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.

Guillaume Brahimi leads Bistro Moncur’s expansion to Mosman (Sydney)

Woollahra’s Bistro Moncur has long been a dining institution, a highly regarded, chef-hatted destination for some of the best French inspired dishes in the area. It then comes as very welcome news that the concept has now extended to Mosman as part of the recent $8 refurbishment for The Buena, the latest in a series…

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Messina, Mary’s and more headed to Canberra for 10 day Commons Street Feast

Canberra is getting a big street food festival before the year’s end, a 10 day summer celebration helped along by some of the country’s fines as Commonwealth Park is turned into an oasis of food trucks, artisan chefs, craft brewers and custom art. The Commons Street Feast will run from 9th to 18th December, giving…

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Parramatta is getting a fancy new 26th floor bar at V by Crown Group (Sydney)

Parramatta has been enjoying a tighter focus this year, the beginnings of large cultural sweep that promises to completely reinvigorate the Western Sydney city. We’ve already seen the likes of street-focused festival Parramatta Lanes become a yearly staple, and now locals and visitors can look towards a huge boost to the area’s night-time economy with…

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Fatties Burger Appreciation Society are throwing a burger party for charity (Sydney)

Infamous Facebook group Fatties Burger Appreciaton Society, or simply FBAS, has this year grown to 72,000 members making it the biggest burger community in the world and giving what is now an institution enough clout to start throwing their considerable weight around. And seeing as Sydney is perhaps the biggest focus of all the user-generated…

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On the Shelf: Johnnie Walker Blenders’ Batch Red Rye Finish

Johnnie Walker’s commitment to ongoing change regularly has given Whisky enthusiasts a few classics over the years to build upon their core range. Never a brand to rest on their laurels, the number 1 Scotch Whisky in the world has this year introduced a new limited edition series which should be rolling out a number…

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Review: SHARE by Curtis Stone – Sun Princess (Australia)

Cruise dining has taken an interesting turn in the past few years; similarly to the more in-touch hotels across the globe, the trend is moving away from the notoriously average quality of mass production and all-you-can-eat buffets (although the rare buffet can totally hit the spot) for the sake of higher quality, more targeted experiences….

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Former Quay chef joins The Rocks’ historic Scarlett Restaurant (Sydney)

Joey Dela Victoria’s enviable portfolio is an impressive flurry of hats and stars, all which have come to shape his career as he has worked in the likes of Balzac (when it had two chef hats) and Quay (when it had three chef hats), London’s famous Maze Restaurant, and two Michelin starred The Ledbury. The…

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Paris to Provence: three day French festival coming to Melbourne this month

The 8th annual Paris to Provence Melbourne French Festival is returning later to South Yarra later this month, bringing with it a comprehensive and diverse slice of Parisian culture to help transport Australians to France through sight, sound, taste, and aroma. The pop-up French village will be located at Como House and Garden from Friday…

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Fancy Hanks opens restaurant and rooftop bar on Bourke Street (Melbourne)

The recently opened Knuckles BBQ and Sandwich Bar was only the beginning for Fancy Hanks as they push their American-style slow-cooked chops around Melbourne. The much loved, former Victoria Market staple has officially settled into a permanent location on Bourke Street, bringing hungry BBQ lovers a dedicated art-deco diner that’s bolstered by a forthcoming rooftop…

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Video Games Review: Yo-Kai Watch 2, Fleshy Souls (3DS, 2016) is a better version of the first

Instead of pushing back against the inevitable Pokemon comparisons that have been buzzing about ever since the first entry, Yo-kai Watch 2 seems to be welcoming the parallels, particularly by splitting up the sequel into two “same but slightly different” games: Fleshy Souls and Bony Spirits. Like the constant Pokemon RPGs, developers Level-5 Watch maintain…

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U.S based alternative fashion event MADE Sydney to debut at Carriageworks this weekend

Mercedes-Benz have brought another big fashion event to Carriageworks, presenting MADE Sydney across this weekend in the iconic arts hub. The hybrid fashion, skate, and music event will be making its debut from Friday 11th November, seeking the recreate the alternative fashion that made this such a mainstay on the New York fashion scene since…

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Urban Purveyor Group acquire Neil Perry’s Rockpool Group

As they approach the end of what has been a tremendous year of growth, hospitality juggernaut Urban Purveyor Group have announced a merger with Neil Perry’s Rockpool Group to create what is now known as Rockpool Dining Group. It’s a coup for the Quadrant Private Equity backed group, who have employed global hospitality veteran Thomas…

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Review: Nour – Surry Hills (Sydney)

Going from owning and operating Cuckoo Callay, one of Newtown’s most beloved and youthful cafes, to running what is now a hatted restaurant in Surry Hills may seem like a huge leap for young restaurateurs Ibby Moubadder and Eleanor Harris, but it’d certainly come as no surprise to anyone who enters Nour. As soon as…

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Kayter Con introduce Golden Gaytime Burgers to Australia

Known for their intentionally over-the-top desserts, Sydney based food truck Kayter con have officially tapped into the “do seriously anything with Golden Gaytimes” trend that’s been popping up every so often across Australia. Their contribution: Golden Gaytime Burgers. With an ever-changing menu constantly churning out the likes of deep fried oreos and candy coated banana…

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TV Review: The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 3 “The Cell”

