It’s no secret I’m fascinated by American food and food from the South is particularly tempting to me. So when Teena discovered South in Neutral Bay last year she and Gina, Hot dog and Philippe joined Mr NQN and I for a meal there that we really enjoyed (the ribs-oh those ribs!). Sure it was tiny and we mean tiny, with a Tabasco sauce mural, a possum above an awning inside and appealed to the kitsch in me. It was at times hard to get a booking at. So when I had heard South’s owner Leo was opening up a new place called Blue Plate Bar & Grill I knew we had to visit which we did one Saturday night. And it’s nothing like I expected.

I was tipped off by a friend that had dined there that it was fancier than South but when I walk through the heavy wooden doors I see that it is probably the polar opposite of South in terms of decor. There are chandeliers, heavy flocked curtains, an oyster bar and inside it sparkles. A Blue Plate special is a special of the day usually served at a diner so I had expected well… a diner. Even though it doesn’t look like a diner, sure enough on a mirror there are the blue plate specials of the day with a different special for each day of the week.

It’s Saturday and the special of the day is Surf and Turf with a steak topped with a whole Alaskan crab leg for the very reasonable price of $27. Prices are very similar or the same as South and the food-well it’s the same down home cooking, just with more “North” options and in a much fancier setting. The bar is busy and they serve Mint Juleps should you be in the mood for some Southern cocktails.

Catfish Bites $14

Hot dog orders the catfish bites and they come with a mustardy remoulade sauce. They’re coated in cornmeal and deep fried which gives it that extra crunch on the outside but the catfish fillets are moist and soft inside.

Philly Cheesesteak $16

Now I’ve always been a bit obsessed with these for no reason than that they look so obscene and I love melted cheese. It’s essentially a scotch fillet steak that has been thinly sliced and cooked with mushrooms and brown onion and topped with lashings of cheese. It’s enormous and when paired with the generous serve of fries you could happily eat just  this and be very full. The hoagie submarine bread roll is burnished on the outside with a slight sweetness, kind of like a cross between a bread roll and a brioche. It’s good and I slather a bit of  tomato sauce on top and proceed to polish off my half.

Po’ Boy $18

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It was our last night in Austria and it was a sad time as we were at the end of our whirlwind trip to the land of The Sound of Music, Mozart and Christmas Markets. To toast our final night we start the evening with some cake and a liqueur beverage. The kuchen at The Grand, sister hotel of The Ring where we are staying, is well known and I eagerly try a piece. It’s lovely and moist and not at all with a dusting of icing sugar on top.

I also try one of their drinks which is generous with booze and warming. I was too overwhelmed with trying to take photos in the dark room to write down what it was called though-oops!

We then move onto the place of our last meal in Vienna, Kulinarium 7 which is an example of modern Austrian food. It’s headed by two young chefs, one of them being Max Aichinger born in Barcelona of Japanese parentage and Richard Leitner. Its a modern wine bar and shop as well as restaurant and there are large share tables. A man nurses a glass of wine facing the window and types on his laptop while other small groups share meals and wines.

Operator Philipp Prodinger shows us the wines in the cellar

Amuse bouche: Cream of cauliflower soup in a test tube

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