Slide on through The Passage

Right up near the Kings Cross end of Darlinghurst, The Passage has been onto the slider craze a while now. The long, narrow space offers respite from the Kings Cross hubbub with its own brand of bar and club cool, and of course, sliders.

There's a weekly Wednesday night special on the ubiquitous miniature burgers, which get pretty creative in their fillings (think 'The Fisherman's Basket' and 'The Mighty Duck') .

"Fillet o' Fish" slider with caper mayonnaise and cos lettuce from The Passage,
Victoria Street, Darlinghurst

There are four sliders on their regular menu; one being the irresistible 'Fillet o' Fish' with crumbed fish, cos lettuce and caper mayonnaise.

Even if it lacks the plastic-like cheese of the original, it's hard to beat a freshly cooked fish burger and the slider disappeared in several bites.

Spicy meatball slider with cheddar and tomato relish 

The meatball slider is more your classic burger with a flattened meatball pattie, melting cheese and a tangy tomato relish. It was a noticeably spicy and utterly satisfying handful.

I particularly like the fact that The Passage uses mini burger buns and not brioche buns for their sliders, as there's only so much brioche one can take.

Crazy 99 cocktail

There's lots of fun to be had on the cocktail list, such as the pretty pink and quite lethal Crazy 99 cocktail with both Japanese sake and shochu, shaken with pink grapefruit and lemon.

Crispy chicken wings with ginger and spring onion

From the snacks menu we ordered the chicken wings which, fried crisp, are hard to get wrong. These wings were doused in a sauce of ginger, Chinese salted black bean and spring onions, and not so crisp for it.

While the sauce flavours were great and quite rare outside of a Chinese eatery, the chicken itself could have done with more marinating and seasoning - but that didn't stop us from picking the bones clean.

Stuffed zucchini flower with goat's cheese and truffle honey

The zucchini flower small plate was a generous one with four crunchily battered stuffed flowers on a plate with polenta, crumbled goat's cheese and pepitas.

The drizzles of truffle honey matched the cheese and stuffing remarkably well and left us wanting more.

Apple and witlof salad

After all the slider and deep fry action, we sought some redemption through the undeniably healthy rocket, apple and witlof salad with a lemon dressing (but only because they were out of the pork and crispy rice noodle salad, to be truthful).

The Passage is doing some great things to differentiate itself from its Darlinghurst and Kings Cross neighbours, both the boozy and the foodie, with a dynamic slider menu and daily specials - slide on in to join the slider craze before it's all over.

Gia Hoi: Vietnamese in the 'burbs

Sydney is blessed with suburbs like Cabramatta, Bankstown and Marrickville for Vietnamese food and restaurant options. But it's almost as if Vietnamese restaurants are the new Thai restaurants, popping up in all sorts of suburban streets in recent years.

Crispy skin chicken with tomato rice from Gia Hoi, Chapel Road, Bankstown

With the plethora of options in Bankstown, we relied on someone in the know to lead us to the garishly magenta-lit insides of Gia Hoi, just off the main road.

All the favourite Vietnamese dishes are here and I couldn't resist the crispy skin chicken, served with salad and a yellow-red hued tomato rice.

The rice wasn't spectacular but the insanely crisp shattering skin of the chicken, with moist, tender flesh beneath, made up for any rice regrets.

Grilled pork chop

Another easy choice is the grilled pork chop, which comes with a choice of noodle or rice sides. The slightly (and nicely) fatty pork is incredibly tender and full of hours of marinated flavour.

Noodles on the side

The dry noodles served with the pork chop were obscured by a range of generous toppings: fresh and fried shallots, bean sprouts, raw onion and more, with a sweet dipping sauce on the side.

Fillings for rice paper rolls

The most exciting dish this time round was the mixed platter of fillings that arrived with a bowl of water, for fresh rolled rice paper rolls.

Watching and learning, the round rice paper gets a light dip into the bowl of water before being laid on a plate and filled with vermicelli noodles, fresh vegetables and herbs and one of the protein fillings: spring rolls, sugarcane prawns, grilled pork and beef slices.