Last week’s “The Well” was a nice little break from the doom and gloom of a post-Negan world, but The Walking Dead isn’t just going to give us tigers and eccentric faux-kings as the crew attempt to build what is being pegged as their darkest and most emotional season yet. “The Cell” was very much…

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On the Shelf: Drambuie Scotch Whisky Liqueur

Just a few months ago Australia saw the official relaunch of a brand that has been inseparable from one of the most famous cocktails of all time. The whisky is Drambuie, the cocktail is The Rusty Nail – two names which when paired should conjure up scenes of a bygone era, of infamous New York…

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MTV Beats & Eats announces massive program: Steve Aoki, Burgers by Josh, Fratelli Fresh and more

MTV Australia aren’t messing around for their latest iteration of the successful Beats & Eats festival, which takes place down at Stuart Park in Wollongong on November 26th. After making an impressive debut on the festival circuit last year, the one day beachside event have scooped up bangers of both the music and food variety…

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Maybe Frank is giving away free unlimited pizza this week (Sydney)

Roman-style pizzeria Maybe Frank has been filling the former site of Surry Hills’ treasured Pizza Mario for one year now, keeping the location’s legacy alive and doing it absolute justice with some of the inner city’s best Italian. The menu boasts over 20 different pizzas with chef Lucio Cobino maintaining a very smooth, light texture…

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Sydney Fish Market set for big redevelopment and relocation

The Sydney Fish Market has long been an icon for the city and its ever-growing dining scene, standing proudly in Pyrmont with around 2.7 million visitors and shelling out 13,400 tonnes of seafood annually. Numerous redevelopments have been proposed for the long-standing site in the past, but for various reasons have never eventuated, that is…

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Sunday Sunset Sessions return to Fort Denison (Sydney)

Island dining destination Fort Denison Restaurant has nodding to the arrival of summer by bringing back their popular Sunday Sunset Session series, giving the public one of the best options possible for a day spent making full use of the island’s stunning views. From now until at least the end of January the series will…

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Taste Orange to bring harbourside wine festival to Barangaroo this month (Sydney)

Nestled in Barangaroo Reserve’s Nawi Cove will be a new iteration of Taste Orange set for later this month. The cool-climate food and wine festival dedicated completely to Orange has become best known around Sydney for its annual two-day celebration at Martin Place each September, and Barangaroo’s turn to host a new expression of the…

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Review: Method Man & Redman’s Sydney show proved that true legends will always be relevant in this game

“Relevance” is a confusing term when it’s applied to hip hop. Whenever I discuss the music I tend to switch off as soon as someone says “so and so isn’t relevant” – it’s the most overused word by those who lack the knowledge or familiarity with such a complex culture and art form (I’m not…

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Melbourne Good Food Month: hot chicken parties, banquet feasts, and more through November

Once again The Age Good Food Month brings the month-long food and drink festival down from Sydney to the world’s most livable city and its surrounds, tasking some of Victoria’s finest with more than 100 events designed to show off the best, most creative sides of the state’s lauded food and beverage scene. From today…

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Ume Burger opens on Barangaroo’s Wulugul Walk (Sydney)

If you to too have felt the pains and pangs of arriving to Kerby Craig’s wildly popular burger pop ups, which he began two years ago, only to hear the dreaded phrase “sold out” over and over again then you’d understand how long many have waited for the fine-dining chef to turn to burgers in…

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QT Gold Coast to host 48 hour immersive art series Hotelling

Offbeat, charming and brimming with character are the most apt descriptions when thinking about QT Hotels & Resorts; anyone who has been a guest at one of their properties around the globe would tell you that broad thinking and artful design have come to define the chain, evidenced by Australian iterations like QT Gold Coast,…

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TV Review: The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 2 “The Well” is a sharp contrast to last week’s nauseating premiere

“I found a way to deal with the bad by going a little bit overboard with the good”, explained affable new character King Ezekiel (portrayed brilliantly by Khary Payton) as he gave Carol an eye-widening, grounded explanation of false-hope and the necessity of leadership. That quote from this week’s “The Well” accurately captures what The…

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World first Coca-Cola Ginger launches in Australia

We’re fairly lucky in Australia as far as enormous food and drink brands go. The country is often treated as a testing ground for new products and flavours from the likes of McDonalds and Coca-Cola, with the latter especially coming through today. As such, Australians are now the first in the world to experience the…

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Saké Jr to open at Grosvenor Place by giving away 500 free DIY bowls (Sydney)

Saké Restaurant & Bar fast-casual spin-off is rapidly expanding, spreading her little wings to now include a third location within just three months of launching, this time opening up at Grosvenor Place’s piazza on the northern end of Sydney’s CBD. The expansion is part of a much larger plan from Urban Purveyor Group who have…

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Maui Jim add Tail Slide to their Australian collection ahead of summer

Long gone are the days when a cheap pair of sunnies from a local store could get you by. Unless they are for one-time use at a summer music festival, it’s quite a waste to be buying throwaway sunglasses every so often. With it now being very public knowledge that the benefits of a good…

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Review: Bouche on Bridge – CBD (Sydney)

Ex-Rockpool, ex-Marque chef Harry Stockdale-Powell and his business partner Emma Darrouzet have recently added a charming restaurant and bar, Bouche on Bridge to Sydney’s busy Bridge Street, a destination strip that’s no stranger to both high end and casual dining with some of the CBD’s best restaurants either lining the road or standing nearby. It’d…

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