Cheap Eats 2012

Life has a way of coming full circle. Exactly two years ago I landed a regular column with Time Out Sydney covering suburban eats. My first review appeared in the May 2010 Cheap Eats issue - a fitting theme for this cheap 'n' cheerful fan. Now I'm pleased to reveal that the latest Time Out Sydney 2012 Cheap Eats feature was curated and written by yours truly - my first ever cover story!



The brief from Food & Drink editor, Myffy Rigby, seemed simple enough: come up with 25 eats under $15 that covered a broad spectrum of cuisines and suburbs across all of Sydney. The catch?  These had to be spots not already reviewed by Time Out Sydney. Not so easy!

Writing 25 snappy blurbs so they all sounded different was quite the challenge. So was coming up with descriptors that weren't just "tasty" and "delicious". Distilling the essence of each restaurant into a few sentences is an underrated artform, especially when you're also trying to include just enough detail on standout dishes.



But hey, it was an assignment I relished, resulting in a five-page spread of some fantastic budget eats around Sydney, with awesome photos from Daniel Boud and Dave Cheng.

What's your favourite cheap eat? Let me know if I missed something! Meanwhile I'm excited to be heading to Adelaide for Tasting Australia 2012. Posts will continue, but you can follow 'grabyourfork' on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram for live pics of my adventures around South Australia.

The May 2012 special Cheap Eats edition of Time Out Sydney is out now. You can check out an excerpt from the full Cheap Eats feature online here. 

Read more of my Time Out Sydney reviews