This (by Biggs)

I had to tap out of socialising tonight because it was all getting a bit too much. I microwaved a microwavable 'meal' but could not quite identify what it was. There appeared to be some pasta, some flavourless bacon and a white sauce that tasted like flour.

Wednesday Dinner (by G)

Pad Thai (by Biggs)

Tonight was a catch up with Julie and we drove to a trendy strip in Woolloongabba but not a lot was open except for a Thai place that is popular with the locals. It didn't seem to popular tonight but it did mean we got extra special service from an overly enthusiastic, yet somewhat hopeless waiter, as two of the only patrons.

I ordered a Pad Thai which I could only eat half of but later in the evening after a beer I was ready for round two. Yum!

Tuesday Dinner (by G)

Salmon and Salad (by Biggs)

I chose Monday as my day of rest during this crazy week of catch ups and my body was crying out for nutrients. The apartment I've rented comes with a full kitchen so I thought I best take advanage and have a home cooked meal. A simple fried salmon with coleslaw and salad bits. It was so fucking good. I was glad to have seconds of salad left over so packed it all in to try and prepare my body for the week to come!

Dinner (by G)

Burrito (by Biggs)

A big weekend of boozing, today being lunch, beers and many white wines in the sunshine meant I required sloppy take away for dinner. Fortunately there is a GYG just up the road from my hotel so I ordered an incredibly satisfying pork burrito for the win!

Dinner (by G)

Roast Chicken (by Biggs)

I'm in Brisbane for the week now so have completely over-committed myself socially given most of my friends live in this town - a very happy problem.

Tonight was hanging with my friends the Faulkheads. I was honoured to be the first to eat from their brand new kitchen appliances in their swankily renovated kitchen.

A simple roast chicken with roasted vegetables. A learning curve with the new oven but we were well impressed with the end result - so moist, so roasty, so delicious.

We decided it best to celebrate with 74 bottles of wine on their, almost finished, swankily renovated deck.

Such a perfect night!

Dinner (by G)

Moonlight Magic (by Biggs)

I flew into Brisbane tonight to attend the greatest night of the year - Moonlight Magic Dinner Dance - a splendid social inclusion event hosted annually by a not-for-profit I used to work for.

A brilliant night of dinner, dancing and much champagne....as well as raffle wins if you live a life as charmed as mine. The alternate drop and swap resulted in me having the slow cooked meat with gravy, greens and polenta chips.

The 'much champagne' means I remember little about this meal but was glad to have something hearty lining my stomach.

Dinner (by G)

Chicken Bits (by Biggs)

I'd already reached a chicken trifecta but there really are no other options in this area of Sydney. Tonight was some tasty chicken bits from Nandos and yet another night of 'chips on the side'.

Dinner (by G)

Chicken Schnitzel (by Biggs)

Tonight I discovered that my hotel does room service. It seemed a bit too medical school dormitory to offer such a thing but apparently there's a cafe behind the church next door that will drop food over. It was a fairly basic selection but it's hard for me to go past a chicken schnitzel so I was happy.

This one seemed particularly soulless but kept me happy enough.

Dinner (by G)

Chili Chicken Burger (by Biggs)

Tonight, chili chicken again but this time in burger form. I also had a beer. There are worse ways to spend an evening than beer and burgers in bed.

Dinner (by G)

Chicken and Chips (by Biggs)

The hotel change has brought me to what appears to be the take-away chicken district. Prepare yourself for some inspiring updates. This is chili chicken, chips and mysteriously a piece of naan. The chili was a touch sweet but at least it had flavour.

Monday Dinner (by G)

Sunday Rice Paper Wraps (by Biggs)

I arrived in Sydney for work today to discover I somehow booked myself into an absolute shit-hole of a hotel. I took myself off for drinks on the harbour and picked up some rice paper wraps on the way back. They were delicious but eating them in a grimy hotel room was less than pleasant. In fact so much less than pleasant I decided to do a last minute room swap to somewhere slightly more ideal for a week of work travel. The rice paper wraps were prawn, shredded beef, tofu and roast pork. Yum!

Sunday Dinner (by G)

Jaffles and Whiskey (by Biggs)

I've been a bit bored and lonely this week so asked Red for some Saturday night company before I go away for work for a week. When she asked what I wanted to do I very rapidly replied "Ice Hockey, Jaffles and Whiskey and a band at the Gem".....it's possible I had already thought about this.

