. The best thing about eating out in Sydney is saying to a group of friends let’s head out to Pyrmont on a Sunday afternoon and have a long lunch. The kids can play in the nearby park where we can see them and we can have a leisurely few bottles of wine and talk and laugh the afternoon away. No getting kicked out because they need your table and no “eat and run” approach to eating out. Ah, pure bliss.
What are yours? Or if you went away what’s the first thing you need when you come back?
Happy Australia Day everyone! (It’s next Monday the 26th in case you’re wondering).
xx It Started in LA xx
2 Comments
My big thing when I moved to Atlanta was the Asian restaurants. We had one decent Thai Restaurant that was a bit of a hike. Here almost every suburb has a selection and although they mightn’t be brilliant, most are pretty decent. Hamburgers with beetroot. Conversely, what I miss here are the chicken wings. We used to go to a place called The Three Dollar Cafe and I would gorge! Outback and a few other places do them here but they’re not the same.
Yeah, I’ll miss my favourite LA restaurants so much when we go back. Lucky I’m getting a good fix while we’re here!