Some of the places:
- San Churos - Parramatta - A nice place for chocaholics. Great for dessert or just coffee and a chocolate after a nearby meal. If you like Churos then you'll like this place - delicious dippers in melted chocolate!
- Toscani's Cafe Bar & Restaurant - Parramatta - It's a big split level place with lots of seating and an outdoor area that looks out towards the railway line. We dropped in for breakfast, somewhat attracted by the breakfast deal they were advertising - $9.00 for eggs, bacon, tomato and toast. Mlady wanted something healtier though and sadly they don't have anything remotely fitting this description for breakfasts. No meusli, no fruit salad, no healthy starters. We ended up just grabbing coffee's - which were decent - and leaving to try to find a better option.
- Saute Thai - 18 Phillip St - This is a small place with inside seating and some outside seating sheltered by plastic curtains - and with heaters for winter. We'd been keen to visit for a while so a nearby show at Riverside Theatre was a great excuse. We had three entrees - deep fried salt and pepper calamari which was perfectly cooked, battered soft shell crab which was also great and finally the entree of the night called duck herb which was shredded roast duck tossed with mint, shallots, corriander and roasted rice and garnished with chilli and lime dressing and served on cos lettuce leaves. It was amazing! Our three mains were an old favourite of massaman beef which was tasty, duck with plum sauce which was surprisingly good (it came with cinnamon sticks, star anise and stir fried bok choy) and the star of the mains - volcano from the sea. This was a mound of seafood in a rich thick curry sauce with a ring of fire surrounding it when served. It looked great and tasted even better. We'd certainly be happy to visit Saute again - it was great.
- Max Brenner - Church St - It's a Max Brenner so you basically know what to expect. They're very popular though so they're obviously doing something right. I can never resist the chocolate cinnamon babka - a giant cake that comes with melted chocolate, and again had this, and Mlady as always grabbed a hug mug of hot chocolate.
- Liana's - Church St - One of the many Italian choices in the restaurant strip in Parramatta. It has decent sized servings of decent food ant reasonable prices. Nothing to fault here for a good solid meal. We had several pasta dishes and they satisfied us all and none of them cost to much.
- Bavarian Bier Cafe - 2-8 Phillip St Parramatta - This is a massive place as they've converted an old church into the restaurant/bar. It has outside seating and an upstairs area as well. It still has a kind of churchy feel to it - but that's clearly intended. I had the Uber Schnitzel which was pan fried chicken schnitzels (about four of them). It was huuuuuge. I love a good schnitzel and this was both tasty and a massive serving! It could probably feed two people comfortably.
- Gelato Messina - Church St - yes it's Gelato Messina so you probably know what to expect. Get in early because they already draw a huge crowd here in the evenings and on weekends. I'm not even sure what I had exactly but it was chocolate and it was very tasty. I'll try to pay more attention next time we're there - which won't be long I suspect.
- Cafe 31 - Macquarie St - This cafe is located across from the very busy Jessie Street Centre. It is nestled next to lots of other offices which makes it convenient to many and therefore very popular. You can purchase the usual beverages and also indulge in a range of trasty meals and sandwiches.
- Michel's Patisserie - Greenway Arcade Church Street Mall - Located in Greenway Arcade in Parramatta this Michel's is one of Mlady's favourites. They make a GREAT soy chai - and Mlady is something of an expert. It's always ordered "extra hot" to make it last that much longer while sipping it!
- Mad Mex - Parramatta - Mad Mex is certainly reliable. We have our favourites - as most people do. The menu is quite long and of course the variations available make the choices even more difficult. We always end up with burrito's - as we did here. We always have chicken as the filling too - again as we did here. It seems most people have a favourite combination at Mad Mex and tend to have it time after time.
- Legal Grind - Lunched at 'LEGAL GRIND' in George Street Parramatta, aptly named due to its close proximity to the Law Courts nearby. The meals here are substantial. I decided on the beef and vegetable pie. Accompanying this was salad and chips with a side bowl - on the plate - of tomato sauce. The pie was hot and full of beef and vegetables. The chips hot and crispy and the salad was fresh with a light dressing.
