Author: Chris Singh

Chris Singh is an Editor-At-Large at the AU review, loves writing about travel and hospitality, and is partial to a perfectly textured octopus. You can reach him on Instagram: @chrisdsingh.

Cockle Bay Wharf’s finest to channel Vivid Sydney into exclusive cocktails

Throughout this year’s highly anticipated VIVID Sydney, the water-side precinct of Cockle Bay Wharf will once again be bringing back their exclusive food and drink offerings to meet, and surpass, the success of their involvement last year. The renowned dining and entertainment hub will be drawing on some of their best venues to absorb inspiration…

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Gourmet Cinema to pair Noma in Tokyo documentary with dinner at The Bridge Room (Sydney)

With interest in René Redzepi and his culinary perfection still at an all time high in Sydney, thanks to the recent Noma Australia pop-up, a documentary focusing on the highly regarded chef being included in Sydney Film Festival’s program this year works perfectly. As part of the annual festival’s Gourmet Cinema concept – which pairs…

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Ze Pickle announces kitchen takeover at The Oxford Tavern (Sydney)

After recently expanding to Sydney, QLD-originated burger joint Ze Pickle is now firmly established on the local scene thanks to their go-hard-or-go-home approach to the inescapable food trend. Their Surry Hills location isn’t too hard to get to, but just to make their burgers a bit more accessible they have announced a special one-day-only kitchen…

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Tigerair Australia offer one-way fares from $29 across 15 domestic and 3 international routes

Dubbed the “It’s Not Our Birthday, But The Party Is This Way” sale, the latest in Tigerair Australia’s regular sale offerings has 15 of their most popular domestic routes, as well as the airline’s three Bali routes cut-down to some very affordable prices. Until midnight (AEDT) tonight, Wednesday 25th May, one way fares will drop…

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TV Review: Fear the Walking Dead Episodes 5-7 (USA, 2016)

After a strong fourth episode, “Blood in the Streets”, Fear the Walking Dead made the smart move of getting us off the open water in order to make a big push for season 2, bringing us to Strand’s promised compound in Mexico to deal with the intricacies of death and, surprisingly, split the group into…

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TV Review: Game of Thrones Season 6 Episode 5 “The Door” (USA, 2016)

Just because Benioff & Weiss are somewhat free from George RR Martin’s murderous ways in Game of Thrones’ source material, doesn’t mean the showrunners are any less capable of bringing us to tears. In what will be one of the most talked about scenes of the year when this season is over, a simple phrase…

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Method Man and Redman announce Australian tour dates

There are few duos in hip-hop as dynamic as the classic pairing of Wu Tang’s Method Man and Def Squad’s Redman, two formidable emcees who have endeared across music, film, TV. Their trips down to Australia have been much too far and few between, but they have always hit hard with their off-the-wall live shows…

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Skepta announces Australian and New Zealand tour dates for September

After only making his debut in Australia earlier this year through a series of NYE festivals and, UK grime emcee Skepta has announced an epic return to this side of the world with seven shows across Australia and New Zealand. The man, who just released his long-awaited 4th LP Konnichiwa, has marked a monumental push…

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Your ultimate food and drink guide to Vivid Sydney 2016

From Friday 27th May to 18th June, Sydney will once again be flowing with the unique atmosphere of Vivid Sydney, now a globally renowned festival of lights, music, and ideas that has seen immense growth over the past few years. The immersive lighted precincts around Sydney, from Circular Quay and Walsh Bay to The Galeries…

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Film Review: The Meddler (USA, 2016)

Written and Directed by Lorene Scafaria, The Meddler is tender in its approach to comedy-drama; light on the former and heavy on the latter as it follows the highly likeable and sympathetic Marnie Minervini, who is portrayed with considerable depth by the supremely talented Susan Sarandon. The simple, soft touch with which Scafaria handles the…

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Salt Meats Cheese are now offering pasta cooked in giant flaming cheese wheels at Broadway (Sydney)

Now that the crew at Salt Meats Cheese have settled into the groove made by their new store opposite Broadway Shopping Centre, it’s time for them to kick up their menu offerings with a big, flaming wheel of cheese. Salt Meats Cheese Broadway have introduced The Flaming Cheese Wheel to its menu – already full…

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Din Tai Fung, Zeus Greek Street, and more to open in Broadway Shopping Centre (Sydney)

We all know Broadway in Sydney has needed to refresh it’s food lineup for a while now, and it seems 2016 is the year the central shopping centre will undertake some huge changes. Already, the famous Salts Meat Cheese has beefed up the food offerings in the area with a store opposite the centre, and…

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The Annandale Hotel is hosting a food festival this weekend (Sydney)

Now that the very in-demand Burgers by Josh pop-up at The Annandale Hotel has come to an end, the inner-west institution is looking to further their string of temporary culinary expansions with a weekend food festival featuring beats, burgers, and booze. The inaugural event will be taking place this coming weekend on Saturday and Sunday…

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Vivid Sydney is bringing a pop-up bar full of burgers and arcade games to Martin Place (Sydney)

Each year Vivid Sydney takes some giant steps forward, cementing the now world renowned festival as one of the very best events on the city’s calendar. This year will be no exception as the organisers continue to grow the pillars of light, music, and ideas, but also throw in a few other sizable changes, including…

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Fratelli Fresh will expand to Melbourne plus open numerous U.S style pizzerias in each state

Following their recent move to Urban Purveyor Group, renowned Italian restaurant group Fratelli Fresh will make a very welcome expansion to Melbourne later this year, opening a restaurant on the ground floor of The Alfred precinct when it is unveiled next month. Fratelli @ The Alfred will mark the first interstate jump for the celebrated…

