Paul's Famous Hamburgers of Sylvania - Sydney, New South Wales

During a recent trip to Sydney, we made our maiden voyage to Paul's Famous Hamburgers of Sylvania. This is a Sydney institution, selling burgers long before fast food chains like Hungry Jack's or McDonald's came along.



It's important to note that Paul's is closed on Mon & Tues. Luckily, we visited on a Wednesday so they were open for business!



Inside the shop, they proudly display that they were established in 1957. I have a feeling they haven't changed too much since then either.



The menu includes Hamburgers (with various toppings), Chips, Milk Shakes & Fresh Pineapple Crush.



We considered a milk shake (there were heaps of flavours to choose from) but we decided to try the Fresh Pineapple Crush. This drink is really special as it's real pineapple juice with plenty of pulp as well. Tarty, sweet, and very refreshing! The food comes in a white paper bag. Based on my observations of other customers, it's common practice to rip the bag open to get to your food. This indicated to me that what's inside must be pretty good.



We decided to go with a Plain Hamburger ($5.90), a Works Burger ($8.90), and a Small order of Chips ($3.80). The chips were impressive - crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside with an appropriate amount of chicken salt (optional).



The Plain Hamburger was an excellent example of an Aussie fish 'n chip shop burger. The bun was fresh, it had plenty of salad and sauce, and the meat was well seasoned.



The Plain Hamburger was good, but the standout burger was definitely the Works. It had an abundance of toppings - tomato, lettuce, onion, tomato sauce, egg, bacon, cheese & pineapple. Each topping was excellent quality and the bold flavours somehow worked together perfectly. The size of the burger made for a challenging but rewarding bite.



If you're in Sydney, make sure you visit Paul's Famous Hamburgers for a great Aussie style burger & chips with Pineapple Crush to drink. There's a reason they've been in business for 55+ years.

Meet Fresh - Sydney, New South Wales

We just got back from a trip to Sydney and as you can probably guess, there was a lot of eating involved. One of the most memorable places we discovered was a Taiwanese dessert place in Chinatown (Haymarket) called Meet Fresh. If you weren't reading the name in print, you might think it was a butcher shop (meat fresh?). But the name is only one part of the fun. For us, it was something different, cheap and delicious for dessert.



This is probably the shortest you'll ever see the line, but they give you a buzzer that goes off when your order is ready. This system is very efficient so you rarely have to wait very long. On our first visit, we were pleased to see the Top 10 in the front window since we had no idea what this place was selling or where to start with the menu.



They sell Taiwanese desserts and drinks at Meet Fresh. I can tell you the dessert menu is slightly overwhelming at first. There are various numbered Taro Balls, Herbal Jelly, and Tofu Pudding options. If you're planning a visit, I recommend checking out the menu on the website first as it's pretty hard to figure out what you want when you're standing in line. After several return visits, our favourite was Taro Balls No. 4 (cold). When you order, you get the option of hot or cold. Cold was our preference as we really loved the texture and taste with the ice and cane sugar syrup. Yum! They keep the shop really warm inside so ice is good even in winter.



Taro Balls No. 4 has Taro, Red Beans and Pearls. The other numbers have different combinations. If you choose the hot option with any of the taro balls, it's more of a warm soup. Not as sweet and not as nice, but still a good dessert on a cold day.



Another option we tried was Herbal Jelly No. 5 (cold). The herbal jelly ice was underneath and they gave us a little tub of milk to pour over the top. This one is probably not for everyone but we loved it.



This place turned into our trip go-to for desserts since they're max $5.50 for a huge bowl. Bargain! It's something different and probably much healthier than the other dessert options out there. If you're in Sydney, you've got to check out Meet Fresh and let us know your favourite choice on the menu.