They're then delicately rolled up and consumed immediately with more dipping sauce. It's not the most simple of dishes but certainly easy to polish off a platter among three.

So here's a trend prediction: the continuing popularisation of Vietnamese cuisine, especially out in the 'burbs where casual eateries like Gia Hoi thrive by doing what they've always done.

Good times collective #6

We're off and running in 2013, and straight back into the thick of things. There's a sense of reserved optimism this summer and I get the feeling that it's a prelude to a pretty massive year to come - hang on for the ride.

Pomegranate froyo with mango and lychee pearls from MooBerry, King Street, Newtown
(Disclosure: Food, booze and shoes is acquainted with staff at MooBerry)

It's the summer of froyo. The hot days so far are proof that the boom in frozen yoghurt, or froyo, operators is scarily on trend.

I don't know whether it's a short-term or even seasonal fad but I do know the cool, refreshing feel of the fruity pomegranate froyo with fruit and lychee pearls is my summer in a cup.

Biscotti froyo with Oreos and macarons from MooBerry, King Street, Newtown
(Disclosure: Food, booze and shoes is acquainted with staff at MooBerry)

On the other end from the fruity froyo scale is the all-out dessert approach: like biscotti flavoured froyo with Oreo crumbs and miniature macarons that are as cute as they are decadent.

Chicken burger with chips from The Grounds of Alexandria, Huntley Street, Alexandria

Ten months on and the crowds keep queueing up at The Grounds with no signs of waning. Personally, If I'm hungry I can't really manage a 30-minute wait so it's a good thing that they've introduced a more substantial takeaway menu on top of cakes and coffee.

I have no issue diving into a juicy fried chicken burger for brunch in the garden, especially with The Grounds' very good thick cut potato chips and aioli on the side.

Quinoa salad from The Grounds of Alexandria

The healthy among us can look to the menu of salads including this one of quinoa, kale, pumpkin, sultanas and more. A little on the sweetly-dressed side, it was a generous serve that made an interesting dip for the chips.

Bloody Mary at The Forresters, corner Riley and Foveaux Streets, Surry Hills

The jar-sized Bloody Mary at The Forresters must be Sydney's best dressed. Garnished to the point of being a salad, this vodka and tomato juice cocktail has to be healthy on some level, with cucumber, a pickled onion, cherry tomato, artichoke and rosemary all taking pride of place.

Sunday roast - roast beef with roast vegies at The Forresters

The Bloody Mary joined the weekly changing Sunday roast, complete with roast vegetables, gravy and sauce. Just be wary of potentially dry roast beef which chewy and dry, was clearly overcooked and probably kept on some heat source for a little too long.

Chicken nuggets from The Forresters

There wasn't much more satisfaction from the chicken nuggets, which were battered breast fillets smothered in a tomato and onion sauce. The unseasoned chicken has nothing on Maccas, I'm afraid.

Baked eggs with beans at Vicinity, Bourke Road, Alexandria
(Disclosure: Food, booze and shoes is acquainted with staff at Vicinity)

I've heard that Vicinity stopped serving breakfast recently, which is a shame as it was a great, airy spot with outdoor seating that is really made for brunching - and Sunday afternoon drinks.

I'm not sure which direction the venue is moving towards but the breakfast I did sample there needed tweaking. The baked eggs with beans in a tomato-ey sauce looked more like poached eggs dumped on top of some tasty home made beans, served with a huge slice of barely toasted bread.

Green and gold at Vicinity, Bourke Road, Alexandria
(Disclosure: Food, booze and shoes is acquainted with staff at Vicinity)

The 'green and gold' breakfast dish was actually quite a good, healthy option: more large-slice bread with mashed avocado, broccoli, watercress and a poached egg.

I keep meaning to return for lunch or dinner, but I'll also be watching their morning offerings with interest - after all, a big year is going to need a big breakfast.