Rozelle Markets

Rozelle Markets bills itself as "Sydney's favourite second hand market"; without wanting to sound disparaging, and perhaps I was there on an off day, it's neither as well-stocked and high-quality as Glebe Markets nor as interesting as Marrickville Markets. There was nothing I wanted to buy, but there was a quite astonishing assortment of items on display, much of which was probably never going to sell. The stallholders were nice, though, and if I'd been hungry I might have been tempted by har gow, my favourite dim sum, pictured below.

Clipper Café

The Clipper Café is at 16 Glebe Point Road (in an increasingly popular strip that includes La Banette Pâtisserie). It has a faintly nautical feel to its decor and long shared tables inside. On a half-sunny Saturday morning, it was incredibly busy, but we were lucky enough to find a free table outside. Just inside, my eye was caught by someone else's plate: an indulgent-loooking concoction of pancake, ricotta, banana, strawberry and caramel which apparently tasted as good as it looks (below). I had perfectly cooked poached eggs on a bed of home-made baked beans with haloumi; D had baked eggs and lamb sausages with a spinach and tomato sauce. The coffee was excellent, the service snappy, and the sun shone: what could be better?

Ambar

Ambar is at 19 Martin Place in the Sydney CBD. A lunchtime venue for people in suits (including me), it's situated in a bright, spacious, 1960s-influenced location with other restaurants and bars: swooping lines and curves are everywhere, seating is in the open air, early afternoon sunshine brightens the tables, and the food is fast and tasty. Below: linguini with tuna and peas, and my choice, king prawns with garlic pasta. I stirred in some bright red chilli sauce as an optional extra; thus enlivened, with fresh prawns curled up just begging to be eaten, it really was a very nice dish.