Stopover in Sydney - Day one (lunching and dancing)

Tags

Australia, burgers, Food, friends, Micky's Cafe, outdoor dancing, Paddington, sheperd's pie, Surry Hills Festival, Sydney, thickshakes, travel

My first trip to Australia was in 2008.  At that time, V lived in the Paddington area.  On the last evening of my 2008 trip, V really wanted me to try two places – Harry’s Meat Pies and Micky’s Cafe.  I remember meeting with V after she got off work and then heading over to enjoy a meat pie.  V taught me how to eat a meat pie without a mess.

Australia trip 2008 – Harry’s Meat Pie

After sharing a Harry’s meat pie, we wandered back to the Paddington area for dinner part 2 at a diner close to V’s place – Micky’s Cafe.  Perhaps because the meat pie — though shared — was quite filling and I was already sick, I was unable to finish my tasty-looking shepherd’s pie.  I was determined that my next trip to Sydney would include dining at Micky’s (again).

Australia trip 2008 – thickshakes

Australia trip 2008 – fish burger and chips

Australia trip 2008 – shepherd’s pie

Fast forward to my Australia trip of 2012, V asked me if there were any restaurants I wanted to go to or foods I wanted to eat.  Aside from the dumplings at Nan Tien Temple, K’s homemade lasagna and V’s homemade dumplings, I also wanted to go back to Micky’s Cafe.

After our girls’ getaway, V and I left the food and sights of Melbourne and flew back to Sydney.  K was waiting for us at the airport and from there our next stop was Micky’s Cafe in Paddington.

Micky’s Cafe in Paddington

thickshakes and smoothie

sliders

sliders and salad

shepherd’s pie – still looks as good as 2008

my burger and fries

close-up of burger

Maybe it was because my memory was grasping at the meal from four years ago that my expectations for Micky’s had grown with time.  The thickshakes were still satisfying… but things felt a bit different in Micky’s itself.  Was it the service?  It wasn’t extraordinary (especially after having been through exceptional service in Melbourne) but it wasn’t bad.  Maybe the food?  The food was okay.   I must admit that it didn’t blow me away as it had even after a meat pie meal in 2008.  Almost a little …  disappointing.  I suppose that is the disadvantage to having some expectations.  I must say that my burger bun was really, really dry.

After our meal at Micky’s Cafe and we headed over to the Surry Hills Festival.  We wandered through the stalls, tried some snacks and drinks along the way and settled down to watch the entertainment on the main stage.  At first, it was just a matter of sitting on the grass, basking in the warmth of the afternoon sun, listening to the band play and watching the background singers dancing on stage.  It didn’t take long for the African band to get the audience on their feet and join in the dancing.  Afterall, how can you turn down a request when the band tells you that we feed off each other’s energy to build a party atmosphere?  Yes, those zumba moves I learned in zumba class suddenly came in handy.

waiting for the next band at the Surry Hills Festival

Surry Hills Festival

the dancing starts…

…and soon everyone was on their feet dancing!

Dancing in the park on a sunny October afternoon in Sydney, what a great way to enjoy a Saturday! 

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