Azuma Kushiyaki: Sugar Hit 2011

Throw away your belts, I say. You won't need them in October which is now synonymous with the Crave Sydney International Food Festival.

There'll be countless fooding events happening all over Sydney during the coming month. One of the most popular features is always the Sugar Hit, a chance to enjoy a special late night dessert at participating restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels.


Crab roll

Mario Tokyo Pizza, Strathfield

Bulgogi pizza

Forget about the pineapple on pizza debate. Mario Tokyo throws all the pizza rules out the window with toppings like strips of sweet bulgogi beef and potato wedges. For this month's Time Out Sydney column I headed to Strathfield to check it out.


Eat This...Bulgogi pizza

WHAT IS IT?
Bulgogi pizza ($15.90) is what you get when Korea and Italy collide in the kitchen. Start with

Cafe Ish, Surry Hills

Where can you find a cheap lunch in Sydney? Frugal is not a dirty word at Cafe Ish, which celebrates Tight Ass Tuesdays with ten eleven dishes for only ten dollars.

This cosy corner cafe bar makes a point of mixing up Japanese flavours with Australian native ingredients. Here you'll find crocodile coated in Panko crumbs and covered in Japanese curry; potato and fetta mochi with Davidson plum

Bling Bling Dumpling, Broadway Ultimo

It was the name that drew us in. Bling Bling Dumpling? How could we refuse? The former site of Dim Sum House has undergone only a modest makeover. Most noticeable is the striking black signage out the front, complete with an image of a huge sparkling diamond - guaranteed to draw in the crowds!


Takeaway dumplings

A display case of cooked dumplings is a clever marketing ploy for passing

Recipe: Salted Peanut Butter, Pretzel and Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

 

This cookies should come with a warning: one cookie is never enough. Combining salted peanuts, pretzels and dark chocolate would have been a madcap idea once upon a time, but now it seems like everyone is on the salty and sweet bandwagon. With good reason. It's deliriously good.

There's something intriguing about the way salty and sweet play off against each other. The sweetness of a dessert

Menya Oiden, Sydney

If you don't know what kushiage is, then take a seat, loosen your belt and let me explain. It's all about bite-sized nibbles of meat, vegetables and seafood, jammed on a skewer, dipped in batter and panko breadcrumbs and then deep-fried until all your dreams come true.

Kushiage is one of the major drawcards at Menya Oiden, a new opening in Skyview Plaza next door to its sister outlet Menya

Stomachs Eleven: Japanese dinner party

Everyone loves a dinner party - it's just finding a willing host that's half the problem! J-Girl and Jon-Boy volunteered to host our latest Stomachs Eleven dinner, a group of keen food lovers who take turns to cook a group meal.


Barbecuing skate wings
Even when he's not hosting, Pig Flyin' is always on-hand with a special treat or two. Within minutes of arriving, he and Mrs Pig Flyin' were

The Carrington, Surry Hills

Good food. That's the secret. 

The Carrington, formerly a sleepy and seedy hotel pub, has been overhauled into a Spanish tapas bar that is now heaving each night with locals. We arrive at 6pm on a Tuesday and by 6.30pm the bar is practically full.

Chef Jamie Thomas has created a menu littered with Iberian snacks, from bite-sized pintxos of kingfish pastrami and olives, to platos grande that

Xanthi, Sydney

The best part about Xanthi? For me, it's the view into the kitchen. The three windows at the entrance to this slick new eatery may all be square, but it's just as fun as Play School, with an equally fascinating scene unrolling within each one.


Xanthi

Xanthi is the big budget move by David Tsirekas, head chef and owner of the now-closed Perama, a Greek standout and locals' favourite in the

Recipe: Dark chocolate and sour cherry cookies

You can't beat a homemade cookie. There's a purity of sweetness that comes with baking from scratch, although others might say it's the unmistakable addition of love.

These dark chocolate and sour cherry cookies aren't difficult to make, but they do involve pre-planning and patience, as the batter must be chilled before and after rolling them into balls for baking. These are based on a Bourke

Izakaya Den, Melbourne

Den fried chicken $10

Everybody loves a secret. Is this why all the hot new bars and restaurants are deliberately difficult to find? We had all heard great things about Izakaya Den in Melbourne, but without Minh to lead the way, I don't think we would have ever found the entrance, marked only by a discreet silver plate stamped with "Den".

We push our way through the glass doors of an office

Baker Street, Ultimo

Caramel eclair

Baker Street is another one of Sydney's classic hidden secrets. From the outside it looks like a simple coffee shop set-up in a converted terrace, but step inside and owner Juan Duret's display cabinet beckons with a raft of traditional Argentinian treats.


Baker Street

The cafe offers bacon and egg rolls, burgers and pies and is a popular haunt for local ABC workers and TAFE

Freebie Friday: Win a box of mooncakes (four to win)

Moon Festival falls on September 12 this year, and to celebrate, Grab Your Fork has four boxes of mooncakes to giveaway thanks to Amyson.

The Casahana range includes flavours beyond the usual red bean and lotus, and comes packed in pretty re-usable boxes. Because Moon Festival is next week, this competition is only open for six days so get your entries in now!

The prizes
Four lucky Grab Your