by a friend of mine; Cassandra Grant
QUICK GUIDE to Sydney's areas of interest:
CBD - walking distance to Chinatown, Darling Harbour, etc. 15-minute walk to Oxford St through Hyde Park. The 555 is a free bus that runs in a loop from Circular Quay to Central Station
Circular Quay - the MCA can be found here. It's also close to The Rocks, Opera House, in view of the Harbour Bridge, etc
Central Station - walking distance to the other side of Chinatown (Railway Square side) and Surry Hills (on Eddy Ave side). Surry Hills contains every gallery, store, cafe, event space you can think of, and Crown St is a good place to start (see below)
Newtown - used to be heaps alternative, now heaps gentrified. Catch a bus (423, 426, 428) or a train (10-15 mins) to get here. Lots of cafes, stores, thai food restaurants, frozen yoghurt shops (??)
Redfern - used to be heaps dodgy, now heaps gentrified. Carriageworks is an arts/markets/creative space inhabiting the abandoned Eveleigh train station. On the other side of the station is The Block (learn more here: http://www.sbs.com.au/
Kings Cross - party central! junkie central! You'll know you're here when you see the giant Coca-Cola sign. Lots of gig venues, clubs, strip clubs, reasonably-priced accommodation (for a reason). 15 mins walk to Hyde Park/Town Hall, or catch any number of buses or trains in.
EAT
Cafes
Surry Hills - Reuben Hills** (Albion St), Mad Spuds Cafe** (Crown St - dinky but really excellent way w potatoes), anything on Crown St
Annandale - Revolver (yesssss)
King St Newtown - basically everything. Try Barmuda (next to Black Star Pastry which, really, GO THERE)
Marrickville - West Juliett, Cornersmith*** (my favourite! Everything is locally produced and they don't support factory farming and the menu is GREAT)
Redfern - Shortlist
Glebe - Clipper, Well Connected, Sappho's (plus bookstore)
Coffee
Surry Hills - Single Origin
Ultimo - Mecca**
CBD - Workshop (right underneath Kinokuniya!)
Marrickville - Coffee Alchemy (they won best coffee last year and they operate out the side of a warehouse in the inner-city suburbs?!)
Marrickville - Coffee Alchemy (they won best coffee last year and they operate out the side of a warehouse in the inner-city suburbs?!)
Snacks
Messina gelato!
N2 extreme gelato
Custard puffs - 3 for $1 - Chinatown gate
Tacos @ El Loco (Fouveaux St, nr Central Station)
Dinner
CBD - Tetsuyas (book first), Tenko Mori for delicious cheap ramen just off George St
Pyrmont - Momofuku (book first)
Pyrmont - Momofuku (book first)
Darling Harbour - Margaritaville (order nachos the size of your head, NO JOKE!)
Surry Hills - Dukes (billed as Man Food), Yulli's (vegetarian food, Crown St), Porteno, Bourke St Bakery (Sydney classic, you will not regret!)
Chinatown - "street food" stalls on Friday nights, Chinese Noodle Restaurant (dumplings and braised eggplant oh man the eggplant!!)
Drinks
King St Newtown - Jester Seeds, Corridor, Courthouse (popular dive pub social hangs). Everything else there is a meat market on weekends
Redfern - Norfolk Hotel (americana)
Oxford St - Shady Pines Saloon (americana)
CBD - Mojo Record Bar, Uncle Ming's, Baxter Inn, Lord Nelson, Grandma's, Stitch Bar (York St), Frankies* ('New York' pizza and craft beer!)
Surry Hills - Flinders, Freda's (Chippendale St)
On Fridays they have Farmers Market Nights at Zeta Bar. The whole thing sounds amazing! If you want to try out while you're here, let me know I want to join you!
STAY
There are a number of hostels where you can book accomodation clustered around Central Station. I'm sure there are a few hotels in the area as well. Black spot areas - The Rocks area, Circular Quay, CBD proper. Not much in the way of decent food or coffee unless you're close to Chinatown. Try to avoid staying anywhere in this area. Central Station is close to Surry Hills which is where the fun is at!
Hotels w go
The Kirketon
Go shopping along Crown St for vintage boutique stores (Cream on Crown, Mintie Meets Munt, Grandma Takes A Trip), really nice clothes stores, record and skate and bookstores (Title!!), etc. It's a long street so if you start on the corner of Crown and Devonshire St and work your way to Oxford you'll hit up everything on the way. There's also a Messina on this street so you'll cross a lot off your list in one go
o
d reviews:The Kirketon
Boutique
Hotel
-
229 Darlinghurst Rd
Park8 Hotel Sydney
-
CBD
Manor House Boutique Hotel - Flinders St
Not sure what your budget is though
SHOP/DO
Vivid!!!
Visit the Museum of Contemporary Art (free entry)!
Check out Kinokuniya, amazing amazing bookstore!
White Rabbit Gallery - amazing collection of contemporary Asian art by a private collector/enthusiast. Free entry, great cafe attached. Chippendale.
Go shopping along Crown St for vintage boutique stores (Cream on Crown, Mintie Meets Munt, Grandma Takes A Trip), really nice clothes stores, record and skate and bookstores (Title!!), etc. It's a long street so if you start on the corner of Crown and Devonshire St and work your way to Oxford you'll hit up everything on the way. There's also a Messina on this street so you'll cross a lot off your list in one go
King St Newtown is also great for kooky 'alt' stores and homeware and ethnic cafes and restaurants. But it's heaps gentrified so it's not so much to my taste nowadays. If you want to indulge in hippieness, you'll have more luck in Marrickville
Did you want to do more touristy stuff as well? I'd defs recommend taking a ferry from Circular Quay to Manly Beach. It's more about the journey (you'll pass the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge) than anything of interest at the end. Normally I eat fish and chips and have a gelato and take the next ferry back'
I'm sure there's a lot more that I've missed, I'm going off my old favourites from last year. Since my return from travels I haven't had a chance to find new things - working on it!
Enjoy,
Cass
