For posterity

a) Major FAIL;
b) Publicity stunt;
c) Hoax;
d) Doesn't matter - not going to eat it anyway?

Not everything needs to be new and Gen-i-ed. Nostalgia and childhood memories go a long way. Thanks to Kraft for the blip we all get to look back on in years to come: "Remember when they tried, and failed, to change Vegemite? Memories..."

Things you'll miss from home

I've been coming to Encasa for years and have only now realised that there's a deluxe version of the sangria that's significantly heftier on the alcohol component. I can actually taste the liqueur in addition to red wine and fruit - I've been missing out for so long.

I love the mish-mash, jumbled feel of Encasa sometimes. Not so when I don't have a bookiing, but there's just a feel of slight chaos brewing beneath the floorboards of the hectically busy restaurant, especially this particular Friday night.

We have a fair sized table of good eaters, and we order generously but sensibly. Which is why I'm a little perplexed that the waiter was bug-eyed and head-shaking at the amount of food we ordered. We showed him - mostly.

Special salad of rocket, artichoke, tomato and manchego
cheese from Encasa, Pitt Street, Haymarket

I'm so comfortable with the menu at Encasa that I often forget there are specials. This special salad is a first for me and a pleasant alternative to the goat cheese and roasted capsicum salad - which we also order. It's a simple assembly of rocket, artichokes, cherry tomatoes and shavings of a divine manchego cheese that just works effortlessly.

Champinones al ajillo - sizzling garlic mushrooms

Before long, a procession of tapas start heading towards us - mostly in multiples for sharing among our group. The garlic mushrooms are vegies made fun - not that they're norrmally not - but these just pop with a firm juiciness in a celebration of garlic.

Patatas bravas - fried potato with aioli and spicy tomato salsa

As much as a sad stereotype as it may be, it's not really a tapas experience for me without patatas bravas and Encasa's version rivals that I had in a Barcelona laneway. With lashings of a spicy tomato salsa and creamy garlic mayonnaise, it's comfort food that behaves well with the sangria.

Chorizo a la plancha - grilled Spanish sausage

From my sangria-soaked memory, the chorizo isn't the best I've tried, although that accolade is still waiting to be awarded, I think. This sausage tends a little dry and salty, and lacking on the spice kick just a little.

Mejillones a la Marinera

The huge bowl of tender-as mussels also comes topped with a spicy tomato salsa, of which none goes to waste with our handy bread roll mops. The mussel meat is superbly tender and not at all fishy - it looks so easy, yet not always so in the home kitchen.

Gambas Sevillanas - king prawns in spicy tomato salsa

Undoubtedly a crowd favourite, the prawns in spicy tomato salsa are extremely crunchily firm. A lot of restaurants could learn from this. One would think that the 'spicy tomato salsa' is getting a bit repetitive at this point - but it's not. There are varying degrees of spiciness and consistency that just keep everyone dipping and sopping up all that tomato-ey goodness.

Pinchos Morunos - prime lamb fillet skewers in Morrocan spices

The lamb skewers are mostly tender and less flavour-intensive than most the other tapas dishes. They're sort of cooked to a well-done point, which is acceptable but makes for a bit more chewing and a bit less juiciness.

Supreme pizza

At this point, I start to think that maybe we should have heeded the waiter's apprehension. Just after I have that thought, I find myself reaching for one of the last slices of the freshly cooked pizza. Elected from the traditional rather than gourmet menu, this has a bit of everything going for it - vegies, meat and just enough cheese on a crusty woodfired base.

Paella Valenciana

A collective "Oooh..!" greets the paella - a serving for four that looks more like a serving for ten. The huge king prawns have their meeting of minds amid roast capsicum and pipis, surrounded by an audience of mussels and lemon wedges. After a light shower of lemon juice, the meeting is broken up into servings of the fluffy saffron rice and crunchy browned bottom crust. Full as we are, we appreciate the super fresh seafood so much that we take half of it home to appreciate even more the next day.

Dessert doesn't rate a moment's thought although we're easily convinced that we need more of that deluxe sangria. By this point, the restaurant is seriously hopping with no sign of slowing. It's a bit chaotic, it's very festive, and it's just the sort of almost homely atmosphere that one would miss being away from.

Elementary, my dear

If you're heading to Avenue Q via King Street, it's only logical to pay a little visit to a nearby restaurant pre-theatre. And if the restaurant happens to be a darling place across the road who will happily cater for theatre-goers, then it's only elementary.

Element Bistro is a little hidey-hole restaurant below footpath-level that oozes with warmth and charm, as if almost to compensate for the tiny space. All the more endearing, I think.

Baguette from Element Bistro, King Street, Sydney

Bread is served generously as we wait for a table member, with creamy butter and salt flakes. While debate rages about butter versus olive oil with bread to start, I'm still undecided. A good butter is fair match for a good olive oil, and despite my leanings for Italian cuisine - I'm torn.

In order to get to Avenue Q without delay, we decide on a single course each and leave the option open for dessert or cheese. The staff and kitchen are most accommodating and it isn't long before scrumptious smells waft towards us, followed quickly by our meals.

French onion soup

One has opted for an entree for the meal - the most amazing ever French onion soup, I'm told. And through one buriningly hot mouthful, I'm sort of convinced and less a few taste buds. In an adorable mini tureen, the top layer of melting cheese conceals a hoarde of caramelised brown onions in the aforementioned boiling hot soup. Other than the heat, the cheese is a most welcome savoury touch to the surpringly sweet and full-bodied soup.

Pan roasted ocean trout

The ocean trout came with a myriad of ingredients, and a sumptuously creamy sauce like hollandaise. The skin was grilled to a shattering golden hue and the flesh was perfectly cooked through and moist. Simply cooked vegetables, including potato, asparagus and cherry tomatoes, joined the frisee lettuce to make a warm sald or sorts - the dish embodying the philosophy of simplicity and quality.

Steak frites, Cafe de Paris butter

The steak is a gigantic serve and I worry that it won't be finished off before the show starts. Unfortunately there's a great deal of fat and gristle in the meat, albeit cooked to a perfectly juicy medium-rare. The Cafe de Paris butter is mopped up eagerly with the chips and bread, so I presume it was pretty tasty stuff.

Slow braised lamb shoulder pappardelle with celeriac, cavolo nero and gremolata

In a distinctly Italian vein, the pappardelle is surprising in its presence on the menu of a French bistro, and for its lightness. The thick cut pasta noodles are piled up in a dark, hearty broth almost; the tender lamb starring with some very Italian vegetable accompaniments.

We're comfortably within time for the show and not stuffed so as to fall asleep during it. We even manage to squeeze in a cheese plate - and forget the photo for it - before dashing across the road to join the buzzy crowd ready for some learnings in the form of (some) very outspoken, liberal, free-spirited puppets. The detour via Element Bistro to Avenue Q is highly recommended, and really, quite elementary.