When I heard that we were heading to Glebe Point Diner – I took the word Diner literally and thought, “Great, I’m going to end up eating RSL Club food! Must come up with escape and backup dinner plans”

But, it turns out that Chef Alex Kearns’ aim is to provide simple and comforting dishes to please your palette. Was I pleased? Well, just about. This wasn’t a place that wowed me! But neither was it a place that reminded me cheap diner service.

The restaurant is well laid out, it’s well presented but it can get a little too cosy. And by cosy I mean, if you try to move your seat a few inches back, you’ll hit a customer behind. A little claustrophobic for my liking. On the flip side, there is alfresco dinning with a few 2 seater couches. With Glebe Point DIner, you need to book in advance, and they are only open for dinner from Wed – Sat. It’s not a few mins wait if just turn up, be prepared with a newspaper and a cup coffee if that’s your intention.

Upon our arrival, we were asked to wait a few minutes before our table was ready. In the meantime, that gave us the opportunity to review the specials on the board. Shortly, we were shown to our tables and they had run out of menus – “Please try and share” is what we were told after 2 copies were given for the four of us. 5 mins later – 2 more copies of the menu arrived, and we were no longer tilting our necks to the corners of the table.

Glebe Point Diner boasts that they like to make everything in-house. Including their bread and butter too. Look, I have no issues with a restaurant churning their own butter – but please, even if you gave me a butter bowl with Western Star, I wouldn’t be complaining. A lot of effort for a small highlight. But the bread was nice and moist, and I can appreciate restaurants baking their own bread.

Alex Kearns’ cooking style is producing simple food – and I can see why. To start, I ordered the Duck and Pork Sausage served with rocket and grapes salad ($18). Good flavours, and simple salad – but I felt like I was at a mate’s BBQ. However, one of the my companions at the table dared herself with the Crispy Pig Ears salad – I don’t think she quite savoured that taste the next morning and vowed never to repeat.

Main course time and I tried the waygu with vegetables and horseradish mash ($34). The meat was good and the vegetables cooked well – simple is what I got from Alex Kearns. But the mash over complicated a few things. The horseradish was a little powerful and became the main element of taste – but the carrots, potatoes and spinach were cooked to perfection. However, it felt like meat and 3 veg.

Throughout the meal we shared 2 bottles of red amongst four of us. A Tempranillo from Spain and a bottle of Cabernet Merlot by Maverick Twins – each were approx $45. Their wine list is quite a impressive. I would assume they had about 40 to 50 to select from for white and about another 40 to 50 for Rose / Red – which is great, don’t get me wrong, but pretty challenging too!

For desert, we had all had the Chocolate pudding with Vanilla Bean Ice cream ($15). Rich, but flavoursome. This, like most 3 course meals, was my favourite part of the night.

The end the damage was $90 per person + tip. Not bad for a 3 course meal and 2 bottles of wine shared by 4.

Look, overall Glebe Point Diner is all about simple and comfort food – and they did what they can to present that. But is it a place I would recommend? Well, no. It takes an effort to book a table, for the price I would recommend L’etoile or for a bit extra, go to Verde. But if you’re looking for a nice restaurant in Glebe – then this or the Boathouse would be on my list of recommendations and hence why they are always busy. It’s one of the best in Glebe.

Atmosphere – 7/10
Food – 7/10
Wine/Cocktails – 7.5/10
Staff – 7/10
Value for money – 7.5/10

Located on 407 Glebe Point Road, Glebe

Spice I am is a restaurant where it’s name actually depicts the spoonful of food you are about to put in your mouth – it can be very spicy!

Located on Wentworth street and having opened 5 years ago, Spice I am was started by Padet Nagsalab and Sujet Saenkhan. Recently however, they’ve opened a spin off in Darlinghurst. That is not the restaurant that I am referring to in my below review.

The original Spice I am is not far from central station and it’s one of those fast paced restaurants where you can’t make a booking. It’s based on first come first serve and allows BYO. Be prepared for a crowded dining atmosphere as well as quick, spicy and delicious tasting food. If you feel that your stomach won’t handle a couple of sliced red chillies then I suggest you head to Phamish instead.

