RISE is under new management for 2 years and offered a 2 year anniversary special degustation menu for just $36. With this value you won’t expect there is much exciting stuff but the menu is filled with management’s sincerity.

The menu is extremely simple and plain.

Chicken spring roll with "gochujang " & "hoisin" sauce

Clear soup with prawn tempura & tofu

Assorted today's sashimi

Spicy tuna tartare in wonton cup, Cured salmon with spiced mayo, Soft shell crab sushi roll

Grilled scallop & bucatini pasta with coconut cream sauce

Duck confit, mushroom spring rolls & chinese vegetables with "zahsai" sauce

Panncacotta with persimmon granita

Although it is not luxurious, it is still a scrumptious menu. However I particularly not fancy any restaurants that is close to Darlinghurst or King Cross area, as finding parking is extremely difficult.

Cine is an Italian café style restaurant located in the Fox Studio complex. The menu is really quite general. I was quite impressed by the pasta section where the selection covers quite a wide range. One of mains that caught my attention was the veal backstrap with beetroot puree and sweet potato chips.

It is a very common menu but it is definitely worth the visit.

Suminoya is quite hard to find. It is in Martin Place but you just can’t get there, as the only way is through a little side alley and walk down the lane.

It is a very nice place for Korean/Japanese style BBQ, especially in a rainy cold winter day.

It’s the Italian festival time and therefore we decided to have fun with the Italians as well. Of course with celebrations you never ended up with an empty stomach and a chilling winter night is best warmed up by a wood-fire pizza.

Ventuno is one of the participating restaurants of the Italian festival and has this $25 pizza and drinks deal (one pizza and one wine/beer). I must say the pizzas are not as creative as I thought. However it is still a nice hot pizza in a winter night. Luckily the company I had compensated most of my disappointment.

I guess next time I would rather have the pasta.

Bugalo has a ‘all you can eat’ mussels lunch under $25 on Tuesday. It is similar to the Belgium Café with a big Belgium pot filled with mussels cooked in the style of your choice. You can reorder as many as you can but you need to finish a whole pot before order the next one. We went there for a team lunch and all of us can only finished 2 pots. However the record is nine. Try to beat that yourself.