Grasshopper: Sydney's first true lane way small bar, CBD Sydney (27 May 2010)

Off George Street, Between King and Market, Next to RM Williams
Temperance Lane, Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.thegrasshopper.com.au

Down the dodgy laneway

Sydney finally gets it's first true lane way small bar which is pretty much the norm for many Melbourne bars — especially for places like The Croft Institute. Sticky Bar in Surry Hills and Shady Pines Saloon in Darlinghurst were getting close to a dodgy lane way entrance experience but Grasshopper takes the cake — for now. It's only been opened for about six weeks and is hard to find unless you know where you need to exactly go — don't be scared, but take a friend just in case. Complete with lane way rubbish bins you'd be rightfully tempted to think you're about to get mugged as you walk up Temperance Lane from George Street. I love their business card made from a playing card wrapped in a simple printed label — its indy/old skool/grunginess reminds me a bit of Pocket Bar. It seems the owner has more lane way bars planned for the future which I hope will encourage and inject more creativity and life back into the dark and dirty CBD lane ways.

Other visits to Grasshopper:

• 23 Feb 2011 - Grasshopper Laneway Dinner

• 27 May 2010 - Grasshopper pop by

Other reviews of Grasshopper:

• Secret Foodies

• Spread My Butter

• Daily Sydney

• BarZine

• TimeOut Sydney

Other small bars visited:

• Grasshopper - 27 May 2010

• Name This Bar - 16 Dec 2009

• Ching-a-lings - 10 Sept 2009

• Pocket Bar - 18 Aug 2009

• Pocket Bar - 18 June 2009

• Small Bar

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Interesting food on the menu, Hidden bar (for now), Intimate and cosy decor and seating

CONS: Need to walk down a dodgy looking lane way, Hard to find

MUST TRY: Checking out the food and drinks next visit

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Candle light jar

Downstairs bar

Upstairs kitchen

Menu

Looking out the entrance

Grasshopper Chef and Owner taking a break in the lane way

Dodgy and dirty lane way view

View from George Street down Temperance Lane

Temperance lane next to RM Williams


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City Hotel Kent Street Living Room: Chocolatesuze 27th Food Blogger Birthday, Sydney (29 May 2010)

347 Kent Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.cityhotel.com.au

Happy Birthday chocolatesuze!

Beware of cheerleaders wielding long sharp knives with a big smile.

With 73 confirmed RSVPs on the guest list for this birthday event it was set to be Sydney's biggest food bloggers meet up — and it certainly was, with 59 confirmed attending roll call. The dress theme was BACK TO SCHOOL and the tempting prize for best dressed was a 2.26kg giant gummy bear. I arrived fashionably late at 4.30 pm as all unruly school kids would and ended up miraculously able to fit into my final year school shirt which I'd kept as a personal memento since leaving. Matched with a striking afro and Christian Dior nerdy looking sunglasses complete with backpack I thankfully didn't miss out on any of the yummy food provided by Nuffnang which was just starting to be served as I arrived. It was great to meet up with some familiar faces of the food blogging community and to also finally meet other food bloggers which I follow and read. Time went quickly (too quickly) and I wished I could have stayed longer to chat with many more of the food bloggers but hopefully next time in future events.

Drinks were purchased from the bar and my choice tonight was a refreshing Japanese Asahi beer ($8). The Kent Street Living Room seem to be producing some very nice party food at the moment and stand outs for me tonight were the Chicken Satay, Grilled Prawn Skewers and Salt and Pepper Squid. The Mini Wagyu Burgers had potential although unfortunately didn't quite match teppanyaki's very impressive looking and tasting version at Launch Into Merivale. I'm not sure who made the chocolate cake but it was massive and very noice. Chocolatesuze looked very comfortable and a little scary at the same time with the very large birthday cake knife in hand. If you'd like a copy of your photo in this blog post please drop me an email and I'll email a copy back to you :-)

So I'm wondering who won best dressed in the end?

