Finally! The end of winter is nigh. It feels like it’s been raining since the dawn of time, but with spring on the horizon, we can start putting our slankets and oodies away for the rest of the year.
But the bad weather hasn’t slowed us down much.
This August has been busy – in a good way – so Christina and I haven’t had much chance to let the cold and rain get us down.
In this Flavour of the Month, we explore northern Thailand, the east coast of the USA, Ehime Prefecture in southern Japan and we see the long-awaited launch of the new Inner West Distillery Trail!
Add to that numerous meals at some of our favourite food spots around Sydney, wine tastings, political protests and an Italian festival that took over a whole suburb, and you get the idea of just how busy we’ve been!
Hope you enjoy this one.
Cheers – Christina & Jim xx
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If August 2025 will be remembered for anything, surely, it’ll be the weirdness of the weather. This photo really sums it up for me. Skies so full of rain, yet at the same time, sunny and blue. Rainbows everywhere, clouds so low it feels like fog, but that then lift to reveal more blue sky… or more rain.
Don’t think the word ‘mercurial’ could be more fit for purpose.
This evening, I’m out with the lads for a bite to eat at the Royal Oak in Balmain. But with all the food gone and our stay in the dining room somewhat outlived, a few of us have retired to the fireside of the main bar.
To be honest, I think we should’ve moved here sooner: it’s warmer, the chairs are comfier and the beer taps are much closer.
This evening, we’re in the city at the QT Hotel for a very cool event.
We’re learning more about the east coast of the USA – in particular the historic cities of Boston, Philadelphia and Washington DC.
Things kick off in the hotel’s cosy cinema room, where we hear the directors of each of the three cities riff against each other about which destination is better. It’s a lot of fun as they compare things like Michelin Starred restaurants (Washington has the most with 26, though the other two are no slouches), the number of Fifa World Cup matches each city will host and who has the best music.
Next, we broke into groups to hear from each city in turn.
A mother-and-son team show us how to go-go dance, which originated in DC, we hear about the beautiful countryside around Phili and more about Boston too.
And it’s at the Boston showcase that we get to meet NBA and Aussie Boomers legend Aaron Baines (look at the size of ‘im!). His career has moved all over the world, from European teams in Lithuania, Germany, Greece and Slovenia to many different states the USA. But for the purposes of tonight, Aaron’s here to talk about his time at the Boston Celtics.
He’s also represented Australia at multiple World Cups and Summer Olympics, which is pretty cool.
The day has finally come. My mate Brett has been threatening to put up new ‘Happy Lights’ for ages, but today’s the day. As per usual this August, it’s a bit rainy, a bit sunny and both hot and cold as well: perfect conditions for climbing up and down ladders, pulling down old broken fairy lights and putting up new industrial-strength ones.
As this is Brett we’re talking about, every 20-30cm of this 70m string of lights has to be cable tied and snipped, even though the top of the purpose-built structure above his drive is over 4m high.
The result is pretty good though and hopefully these will stay up and working for a few years now. I don’t think either of us wants to do this again in a hurry; it takes valuable time away from the pub!
Talking of pubs, Christina and I have a few errands to do in the city today, so we make sure there’s time to pay a visit to my old local: the Royal Albert in Surry Hills.
This was once a terrible pub that then became a really good one – one of the first fully craft-beer-only pubs in fact.
These days it’s still pretty good and the staff are as friendly as ever, but the beers are less crafty in spite of the lack of pokies and classic pub games like spin the wheel. However, while we’re here, we enjoy $10 pints – an unheard of rate these days.
While we’re in Sydney CBD, we happen upon this old beauty. It’s an MK VI searchlight and is here as part of the commemorations marking 80 years since victory was claimed by the Allies in the Pacific in WWII.
This is an original anti-aircraft searchlight used by the Allies and is even powered by its original generator.
Its huge 150cm lens can project a beam of light over 40km out on a clear night. What a pleasure to see something like this in action.
Today, we’re in the Rocks at the Campbell’s Stores to talk about beautiful northern Thailand – or ‘Lanna’ as locals call it – and the likes of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.
Things kick off with gifts of hand-drawn personalised parasols and a photo wall – don’t worry, my parasol is bigger than Christina’s. She hasn’t suddenly grown into an Aaron Baines-esque giant!
TL-BR: Mr Naruchai Ninnad, Consul-General of Thailand; Angelo Rozos,l Deputy Mayor of Willoughby, Mr Naruchai Ninnad, Consul-General of Thailand, Mr Pichaya Saisaengchan, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand
We hear more about Lanna from some pretty big hitters. In particular, Mr Naruchai Ninnad, the current Consul-General of Thailand here in Sydney (and a lovely guy) and the Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand Mr Pichaya Saisaengchan – or Khun Pop to his friends.