We didn't make it to the Gem after an incredible meal at Bad Frankie put us into a coma but we were more than happy to end on this high and stumble home. The fact that a jaffle and whiskey bar exists is almost enough for me but boy I was happy to eat here tonight.

Our approach was to put the jaffles in order of our preferences and order the top two....then another two. The menu was pretty amusing but we included some classics which, no surprise, turned out to be the best. We had a ham and cheese, a chicken and mayo, a corned beer and a bangers and mash. They were all perfectly jafflized on white bread and all fucking delicious.

I'd love to see the kitchen set up here......just 20 jaffle irons all in a row and loaves and loves of white bread. Seems like a manageable gig.

The whiskey menu was somewhat intimidating so we narrowed it down by selecting a Victorian whiskey in our price range which I think ended up being the Bakery Hill Double Wood Malt. A perfect way to top of a perfect night.

Dinner (by G)

New Best Chicken (by Biggs)

A few years ago I was introduced to 'Magic Chicken' - the best chicken recipe one will ever know. I shared it with my friend Aaron and this week I got a text from him introducing me to a recipe he has name 'New Best Chicken'.

Pretty simple theory - "Flour, season and brown chicken bits (anything with skin and bones will do) in a heavy oven pan. Throw in diced potatoes and a couple of bruised garlic cloves. In the oven for 20 minutes. Throw in brussels sprouts and wedges of lemon. In the oven for 15 minutes. Pull out chicken, potatoes and sprouts to rest. Mash garlic and lemon in pan with a bit of flour to make lemony gravy. Eat."

I mustn't have cooked the flour on the chicken off again because it still tasted a touch doughy though that may have been because I put waaay too much flour in the lemon gravy. It had pretty much solidified by the time I got dinner on the table. The lemony gravy was SUPER lemony but all in all a good dinner.

I'm happy that I now have Magic Chicken and New Best Chicken in my recipe arsenal.

Dumplings (by G)

Indian (by Biggs)

I'm a bit poorly today so wasn't in the mood for cooking so instead just ordered Indian to be delivered. I went for a vegetarian curry and dahl because this household needs a vegetable injection and Indian lends itself well to vegetarian.

It was fine. The dahl was super watery which was odd but there are some satisfying leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Taco Rice (by G)

Chicken Pesto Pasta (by Biggs)

I wanted something simple for dinner tonight and was, for some reason, was craving pesto pasta. I forgot that G and I had agreed to go heavy on the vegetables this week, in fact I had demanded it. Instead I went with zero vegetables and two meats. I'll aim to fix these proportions later in the week.

Popcorn Chicken (by Biggs)

Went to the pub for Red's birthday today. Was still there at dinner time and ordered some popcorn chicken. Others had ordered it through the evening and it looked pretty good. Turns out it was pretty dry. Lucky I had so much wine to wash it down with.

Dinner (by G)

Meats (by Biggs)

Dinner was made from groceries I got a few days ago when G demanded 'no vegetables' for dinner. So, I made meats. Lamb chops (yum!), bacon (yum!) and little sausages (yum!)!

I did serve one vegetable.....assuming potato wedges count as a vegetable.

The kitchen was super greasy after cooking this feast up.....our arteries were super greasing after eating this feast up. We're all going to die!

Pork Bao (by G)

Town Hall Hotel (by Biggs)

I purchased groceries on the way home but as soon as I actually arrived home I suggested to G that we head to the pub for dinner instead. It did not take much convincing. The closest pub was PACKED so G quickly suggested we head to the next nearest pub....surprising given we've been pretty dubious about the cleanliness of their kitchen since we moved to the area. We sort of swore we would never eat there but tonight found ourselves ordering some lamb chops and sausages.

G said his dinner was alright but suspected the sausages were just from the supermarket accross the road. Not a terrible thing.....G does not discriminate when it comes to sausages. My dinner though was fucking excellent. Super generous with four lamb chops, cooked well with a classic Greek salad and some super soft pita bread. I was very happy.

Even happier when neither of us woke up with food poisoning.

Chicken and Salad Roll (by Biggs)

I knew I'd be on a train for three and a half hours this evening (four if you count the inevitable delay) so thought I'd get something for dinner from where I was staying in Warrnambool. The fresh made rolls were surprisingly excellent so I picked up a chicken, cheese and salad one. It got a touch soggy by the time I was ready to eat it....thanks to the beetroot.....but was the only comfort on a long, long train ride shared with a cross-section of society I could have done without engaging with.

