Treat yourself to lunch

It's funny how a little thing like lunch can affect the dynamics of a day. There's those late lunches and even skipping of lunch for some poor souls. There's boring and mediocre ones which are maybe better skipped. You could look forward to it all morning and be all sleepy in the afternoon. There's those facing a computer screen or a friendly face or a sprawled in a park.

Granted sometimes lunch is just a neccessity and not a pleasurable, do-it-for-fun-and-enjoyment experience. But it's nice to be able to just add a little something to lunch that makes you smile and ever momentarily happy.

Sandwich from Australia Square food court

Doesn't the sandwich look appetising? Makes sense for this to be my back-up, I-don't-know-what-to-have-for-lunch lunch then. Golden crumbed chicken breast schnitzel on brown, no butter, with tomato and rocket. Easy, no-thinking kind of lunch and always satisfying.

But on this particular day I was up for a treat. Especially of the sweet variety. Especially of the cupcake variety. Fancy that - there's a cupcake store just nearby.

Deluxe lemon meringue and custard tumble cupcakes from
The Cupcake Bakery, the ivy, George St, Sydney

The Cupcake Bakery is located, suitably, in the behemoth of temptation that is the ivy - must remind self never to mix lunch and retail. They have fewer varieties than Cupcakes on Pitt, with cupcakes at a larger size and price ($3.50 each). They also have 'deluxe' cupcake productions at a more 'deluxe' price. I like the concept of the Custard Tumbler - a vanilla almond base filled with custard, topped with mini-profiteroles, drizzled with chocolate. It also makes for a pretty cupcake topping for those with limited frosting piping skills.

They're not nearly as pretty or glamourous as the Cupcakes on Pitt beauties but they have a few interesting flavour varieties. Red velvet is always intriguing and I like the sounds of the chilli chocolate cupcake, but it's a fruity flavour that unsurprisingly takes my fancy.

Lemon and poppyseed cupcake

As an after-lunch/mid-afternoon treat, the lemon and poppyseed cupcake valiantly tries to do its job. Topped with a cream cheese icing and candied lemon rind, it looks fresh and not too unhealthy. The cake itself is only lightly lemon flavoured, whereas I like a bigger citrus hit. The only citrus taste really just comes from the rind. I suppose cupcakes aren't really supposed to be eaten in separate components anyway. It's also quite a dense cake, which I didn't expect for a cupcake but the sweet cream cheese icing does a good job overall.

Treating oneself to lunch can take on different forms, especially in the latter days of the week and even more so on lovely blue-skied days.

Wine and pizza from Ryan's Bar, Australia Square

Outdoor seating in the sun, a chilled beverage, freshly cooked food - now that's lunch and we even manage to squeeze it into an hour. The weekend vibe hits early at Ryan's Bar, which abolutely heaves with schooner-clutching people at Friday lunchtime. They also do a pretty decent pay-at-the-bar food service where their fresh pizzas prove very popular.

The Ra Nui sauvignon blanc is another Marlborough drop from over the ditch; lighter and less fruity than some others, making it the perfect partner to the Italiano pizza. Proclaiming to be topped with "salami, prosciutto, caramelised onion, rocket and parmesan", I could almost call this 'A Few of my Favourite Things' pizza.

On a thin, very crunchy base we have a little tomato paste; loads of cheese; savoury, spicy salami; blobs of sweet onion that cuts through the saltiness of other ingredients; bacon; topped off with fresh rocket leaves and parmesan shavings. What's wrong with this picture?

Did they not think people might just be able to tell the difference between proscuitto and bacon? I was a bit disappointed because I was looking forward to some thinly sliced, salty cured goodness, but then I was most glad I didn't order the Proscuitto pizza. Prosciutto-lessness aside, it's a good pizza and with a nice glass of wine and sunshine, lunch is a treat.