We’ve had the pleasure of travelling with Khun Pop when we were in Kanchanaburi a few months ago.
Of course, the food at this event is spectacular. I’m thrilled to see they’ve brought in not one, but two types of Thai beer. The Carabao Dunkel is surprisingly good. Who’d have thought that Thai and German beer making techniques would work together so well!
The middle photo here shows some of the more unusual things you can eat in northern Thailand. Everything from fried insects and silkworms to red ant eggs (kai mod dang) used for sourness instead of citrus, to dried cotton tree flowers, crispy rice cakes and fermented soybean.
Thankfully lunch isn’t all crunchy grubs and kai mod dang! The spread here is amazing. Huge nets of crispy noodles, khao soi just like they do in Laos near the northern Thai border, chilli pastes, curry pastes and pork crackling.
There’s also a huge range of tasty sweets and desserts that we barely have enough room for.
My goodness, we really want to get back to Thailand now!
While we’re waiting for our next opportunity to travel to Thailand, I’m getting my fill of Thai cooking at a rather unexpected spot.
This is the famous goat curry at the Merton Hotel in Rozelle. From the outside – and even from inside – the Merton doesn’t look like the sort of place you’d find not just good food, but mind-blowing food. However, Chef Ketsara (a.k.a Apple) does just that.
She not only makes all the curries here from scratch, she even buys the whole goat and breaks it down herself for this superb dish. And if you don’t feel like the goat curry (it’s pretty spicy fyi), there are so many other things to eat here that are (almost) its equal.
By the way, I’m here with a bunch of mates and Christina is very annoyed she hasn’t been here yet!
This evening, I’m flying solo to a fascinating event at Sake Restaurant in the Rocks. I’m here to learn more about a part of Japan I know almost nothing about called Ehime Prefecture.
Tucked away on the western coast of Shikoku Island on the southeastern coast of Honshu Island and not far from Hiroshima.
In fact, the best way to get to Ehime is from Hiroshima. You can either get the fast ferry, which takes 70 minutes, the normal ferry, which is also able to carry cars and takes 160mins, or the luxury overnight ferry for more of a cruise experience.
There’s also a train to Ehime which is connected via Shinkansen to Tokyo and Hiroshima.
This quiet little achiever is packed with culture and history. Things like Dogo Onsen, the oldest hot spring spa in Japan, is here. It was built in 1894, but has a history dating back over 3,000 years. It’s also the inspiration to the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away.
As you can see, I’m now a big fan of Ehime Prefecture! I’ve even got the T-shirt – or robe anyway.
Food at Sake is awesome and the menu the team here has put together mirrors just how interesting Ehime is.
Dinner starts with nori crisps piled with tuna and kingfish, togarashi chilli and sesame dressing. Then comes the sashimi – hiramasa kingfish with a coriander infused ponzu and jalapeno and kosho condiment.
There are also plates and plates of these delicious popcorn prawns. The batter is so light and tasty, and the yuzu and chilli bean mayonnaise is so moreish.
Next comes a basket of steamed prawn shumai dumplings with a spicy ponzu, a fillet of outrageously good salmon yaki, slices of Cape Grim beef short rib and, to finish, a deconstructed pavlova with a yuzu cremeaux.
We then hear about the town of Ozu in Ehime, where you can stay in a traditional Japanese castle and even live as the shogun lord of the town for a day, with a team of staff and samurai at your call. It’s very hard, with all this excellent food and wine (the Ross Hill Pinot Noir is excellent), and the promise of a lordship, however temporary, to not let it all go to my head!
This evening, we’re spoiling ourselves. Again!
Ordinarily, my mates and I (here you can see Brett and Nim) enjoy a humble barbecue at home head to quiet little restaurants on a Tuesday. But as there are only three of us tonight, we’ve decided to take advantage of the winter offer at The Fenwick right at the Balmain East ferry wharf.
Food here is spectacular (especially at 50% off!). If you haven’t been here before – or even if you have – make sure you book a table. It’s excellent.
Today, Christina has become part of history.
Every Sunday, protesters supporting freedom and peace in Palestine have been gathering in Sydney to effect change. This hasn’t worked so far, so today a special march is going across the Australian icon that is the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Stopping traffic in both directions, this is the first time a protest has ever taken to this particular street. In spite of the horrible weather, hundreds of thousands of people have come here in support. Let’s hope this makes a difference, because the deprivation, genocide and invasion that Palestine and its people are suffering cannot continue.
