Author: Chris Singh

Matt Moran’s acclaimed Aria has announced the reopening of its doors on 14th July, with a massive change to part of the restaurant. Although things haven’t quite started off on the right foot for their 20th anniversary year, for obvious reasons, part of the dining institution will be transformed into a dedicated, 1700-bottle wine bar…

Given the recent strengthening of JBL’s Bar Series of soundbars with Bar 2.0, 2.1 and 5.1, the reliable brand is now bringing its top-line JBL Bar 9.1 to Australia. Notably, this is the first JBL soundbar compatible with Dolby Atmos, adding a substantial punch to the series complemented by streaming support for Google Chromecast and…

Right up until 11:59pm on Thursday 16th July, ubiquitous burger chain Grill’d is offering freebies to Victorians facing a return to lockdown. It’s tough to be in Victoria right now. With cases of COVID-19 quickly rising in Melbourne, and the always ever-threat of it spreading significantly outside of the city, those in Australia’s second largest…

Deliveroo has announced that, in response to Melbourne being thrown back into stage-three lockdown, the food-delivery service will be offering a 20% discount to all customers who order from a local restaurant between Monday and Thursday, for at least the next two weeks. This offer will be available across 5,000 metro Melbourne restaurants on all…

Celebrated your birthday in iso? If so, head on over to your local Krispy Kreme store today, show some proof, and the doughnut lords will give you a dozen Original Glazed for free. As part of the latest giveaway, Krispy Kreme expect to give away over 350,000 of their signature doughnuts today, to anyone whose…

The almost sickeningly rich thirst trap that is Dare Iced Coffee has been broken down, reimagined and distilled by the team at Arnott’s, the result slapped between two dark chocolate biscuits. While Australia has no shortage of master-minded blends of supermarket favourites, the undisputed snack kings have certainly surprised with their latest collaboration. Newly launched…

Wine rightfully slinks into the starring role in any at-home survival kit, as has been exemplified this year with lockdown. That’s hardly a surprise. For millennia, the drink has been as much as source of comfort as it is symbol of cultures around the world. Perhaps that’s most demonstrated in France than anywhere else, with…

Prior to watching Natalie Erika James’ Relic, I’d read constant comparisons to Hereditary and The Babadook. The former has too strong a grasp on literal malevolence to align in any way with James’ debut feature, but The Babadook certainly shares a great deal with this Australian-made indie-horror, given both are rooted in German expressionism and…

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of eating at one of Sydney’s most popular, long-running Japanese restaurants, Masuya, or trendy Surry Hills gem Toko, then you’re familiar with the considerable touch of Sushi Master Toshi Oe. With three decades of experience, the chef is rightfully considered Sydney’s original Sushi Master, and he’ll be popping up…

Smartphones are nothing without convenience. That has been the biggest point working against Huawei’s feature-rich P40 series thus far. The absence of Google Mobile Services has become a big talking point for the new flagship series, but the Chinese tech giant has been doing admirable work in working around the fact that you can’t get…

Sydney’s most potent mix of pizza, beer and smoky rock ‘n’ roll, Frankie’s Pizza by the Slice, has officially reopened. Due to eased restrictions, the city’s favourite rock bar will once again buzz from 4pm to 3:30 every single day, with an epic return to live music via long string of shows planned for August….

Oppo has been showing force this year. First, they reiterated their high-value approach to the budget and mid-market sectors with the likes of wallet-friendly A52. Now they’ve bought that sense of value to the highest tier of smartphones, with the hugely anticipated 5G-ready Find X2 Series, the top of which is the Find X2 Pro,…

Through some temporal wizardry, January 2020 simultaneously feels like yesterday, and many years ago. COVID-19 and its resulting lockdowns has confused our sense of time and wreaked havoc on the numerous industries that define Australia. The arts has been a most prominent victim of this ongoing global pandemic, but that won’t stop the tenacious scene…

If diving into rich and creamy French onion soup, sending your tastebuds on a vacay to Rhône Valley, and crunching the juices out of duck confit sounds like your idea of a good time, then you’re going to love Bastille Day this year. France’s national day is always an exciting time across the world, but…

With talk of a Trans-Tasman travel bubble still floating around – and looking promising – Aussies’ attention is split between their own magnificent backyard and the equally gorgeous landscapes and cities that await across the ditch. Auckland should be front-centre of that vision, with its big-city lifestyle, dynamic dining scene gorgeous harbour, and wine-filled Waiheke…

