Miss America's Diner, Riverwood

It’s hard to miss the violent display of Americana that is Miss America’s Diner – a cafe turned diner for a few nights a week. Riverwood isn’t the first suburb to spring to mind for pop-ups but hey, I’m not complaining. A pop-up diner is a pop-up diner. There’s brightly colored vinyl table covers, American flags, and a white picket fence. Unsurprisingly, the menu is filled with burgers, hot dogs (or dawgs in this case), sundaes, and pie.

Ippudo, Sydney

There’s nothing quite like slurping a bowl of piping hot noodle soup on a chilly, gloomy day. Located in Westfield Sydney, Ippudo is perfect for those days when you’re hungry mid-shop but you don’t want to venture outside in the torrential rain. It’s very popular with shoppers and those who just want to try some of Ippudo’s famous ramen or compare it to the original.

Masu Izakaya, Sydney

Dixon St and its surrounds are any Sydney-siders go-to when they want Asian food, don’t want to blow a small hole in their pocket, but haven’t totally decided what they want to eat. Masu Izakaya is at the far end (opposite fried chicken favorite, Arisun) and is the only place in this part of town doing it izakaya-style. It’s pretty obvious that yakitori (grilled chicken skewers) is their drawcard because as you walk in, you’re immediately greeted with the sight of a chef quickly turning over skewers on a charcoal fire.

Butter, Surry Hills

Julian Cincotta is a Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year award winner creating a world of sneakers, fried chicken, rap/hip hop and champagne at Butter. It’s like he was throwing around ideas with some of the award’s previous winners (ahem, Dan Hong, Mitch Orr) and said “you know what would be awesome…” I’d be happy here with some slushies and the Nas tracks of my youth.