Noi, Petersham

Take one LuMi co-owner, Anastasia Drakopolous, add Veneto-bred chef Alessandro Intini (ex-Aqua Dining) and you have Noi Restaurant plonked in the middle of Little Portugal, Petersham. It's the kind of fancy restaurant you wouldn't expect in Petersham, but one that's likely to accommodate the changing demographic in the inner west: one that likes good food with parking and isn't too far from home.

The seven-course tasting menu is priced at a very reasonable $72 or choose your own adventure with a la carte - entrees range between $18-$21; mains are $26-$31.

It's a reasonable proposition once you factor in the complimentary items. We're immediately presented with amuse bouche of lemon thyme pastry puffs with mayonnaise and mini tacos with salmon and wine jelly. They're incongruously served in a Chinese steamer basket, but functional and cultural inexplicabilites aside, it makes for a welcome and appetite-inducing introduction.


Milk bun, focaccia and bread sticks with extra virgin olive oil and smoked paprika butter

There's a sense of LuMi hospitality too in the presentation of the complimentary bread offering, a trio of options served in an elegant timber box. Quell any hunger pangs with the mini milk bun, a square of crusty focaccia and elongated bread sticks. Smoked paprika butter is dolloped into a wooden pinch pot; extra virgin olive oil is dispensed using a (plastic) pipette. While the novelty value of the pipette is high, my only quibble would be it wasn't quite enough for three people.

Maybe I'm looking for the similarities, but the decor has LuMi vibes too, a sense of understated luxury with its cool tones of dark timber, brass and midnight blue. The napkins are heavy, water is poured into beautiful ceramic cups and industrial lights illuminate exposed brick walls and stripped back floorboards.


Kingfish, young fennel and wild rice $20

The menu reads more like a list of ingredients. You can always ask waitstaff for more details - or look on Instagram (you bet we did). It leads us to lock in the kingfish with young fennel and wild rice. The entree is light and refreshing, delicate slices of firm kingfish contrasted with the acidity of pickled fennel and the nutty crunch of wild rice puffs.


Pig's head terrine with coconut, turmeric and sherry vinegar $18

Pig's head terrine is steadily becoming one of Noi's signature dishes, raved on about across Instagram. The picked morsels of pork are compressed into a neat little log, crowned with a dollop of whipped coconut cream and scattered with toasted coconut flakes. The coconut adds a tropical decadence although it does feel a touch overwhelming - perhaps even dessert-like - against the soft and tender fattiness of the pork.


Risotto, Cloudy Bay clams, asparagus and sour cream $21

We skip the housemade pasta options in favour of risotto. The rice is cooked to a toothsome chewiness, strewn with petite nuggets of de-shelled Cloudy Bay clams and crisp spears of asparagus. It eats better than it looks, fortified with pinstripes of asparagus emulsion and sour cream.


Lamb, hazelnut, kipfler potatoes and buerre noisette $29

Lamb cutlets are cooked to a textbook shade of juicy pink. The fat has been rendered, the skin is crisp and the buerre noisette and toasted hazelnut crumbs add a nutty and textural enhancement.


28-day dry aged black Angus sirloin with spring onion, shallots and juniper $31

The 28-day dry aged black Angus sirloin feels a little chewy by comparison, although I am a fan of the charred and caramelised spring onions and sticky jus.


Hapuka, green papaya, baby cos and ginger $31

For a lighter main, the hapuka delivers on all fronts, a hunk of fish cooked to flake-forking tenderness that we swipe through polka dot dollops of of green and white.


Broccoli, satay sauce and cashew nuts $8

We order a side of vegetables on our waitstaff's suggestion. Roasted broccoli sounds delicious but in hindsight the satay sauce is an odd inclusion, especially as its pervasive creamy spiciness jars against all of our mains. The broccoli is cooked to the point of soggy softness which does make me appreciate the crunch of smashed cashews even more.


Terramisu $14
Miso oil, mascarpone and coffee

Terramisu continues the Asian-Italian pattern, a mash-up that works well here. It's a playful presentation of umami-laden miso soil scattered across mascarpone cream.


Green $14
Matcha creme, pistachio crumble and mint ice cream

Green is a triple combo of matcha, pistachio and mint. Do they work together? I'm not sure. The match and mint don't feel like a natural pairing, even if the pistachio works valiantly between the two.


