Sydney

Stir Crazy Thai
Shop 5, 1 Broughton Street, Kirribilli
(02) 9922 6620

Tiny cramped loud canteen-style place serving huge portions of delicious spicy food. BYO alcohol, and don't expect a leisurely pace - you will be handed the bill as soon as the last mouthful off food is eaten. Cheap and well worth the walk across the Harbour Bridge.

Nick's Seafood Restaurant
The Promenade, Cockle Bay Wharf, Sydney
(02) 9264 1212
www.nicks-seafood.com.au

Nick's at Cockle Bay Wharf is one of half a dozen restaurants in Sydney owned by the same group. The focus here is on fresh seafood. The restaurant is pretty large and can suffer a bit from large family and work parties in the evenings. But there is ample outdoor dinig with views of Darling Harbour (a great place to people-watch) and the service is excellent. The crab ravioli starter is sublime, the seafood chowder is OK but not the most fantastic in the world, the vongole and crab meat pasta is wonderful but filling, and the fresh grilled fish (any fish) is fantastic. I have never eaten anything but seafood here, but they do have other dishes on the menu.

Jordon's Seafood
197 Harbourside, Darling Harbour
(02) 9281 3711
www.jordonsrestaurant.com.au

A bit of a Sydney institution, Orlando and I dined here years ago, on the famous three-tiered seafood platter. Last time I tried the bouillabaisse even though my waitress said it was "too big for a female to eat". And it was: an enormous platter of shellfish and other seafood, the centrepiece being a huge steamd crab. Delicious, but don't eat for two days beforehand. The fish and chips here are pretty good too.