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The food in Sydney is so good that paring this list to ten dishes is hard. However, taking the taste, flavor, size, ambiance and cost among other things into consideration, here's a list of my favourite dishes that should be your favorite too!



1. Halal Snack Pack

If you haven't eaten the Halal Snack Pack in Australia, you haven't lived. If I had ten meals left on this planet, I know that this meal would be on the list. And I am not alone. In fact, the Australian Halal Snack Pack, a fast food combining layers of hot chips, grated cheese, halal doner kebab meat, garlic sauce, barbecue sauce and chilli sauce has been voted one of the best meals by people, and in 2015, it even inspired a Facebook group called the Halal Snack Pack Appreciation Society, where members could leave reviews of their favourite snack packs. Although the fame of the snack pack has rocketed in the last few years, its heritage goes back a lot further. Kebab shops have been around in Australia since the mid-60s and proliferated in the 1980s. It’s not clear who first served the kebab components over chips in a polystyrene tray, but the South Australians are claiming it as a local invention called AB. Lots of disagreement, but one thing everyone agrees, is this dish is the BOMB.

2. Roast Lamb

You can't go wrong with meat in Australia. Their cows, lambs and cattle are juicy. It must be the grass or the extraordinary mix of arid and wet conditions. Who knows? All I can say is there is a reason Aussie Lamb is a top exporter and is enjoyed in more than 100 countries all over the world. Plus lamb in Australia is pasture-raised, grassfed, and free of artificial additives as well as hormone growth promotants. To try the best lamb, I would suggest hitting up a Greek cuisine restaurant in Sydney. My favorite is a place called Ahgora, where the slow roasted lamb is to die for. Try it out with some delicious Halloumi.

3. Chicken Parmigiana or Schnitzel

Though not the tastiest in this list, it is indeed THE classic Aussie dish, inspired from Italian-American cooking. This dish is a staple offering on pretty much every pub menu in the country. Though originally eggplant, this dish includes a chicken breast topped with tomato sauce, melted cheese and sometimes ham so ask if you want that removed. It is often served with salad and chips, although there’s a split between those who think the chips should be under the parmy and those who think they should be on the side.

4. Chicken El Jannah
Yummy! Another delicious meat dish. Chicken El Jannah is to Lebanese style chicken as Nando’s is to Portuguese. They have their special garlic sauce especially smeared over a succulent roast chicken. The place is family run, with their own set of ancestry Middle Eastern marinades. There may be some wait times on weekends since this is a popular spot.

5. Hamburgers
The burgers in Australia are legit - mainly because Australian meat is divinely ordained. But no jokes, all the burger joints in Australia are amazing and just getting any ordinary beef burger is an experience. One of my favorites is a place called BL Burgers in Paramatta and Five Points Burger.

6. High Tea
Yes, high tea is a thing in Australia and you can enjoy it with Victorian settings and quaint cutlery. Just head down to the harbour where there are abundant choices to enjoy your high tea, from the Tea Room to the Tea Cosy. The fare often includes a delicious cup o' tea with scones, sandwiches and other smaller hors d'oeuvres. Cream and jam also accompanies the food and the cream is legit. This definitely qualifies more of an "experience" so if you are looking to fill your stomach with deliciousness and care of nothing else, then I'd go back to number one on this list.

7. Avocado on toast.
Ditch the vegemite and go for avocado! Yes, I know it's weird but Australians LOVE their Avocados – especially with their eggs and breakfast dishes. I like them for sure, but not the way Aussies do. In most cafes you will notice that you can order a side of avocado with your poached, scrambled or fried eggs. You may even notice that the avocado is already included within the breakfast dish. And its not just basic Avocado on toast. There is usually tomato, nuts or feta that accompany this dish.

8. Fish ‘n’ chips
I wasn't going to miss this one. Sure, I don't love fish n chips but no Aussie food list would be complete without a few traditional British bites. You can try these pretty much everywhere and Sydney harbour is flocked with restaurants selling their fish and chips but you are guaranteed a good dish because Australia has some of the best seafood in the world!

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Sydney is truly an unexpected and unique tourist city, where the best thing to do is just roam around, eat well and walk around the harbor. Some things are truly overrated there, while others are extremely underrated. Here's my take on the following:

1. Animals (and places to see them)
The one thing that is well....underrated in Australia is the diversity of flora and fauna. You will feel like a child if you visit the zoos there, with the range of marsupials. Forget about koalas, there's plenty more to see actually.