Spring $14
Yoghurt pannacotta with melon and almonds

The most unassuming dessert ends up being my favourite. Yoghurt pannacotta is impressive in its nuanced subtlety and delicate fragility. There's a distinct echo of honeydew melon in the aerated foam. This is just the kind of dessert to leave you refreshed and content after a long meal.


Chocolate meringue with jam

We linger so long in the dining room (there's only been one other two-top present throughout the entire Sunday lunch service) that we score complimentary petit fours, chocolate meringue shards with jam. A bottle of peach-cello also materialises - it's like limoncello but made with peaches instead of lemon - and everyone is treated to a shot.

In a suburb cloaked with the aroma of charcoal chicken, Noi is not like any of its neighbours. Even seafood restaurant Fich next door looks to do a heavier trade in takeaway than dine-in. Noi means "we" or "us" in Italian. Here's hoping Noi finds its tribe.

Noi Restaurant
108 Audley Street, Petersham, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9337 7377

Opening hours
Lunch Thursday to Sunday 12pm-3pm
Dinner Thursday to Tuesday 5pm-10pm
Closed on Wednesdays


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Cafe Paci, Newtown

He's back. It's been four years since Pasi Petanen shut the doors on Cafe Paci, his pop-up restaurant in Darlinghurst that ran for two years. Diners were won over by a menu of interesting and experimental dishes, like his pho-tato Scandi-Vietnamese mashup and desserts of carrot sorbet with licorice cake. Petanen draws on influences across Asia as well as his Finnish heritage, finessed with fine dining expertise (Petanen was the former head chef at former three-hat restaurant Marque).

Cafe Paci has now opened in permanent digs in Newtown, neatly tucked in between Bella Brutta Pizza and Mapo Gelato. It's a win for everyone.



The long and narrow dining room feels more like a European wine bar. Long banquettes along the wall are lined with tables and bentwood chairs. High stools at the bar are ideal for walk-ins and single diners. And the former set menu structure has been casualised in favour of a la carte. That means diners can pop in for a snack or stay for a full meal.


Potato and molasses bread with butter $4 per slice

Petanan's potato and molasses bread has thankfully been revived. It's impressively soft and fragrant with a gloriously sheen to its glaze. On the side is a swipe of whipped butter, interspersed with flecks of brown butter. It's so addictive we run out of butter and plead for more. We're rewarded with an even bigger portion that we down with glee.


Blood cake with whipped lardo and pickled onion $20

Blood cake is a hearty disc of earthy satisfaction. The pure-as-snow whipped lardo belies its mouth-filling decadence. Petals of pickled onion provide welcome acidic relief.


Raw beef with smoked tomato and parmesan $26

Raw beef with smoked tomato and parmesan is Petanen's take on steak tartare. It's not quite the pizza-inspired mouthful he presented at Rootstock and then Cafe Paci in 2014, but there's plenty to like about this tender raw beef enhanced with the umami of smoked tomato and fresh parmesan curls.


Maltagliati with sweet corn, basil and walnut $24

If you like corn, you'll love the maltagliati with sweet corn, basil and walnut. It's beautifully balanced in sweetness, and boosted with the slightly bitter crunch of toasted walnuts. The maltagliati pasta sheets are whisper thin and silky. Next visit, I'd be happy to eat just this with a glass of wine.


Potato dumpling with XO trout $26

Is there a difference between potato dumplings and gnocchi? Methinks not. What these potato dumplings do offer is a cloud of fluffy lightness. XO trout is a little harder to grasp if you're used to, and expecting scallop and prawn hit of traditional Hong Kong-style XO sauce. This trout version is obviously fishier, with less of the traditional garlicky shallot sweetness.


Flounder with sauce Florentine $38

Whole flounder is something you should order, cooked to just the right level of fork-yielding tenderness. Its mild sweet flesh is perfect for soaking up the lake of creamy sauce Florentine, speckled with mustard seeds.


Dutch cream potatoes with potato anglaise $10

And on the side, a serve of buttery soft Dutch cream potatoes, doused in butter. C'est bon!


Carrot sorbet with yoghurt and licorice $15

One of Petanen's signature dishes, the carrot sorbet with yoghurt and licorice, has survived the move. This felt like a nonsensical and crazy dessert when we first ate it in 2013. It's just as enjoyable and enigmatic today. The cloud of yoghurt foam envelopes a quenelle of carrot sorbet like an egg white eiderdown. The licorice cake on the bottom is ridiculously more-ish.

