I never imagined I would say this but I am enjoying a unique food experience in Sydney. It did not start off that way though. This was supposed to be just a relaxing visit to spend some time with my son Paul in Chatswood, a suburb of Sydney about 10km from the City's central business district. My food adventure was sparked off when I told an old varsity friend that I enjoyed the visit to the Sydney Fish Market in Pyrmont during my trip here in March last year. The seafood there was great but what bowled me over was the place itself. Imagine having a meal by the sea and watching all kinds of boats and yachts coming in. And the blue sky was something else. Something I haven't seen for a very long time. Maybe it was because I had just spent 15 months in Hong Kong. "If you enjoy that, then you are gonna like Watsons Bay," said my friend who migrated here 24 years ago.
She was right. I enjoyed Watsons Bay, which is 11km north east of Sydney. It is much smaller compared to Fish Market but I guess that is the beauty of this place. No crowd. Well almost none until the catamarans come in from Circular Quay. If the main course was good, the dessert was better. The surrounding areas are beautiful. Take a walk by the beach. After that, head across the road up the hill. The view of the Tasman Straits is glorious. As if that was not enough, I met a former Star colleague the following day and she took us to the Sydney Rowing Club at Abbotsford for another seafood experience, The unique feature of this club is that nearby residents can't eat here unless they are members. And what is the fee like? A miserable sum of A$20 a year. Tourists and Aussies who stay further away can just sign in. The food is good, maybe even better than at Watsons Bay. Again there is not much of a crowd because it is a week day. Avoid this place during the weekends. The view of sunsets is magnificent. In fact, the club's website even gives you the exact time of sunset. So I guess it is crowded during that time.
From seafood, we proceeded to duck. Guess where you can find the best duck in Chatswood? It is Chatswood BBQ Kitchen. Locals tell me the shop serves the best duck in Sydney, and the whole of Australia. Some say even the world. My son David Joe claims the best duck can be found in Goldmine Restaurant in Bayswater, England. So what did he think after eating at the Chaswood place? "On par," he said after a moment's hesitation. That sounded like a diplomatic answer. Poor Yung Kee of Hong Kong did not feature at all in this competition, I did not give an opinion as I try to avoid duck because of my gout. Speaking of the best, Grillled claims it serves the best burgers in Australia, and even the whole world. I am not sure whether it is true. All I can say is that it is good. After all, they have a lot cattle here. There are food outlets everywhere in Chatswood. If you add in those shops in thefood courts at the shopping malls, you are spoilt for choice. Let's see, during our one week here, we had Korean barbeque, Japanese ramen and Thai for dinners. We also tried the dim sun at Kam Fook Restaurant in Westfield Chatswood shopping. There was also a newly opened Chinese seafood restaurant but we just ran out of available nights. As my son David Joe pointed out, there are so many eating places in Chatswood that we can eat all our lunches and dinners at different restaurants for a whole month.
In one of our trips into Sydney, we had lunch at the huge food court at the newly opened Westfield shopping centre. Of course, no trip to Sydney would be complete without a meal at the Rocks. The pork ribs and steak are superb. And yes, the pancakes are excellent. For homesick Malaysians, there are three places to find your favourite food in Chatswood. Mamak is very popular with the white folks. You can see long queues outside the shop. Paul feels there is room for another Malaysian food chain here in Chatswood. Any enterprising Malaysians out there? The other two Malaysian food stalls are the older one at Chatswood Chase shopping centre and the newer one, Sedap, at Westfield. We did not have time to try out the food at Sedap. However we did manage to sample the teh tarik which is served in those big tin cups. We have to thank our Malaysian friends and our two sons for this food adventure. Left alone, me and my wife would have taken all our meals at the three Malaysian stalls.