Other visits to Kent Street Living Room:

• 15 Sept 2010 - Red List Vintage Burlesque Showcase

• 29 May 2010 - Chocolatesuze 27th Birthday

• 19 Feb 2010 - Launch Party

Other blogger reviews of the Birthday:

• Star Loz

• Aficionado

• Foodchaser

• Nom Nom Nibblies

• The Ninja Review

• Three Wise Pigs

• Chocolatesuze

• The Creamy Middles

• Crunchy Tiger

• Heidi Loves Food

• Sugarpuffi

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Nice venue, decent canape party food, friendly people

CONS: Was too short on time to meet up with everyone

MUST TRY: Prawn Skewers, Chicken Satay, Salt and Pepper Squid

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Me and the Birthday Girl aka Cheerleader Chocolatesuze

Food bloggers unite to celebrate

Asahi Beer $8

The Party Food

Potato wedges

Salt and pepper squid

Cheese and spinach triangles

Antipasto

Chicken satay

Samosas

Mini Wagyu Beef Burgers

Grilled prawn skewers

Chocolatesuze birthday cake

Chocolatesuze cutting birthday cake

Food bloggers

Laura (StarLoz) and Me

Sara (Belly Rumbles), Yee (Brunch, Lunch & Munch), Desmond (YaYa's Yum Yums) and Me

Rose (LesbianHam) as the chalkboard

Cathy X (Aficionado) and Me

Sheryl (One Bite More) and Me

Anita (NoRedMeat) and Me

Richard aka FFichiban (Here Comes The Food) and Me

Phouc (Phuocndelicious) and Me

Steph (raspberri cupcakes), Betty (The Hungry Girl), Leona (Pigged-Out) and Me

Lisa (Spicy Icecream), Simon (The Heart of Food) and Me

Jade (Pass The Peas), Yasmin (About The Food) and Me

Maria (Aamukahvin ääressä), Betty (Sugarpuffi) and Me

Billy (A Table For Two) and Me

Denea (Gourmet Rabbit) and Me

Sara (Belly Rumbles), Rita (Spoon, Fork & Chopsticks), Rachel (The Creamy Middles) and Me

Fouad (The Food Blog) and Me

The sponsor

Sarah and David (Nuffnang) — So can you pay for my next birthday party too? :-)

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Slip Inn: Free Singha Beer Full Moon Party, Sydney (27 May 2010)

111 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.merivale.com

Slip in to free fun

The wet weather came but this didn't deter a thirsty lot of punters enjoying another fun-filled free event in the Slip Inn Garden Bar which included free Singha beers, Chandon Sparkling and Thai-style nibbles of spring rolls, chicken satay and fish cakes served by friendly service staff with Thai-style friendly smiles. The weather finally cleared and the DJ pumped out club style music to keep the crowd warm and an engaging performance by dancers from So You Think You Can Dance including Robbie was well received (video snapshot below). These events are usually fully advertised in advance on posters around the hotel and bar or if you subscribe to the online Merivale newsletter you'll keep in touch with future events. After the free drinks and yummy nibbles had finished it was back upstairs to the quieter main bar for another shared bottle of sparkling and your standard stomach top up bar food of shoestring fries ($7) and pototo wedges ($7).

Other free events at Slip Inn:

• 18 Nov 2010 -

Slip Inn to Summer

• 12 Nov 2010 - Slip Inn to Summer (promotion)

• 23 June 2010 - End of Financial Year Drinks (promotion)

• 10 June 2010 - Winter Wonderland

• 3 June 2010 - Winter Wonderland (promotion)

• 27 May 2010 - Singha Beer Full Moon Party
• 11 Feb 2010 - Anti Valentine's Day Party

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Free drinks, food, entertainment, music and party atmosphere

CONS: Wet weather permitting for the garden bar, Can get crowded so need to be quick and savvy to get the food being passed around before it runs out, It's on a Thursday making Friday mornings extra hard

MUST TRY: Spring rolls, Learning new dance moves

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Chandon Sparkling and Singha Beer — complimentary

Orchids — noice touch!

Friendly service with smiles all round

Spring rolls

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Chicken satay

Fish cakes

Dancers from So You Think You Can Dance including Robbie

Bar and crowds

Free Airbrush Tattoos by Tat Me Up!

Busy kitchen getting the nibbles ready

Islander dancers

Shoestring fries with aoili $7 and Potato wedges with sour cream and sweet chilli sauce $7

The Singha branding police are out

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