It's a surprisingly accessible menu from Petanen, which is perhaps one of its only disappointments. The former set menu format forced everyone to join a wild ride, as Petanen ignored conventional flavour combinations and applications. Is this a more economically sustainable option for inner west diners? Maybe. But I'd happily pay more for Petanen's playful whimsy in a heartbeat.






Cafe Paci
131 King Street, Newtown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9550 6196

Opening hours
Lunch Saturday from 12pm
Dinner Monday to Saturday 5.30pm til late


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Banh Cuon Ba Oanh, Marrickville

Never had banh cuon? You need to. These silky rice noodle rolls are a traditional Vietnamese breakfast staple, usually cooked at little roadside stalls as swarms of scooters zoom past. The newly opened Banh Cuon Ba Oanh is about as close as Sydneysiders can get to the real deal. That includes a tiny kitchen cloaked in clouds of steam and squishy tables with ankle-high stools (no joke) that will test your flexibility.

The proof is in the banh cuon and Ba Oanh delivers - expect thin layers of house-fermented rice batter expertly ladled and steamed until soft and silky. Peer into the open kitchen and you’ll likely find Ba Oanh herself, family matriarch and restaurant mascot, in amongst the action.


Ba Oanh in the kitchen making her famous banh cuon


Banh cuon cha que $11
Steamed rice noodle rolls with cinnamon pork

Order the classic version ($11) of this Northern Vietnamese dish and your rice noodles will be rolled with a rubble of pork mince and flecks of crunchy black fungus mushroom. Dunk them in the sweet and salty nuoc cham fish sauce dressing and savour alongside slices of cha que (a pale baked pork sausage seasoned with cinnamon), soft herbs and deep-fried shallots.


Banh cuon thit nuong $11
Steamed rice noodle rolls with grilled pork

Alternatives include plain rice noodle rolls served with grilled pork ($11) or a soft set organic egg ($4).


Banh cuon truong $4
Steamed rice noodle rolls with egg


Banh cha quat $11
Grilled pork with vermicelli and salad

Bring a handful of mates and you could easily order everything on the one-page menu. Continue the nood-fest with bun cha quat ($11), cold vermicelli noodles eaten with grilled pork, salad, pickles and nuoc cham, or hit up the sticky rice combos.


Xoi trang hay xoi xeo ga chay bo $11
Yellow bean sticky rice with free range chicken

It involves glutinous rice either cooked plain or mixed with yellow beans and boosted with your choice of poached free range chicken or sweet braised pork with pork floss ($11 each).


Xoi trang hay xoi vang thit heo kho $11
Yellow bean sticky rice with braised pork, pork floss, onion and cucumber salad


Chao $11
Free range chicken congee with fried bread and pork floss

Free range chicken congee, a restorative rice porridge ($11) rounds out the menu. It’s a terrific version, savoury soul-reviving heartiness amped up with pork mince, pork floss, fresh shallots and crunchy slices of deep fried savoury donuts. Vietnamese locals are already loving this cheap eat addition to Marrickville. We reckon you will too.


Vintage metal chairs






Banh Cuon Ba Oanh
343 Illawarra Road, Marrickville Sydney
Tel: +61 (02)

Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday 8am-3pm; 5pm-7.30pm

This article first appeared in Time Out Sydney. Read this article online or read more of my Time Out Sydney reviews.


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Niko's Kitchen, Dulwich Hill

Say yiasou to the cheeseburger gyro. What’s in a cheeseburger gyro? Take one beef patty and wrap it up in soft pita bread with American cheese and bacon. And because it’s Greek, add a load of crumbled feta. You’ll find it at Niko’s Kitchen in Dulwich Hill. Its reopening was rejoiced by locals after the first venue closed in Kingsgrove. And if the pork belly baklava sounds familiar, that’s because Niko’s Kitchen took over Kefi Kingsgrove, initially helmed by David Tsirekas (ex-Perama and Xanthi). It's like Greek musical chairs.


Pork, chicken and lamb gyros on the spit

Kefi’s signature pork belly baklava gyro lives on, a sweet and salty combo of crackling pork belly, flaky filo pastry, apple mastic mayonnaise and date and pistachio paste. So too does the soft shell crab gyro, the deep fried crustacean paired with Greekslaw and coriander in a round of warm pita.