The food here is very tasty. I tried the first item on the starters menu – Mieng Kuay Teaw – a pork mince wrapped in flat rice noodle with a spicy dipping sauce and red chillies. It almost looks like a spring roll or a Vietnamese rice paper wrap, but it’s smooth, silky, fresh and spicy. This is a must have and I strongly recommend it.

For mains, we had the red curry duck which was their special as well as a serving of Pad Cha Chicken. My favourite of the two was the Red Curry Duck served in a coconut shell and it is perhaps one of the best tasting red curries that I’ve had. The Pad Cha on the other hand, was a little different from your standard Thai menu and probably isn’t one that I will be ordering again. It’s served with curry paste, peppercorn, basil and Thai eggplant. Majority of this dish was papaya shavings with curry paste, I really couldn’t see or taste much chicken. And most of all it was heavily spiced and didn’t give me an overly comfortable feeling.

I recommend a glass of their Young Coconut Juice – it’s sweet and also comes with shavings of coconut pulp that you can eat while your drink. This definitely cures a burning tongue.

Overall, I found it a great place to have a quick mid week dinner. The food is amazing, the service was decent and you didn’t feel like you were being pushed for the next people in the queue to take your seat. In terms of money, the entree was $8, the chicken main was $14 while the duck was $26 and the coconut juice was $4.50

If you are short of time and can’t wait – you can always get a take away.

If you live in Sydney and love Vietnamese food, you really should try this place – at least once!

Phamish recently moved from the lower end of Darlinghurst and is now closer to the city on 50 Burton Street, Darlinghurst. This isn’t a restaurant for everyone really. If you feel like having a romantic evening, with quite conversation and nibbling on some rice paper rolls – find somewhere else! Phamish is quick, fast paced and for them – time is money!

If you want to get to Phamish, try getting there early. Aim for 6pm or thereabouts (the time they open) because you can’t book for a table. You will have to wait in line or put your name down. They will tell you what time to come back and make sure you turn up at that time. Else, be prepared for a frosty reception. The lady will either yell at you for being late – or have you wait longer by giving your table away.

So, it’s a first-come-first-serve basis, where even ordering your food requires you to wait in a line. But the result is worth it. While Phamish is surrounded by other restaurants – a Thai, a modern Italian and another which I couldn’t pay attention to, you find that they are pretty quite. Sometimes you will find familiar faces there – and they would be people who no longer prepared to wait at Phamish.

The menu is fairly simple – a variety of rice paper rolls or pancakes for entree, curries or stir fry for mains (with rice, if you like).

I thought the chicken rice paper rolls would be nice, however they had prawns in it. Surely they could make mine without prawns. So, I put the question to the man behind the cashier and he gave me a look of “make the rice paper roll now?”. That’s when I understood that their rolls were pre-made – they just plate it and get a waiter to bring it to your table. I therefore resorted to the vegetarian rolls.

Given that the rolls are pre-made, there is a sticky feel when trying to pull each of the rolls apart – however, the taste with the accompanying sauce is bliss. I believe their pancakes might be premade too and warmed a little when served. For $12 per plate you get 4 rice paper rolls – good value in my opinion.

For mains we ordered a plate of kaffir lime chicken and another of sesame seasoned lamb fillets with rice on the side. The Vietnamese love their lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves – and the chicken dished boasted strong flavours. With each spoonful you get that smell of fresh citrus flavours and curry tasted perfect. Mains vary between $14 to $20. Once you’ve finished your dishes and placed your chopsticks down – expect to see 2 pairs of hand suddenly do a magic trick of “now you see, now you don’t”, as your plates, dishes and cutlery very quickly disappear – it’s time for the next waiting person to take your seat – so get out.

Phamish is a licenses restaurant and permits BYO – so for $2 corkage per head, I suggest you bring a bottle.

Don’t expect to have great experiences at Phamish – just expect good food. As I said, it’s not a restaurant for everyone. And if you want take away – then so be it.

Atmosphere – 6/10
Food – 8.5/10
Staff – 4.5/10
Value for money – 8/10