Three Sydney Restaurants

Mr Wong, 3 Bridge Lane, Sydney
At Mr Wong you expect to see Indiana Jones burst through the door at any minute. The place is like a film set for a 1930s movie set in seedy Shanghai. It is full of characters but without the smoky haze and opium pipes. In contrast to the slight seediness, the elegant waiters are all decked out in long aprons.

The place is on two levels with a rabbit warren of rooms, decked out with fading posters and paintings and internal wire mesh staircases. Asian/Western style of decoration is highlighted, with a large display of English Wedgewood Willow Pattern plates and serving dishes.

The restaurant is one of Sydney’s gems, ideal for a quick meal before a show. It’s hidden away in downtown Sydney up a little doglegged lane. Even when you are outside it, you wouldn’t know it was there. It blends into the nondescript soot-covered building around it. The only way we knew we had made it was the queue of 50 people waiting for the doors to open.

And then you only got to get in if you had booked and you would have had to do that a week in advance.

Apparently the place is famous for its Peking duck and going by the number ducks hanging in the Duck Kitchen they have managed to secure a good proportion of the world's output.

The Peking Duck Pancakes came as a large portion of sliced up duck and a heap small pancakes with which one packaged up a few slices of the meat and some hoisin sauce. The thick black pungent sauce combined nicely with the delicate meat.

The main of Salt and Pepper Calamari was lightly crusted and complemented by fine crisp selection of stir-fried snow peas, snap peas and broccoli with garlic and rice wine

Graze, Museum of Contemporary art
There are two dining places at the Museum of Contemporary Art, the MCA Café on the top floor, which gives you elevated views over Circular Quay and out to the harbour and the Opera house. It features some straightforward meals including Cumberland pork sausages with lambs lettuce, potato and scallion salad, beer battered Olde English fish and chips, malt vinegar and tartare sauce or roasted salmon with green beans, roast potatoes and lemon.

But on the ground floor, Graze offers a more stylish menu although it's only open for lunch (and a late night Thursday). It’s a great place for tourist watching., The big passenger liners moor just outside and there is a constant stream of tourists and locals with a collection of buskers, Aboriginal performances and crazy people.

Moreton Bay bugs and grilled king prawns feature but as well zucchini flowers stuffed with crispy fried Haloumi.

Ideal for sharing is the Provencal style bouillabaisse, which is a seafood masterpiece. It includes the fish of the day, blue swimmer crabs, black lipped mussels, clams, split king prawns, Moreton Bay bugs and chilli aioli.

Finish off with the cheese board of a blue camembert as well as fruit pastes, muscatels, figs and walnut bread

Besser, 355 Crown St, Surry Hills
I suppose when they say you should get there by 6.30pm, that’s when you should be there. At the Italian restaurant, Besser, it’s really important because that’s when they stop taking orders for the daily risotto. Orders close at 6.30pm and the risotto is served at 7pm. We got there at 6.35pm, so no risotto.

Besser isn’t named after Signore or Signora Besser. The name comes from besser concrete blocks that the Italian owners recall from their childhood Australian backyards. So in honour of that building material they have lined one wall of the restaurant with it and made the 10metre long bar of it. They have further honoured their childhoods by having an assortment of a range of colourful chairs and Formica tables. It actually looks more like an American diner than an Italian restaurant. The young waiters don’t look like the waiters in Italy – they are a lot cooler and suave.

For starters, the meatballs are impeccable a mix of veal, pork and chicken served with a sweet, light, salsa Pomodoro sauce and lashings of parmesan. There were also some delicate calamari rings with a tangy dipping sauce.

For mains, the gnocchi with shredded turkey on a rich tomato base with a side of green beans and almonds had a surprising mixture of tastes and texture.

The slow-roasted half chicken crusted with herbs came with crispy potatoes and a carrot, kale, pumpkin and ricotta salata. The chicken was a glorious golden colour and moist with just the right crunchy skin.

A quick stroll up the road takes you to Gelato Messina, which even late at night is packed. It offers all the usual as well as a few exotics like poached figs in Marsala or salted caramel and white chocolate – try the peach and rhubarb for a sweet tangy sensation.

John Daly-Peoples travelled to Sydney with the assistance of Destination New South Wales

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