Ms G's, Potts Point

If you happen to see the numbers 621 on your ingredients list, you know your food is gonna taste good because it has MSG! Ms G's name is a play on the notorious flavour enhancer used in many Asian restaurants, reflecting its modern take on Asian food and presumably how delicious the food tastes as well.

Mini bánh mì - crispy pork belly or chicken katsu - $6.50

The restaurant decor is quirky, with jars hanging from the ceiling and mismatched cutlery and plates on each table. The menu is designed to share with snacks, smaller share plates and larger, more substantial dishes. We start with some mini bánh mì with crispy pork belly and chicken katsu, both with pickled vegetables and sandwiched between soft buns. Both of these were delicious, with the chicken katsu having more of a crunch and the pork belly being soft and tender.

Ocean trout tostada, green papaya, guacamole, red nahm jim - $19

Monopole, Potts Point

When our group of girlfriends started treating the birthday girl to dinner in lieu of birthday presents, I realised what a good opportunity this was to finally check off some restaurants which have been on my go-to list for a long time...

Monopole was FeFiFoFum's choice for her birthday dinner, and I was secretly pleased because it was a place that I had been wanting to visit for a while. The outside of the restaurant was so dark and inconspicuous that we nearly walked right past it, but when we finally opened the door, we saw that the dark exterior was matched by the "mood lighting" on the inside.

Luckily we had phones to light up the menu, which was split into cured meats, shared dishes, cheese and desserts. Instead of choosing a la carte dishes though, we went with the Monopole menu, which gave us 7 courses for $65pp.

Cured duck breast, cured pork neck, cured Rangers Valley tri tip

We started with three cured meats arranged on a wooden platter with some pickled vegetables. We had the cured duck breast (foreground), cured pork neck (background left) and cured Rangers Valley tri tip. The duck breast was probably the chewiest out of the three, with a slightly more gamey flavour. While others preferred the tri tip bresaola, I relished the silky fatty texture of the cured pork neck.

Cured trevally, pickled cucumber, smoked yoghurt and sea greens

We continued on with a cold course of cured trevally, which was served with discs of pickled cucumber, blobs of smoked yoghurt and sea greens. It was a light and cooling dish, with the slight acidity of the pickles tempered by the smokey yoghurt.

Rangers Valley beef tartare, egg yolk, mushroom and crisp potato

Cho Cho San, Potts Point

Well hello again, it's been a while! If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I've just returned from a whirlwind trip to Hokkaido in Japan where we got stuck in the airport both there and back, and when we finally landed on home soil, I was off again on another interstate work trip!

So it's kind of nice to be home, and to have time to sit down and blog and just chill. But one thing I started to miss as soon as we got back to Australia was the incredible food in Japan - hell, even the fast food there is way better (Mos Burger anyone?)

So yes, this post is about Japanese food, coz you all know I can never get sick of the stuff. I'd had Cho Cho San on my radar for a while, so I was pretty happy when Charm chose this restaurant to have her farewell dinner.

Tempura eggplant miso - $13

The menu has a selection of dishes designed for sharing, which suited us perfectly as we were able to try little bits of everything. We started with the tempura eggplant miso, a deep fried take on the classic nasu dengaku. The tempura batter was wonderfully light, encasing soft pieces of eggplant and drizzled with a sweet miso sauce, sesame seeds and shallots.

Beef tataki, wild rice, ginger dressing - $14

The beef tataki was like no other I'd had, with super thin slices of fatty raw beef that melted in the mouth, with nutty-tasting wild rice for texture and a light ginger dressing.

Hokkaido scallops, yuzu, katsuoboshi - $18

One of the best things about visiting Hokkaido is the amazing seafood, particularly the crab and scallops. Hokkaido scallops are plump and sweet, and especially sweet when eaten raw. The hokkaido scallop dish at Cho Cho San played up the sweetness of the scallops by contrasting it against the umami flavours of the katsuoboshi (dried bonito) and the tangy flavour of yuzu. There was also chopped radish and wakame seawood for colour.

Tuna, avocado, pickled eggplant - $22

Harajuku Gyoza, Potts Point

Japan is a country that is a little obsessed with the cute and cuddly. You'll see kawaii mascots everywhere in Japan promoting TV channels, transport passes and even the cities and prefectures themselves! So when I see the logo of Harajuku Gyoza with its cutesy face, it's almost like I'm back in Japan.

