Assiette: Surry Hills

I like food and I like cooking, and I'm a bit over restaurants that serve dishes where I pay $30-$40 for something I could probably have 'plated up' myself. Just as every second person thinks they can cook, in Sydney it seems every second 'cook' thinks they're a 'chef'.

But the food at Assiette is worth every cent (even if the rock oysters are $4 each) ... it's interesting both to look at and to eat. You'll leave feeling you've had a proper night out (rule of thumb: the cost of the babysitter was worth it).

Chef  Warren Turbull -- another Banc graduate -- is an expat Kiwi, which I think shows up in the meatiness (literally) of the menu. I loved my pork assiette, but vegetarians might need to investigate the menu further or call the kitchen ahead.