I don’t quite know what it is about me and Greek food but I adore it. Greek yogurt is my favourite type of yogurt, Halloumi is one of my favourite cheese and Taramosalata is also one of my favourite dips and don’t even get me started on Dolmades or Baklava which are a complete addiction for me. So this Friday night I am anxious. I am crossing from the North Shore to the Inner West during a heinously busy Friday night peak hour. My father was at the helm and we were running frightfully late – not helped by the traffic and my father’s unfamiliarity with the North and Inner West. When I finally get there I am greeted by Davis Tsirekas’s smiling face from the window of the busy kitchen. “Hello darling! Welcome!” he says. He lets me know that they’ve thoughtfully held the hot food (thanks guys!) until I got there.

Perama’s Head Chef: David Tsirekas

It’s a Tweetup arranged by Fridley and consists of hand picked bloggers and a few other tweeters. He and David have planned a special banquet for us tonight. For $50 we get the regular banquet menu plus all wine as well as a range of other courses. David will just keeping cooking things and sending them out to us until we tell him to stop (which is just music to my ears and stomach).

Course 1: Dips (Taramasalata, Tzatziki, Splt Pea). Pic by Betty’s Bites

Warned by many to pace myself for the onslaught of courses to come, I help myself to just a little bit of dip although they are all delicious, particularly the Taramasalata and the creamy Tzatziki which tops all other tzatzikis. David strains the already strained yogurt again and balances it with olive oil which gives it that creamy texture. There’s also smoked eggplant, split pea dip and olive paste which I didn’t get to try.

Course 2:Greek Salad

I have had far too many bad Greek salads in my life, so much so that I don’t usually order them. This is an  exception with the creamy feta, spanish onion, fat olives and tomatoes telling you why the salad is so popular.

Course 3:Pickled octopus

Course 4: Pickled mushrooms

Course 5: Pickled cabbage

They’re all lovely pickles but the octopus has to be my favourite. But I didn’t eat too many of the pickles because I knew there was more to come and this was just the start.

Course 6: Zucchini fritters

The moist zucchini fritters signal a start to the hot dishes and the excitement to come.

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Moo!

Egg judging

I was looking forward our visit to the Sydney Royal Easter Show with great anticipation. The last time I went was when I purchased a Wonder Woman showbag which gives you an indication of just how many years ago that was. I remember the showbag clearly and the headband, name tag, bracelet and other assorted goodies that made me my own pint sized version of Wonder Woman. This was of course when it was still housed at Moore Park. I haven’t been since it moved to Olympic Park.

Although I love traveling by the comfort of car, venturing out there by train is easy and it’s fairly straightforward and relatively quick. Before long we’re standing in front of this enormous swell of people and contemplating our first move like seasoned chess players. Volunteers are handing out copies of maps with some vouchers on the back so we make sure to get one of those so that we can get our bearings. Food of course is priority, but then again so is the many other things that I’ve scheduled courtesy of the show planner on the Easter Show website. Sure some of the things are lower on the priority list (chook washing I could probably give a miss) but some things are too iconic (woodchopping and the ingestion of Dagwood Dogs) or too adorable (the many farm animals) to miss.

Wood chopping

Our first stop is the Woolworths Fresh Food dome. It’s huge, about the size of the Good Food and Wine Show and full of exhibitors peddling their goods. Samples are a little rarer than at other events but most things are available for purchase and most things are discounted from the retail price.

The Chili Factory’s range of chili from mild to frighteningly scary

We try some ferociously hot chili – if you dare, try the 10 out of 10 heat one although a word of warning, try it very sparingly!

My Little Cupcake’s stand

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After our delicious journey back in time at the Oceanic Cafe where we emerged to the sights and sounds of 2009, Queen Viv could sense my excitement and suggested that we follow up our meal at Oceanic with a visit to New York restaurant in Kings Cross at a later date. A similar concept to the Oceanic Cafe, New York restaurant is a restaurant serving traditional Australian/English meals at very reasonable prices to a loyal community. I was more than happy to, the only problem was that they were closed over Christmas until January 19th (I only found out the opening date as the owner happened to answer the phone while he was there). I rang up on the 19th to book a table for 4 the Saturday after only to be told by the friendly owner Paul “Oh darling, we  don’t take reservations” and then he asked my name and I answered “Lorraine” and he said “OK Lorraine, I look forward to meeting you!”. Wow, friendly folk indeed!

We’re supposed to meet Queen Viv and Miss America at 7pm this Saturday night but we are late-by half an hour (arrgh since when did Kings Cross become a 1hour parking only zone?). Queen Viv calls us to ask where we are-the maitre’d is enquiring about our lateness. Of course we don’t realise why. It’s because the New York restaurant closes at 8pm! On Kellet Street in Kings Cross, it’s located between two brothels.

Rushing in, we order quickly. I go straight to the Chef’s specialties where I order the crumbed lamb cutlets, my husband orders the chicken schnitzel and Queen Viv and Miss America both order the beef sausages. There is a note which makes us grin: “Minimum order $3.50″. For good measure we also get a glass of orange cordial for 70c and an entree bowl of soup for 80c. Items are divided into old fashioned sections such as “Cold Collations” and there’s even an oyster section with the cheapest item being Light Gold Toast for 40c.

We look around. There are groups of mostly men, of various ages although mostly senior citizens. One is so enamoured of his chop that he picks up the whole thing (about the size of a plate) and eats it with his hands. There’s also younger men, including two fashionable young men and one dashingly handsome guy. A real mix that has us intrigued. As it’s busy some of the men share a table and exchange greetings.

We scarcely have time to observe our fellow diners as everything arrives quickly. We ask Jeff the maitre’d if it is ok to take photos-he is intimidating looking with his tattoos but he smiles broadly and spreads his hands out and says “Of course, no problems at all” and tells us that we are free to take any photos we like and that fellow diners won’t mind at all. In fact it’s most hospitable reaction we’ve had. He tells us that the New York restaurant has been around for about 50 years, and at this location for 17 years.

Orange Cordial 70c

Vegetable soup 80c

Crumbed Lamb cutlets $10

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