Inside, the kawaii theme continues with Japanese-patterned melamine plates and light fixtures saying 'HAI!'. The menu is equally as cutesy, proclaiming "Welcome, Customer-san!", before comparing your appetite to Godzilla and saying "We want your happy face". As for the food items, naturally the menu is gyoza-heavy but there are also other Japanese side dishes and izakaya style dishes available.

There are 5 gyoza dishes at $8 each, and we manage to try 3 out of the 5. For the pork, chicken and duck gyoza, you can choose to have these either grilled or poached. We're after the crispy burnished bottoms of the fried variety, so we choose to have our pork and duck gyoza fried.

Pork gyoza 5pcs (pan fried) - $8

Buns & Balls, Potts Point

Yes you heard right... Buns AND Balls. Get your minds out of the gutter people - we're talking burger buns and meatballs here! And that's exactly what the new Buns & Balls in Potts Point offers - a selection of tasty meatballs and juicy burgers.

Fresh juice cocktails: Pineapple, ginger beer, vodka and bitters (left) and Watermelon, lime and vodka (right) - $12

Of course before we get into the buns and balls, we have a couple of drinks. At Buns & Balls, they have freshly made juice cocktails and we choose to sample the pineapple, ginger beer, vodka and bitters one first. I'm not a huge fan of ginger but thankfully this isn't too gingery, and it's also not tooth-achingly sweet because of the acidity from the pineapple juice. The watermelon, lime and vodka cocktail is equally as refreshing and is perfect for the upcoming warm summer nights.

Balls! Clockwise from top right: Spicy chicken, Barramundi croquette, Beef & pork, Crispy tofu (all $9 per serve), and Spicy Louisiana wings ($1 per wing)

We tried a selection of the meatballs on offer, as well as some of the spicy Louisiana wings. I enjoyed the barramundi croquettes with tartare sauce which reminded me a little bit of fish fingers. The crispy tofu balls were bathed in the deep fryer for a nice crispy outside and firm tofu on the inside. Both the chicken meatballs and wings used the same hot sauce and blue cheese dipping sauce, so they tasted very similar, though I preferred the wings to the chicken meatballs. The beef and pork meatballs with napoletana sauce and grated cheese on top were by far my favourite, reminding me of a classic meatball made by an Italian nonna!

Char-grilled cheese burger - $10

Blanco Restaurant, Potts Point

I love finishing off the working week with a nice drink, and luckily on this dreary, rainy Friday night as we headed to Potts Point for dinner at Blanco Restaurant, we were presented with page of refreshing sounding cocktails to kick-start the weekend as we were seated in the restaurant.

Bloody Passion: blood orange, 42 Below passionfruit vodka, lime, sugar - $12

Blanco is situated in a stark white building studded with mosaic tiles off the main street in Potts Point and is run by Damien Pignolet and Ron White, formerly of Bistro Moncur. Pushing open the door, we're greeted with a bar at the front and a sparsely decorated restaurant bathed in red light, with a little bookcase and reading area at the back of the room. It's still early so we're the only ones there and have the full attention of the waitstaff who help us choose some drinks from the cocktail list which prominently features blood oranges.

Bloody Stringer Bellini: Paul Louis French sparkling, blood orange juice, peach liqueur - $10 (left); Crispy Portuguese chicken wings - $15 (right)

We start off with the crispy Portuguese chicken wings which actually turned out to be little drummettes of chicken but were tasty nonetheless. These were coated in a salty, slightly spicy batter and were crunchy on the outside with juicy, tender chicken on the inside. Perfect with a squeeze of lime.

Après, Potts Point

I recently celebrated my 21st birthday by having dinner with family and close friends at Après restaurant in Potts Point. The staff there were lovely for setting up two long tables for us complete with candles and printing out personalised menus.

I selected three entrees, three mains and three desserts for our group's set menu and I sneakily sat myself next to two people who I knew would share dishes with me so I could sample all three of each course hehehe (thanks Sir D and Charm!). The price for 3 courses was $60.

French martini: Grey Goose vodka, dash of pineapple, chambord - $17.00

Sir D and I chose a French martini from their extensive cocktail list whilst waiting for all the guests to arrive.

Escargots

After our orders are taken, we are presented with a not-so-pretty amuse bouche of escargots. Don't be put off by it's appearance though - the snails are soaked in a rich, garlicky butter which just leaves us all wanting to mop up the sauce with some bread. Unfortunately there's no free bread tonight and I seriously consider just downing the delicious garlic butter, but thankfully the plates are removed before I have time to clog up my arteries with fat.

Presse of rabbit, mushrooms and serrano ham with mustard fruits