Today is the first sunny day in what feels like a whole month and its timing couldn’t be better. We’re in Five Dock in Sydney’s Inner West to check out Ferragosto – the midsummer festival celebrated in Italy every year.
We’re expecting to find lots of good food and an excellent party atmosphere; what we’re not expecting is just how big and busy this festival is. Taking up at least a kilometre of the main road through Five Dock (poosibly more), the crowds flow along it like a river.
There are all kinds of stalls lining the way here. Some are selling Italian focused goods and services, but most of them are selling food.
We spot our mate Dom of Dom Panino fame in Leichhardt, who makes the most astonishing panini and pastries you’ll find in Sydney and the delicious work of our friends at Banks and Solander Distillery in Botany as well. Their Limoncello are Limecello the perfect fit for today’s festivities, but their Noir coffee liqueur is amazing. Made with actual espresso shots rather than cold drip or filter coffee, this stuff knocks the likes of Mr Black right out of the park.
In spite of the crowds, I’m in a pretty good mood! However, the queues for food are out of control. Instead, Christina spots a kiosk selling real prosciutto di Parma and parmigiano reggiano from Parma (we wrote a story about the behind-the-scenes prosciutto and parmesan tour we did in Italy here) with no one waiting at it, so we grab tasty little pots of ham and cheese, and run for the hills.
Five Dock Ferragosto a lot of fun, but you need to either bring snacks or more patience than I have to really enjoy it. We’ll definitely be back here though, especially as we’ve spotted an Italian deli that needs more attention!
With all this running around and (ahem) entertaining, we’re always on the lookout for ways to keep us on track. I want to say what we’ve found is new, but it’s not. This is hydration drink Posca, and it’s been around since Ancient Rome.
Full of electrolytes and prebiotics, but with 0% added sugar, this drink replenishes and protects you from everything from dehydration to lethargy. We’ve found Posca works well if we’ve just come back from the gym or a busy day, or the next morning after a big event or dinner with mates.
We haven’t tried it against jet lag yet, but I’ve got a feeling it’s really going to help. There are three flavours available at the moment – Grape, Pineapple and, my favourite, Yuzu – and they’re available in all good stores and supermarkets. Check them out.
Christina and I are back in the city today and are lining our stomachs in one of our favourite secret spots. This is the best Hainanese chicken rice in the city and it’s tucked away in a little food court called Pittsway Arcade near Town Hall Station under the Woolworths there.
This is from Sayong Curry & Laksa, it’s about $15 and it’s the best thing you’ll eat in the city. Poached chicken (ask for the chicken breast, eating the leg with chopsticks is a nightmare) delicious rice and soup, and remember to ask for chilli on top and spicy sambal.
But why are we lining our stomachs?
We’re on another tasting panel for The Shout magazine and their excellent Trade Buyer’s Guide for Australian bars and bottle shops.
Today, we’re upstairs at the Winery in Surry Hills, and we’re tasked with blind-tasting 21 different rosé wines from around Australia. We’ve done rosé tastings before and it’s probably the most challenging. Rosé is usually quite light on flavour, texture and aroma, so we’re really under the pump to work out the palate of these wines.
It’s a lot of fun though and, as always, we learn so much from these judging panels.
But the fun doesn’t stop here!
After today’s rosé judging, we’re excited to be at the launch party for the new Inner West Distillery Trail (check out the video at the top of the website – we made this!). Hosted at the beautiful Red Mill Rum distillery site in Rozelle, the party brings together the nine inaugural distilleries that make up the trail.
Much like the Inner West Brewery Trail, the Distillery Trail makes a map of the most densely populated distillery district in Australia.
We’re really excited about this one and not just because these distilleries are so good. We created the video content that now sits on the new website and socials promoting the Inner West Distillery Trail! Very proud moment for us.
Here’s a slightly different render of the video.
TL-BR: Ester Spirits, Unexpected Guest, Red Mill Rum, Poor Toms, the map of the tour, Lily Fields, Otter Craft Distilling, Moonshiner, Blackwattle Distilling
The launch party is excellent. Showing off the different crafts of all nine distilleries with different cocktails and also their bottles displayed nicely here too. There’s also an epic food station laid on by Cheese Celebration in Rozelle.
Big shout-out to all the distilleries here:
Ester Spirits, Unexpected Guest, Red Mill Rum, Poor Toms, Eureka Distilling, Lily Fields, Otter Craft Distilling, Moonshiner and Blackwattle Distilling.
And in more exciting news, we’re even in the newspaper from the launch party of the Distillery Trail! Check it out.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this little taste of what we’ve been up to this August in our latest Flavour of the Month. Lots more to come in September too!
Cheers
Jim & Christina xx
