Do you ever know when a child lies?

He looks up and asks her, "Have you been following the diet I sent to you?"
"Erm, maybe 50%?"
"You know, you really should. It really does get results."

Yeah, alright, it probably does help to follow a diet if one actually opens and reads attached diet plans within sent emails. Sigh. Admittedly I do eat out more than the average person, but surely one can make exceptions.... Particularly when it's Seiobo!



Another tree in the garden of the recently refurbished The Star comes along Seiobo, from the makers who brought you Momofuku. The deets - 15 course degustation for $175. I forget the additional alcohol add-on since I don't usually drink (or eat chocolate...). Bookings are taken via the web whether in NY or Sydney, so when a friend offered a spare place, I can't be so rude as to turn them down just to follow a diet!

Let's start. 

Shanghai Stories 1938

Not a book of memoirs from a mainland northerner nor the next Jackie Chan action thriller (although it does sound like a Wong Kar Wai movie) but the name of a Shanghai themed yum cha restaurant just opened in Chatswood's new community precinct called The Concourse!

Serendipitously, I was on an errand in Chatswood and walked past the huge complex that is the Concourse when I spotted this intriguingly named restaurant and decided straight away that it was time to eat even though it was only 11am, aahh call it brunch!

Everyone has nice dumplings!

So say the people at

a quaint restaurant attached to the Commonwealth Pub in Surry Hills. It's the sort of place you envisage finding in a backstreet off the main road in Shanghai. Walking into this place was like getting on a plane and landing in an exotic location without the body-draining experience of air travel.

The ceiling was hung with bird cages of all shapes and sizes doubling as lanterns and yes, that is a bicycle!

An eclectic mix of bench seating and cowhide covered stools (which would have been at home in a Texan bar) along with row upon row of narrow picnic-style tables formed the furnishings; not unlike a pop-up restaurant which vanishes without a trace in the morning; except that the buzz and hum generated by the volume of patrons would seem to indicate that this place is not closing down any time soon!

Tropical Sunrise Tart - King of Fruit Pineapple Challenge

I grew up, like the majority of Australians, eating tinned pineapple. I savoured the sweet crispness of the generally chilled fruit but still have memories of the metallic taste of the tin in which it was canned.

Fast forward several decades and fresh pineapple at the supermarket has gone from strength to strength, starting with an initial (practically inedible) tart variety which sent you scrambling back to the tinned ones to the non-acidic unbelievably sweet varieties now available.

All praise to the person who first braved the prickly exterior of this by-product of the plant's pro-creation.
When King of Fruit contacted the Yummers to ask if we would be interested in entering the pineapple challenge and offered to supply the fruit, how could we resist?

Kushiyaki Bar and Grill - Sugar Hit Preview 2011

There are two kinds of people in the world, people who favour sweets and people who prefer savoury dishes. I have an entire set of 'sweet teeth' and fall firmly into the first category. I was delighted to be invited for a sneak peek of Kushiyaki Bar and Grill’s 2011 Sugar Hit menu.

This year the desserts (which are produced at the tiny Azuma patisserie two doors away), have a stronger Japanese influence in terms of flavours and ingredients. As people are exposed to a wider array of cuisines from the plethora of cooking shows in the media, they are also becoming more adventurous with their tastes and are demanding more authenticity. I think this is a good thing.

Greeted with a glass of bubbly, we then sat down to some tasty ‘stomach liners’ to prepare us for the desserts that lay ahead.