Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dingos

Hey Mates,

Sorry for the delay, this entry will mostly be about food.

So Australia does not run on Dunkin. In fact, besides Starbucks, its hard to find drip coffee anywhere. Everyone drinks espresso and call it a short black. A long black is the equivalent of our Americano. I couldn't see Gronk doing commercials for the coffee over here. Just as Boston has a Dunkin Donuts on every corner, Sydney has Pie Face, which serves meat pies. I'm a little skeptical of what type of meat is in the pies...but they are good, especially after a few beers.

Asian food is big here, and there are sushi restaurants all over the place, so Mere will get along no problem. My friend from work who was in Sydney last year kept talking about Laksa soup, which is a Malaysian dish - curry/chili based broth w/ tofu, sprouts, rice noodles, and usually a meat or seafood. I have to say, it lived up to her hype and will be a staple in my diet:

My aunt kept telling me about Tim-Tams before I arrived. They are a chocolate cookie sandwich with chocolate cream filling, coverd in chocolate....and I believe laced with crack:

Tim Tams day 1:

Tim Tams day 2:

 Also, someone told me all biscuits (cookies) are packaged w/ an odd number of cookies as you are not supposed to share them.

Met up with some co-workers and their significant others for dinner last night in Darlinghurst, which is southeast of the city center. We went out to an Italian place, but first had drinks at Shady Pines. Sounds like a nursing home, but it is actually an American themed bar, big on imported American beers and whiskey and country music I've never heard before. Also the decor on the wall would put Applebees, Bennigans, Shenanigans, etc... to shame. Nothing like staring at a life-size Smokey the bear statue while taking a leak.

The restaurant we went to was BYO so we bought some wine at the bottle shop before, which is significantly cheaper than any 6 pack of beer:

($22 for a sixer of Sam. Robby, do you handle the inventory in Australia?) 

On Thursday night I met up with some co-workers for some pints and pool and when everyone left, I remained out with the oldest member of the team who lives 350 miles away and works from home every other week. Needless to say, he spends a lot of his time drinking when working in the city and he took me to his local watering hole, The Grand, where he knew everyone. Let's just say it was like a very depressing episode of Cheers.


I have yet to have Kangaroo yet, but everyone tells me its delicious and you see it a lot on pizza here.

I'll post some more soon as I hope to get out to Bondi beach this weekend and will take pictures.

Official Days til Mote's Comes Countdown: 23 days!