Pork souvla pack $15.90
200g meat with salad, chips, pita bread and tzatziki

Relax. The traditional gyro still reigns superme. And better yet, there’s a choice of four proteins, each spinning slowly on a vertical spit. Take your pick from beef, pork, chicken or lamb, either piled into fluffy pita bread with salad, tzatziki and chips or served deconstructed as a souvla pack.

A thorough burger menu runs from a double beef burger through to pulled pork, crispy chicken, and barbecue lamb. Vegetarians don’t miss out either. The Dully Burger comes with a veggie patty, baby spinach, fried tofu, fried mushrooms and tomato relish. Gluten-free buns are available too.


Haloumi chips $7

Let’s not forget the all important side of chips. Get them plain or drenched in gravy, crumbled feta or molten cheese with bacon. Also on offer: sweet potato fries and strips of haloumi deep fried into chips.


Cheesy chips with bacon $6

Desserts include vanilla bougatsa – semolina custard in filo pastry – and loukoumades donuts. For maximum fun, get them with a syringe injector of white chocolate, chocolate, salted caramel or peanut butter.



You’ll find a happy hubbub of families and hungry blokes traipsing through this casual eatery all day. Much of the interior has been retained from former resident, Psari fish shop, including a very cool feature wall of original newspaper pages from the 1970s, but behind the grill it's all Greek now.


Greek salad in the pork souvla pack






Niko's Kitchen
237 Wardell Road, Dulwich Hill, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9558 9074

Opening hours
Sunday to Thursday 11am-9pm
Friday to Saturday 11am-10pm


This article first appeared in Time Out Sydney. Read this article online or read more of my Time Out Sydney reviews.

Myeong Dong Korean Restaurant, North Strathfield

What’s not to love about banchan, those free side dishes served in Korean restaurants? Myeong Dong in North Strathfield, however, steps things up a notch. It’s not just the number of banchan – at least a dozen seems to be standard – but the variety on rotation too. On any given day you’ll score cabbage kimchi, soy-marinated perilla leaves, mung bean jelly, soy bean sprouts, radish kimchi, fish cake slices, simmered lotus roots, stir-fried spinach and more. Each offers variations in crunch, saltiness, acidity and heat, perfect for alternate nibbling throughout your meal. And if you need refills of anything, they’ll do that too. Also free.


Assorted banchan on another visit


Haemul pajeon seafood pancake $20

Get the haemul pajeon seafood pancake to start, and revel in a massive disc of prawns, calamari, mussels and shallots, bound together in a light and crunchy batter.


Spicy soft tofu stew with seafood and banchan


Spicy soft tofu stew with seafood $10

Don’t overlook the classic simplicity of sundubu jjigae, a spicy soup filled with fresh curds of soft and quivering silky tofu and hunks of seafood.


Beef intestines stew $18

If you’re down with offal, you’ll love the tender chewiness of the beef intestine stew.


Beef intestines 


Spicy pork rib with potato hotpot $56 large

You won’t find barbecue grills here, but you will notice that the majority of diners – Korean families and chattering groups of friends – sharing hot pot dishes, giant vessels set over a portable gas cookers at the table. The gamjatang spicy pork bone stew is a crowd favourite, a spicy soup piled with raw onions, cabbage, enoki mushrooms, green vegetables and sweet potato noodles.


Spicy pork rib with potato hotpot $48 medium (eaten on a 2nd independent visit)

There’s not a huge amount of DIY cooking involved, just some gentle prodding to make sure everything softens as preferred. What you will be rewarded with is a piping hot soup, swollen with goodies. The pork rib bones are the best bit. Don’t even bother going for one unless you’re willing to do it justice by using your fingers to get into every last nook and cranny.


Fried chicken wings $32

It’s not all spice: fried chicken wings, bulgogi beef and hot stone pot bibimbap mixed rice all await.


MyeongDong pork napa wraps $52

The bossam offers build-your-own fun: slices of pork belly ready to be wrapped in lettuce with pickled daikon, seaweed, red capsicum and radish kimchi with raw oysters.


Shrimp potato korokke $10


Inside the shrimp potato korokke 








Myeong Dong Korean Restaurant
2/1 George Street, North Strathfield, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9746 8746

Opening hours
Daily 10am-12am


This article first appeared in Time Out Sydney. Read this article online or read more of my Time Out Sydney reviews.