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Review: Lazy Suzie (Dinner Menu) – Darlinghurst (Sydney)

IconPark’s revolving restaurant concept has moved out of the space at 78 Stanley Street in Darlinghurst, making way for Head Chef Zachary Tan and his business partner Derek Puah, both of whom have turned the venue into a new restaurant-bar called Lazy Suzie*. Tan needs no introduction to food lovers around Sydney, being the Chef…

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Mike McEnearney opens No.1 Bent St in the CBD (Sydney)

2016 has been kind of Sydney’s dining scene as of late with venues such as Hubert opening up in the city. Now, one of the city’s best-loved (and most pined for) Chefs Mike McEnearney has made a big comeback with the launch of his new restaurant No.1 Bent St, located right next the The Wintergarden…

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Review: Barista and Cook (Lunch Menu) – Waterloo (Sydney)

A dazzling, light-filled open warehouse space fitted out with bright colours, hanging greens, and a playful mish-mash of tables, booths, and stools lined up to look out over Bourke Street: Barista and Cook couldn’t have come at a more opportune time for Waterloo, an area buzzing with new apartments. Opening earlier this year, the new…

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Spend a weekend in this ridiculously posh Sydney property with a former butler to the British Royal Family

To celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday weekend, Australian online rental website Stayz are flying in a legit former butler to the British Royal Family for a promotion they are fashioning as “The Royal Stayzcation”. Available to book for $1 from Wednesday 18th May at 12pm, the getaway package will see one lucky bidder and their…

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Film Review: Alice Through the Looking Glass (USA, 2016)

Tim Burton’s saturated interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s famed wonderland was nothing short of impressive when it illustrated 2010’s hugely successful Alice in Wonderland, laying out a strong case for cutting-edge 3D tech in cinema – a relatively new phenomenon six years ago. Dubbed “Underland”, the ostentatious gothic fantasy land reiterated Burton’s unrivaled imaginative flair, and…

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W Hotels Worldwide launch W Sound Suites: a private music studio within a hotel for musicians and guests

W Hotels Worldwide have had a long-standing and seamless involvement in the music world for years now. Prince once famously performed unannounced at W Hollywood, and their many properties in hot-spots like Barcelona, Seattle, and Bali regularly welcome traveling musicians, producers, and DJs. It then makes perfect sense that W kick up their immersion in…

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BBQ legend Rodney Scott attracts the masses to Harpoon Harry for two-day residency (Sydney)

Tonight, Monday 16th May, will be the final day of pitmaster legend Rodney Scott’s brief kitchen takeover at Surry Hills’ Harpoon Harry. The takeover, which began yesterday and attracted an enormous queue, is a very rare opportunity for Sydneysiders to take one of the most famous BBQ’s in the world – possibly the best –…

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A food truck chilli festival is coming to Prahran in June (Melbourne)

Next month, on June 4th, some of Melbourne’s most in-demand food trucks will be coming together to raise funds for the Prahran Mission by staging a big Chilli Festival in a vacant parking lot next door to Brunch hot spot Hobba. From 6pm to 10pm, the Melbourne Chilli Festival will be bringing together Dos Diablos,…

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Hawthorn has a new 24 hour live music venue named “Untz Untz” (Melbourne)

The Hawthorn revival has made a giant leap with the launch of Untz Untz, a new multifaceted venue from local music entrepreneur and club veteran Nick Foley that boasts a shiny 24-hour liquor license and more than a handful of ambitious plans. Gutting the former, long-standing Cheers and replacing it with a concept venue that’s…

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TV Review: Game of Thrones Season 6 Episode 4 “Book of the Stranger” (USA, 2016)

It’s quite clear that Benioff and Weiss are unperturbed about Game of Thrones (mostly) surpassing its source material, and so far it has proved to be more of a blessing than a curse. Now with 4 episodes to show, Season Six has been a solid season of surprising, though rapid, developments that leap forward to…

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Review: Vicolo Café – CBD (Sydney)

The great café revolution that has swept the outskirts of Sydney CBD for the past few years hasn’t quite cleaned up the clutter in the annoyingly one-way streets around Town Hall and Wynyard. Sure, there’s some excellent long-established institutions that have withstood the test of time, but for the most, it’s often a gamble walking…

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Live Review: Common + Talib Kweli + Sarah Connor – Enmore Theatre, Sydney (09.05.16)

The first time I saw Common live was in Sydney, around 2006, when he was brought out as the token hip hop act for Big Day Out. It was, to my knowledge, his first headline tour across the country and I was lucky enough to witness it in a venue as intimate as Metro Theatre….

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A new three-level theatrical bar opens up in Darlinghurst (Sydney)

A new three-floor bar aimed at theatrical entertainment? We’ll take it! The Oxford Circus is an ambitious multi-purpose venue that has opened up in Darlinghurst, bringing a bit of theatre and pizzaz to nights out in lock-out city from Wednesday to Sunday. With morale about Sydney’s nightlife at a record low, touches like this may…

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Review: Harpoon Harry (Morgan McGlone’s Bar Publico Menu) – Surry Hills (Sydney)

Best known as the man behind legendary Belle’s Hot Chicken brand, Morgan McGlone stands as one of the most sought after chefs for casual dining in Australia, especially if we’re talking about the cooking styles of the Southern States. McGlone was most celebrated overseas for his work at the world-renowned Husk in Nashville before starting…

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Review: Bar Chinois – Chippendale (Sydney)

Bar Chinois has brought an interesting fusion of Asian and French flavours as the very first small bar-cafe to hit the ever-evolving Kensington Street precinct in Chippendale. Shaped into a double terrace near the entrance of hawker-style food court Spice Alley, the new venue stands bathed in a sultry glow which reflects off the homely…

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