Charlie Olken

My thanks to all for the advice. I wish I could say that I took it, but it turned out the much of our time was prescribed by events such as jet lag, walking ourselves silly, the ballet, etc. In Melbourne, we had a memorable meal at Asiana in Albert Park. Being from San Francisco and loving Chinese food and Asian fusion cuisine, Asiana was right up our alley. Tremendous wine list, by the way. We also had a nice lunch at Chocolate Buddha in Federation Square, a genuinely good and modern noodle joint. Late dinner at Walter's Wine Bar turned out OK. Dined on a couple of first courses, and loved the mushroom tart so much, we made it tonight for a dinner party in our own house. Other than that, we ate at the Melbourne museum, at the MCG during the Aussie Rules Preliminary Final (what a treat for a fan of American footbal--49ers--I mean the footy, not the meat pie, which was an experience, but not a treat). Also, I think the Delish Fish in Sorrento south of Melbourne deserves a notice. We went down that way for a Sunday drive and had the whiting fish and chips. Very, very good. In Sydney, our best meal happened at the Bather's Pavillon in Balmoral Beach. But, we had eaten at the Watermark there on an earlier visit, and liked it even more, despite the fact the Sydney paper rates the Bather's Pavillon at 15 to Watermark's 14. I inquired about Billy Kwong from my Sydney business compatriot (he writes about wine in the local paper) and he said that he had never been there because the lines are too long. On the other hand, he said that Claude's is better than Tetsuya's even though he is quoted by name in Tet's cookbook. We had wanted to get to Lulu's, Luke Mangan's bistro, but ran out of energy on the allotted night since we had walked all over for about eight hours. Bottom line, the advice was valuable and helped shape our plans even though we did not do as much as we wanted to.

Hi All-- I am new to this group, but not new to travel, fine wine and fine dining. Am heading out to Melbourne and Sydney in a couple of days, and was searching the Internet for info on Bathers' Pavillon, Balmoral, Sydney when I came across this site. Here are some choices so far, and I would be grateful for others. My wife and I like eclectic, modern, well-cooked food. We like it at wonderful places like Tetsuya's and the French Laundry, but we also like funkier, down-home places like Salt in Sydney or Zuni Cafe or Bacar in San Francisco. Here are a some things we are thinking about. Melbourne--arriving there on Friday, Melbourne time after a long flight from San Francisco. Our hotel is at Swanston and Little Bourke so I am thinking Chinatown and not over the top for the first night. Flower Drum song is out because of that. Have seen good comments on Bamboo House as a less demanding alternative. Any other ideas in the neighborhood for the first night. Saturday sees us at the AFL Prelim Finals, then down to Albert Park with business friends to Asiana. Sunday is an all day drive around , possibly ending up in St. Kilda or back to Southgate for Walter's Wine Bar, where we were loved the food but not the attitude on our last trip in. Love to have a St.Kilda alternative and avoid Walter. On Monday, our last night we have tickets for a performance in the Concert Hall. Either a light meal before or something after if Melbourne has late night restaurants on a Monday night. After a three day drive up the coast, we arrive in Sydney for three days. Current plans are Sailor's Thai on the night we arrive, Bather's Pavillon in Balmoral at the end of our day exploring the North Shore, and Lulu's or Billy Kwong on our last night in Sydney. No Tet's this time. I would love to get thoughts from the folks whose postings have been so much fun to read.