There are lots of options when it comes to seeing animals. One is the Taronga Zoo which is in the city center and houses more than 4,000 animals from various exotic and native species, including gorillas, tigers, leopards, chimpanzees, giraffes, Australian sea lions, kangaroos and koalas. We ended up going to Featherdale Wildlife Park, which has something like 1,700 native animals. The animals here are all native or Australian, so you don't see the typical stuff. The park also has cassowary and quoll breeding precincts that allow visitors to see these endangered and beautiful animals up close. Some of the park’s other animals include wombats, echidnas, bilbies and owls.


For both these zoos, I would suggest checking Groupon or some other site for deals. These can be extremely pricey otherwise, with tickets going up to $60-70 and then for pictures with koalas, another $25. You'll see that a lot in Australia. They really want to mint their wildlife.


2. Botanical Garden

Another must see is the "Royal" Botanic Garden - which is certainly quite impressive. The garden is a whopping 30-hectares of heritage and beauty and the entrance is free. Opened in 1816, this Garden is the oldest scientific institution in Australia. The entire Garden is divided into four major precincts called the Lower Gardens, the Middle Gardens, the Palace Gardens and the Bennelong precinct. Within the four major precincts are many smaller gardens and features as well as large amounts of lightly wooded lawn areas. There's plenty of history, recreation and nature in this place.

3. Food.
One thing that is certainly quite underrated in Australia is the food. Yeah, we all hear of places like Italy and India having the most flavorful food, but Australia - woah. Food is great, and also great value! There's a huge population of Italians and Greeks in both Sydney and Melbourne so these cuisines are some of the best. However, since I really liked the food a lot there, it did deserve its own post, so you can read about the food here. 

4. Sydney Opera House
Ok, its way overrated. Yes, I know that it is a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture, but the opera house is not a pretty building. In fact, I'd say the entire harbour is gorgeous but the opera house looks like this weird building with toilet tiles.


5. Beaches

Every site I saw spoke of the Bondi to Coogee coastal trail and for some reason, I thought it would be breathtakingly scenic. I'll be honest. I did not love the Sydney beaches. Now, I haven't been to Cairns, but just because sand is yellow doesn't make a beach great. It's the surroundings etc. that also matter.
I've visited both Manly and Bondi, and despite the comments and reviews, I didn't find them remarkably different, or remarkably memorable. To be fair, it was chilly both days I went, but still, the beachfront activities were limited compared to any South east Asian country or even Korea (Yes, Busan's beaches have paddling, jetskis, and canoes which you can do on the spot). Anyways, I would still suggest a walk from Bondi to Coogee because it's still a beach which is always fun.

The trail begins at Bondi Icebergs pool, goes past some cool Aboriginal rock carvings and you pass by the other beaches as well as Bronte. There's a nude beach lurking around there somewhere too. So if you have young ones, close their eyes.

6. Sydney Harbour 
Now, this is a breathtaking harbour, no jokes. Sydney really has one of the most beautiful waterfronts with the amazing harbour bridge, nicknamed “The Coathanger”. If you want to walk over it, you can book a BridgeClimb, which is a bit steep but great views!

7. Blue Mountains and the Scenic Walkway
Certainly worth it! Blue mountains can be reached by metro, and has a canyon feel. You can see the famous rock formation known as the Three Sisters – along with quaint hotels and charming townships.


There's a nice walkway going around that provides you the view of the canyon, called the Scenic Walkway. The 2.4 kilometre walkway is not tropical but provides some nice views. You need to bring water if you want to venture the entire 2.4 kilometre walkway.


There's more you will encounter in the area - including a cable car, glass bottom skyway, cafe among other things. But one thing  to have a look at are the Katoomba falls, a segmented waterfall that is located close to what is known as "Echo Point". You will see signs for it.


8. Shopping
Avoid at all costs. This is not the place for shoppers because it is not the land of capitalism. Sure, there are some cool trinkets you'll find, but the best bargains are best left to the capitalist capital of the world - the U S of A.



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About me

Hi everyone! I'm Galati. Welcome to my blog! Here, you'll find stories of me and my family as we explore the world. It's not easy traveling when you often need visas, or you have kids, but we have made travel work for us! Join us, as we make some curious discoveries of history, food and culture while treading on new paths.

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Vancouver, BC

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