Garage may have taken a backseat in the UK music scene, but whenever the seminal sound emerges it always hits hard. With “West Ten”, emcee AJ Tracey has reunited with singer Mabel to swiftly blend the iconic sound with an irresistible pop melody. Despite its saccharine sound, Tracey’s charisma and Mabel’s summery vocals reiterate how…

Building upon their all-in-one MHC series of party-minded, lighting-enhanced speakers, Sony has introduced three new models focusing on all-new “Omnidirectional Party Sound” and “Omnidirectional Party Light” features. Geared towards creating big high-powered sound stages in the home environment, as well as nodding heavily to self-styled karaoke sessions, the MHC-V73D, MHC-V43D and MHC-V13 represent a wider…

With a serious price point and an eye-watering spec sheet, the Motorola razr has surely gone down as one of the biggest smartphone releases so far this year. Launched back in February, razr instantly turned heads with it vintage flip design meshed with foldable screen technology, becoming quite the modish device. Now the world’s first…

OLED panels get all the glory in discussions about home cinema nowadays; that often includes a substantially more demanding price tag. Owning one brings a certain level of prestige, though the advantages of say a 4K OLED over a 4K LED do not necessarily justify the eye-watering price differences. Yes, deep inky blacks are ridiculously…

Announced to coincide with World Chocolate Day (that is, today), Mars Wrigley Australia has upped capacity to their chocolate factory in Ballarat in order to start producing one of the most popular flavours of M&Ms. That’s the salty and sweet Pretzel variant of the famous chocolate, which currently Australians would have had to import online…

This month, the legendary “Queen of the Skies” will be officially retired from Qantas’ fleet, with the airline bidding a final farewell to its last remaining Boeing 747. Though the iconic aircraft won’t be leaving without considerable fanfare, as Qantas responds to demand with announcement of several “farewell jumbo joy flights” for Australians. Qantas will…

You may not be able to jet off the Italy anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean your taste buds can’t soak up the splendour of a region as pristine and diverse as Piemonte. This bountiful northern Italian seat of typically rare and celebrates wines will be the subject of a special one-off wine dinner at…

Acclaimed Australian-born brand QT Hotels & Resorts has finally lifted the lid on QT Auckland, their first New Zealand property after a successful trans-Tasman debut with QT Queenstown and QT Wellington. Located in the city’s Viaduct Harbour, and set for a grand opening on 1st November 2020, the property is now accepting bookings and, from…

As live music slowly crawls back to the fore, a total of six “Unplugged & Intimate” Sydney shows have been announced by DMA’S. The four-time ARIA-nominees and constant hitmakers will be highlighting forthcoming third album The Glow, giving fans in their hometown the chance to be the very first in the world to hear the…

Ever-creative Chef Nelly Robinson of treasured Surry Hills underground restaurant nel. has doubled-down on the Disney inspiration that kicked off last year’s limited edition “Once Upon a Time” degustation. The menu, which made global headlines and sold out in a matter of weeks when it was first released, will return as a celebration of that…

Reopened restaurants have been putting their best foot forward to celebrate the fact they can welcome dine-in guests once again, and this popular Vietnamese restaurant in Sydney’s Marrickville is not holding back. The team at the formidable Hello Auntie on Illawarra Road has created what they are claiming as the world’s first pho-brined fried chicken….

Though not quite as meandering as the 11-minute “The Johnny Cash Trail”, “Lemon Balm” is a necessary second single for the forthcoming new album from the always joyful Sun Kil Moon. Steadfast with its feathery piano riff, the song is a six-minute rumination that’s just as tender and contented as its predecessor. The new album,…

Sydney-based outsider artist Joel Veness has examined the idea of isolation and grown it into the city’s newest large-scale mural, adding a meaningful and provocative piece to the inner-city’s growing collection of street art. Although Melbourne nears monopoly when it comes to discussions about street art in Australia, works like this are important to spread…

Virgin Australia put 125,000 fares on sale for 12 hours yesterday, with prices dipping to as low as $69 between select destinations “because everyone loved a comeback”. Though the flights were picked up quickly, the airline is promising more Happy Hour sales every week as domestic tourism ramps up. The sale included business class fares…

A 65-seat Middle Eastern style chicken shop has now opened in Surry Hills, a sister venue of neighbouring Nour on the inner city suburb’s iconic Crown Street. Going by the name of Hanrietta, the dine-in and takeaway concept centres around free range charcoal chicken accompanied by numerous sides like breads, dips, pickles and salads. Owned…