The September Hit List: Shaffa, Casa Merida, Damascus, Don’t Doughnuts, and More

Shaffa in Surry Hills has always held a unique position in Sydney’s dining scene (literally): it sits between a 19^th century inn and a 120-year-old church and aims to channel the atmosphere of a Tel Aviv market. While Sydney’s in lockdown, chef/owner Erez Nahum is offering Shaffa Shabbat Boxes with a bit of flexibility – they’re available on the customary Friday, but you can preorder them for Saturdays, too. They’re stocked with challah bread, green tahini, Moroccan matbucha and much more, and there’s an option to expand your haul by adding on halva Basque cheesecake and Shaffa’s signature breadless ‘Almost Sabich’ with charred eggplant. Plus, you can already put in your request for its Jewish New Year menu: Rosh Hashanah boxes are available for pick up and delivery right now.

While the fate of beloved Sydney institution Golden Century might be up in the air, you can still try its signature creation – the XO pipis that Momofuku’s David Chang famously said was one of the world’s best dishes – at its sister restaurant XOPP. You can get it takeaway, along with other XOPP menu favourites, like the typhoon shelter cauliflower and the potato wedges with salted egg yolk, or cook it at home, via Providoor’s delivery service, along with XOPP’s seafood and edamame san choy bow, black pepper prawns and garlic butter lobster with e-fu noodles.

Named after Yucatán’s capital, Casa Merida promises not to be like any other Mexican restaurant in Sydney. The new venture from Milpa Collective (aka Pablo Galindo Vargas and the team behind Calita, Carbon and Taqiza) is dedicating its menu to Mayan cuisine from this region. It’s a bold move to launch a new restaurant during Sydney’s lockdown (Casa Merida currently has a scheduled opening date of September 8), but Milpa Collective is going all in on rolling out new venues: Santa Catarina is due to bring its Oaxacan menu to Sydney’s CBD in late September, with Londres 126 meant to open its doors in October (its name is a tribute to Frida Kahlo’s address in Mexico City and will be inspired by the capital’s cuisine). Keep an eye out for their lockdown-friendly offerings when they launch.

Your sugar rush is well taken care of at Don’t Doughnuts. The dessert joint is run by award-winning Filipino pastry chef Miko Aspiras and Michelin Dapo (from Filipino-inspired ice-cream maker, Manila St.) The duo opened their doughnut shop just before this latest lockdown, and you can support this new Darlinghurst addition via delivery and takeaway: fill your shopping cart with its signature Basque burnt cheesecake flavour, or other playful creations: a “Chocolate Fon-Don’t” featuring a half-baked chocolate cake, a “Garam Marsala” spiced number, an adventurous Vegemite butterscotch doughnut and perhaps you’ll want to wash everything down, Filipino-style, with an ube shake.

Trade wars and a drop in overseas demand has seen lobsters go from a baller purchase to something that’s surprisingly affordable. This inspired Bart Jr’s George Woodyard to put lobster rolls on her eatery’s menu as a special; after quite a queue at the venue and an avalanche of social media requests (and in-person begging), she’s added it as a permanent edition. Act quickly though, preorders can sell out in record speed. With the neighbourhood bar adapting to lockdown restrictions by transforming into its ‘Bart Mart’ takeaway shop, you can take advantage by ordering ‘date night’ packs for two, complete with orange and polenta cake and jarred cocktails (smokey margaritas, anyone?), or its smoked tomato, pumpkin and eggplant lasagne or pork and beef Bolognese equivalent with taleggio béchamel.

If the five-kilometre travel restrictions mean you can’t get near the beach, you can still channel the coastline with Fich’s sustainable seafood menu. There’s the beloved ‘Fich’ and chips, prawn cocktails, oyster selection and other dishes that evoke the sand and sea. Also available: the famous Portuguese tarts from neighbouring Petersham icons, Sweet Belem. There’s also the Fich catering menu if you want to have a big feast at home, or stock up for an outdoor picnic when restrictions ease.

Jovan Curic has returned to Pub Life Kitchen – after four years away – and he’s offering a takeaway menu that has a deeply personal touch. Yes, there are the burgers that he’s become quite famous for, but there are also dishes that reflect his Serbian heritage. There’s dry-aged cevapi served with pickled onions, mustard and chips, as well as pasulj, the white bean and pork stew that Curic would eat at traditional kafana (bistros) while travelling in Belgrade; it was also a familiar fixture at home, something his dad would cook in gigantic 20-litre pots. It’s served here with a bracing cabbage side salad and fresh baguette (a deviation from the stale bread his father liked to consume with pasulj).

Sixpenny’s General Store pandemic pivot has gained a reputation for its long queues – Sydney’s interest in this three-hatted restaurant’s pastries, bread and sandwiches is huge. You can skip the lines by preordering its fermented potato and onion loaf, strawberry, champagne and cream cake and other wonders from the Sixpenny oven. And good news, Sixpenny has just added a delivery option for whole cakes, so you have a good excuse to splurge on that Russian honey and black truffle cake or banana, maple and coconut dessert to see you through lockdown.

This Japanese cafe specialises in excellent single-origin tea (ask for the hojicha or the gyokuro) and ace brunch options to match. At Fuminori Bun Fukuda and Eriko (Ellie) Fukuda’s eatery, you should opt for the “Asagohan” breakfast, which features tamagoyaki (egg omelette), tsukemono (pickles), kobachi (marinated vegetables) and grilled salmon or fried mushrooms to go with your furikake-sprinkled rice. Katsu sandwiches, soba salads, matcha biscuits and seaweed-seasoned chips are other examples of its Japanese-focused menu.

The latest COVID outbreak and the lockdown that followed has hit some eateries especially hard. Syrian refugee Talal Almardoud opened his Damascus Restaurant in May and, once lockdown rolled around just over a month later, found there were days when he was receiving no orders at all. Thanks to word of mouth and media coverage, his business has gained a bigger audience. His takeaway menu includes sizzling kafta, Aleppo-style, shish barak (dumplings), chicken shish tawook (skewers), fried cauliflower with tahini sauce and Middle Eastern breakfast staples to start your day with (like sujuk with eggs).