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Having recently changed owners, Rumpus Room has a brand new menu and is full of new surprises. Visiting on a Friday night, I ordered a slew of dishes off Rumpus Room’s new menu, and everything was fresh and full of flavour. A visit to Rumpus Room is also an education in the world’s stinkiest fruit – durian. But if you’re risk averse to durian desserts, the Rumpus ice kacang is a safe bet.

Cremorne Reserve – running down the western side of Cremorne Point peninsula is a harbourside nature reserve that feels like a slip of paradise in the big smoke. Mosman Bay – heading north, you have the pretty Mosman Bay on your right and some epic Mosman mansions on your left – Track on past the historic Old Cremorne Wharf, around the bend in the bay, until you get to Mosman Bay Wharf on the other side. So if you’re anything like me, you’ll be calmed to know there are ample public toilets along this walking track, including here at Mosman Bay Wharf.

But in doing so, I pick up a tonne of food-filled knowledge and it’s only fair I share my latest learnings: Saké launches new gin bowls at The Rocks and Double Bay restaurants The new Observatory Bar in Millers Point is LUXE Continuing on the booze slinger theme, there’s a new bar in town and it shoots for the stars. Well it’s got new owners, a new menu and a new offering that’s really quite unique, as I recently discovered. The Smoking Panda – you know, the tiny city bar tucked above Hotel Coronation on Park Street – has just launched a new drinks menu, and classic cocktails are the show-stealing star.

At Izu Village Restaurant, come try a traditional, all-you-can-eat hot pot experience, dunking delicate meats in a sizzling pot of broth. Last week, Zomato invited me to check out Izu Village, a traditional Japanese hot pot restaurant in the Town Hall-end of Sydney’s CBD. The situation at Izu is for $48 (lunch) or $68 (dinner) you get to order as many meats, noodles, sushi, sides and desserts as you can stomach in 90 minutes. The sweet broth of 13 kinds of stewed vegetables and grilled marrow bone, mixed with a free range egg, complements the meats and noodles like tonic does gin.