Hugo's Manly Beach NSW

The popular tasting plate, with touches of Italian styled veal and pork meatballs; Mediterranean cheese, salmon belly carpaccio with a lime dressing and fennel salad; Aussie barbie calamari with rocket and aioli; and sheer raw Sydney Rock oysters with a twist of lemon.

For a capital city restaurant, Hugos at Manly Wharf has a perfect location, mostly perfect weather and the smell of the oceans wafting in. The staff are friendly and try hard, even on a busy afternoon leading up to the Christmas week. Colours surrounding our table were intense, deep hues of everything, mixed with a brightness and tropicalness anyone would want on a holiday trip.  Our trip was just on the commercial run Manly FastFerry, with a certain striking cleanliness and staff engagement not often found in the Government run services from Circular Quay in Sydney CBD.  The restaurant has tables mainly under a covered out deck, with access to the benign looking sandy beach already filled up with sun tanners, water soakers and people literally watching the world go by.  There were not too many sea  gulls around the day I last visited , perhaps they had flown off for their festive break.

There is a strong spectrum of beers , wines and spirits at the bar. Tables are mostly with long benches, casual, but provided with the frills and whistles of fine dining, not too beach like but we had a terrific location with access to wooden pier walks, sea looking rails and the nearby Norfolk Pines of Manly Beach beckoning us to another time, another place.  Hugos here is  terrific place to watch sunrise, or just the ferries and other sea going vehicles arriving into the calm bay.  The restaurant is surrounded by a myriad of other retail choices and it can be fun taking a walk or dipping your toes into the sand or water.  You can arrive there also by public bus or private vehicle.  Hugo's menu epitomises the best of the South Pacific, the traditions of Italian cuisine  and the farms of mainland Australia.  The key item is fish - this is logical as Pete Evans is one for the brothers behind this business.  I would recommend the pork belly and for pizzas, the veg version, or the one with chocolate and hazelnut.

Grilled barramundi served with a carefully made potato mush bath of peas in gravy.

There are related lounge and pizza bars in Sydney CBD, and also at Bondi Beach and in Melbourne, but to me this Manly site is my preferred outlet. Melbournians wanting a change from the alley way chic in their city would find a refreshing blast of fresh ocean breeze here.  I return for the angel hair pasta with tuna,capers, Parmesan and chill; pan fired ocean trout with a warm salad mix that includes quail egg; fresh fig salad with proscuitto and buffalo mozzarella; and there beetroot and baby heirloom carrot salad with goats curd, sour cherries and walnuts in an orange dressing.

Crispy polenta chips are also available with truffled Parmesan. A lighter option would be the rocket with pear and Parmesan.

Two of the owners of the Hugos Group are chefs themselves. Kids are made to feel welcome and busy with coloured pencils.  The staff are generally cheerful but the crowds can provide a noisy background.  Pizzas are a celebratory item here, but you can understand why when you realise that many football club fans, surfs, twenty somethings and easy going DINKs hang around and congregate here to relax. An innovative concept at Hugos Manly is there afternoon deck menu, available from 3pm top 6pm.  Their cheese board and dessert wines are worth checking out, with offerings of French Le Coutances, Irish Crozier Blue and Victorian Maffra Cheddar.

Enmore - Sydney NSW

Friands, snails, Danishes and Portuguese tarts - the effect of multiculturalism in an Enmore bakery.

The familiar standard bearer of the Enmore Hotel still stands sentinel at a busy traffic junction.

A  strikingly coloured Vespa on the side of the Great Aunty Three, with smaller servings of noodle soup, the expected banh mi rolls and a buzzing but small customer space.

Enmore has a different train line and may be viewed as Newtown's lesser cousin - but it is worth an easy half day's checking out.  You may then find yourself frequenting some quaint, unique and loveable places to hang out, casually, instinctively and naturally.  It is a kind of suburb that grows on a person's psyche, dopes not require much fuss and what thinks about when seeking a change.  If you reside there it provides a village atmosphere. There is entertainment, off the cuff brunches and breakfasts and the fav bar. As its location is outside Sydney centre, it embraces the best and worst of a capital city life, unless you find yourself saying hello to the same people in gigs, afternoon beer sessions or in intimate dinners. For a relatively small suburb, there are choices to go which suits your mood and urge - whether it is Young Henry's, at nearby Wilford Street,  with head brewer Richard Adamson; or checking out how Jason Saxby heads the delivery and finesse at Osteria di Russo & Russo, reminding one of an old styled Italian house lounge; or feeling the buzz at the Bravo Coffee entrance; or obtaining alternative menus at Revolution Foods; and more.  The streets may look drab and ordinary at times, but it is the people and their creativity expressed that makes Enmore today.

In the inner sanctum - the Shenkin Kitchen. "If it's not made with Love, we don't make it" - and it shows.

Old style and look good cookies that can romanticise a bakery front.

Having vibes of an inner city suburb, Enmore has good transport links, a village atmosphere and sprouting of delightful lifestyle choices.

The Drift Cafe - Corrimal NSW

The escarpment of the Illawarra is not far away on a new concept cafe along Princes Highway in Corrimal, ten minutes north of Wollongong CBD by car.

The Drift offers an innovative menu in breads, juices, rolls and fuller lunch and breakfast options.

Fried egg over bruschetta, with bacon, dipping sauce and fresh greens.

With shades of seaside cabins, little touches of colour and smiling family staff, the Drift has a space that is bright, inviting and buzzing.

Yummy - poached egg with mushrooms and rocket on a sourdough.

The Breakkie rush - with banana, yogurt, oats, honey, cinnamon and milk

One of the specials in its second week of business - black rye  encapsulating ham slices, tomato and a yummy bite.

One of my local cafes - The Drift is sited at 244 Princes Highway, Corrimal NSW 2518.  This si about 15 minutes drive north of Wollongong CBD. The cafe is open everyday except on Tuesdays for breakfast, brunch and lunch, closing between 3 and 4pm.