I don’t watch much commercial, free-to-air TV these days—it just really doesn’t interest me anymore—so I’m slightly out of the loop on some matters.

Imagine my surprise, then, when last night I witnessed an ad for Red Rooster fish and chips.

What the hell?

Firstly, isn’t the whole point of the fish-and-chip experience the unique blend of standardised menu items and Russian Roulette-style quality, depending on the particular shop?

But beyond that, if you’re really dying for a bit of greasy, cheap cullinary action, why support a Westpac-owned chain over a local, family-owned shop?

You want fish and chips? Support your local wogs, damnit!

As I already mentioned, I went to an African restaurant/cafe in Newtown last night called African Feeling.

I cannot recommend this place highly enough. The food, which we shared between us and yet sill had enough for leftovers, was absolutely delicious and came to only $42 (including two servings of coffee). The staff, meanwhile (who I think were a husband and wife who were also the owners) were really helpful and friendly as well, and happy to do whatever it took for us to have a great night out.

What we ate:

1. Snack Platter ($13.50; serves two): a combination of any three entrees. We had…
   1. African Cigar: “Sautéed minced beef with ground herbs wrapped in pastry”
   2. Yai Mchuzi: “Hard boiled eggs caked in a chicken minced perfection of herbs & spices”
   3. Vegetarian Pyramid: “Crushed carrots mixed in an array of herbs and spices and wrapped in pastry”
2. Egwein ($14.50; from West Africa, especially Sierra Leone and Nigeria): “Exotic sauce of black-eyed Beans cooked in palm oil, with tomatoes and seasonal vegetables”
3. Shinkafadugra ($3.00 per head): rice
4. Chapati ($3.00): unleavened bread
5. African coffee ($4.00): using coffee beans imported from Ethiopia

I can’t fault any of it, but the Vegetarian Pyramids were spectacular as was the Egwein.

The atmosphere, despite the restaurant being in a rather confined space, was really very effective. The one element that slightly marred the experience was the Coke machine tucked away in a corner; however, when I considered The Gods Must Be Crazy, suddenly the machine’s placement (in a room that also featured a large image of Nelson Mandela) no longer seemed so incongruous.

Dining at African Feeling was the perfect start to a near-perfect night. The wheelchair dying later on was just part of the adventure!

This Wednesday coming I’ll be seeing Toto play at the Enmore Theatre, so I figured I may as well make a night of it and eat out in Newtown as well.

What better way, then, as a prelude to seeing Toto, than to eat at an African restaurant (namely African Feeling)? A short review of the restaurant in question can be found here, with a longer review here.

I may love the food or I may hate it, but that’s not really the point, is it? A new experience is never a bad thing.

On Friday night I went out to the Blaxland Thai restaurant with my youngest brother and four of my friends. The experience was interesting for a couple of reasons:

1. several people had not met each other before
2. I never get to eat Thai food because my stepfather dislikes it

Luckily, everyone seemed to like each other and the food, and it served partly as a test-run for my 30th birthday insofar as nobody came to blows or made out while in a drunken stupor. Now all I need are about 50 other people and a karaoke machine that plays “Complicated” by Avril Levigne and I’ll be set!