Good times collective #7

I like autumn in Sydney but it's a reminder that winter is coming and that more than one-third of the year has gone already - where to, I'm not sure. Bars and ice cream parlours, it seems.

A la Mode cocktail at Felix Bar, Ash Street, Sydney
(Disclosure: Food, booze and shoes is acquainted with staff at Felix)

There's always time for a well-made cocktail, even if I'm not quite sure what's in it - because when it comes to drinking, it's all about broadening experiences and learning.

Felix is one of my favourite bar perches in the CBD; pre or post dinner or just for an after-work de-stressing beverage. This over-the-top dessert cocktail at Felix may well have been a special with its sweet, creamy foam and a hint of blowtorched caramelisation.

Sweet potato chips at The White Hart, Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay

I have much love for sweet potato chips, and the ones at The White Hart in Neutral Bay are pretty special; each with lots of rough, crunchy bits but incredibly soft and fluffy on the inside.

I love how they're served, piled high in a wooden vessel alongside aioli which was barely necessary as the chips were such tasty texture sensation.

Black pudding and caramelised apple at The White Hart

Sadly, I'm not one for black pudding - even if it was fancily plated with roasted apples and bacon flags on black slate.

"The White Hart" wagyu burger, British cut bacon roasted tomato, crispy onion ring,
beetroot relish, cheese and lettuce, chips at The White Hart

The White Hart's burger is more my thing, served with thick cut chips on a board. The juicy wagyu beef pattie and melted cheese were the highlights while the pretty standard white burger bun was possibly holding it back from greatness.

Gowings Bar, Market Street, Sydney

The new, boutique QT Hotel made quite the splash when it opened in the historic Gowings Building last year. While I'll probably never be staying in the creative, designer rooms, the lobby and restaurant fitouts alone have me impressed.

There's an interesting dynamic at Gowings Bar, being a hotel bar of course, but also catering to the large restaurant in the same space.

Bringing back the Vol-Au-Vent: filled with gravlax of house made ocean trout tartare,
Sterling caviar, quail eggs from Gowings Bar

While I'm familiar with vol-au-vents - the iconic1970s hors d'oeuvres - I don't think I'd ever had one prior to the ones at Gowings Bar.

But I can see their party and finger food appeal: exceptionally flaky puff pastry cases filled with delicately cured ocean trout, boiled quail egg halves and caviar - I don't know why they ever went out of fashion.

Butter milk fried free range chicken wing tulips from Gowings Bar

I find fried chicken wings an absolutely irresistible bar snack and the basket of butter milk fried wings were spot-hitting.

While slightly lacking in seasoning and crunch, it's pretty hard to go wrong when you deep fry my favourite cut of chicken.

Ice cream sundae at Window's Coffee, Bankstown

While it is getting noticeably cooler, there's space in most stomachs and hearts for a bit of ice cream any time. A new discovery on a Bankstown corner was Window's Coffee - a Vietnamese café with tacky decorations, loud pop music on screen and an extensive ice cream selection.

Large, multi-scoop options are served in tall oversized cocktail glasses with red syrup and paper umbrellas that verged on tackiness overload - but which also seemed to work for the venue overall.

So, back to it - more bars and ice cream this autumn and winter.