The Pontoon, Sydney CBD

In previous years, the location and food of my work Christmas parties have been a hit & miss but this year, my company put in some big money and hired The Pontoon for 6hrs to go around Sydney Harbour.

For those of you that have never had the privilege of being on The Pontoon, you can get a glimpse of it when it's docked at King Street Wharf or perhaps when it's filled with revellers whilst travelling through Darling Harbour. The ship is distinctive with its enormous glass exteriors and rooftop balcony, and is not to be confused with its smaller sister ship - The Starship.

The Pontoon

Foodi's (Not so) Amazing Scavenger Hunt, Sydney CBD

To celebrate a momentous occasion, a friend organised a food scavenger hunt, held in the Sydney CBD. At first I thought it was a self-organised activity but it turned out that the scavenger hunt was actually through a third-party called Foodi and there was actually a (significant) cost component to it. I can't believe that food scavenger hunts even exist in Sydney but then again, so do escape rooms (don't even get me started on this topic).

The premise of Foodi's Amazing Scavenger Hunt is for the teams to follow a series of clues that lead you to 10 or so food venues across the Sydney CBD in the space of 3 hours. Along the way, you are required to take team selfies, consume food samples, and complete challenges that may require you to either photograph or obtain (e.g. by purchasing, begging, taking... or stealing) items from the given scavenger hunt list in order to earn bonus points. By the end of the hunt, the points are accumulated and the winning team is announced at the final location (usually a local pub).

Let's just say the entire experience was... memorable... to say the least.

Din Tai Fung, Chatswood

Intrigued by the concept of rainbow dumplings, I decided to take the plunge and visit Din Tai Fung for the first time. Located in a relatively isolated corner of Chatswood Westfield, the restaurant draws the eye with their ~kawaii~ dumpling mascot.

Entrance of Restaurant

Upon entering the restaurant, customers are greeted by a large view into the kitchen where chefs are carefully crafting endless amounts of dumplings:

Kitchen

Mr Wong, Sydney CBD

Coming from an Asian background, the problem with eating at a Westernised Chinese restaurant is that you come knowing what true Chinese food and flavours should be like versus the bastardised version that is served to cater for Westerners. Sometimes it can be good... and sometimes it can backfire in your face. Hence when I was told that we would be celebrating DrL's surprise birthday dinner would be held at Mr Wong, I was a little hesitant for not only would the meal be expensive (it is two-hatted and located in the city) but it was surely going to be an interesting experience eating 'high class' Chinese food.

The evening started out with a short trek from Wynyard station, past the curious crowds lingering on George and Hunter Streets looking up at the gigantic crane with a close encounter with the neighbouring buildings (the bystanders obviously had nothing better to do besides filming the entire incident on their phones) and through some inner roads of the Sydney CBD to the mysterious Mr Wong restaurant, which is actually in a reformed historic brick building accessible via a small laneway. Even though we had arrived just after opening time, there was already a thick, long queue outside the restaurant doors, filled with eager customers awaiting to be let through the glass doors and into the establishment.

Entrance of Restaurant
(This was from after dinner around 8pm. Still line of people waiting for tables)

Mowbray Eatery, Lane Cove

Last month, Sydney Public Relations extended an invite to MSG Cafeteria to visit Mowbray Eatery, which recently opened along the busy Mowbray Road in Lane Cove. As it's a relatively new cafe, there is limited information available online but all of the reviews that I came across online were positive so this place looked highly promising, especially with their focus on serving seasonal and fresh ingredients on plate.

So on the night of our visit, I picked up Ally on route to the location and arrived with minutes to spare before our booking.

Entrance to Cafe