We recently discovered a nearby cafe with incredibly yummy gelato. Fridays after school we have been rushing out the door to try to walk there before the very friendly folks at ???? (it's a newly opened cafe and they have no name up yet) put the gelato away for the day. The dark chocolate and Argentinian caramel are worth the steep price tag!
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No Name gelato spot on the Esplanade (empty blue sign).
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The kids haven't seemed to notice too many differences when dining out Down Under, but we have. Things we miss: large glasses of (anything really) cold water with ice, refills (still haven't seen that anywhere), fountain drinks, flavor. OK, that sounded a bit extreme but what I mean is that we have found food here to be frequently somewhat on the bland side. Not necessarily poor tasting, just not full of flavor. Other differences we noticed include the fact that there are lots of times when you get charged more for eating a meal at the restaurant than you would for Take Away (To Go). I had lunch last week at this great spot with two Aussie Mums (thanks ladies!) and sandwiches were $9.00 for Take Away and $12.00 for eat in.
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| Boat Shed Cafe at Balmoral. |
You also are frequently charged more for eating at places on Sundays (they add 10% to all charges, for example). Refills on items like ketchup or rice are charged for without fail. There seem to be many good places to eat, if you are willing to pay a lot (at least $30 for an entree alone). Meals don't come with rolls/bread or sides and a single drink/soda is easily $6. There is cheaper food but quality seems to diminish rapidly, except possibly with Asian food. We have found it relatively easy to get good Thai food that is not too steep. Mexican restaurants are scarce and very few that come close at all to what North Americans are accustomed. If you want to make us jealous and homesick, tell us about your recent Mexican meal!
There are good differences too though! Tipping is not routine here. Not being a coffee drinker, I love that you can get tea anywhere and it's served in a pot with a pitcher of milk. There are oodles of cafes and they all have yummy looking pastries. Mia has decided that we need to try each bakery/cafe on Military Road (the main drag through Mosman) before we leave. I think I can be convinced. Wine is not appreciably more expensive either and there is a good variety of options.
I've had lunch out several times in the past two weeks with fellow expats and other "mums" at various spots. Even at yummy cafes, I'd have to say the company is more fun than the food. Thanks for the company ladies and letting me pick your brains (especially about spider removal!).
A few more photos from the past week -
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The sailboats out recently were really big with large crews on board. I know nothing about sailing but love to see the boats out.
More closeups of the noisy neighbors.
A flock of 'toos screeching off. You can't miss these guys!
It was another rainy weekend but we took Jackson to a nearby dog beach to let him explore a bit. |
3 comments:
We had Mexican last night. We're down at the beach and, even there, it was surprisingly good. But don't be jealous! Its cold and rainy at the beach here and good Asian food is lots better than good Mexican. Stick with the Asian food, cause there's none good in Chapel Hill. Also, we found that the cafes that had pressed sandwiches were good. Or maybe its just true that Melbourne is better than Sydney!!! Jen
looks like jackson is having a lot of fun and hope you have more fun
Aaawww, love that tranquil looking moment of Mia and Jackson. And him and the other doggie too. So cute.
I love that you are inquiring about spider removal... yay!
Argentinian caramel is probably Dulce de Leche :) yum!
Sounds like life is good, albeit expensive. Looking forward to visiting hopefully soon.
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