This is a cheap, cheerful Thai eatery. Service is friendly and food comes fast so it's great for a quick lunch. There are some tables out the back for those who want al fresco dining :) The chicken pad thai is really good (the pad thai with satay sauce is also popular)...you also get to gawk at the chef while he cooks behind the counter.

Approximate cost: $10

Technically in the Kings Cross suburb (WOMOW doesn't have an entry for Kings Cross!). Tomatillo serves yummy Mexican food and they're generous with portions. The fish tacos and vegetarian tortillas are good...their buffalo wings not so much (they count half-wings as 2 pieces) A friend swears the best feature here is their global tequila menu (I haven't verified this yet!)

Approximate cost: $15

A small cafe that serves excellent coffee. Went for brunch here with a friend - standard breakfast fare...not bad, not great. On the other hand, my friend liked their ristretto so much she ordered 2.

Approximate cost: $10

Been here twice for coffee but I thought it was pretty bad both times...the milk was burnt and the coffee was weak. But they always seem to be pretty busy so they've got to be doing something right...

I thought this place was good the last time I was here (bout 2 years ago) but the quality's gone down a bit since. My friend ordered the nasi lemak and I got the claypot lor mee. The waitress refused to let my friend swap the chicken curry (comes with the nasi lemak) with beef rendang. His verdict: stingy with the curry, rice wasn't 'coconut-ty' enough but the sambal was good. My claypot lor mee was quite tasty if a little greasy. For dessert, he got the chendol while I had the hot milk tea. He said the chendol had too much coconut milk that overwhelmed everything else...he could barely make a dent in it.

Approximate cost: $15

The other dumpling restaurant in Ashfield - right next door to New Shanghai, SN is easily confused with its slightly more cleaner rival. I like the dumplings here a little more (thinner skin and don't seem to break as easily) but their beef noodles are bad. Tough, chewy and dry. So I guess NS has the edge over this place since their other food is pretty good as well.

Approximate cost: $12

I'd heard good things about the Malaysian food here but I was a little underwhelmed...expectations were probably too high. Nevertheless, it serves reasonably authentic Malaysian - I had the fish curry. Generous serving of rice in stark contrast to the small bowl of curry. Don't forget the self-serve sambal at the counter - delicious. Overall, not too bad for a quick meal.

Approximate cost: $10

I love having coffee and cake here. Cosy atmosphere with beautiful cakes. The coffee is good and the chai tea is even better. A huge draw is that they actually bake the cakes (vs. the generic catered cakes you get at a lot of other cafes) and the chai is home brewed as well.

We decided on Grub & Tucker for brunch - their menu looked interesting. My friend had the smoked mackerel, which he said was excellent. Since I was craving meat, I ordered the lamb burger. My lamb came out well-done even though I'd asked for medium-rare...but this was forgotten as soon as I tasted the relish/chutney on the burger. Absolutely droolworthy, it was the highlight of the dish. The food was great overall and service was friendly.

Approximate cost: $15

A middle-of-the-road Chinese restaurant, serving the usual noodles and rice dishes. But it's a nice place to meet up for a meal with friends as the food comes fast and is actually quite good (the sampan congee was disappointing though - tiny serving with barely anything inside; the one plate rice dishes were much better). Staff are accommodating...they let us order the lunch special at 4pm even though it ends at 3pm.

Approximate cost: $8