Dinner (by G)

Steamed Chicken Tortillas (by Biggs)

I once again invited myself to join my colleague and her family for dinner. Tonight she wanted to cook and attempt an entire meal in her steamer for the first time ever. I was well impressed with the plan and incredibly pleased that she has coincidently decided on a Tortilla Dinner on a Tuesday. Perfect.

And, dinner was pretty perfect. We were all pretty skeptical that you could jam this all in a steamer and get such a satisfying meal at the end of it. Perfectly cooked chicken in 20 minutes, moist and delightful? Amazing.

There was some salad and yogurt complimenting things but the highlight was definitely the steamed red onion and capsicum. Yum!

Dinner (by G)

Veal (by Biggs)

The colleague I'm working with in Warrnambool this week has very generously put me up in a cottage she owns next door to her house. After a fair bit of work travel it was really nice to feel so at home. She even invited me to join her family for dinner. I usually like my own time and to hermit away in a hotel during work travel but I have a real fondness for this workmate and was really quite charmed by her family.

We ended up all heading to their local pub....quite a flash affair with an impressive a la carte menu and a warming pizza oven in the corner. Not just warming but also functioning. Whilst, I didn't order pizzas, the pizzas coming out of that baby looked pretty great.

I ordered a crumbed veal on greens and mashed potato. Pretty satisfying....and perfectly complimented by a couple of red wines and some lovely company.  

Dinner (by G)

Noodles (by Biggs)

I arrived in Warrnambool for work today and headed straight to the waterfront for beers and a lunch of calamari and a haloumi salad. As a result I wasn't super hungry at dinner time so just picked up some noodles from a local takeaway. I'd hoped for rice noodles but instead it was egg noodles (still good) with bits and pieces of veges and both fresh and fake seafood as well as a touch of tofu. Satisfying enough.

Dinner (by G)

Chicken and Chips (by Biggs)

Even though I've done some serious consuming this weekend I have a fairly solid airport chicken and chip habit. Tonight I find myself at an airport so tonight I find myself eating chicken and chips for dinner. Pretty good chicken and chips too - super savoury crispy skin and nice salty chips.

Dinner (by G)

Pad Thai and a Gift Shop (by Biggs)

Well, tonight was an eye opener - Amanda and I were hanging in Newtown and wandered the streets looking for food at dinner time. Nothing really grabbed our attention until we spotted this place which was absolutely pumping, bulging at the scenes with people.

Turns out it's a bit of an icon in Sydney. The food - some spring rolls, calamari, pad thai and beef curry - was all great but what was more impressive was the service. Every table seemed to come with a team of 10 waiters buzzing around providing a level of customer service I've not witnessed before.

After dinner you're invited to peruse the gift shop - yes, the restaurant had a gift shop. Not keen to buy anything? No matter - you're rewarded 'Thai Pothong' dollars in exchange for eating here so you can 'pick yourself up something nice' without even opening your wallet.

We left with two giant pencils in the shape of a komodo dragon and two mini-recliners in which you can rest your mobile phone when it's tired. Yep - this is a thing that happened.

Dinner (by G)

Microwaved Awful (by Biggs)

Well, this is embarrassing. I've had a massive few days of work and decided I'd earned myself a river-side pint when I knocked off today. After that I really wasn't interested in wandering the streets of Parramatta in search for food so just grabbed something from the corner store. The only 'edible' dinner type thing were these nuggets. Shameful.

Dinner (by G)

Indian (by Biggs)

A very special night tonight. Very coincidently, Amanda happens to be in Sydney the very same week I'm here for work so tonight she came out to Parramatta to join me for dinner. It was cold and rainy and we decided to have a curry and some red wine. I looked up Indian places on the map and we headed towards the closest one. It was super dubious looking and appeared to be right in the middle of China Town.

It turned out to be a great little family affair. The people running the place were really lovely and the vegetable curry the recommended was fucking incredible. We also had a chicken curry, some tandoori chicken bits and naan. It was GREAT! The company....perfect.

Dinner (by G)

Chicken Fillet Sub (by Biggs)

Sometime work travel is a touch depressing. Tonight was one of those nights. Dinner - shitty Subway.

Dinner (by G)

Crumbed Pork, Rice and Salad (by Biggs)

Tonight I had to do a bunch of work from my hotel room so decided on dinner from the other restaurant that delivers to this hotel. Japanese-style crumbed pork with rice and salad. A nice sesame dressing on the salad, the rice felt quite cleansing, the pork alas was dry and shitty.

Pork Curry (by G)