Oliver Brown, Chatswood

Chatswood has long lacked late night dining and dessert options. When Mamak opened a year ago there were high hopes that it would keep similar hours to its Chinatown original, but sadly that has still yet to become reality.

Win a Cuisinart ice-cream maker from Kitchenware Direct!

Although I can eat ice-cream in any kind of weather, my childhood memories of summer revolve around the trinity of ice-cream, stone fruits and berries. Memories of driving up the coast to a family friend’s orchard outside of Gosford – in one of my family’s successive second-hand cars without air-conditioning, legs and arms sticking to the vinyl seats, which would invariably result in an overheated radiator, us pulling up to the side of the highway and piling out of the car to stretch our legs – and returning with boxes full of peaches and mangoes collected from the base of trees as fruit which was deemed “unfit” for sale. The fruit would last us through the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, eaten hunched over the sink (me elevated by a footstool in order to reach said sink) with juices running down our arms and the corners of our mouths. Strawberries and cherries would appear in our kitchen around the same time, when they were at their cheapest and sweetest and back when these fruits were truly consumed seasonally as they couldn’t be found for sale at any other time of year.

Moo Gourmet Burgers, Manly

Summer is all about the sun, the beach, lazy afternoons and evenings, and possibly kicking back with some shakes and burgers. Sydney’s weather has been rather erratic of late, swinging from blistering heat to a mild winter chill in the space of only a couple of days. While we can't choose the weather, at least we can choose what food with which to feed ourselves and inject a dose of "beach" in the process. By that, of course, I don't mean liberally sprinkling some sand over your dinner, but by grabbing some burgers at a beachside location.

Bar Angolo

Diagonally opposite Kazbah at Top Ryde is an unassuming pizzeria with some of the best pizza I've ever had in Sydney. A big call, I know.

The evening starts off with a 'Rossini' of strawberry purée and prosecco as well as a tangy housemade lemonade blended with ice which, when consumed too quickly, offers an instant brain-freeze. An antipasto platter laden with salame, mozarella balls, prosciutto, bresaola, white anchovies, semi-dried tomato and Sicilian olives is shared between three – the only thing lacking being some bread to go with it.

Ichimaru

Sydney’s lower north shore is abundant in Japanese eats, which is quite serendipitous for Monsieur Poisson as it means he has easy access to his beloved cuisine on a whim’s notice. Ichimaru opened more than a few months ago now, and was stumbled across accidentally whilst on travels to seek out something else.

The gyoza are nothing to write home about, being of the deep-fried variety which I wish would be advertised explicitly on menus so that I could avoid ordering them as I’m a pan-fried purist. However the soft-shell crab salad proves to be excellent value – for $14 you are rewarded with two crabs which are a little on the heavily-battered side, but thankfully aren’t greasy. A mound of mixed greens and tomato wedges underneath help to make the dish a meal in its own right but the carrot threads, also seen later, are a little unnecessary.

El Loco, Mexicana Cantina Y Barra

A few consecutive days of searing heat and it appears that summer has finally settled in. This is the kind of weather where I don’t feel like cooking.

At all.

Cue: lazy snoozing on a deck chair/in a hammock in the shade by a private pool/beach and polite staff bringing you refreshing fruit-based drinks carried out on fancy silver trays. Perhaps a butler called Alfred (because, you know, they always seem to be called Aflred) to “fetch” you when dinner is ready...mmmm.

Firefly Lodge Lane Cove (again!)

The lure of good pizza, share plates of snack foods and ever-changing seasonal menus (not to mention easy parking) keep Monsieur Poisson and I coming back to Firefly for easy, casual meals. Combined with reasonable prices and the provision of Campos coffee has meant that we’ve also managed to convert a few friends to being frequenters as well.

The Tea Cosy, Irish Tea Room

After a rather filling breakfast, which was actually consumed at a normal breakfast hour (unusual for me), Monsieur Poisson and I ambled through the city admiring the stores and skipped lunch before heading down to The Rocks to meet Weirdo and Ms Sourdough for afternoon tea.

Specifically, for an afternoon tea of scones.