Revivals @ Heathrow

The directions to Revivals made it sound like it was miles away but it couldn't be further from the truth - in reality, take an elevator up one flight and turn right and you're there

Flight - VS201 Hong Kong to London

After a refreshing fruit salad and a couple of cooling drinks at the Upper Class lounge it was time to re-board the plane. Our amenities kit had been replenished and what had been a half-filled cabin was now just about full.

Flight - VS201 Sydney to Hong Kong

The train that took us from the domestic to the international terminal was a rather dodgy local train - aromatically challenged and graffiti ridden we were thankful that the trip was indeed 120 seconds long.

The Virgin Atlantic counter wasn't quite ready for check so we stopped for a refreshing drink at the Danks Street Cafe outlet - I managed to escape with just the loss of an arm after purchasing a couple of soft drinks.

Check in here was also very easy and the rest of the process was a breeze as we were given priority passes to see us through immigration and the rest. Before you knew it we were relaxing in the Virgin lounge which in Sydney is a shared facility with Air New Zealand.

We propped ourselves on a comfy sofa by the window right next to our gate - so we could see exactly when our plane arrived



And here it is

Flight - QF416 Melbourne to Sydney

Today is the start of a very long day - we fly from Melbourne to Sydney where we connect with another flight that will take us to London via Hong Kong. Having set our alarm for 5am we somehow manage to sleep through the buzzing, luckily we do manage to rouse ourselves voluntarily by 5.15am. That left us roughly an hour to finish our preparations before our taxi arrived. A little more rushed than we would have liked but in the end it proved just enough time.

At this time of the day, it is a pretty easy drive to Tullamarine and as we cross over the Bolte Bridge we savour our last views of Melbourne.

It's only been a couple of years since I flew domestic but the airport has changed a lot - self check-in terminals are everywhere, along with the queues to use them. We decide to go old style and check in with a human being, after all we can't ask the machine if the bags can be checked through all the way (the answer is no) - best of all there is no queue.

The Age Good Food Guide 2012

At times it felt like this was the Sydney Good Food Awards and like previous years, there has been some quite baffling decisions. This year, Attica joins Vue de Monde and Jacques Reymond with three hats and Royal Mail becomes the only 3 hatted regional restaurant.

"Vittoria Coffee" Restaurant of the Year

Attica

Regional Restaurant of the Year

Loam (awarded Best New Country Restaurant last year)

Citibank Chef of the Year

Dan Hunter (Royal Mail Hotel)

"The Age" Young Chef of the Year

Josh Murphy from Cumulus Inc

"Plumm Wine Glasses" Best New Restaurant

Golden Fields

Best New Regional Restaurant of the Year

Mr Carsisi

"Dan Murphy's" BYO Restaurant of the Year

Osteria la Passione

"Brown Brothers" Wine List of the Year

Spice Temple

Regional Wine List of the Year

Lake House

Best Short Wine List

Merricote

"Le Cordon Bleu" Professional Excellence Award

Neil Perry

"Virgin Australia" Service Excellence Award

Jason Lui from Flower Drum

Legend Award

Philippe Mouchel

"Champagne Louis Roederer" Sommelier of the Year

Bengt Baumgartner from The European

Donlevy Fitzpatrick Award

Geralds Bar

Dimmi Award for Innovation

TOYS Collective

"Lucky Beer" Dish of the Year

Barbecue Spare Ribs from Dandelion

Diner's Choice Award

Cutler & Co

Epicure Sustainability Award

Maurice Esposito

Onto the hats:

Roast Night @ Home Dining Room

Home Dining Room have been running a few dinner specials for a little while now - Tuesday is Steak Night and Wednesday is Roast Night (Ed - they have now introduced a Kids Menu Night on Thursday and Friday). The cuts of steak and the roasts change fairly frequently but when we heard that tonight Roast Pork would be on offer, we really couldn't resist.

We started with a couple of share dishes:

Prawns with lardons and smoked tomato broth