Opening soon

So the year is almost over, but expect more 'open' signs to go up soon.

You may spend your upcoming mealtimes at ...

Ippudo, which will be generating ramen steam-clouds at Westfield Sydney from December 6. (When the New York branch opened in 2008, Japanese news crews covered the event. I wonder if the Sydney outlet will induce similar excitement?)

Also, ramen fiends can also get their fix at the new self-serve eatery that replaces Ton Ton in Regent Place. Opening opposite will be Chanoma (also a venture by the people behind Mappen and Menya).

Next month, you'll find Bentley spin-off Monopole in Potts Point; Hamish Ingham's The Woods at The Four Seasons hotel and MakMak's Christmas pop-up in Newtown.

And speaking of things opening, Gelato Messina will be serving scoops in China next year. Its first overseas outlet will open in Hangzhou. If you're wondering how Elvis: The Fat Years flavour will go down in China, you can hear Messina founder Nick Palumbo talk about it in my latest podcast. Closer to home, the gelateria will also open in Bondi in 2013.

Kepos Street Kitchen, Redfern

Here's a sweet story about the new Kepos Street Kitchen in Redfern.

Michael Rantissi and Kristy Frawley (both of Bathers' Pavilion) were on Location Watch, looking for the dream spot to start a restaurant. On the way to Waterloo's Aldi supermarket, they noticed the vacant Strangers With Candy site nearby and remarked that it would be perfect. On leaving Aldi with their groceries – in one of those star-aligning, wish-granting moments – the "For Lease" sign had appeared in the cafe's window. They rang the real estate agent, who was amazed at the hyperspeed at which they'd contacted her. She'd only put the sign up ten minutes ago.

And so it is that, a week ago, that the window was ready for another notice – that Kepos Street Kitchen was now open. So far, it's covering two mealtimes (with dinner coming soon) and offering a menu with a Middle Eastern inflection. For breakfast and lunch, there's Soft Baked Eggs ($14), with a hefty sourdough slice for sponging up the sweet tomato shakshuka and a dish of coriander tahini for adding dollops of herbal tang. You'll also see tables filling with orders for Zucchini Fritters ($18), which come adorned with smoked salmon, poached egg and a feather or two of dill, or jars revealing geological layers of toasted Granola, Iranian spiced fruit and nut compote and house-set yogurt ($12).

There's reliably good coffee by The Grounds, but the sunray-heavy weather is a good excuse to ask for the Home Made Lemonade ($4.50). You know it's freshly prepared, because your glass basically looks like an aquarium wall of mint leaves and lemon wedges. And the drink lands that perfect pitch of citrus zing and sweetness.

There's also a counter decked with sweets, like chocolate halva brownies and pecan and maple scrolls, but try not to get distracted from ordering the Churros Dulce De Leche ($12). Soft, crisply ridged pastry fingers that have been rained upon with a generous pattering of sugar, they are so greatly comforting and satisfying. Even if you are a dessert-hoarder, the serving size of eight pieces means you can share without resentment kicking in later on – there's no way to eat all the churros solo anyway.

Although enjoy the sugar high from proving me wrong …!

Kepos Street Kitchen, 96 Kepos Street, Redfern NSW (02) 9319 3919 www.facebook.com/KeposStreetKitchen

Bayswater Diner, Kings Cross

Since it opened last month, Bayswater Diner in Kings Cross has drawn attention for its playful, calorie-count-discouraging style of American diner food. There's a "make your own sundae" option for dessert, where toppings include a packet-rip of Reese's Pieces, M&Ms or Oreos; and if you look under the listing for Battered Onion Rings With Honey on the Side, the menu presents Mac and Cheese with this health-kick-defying suggestion: "live a little, add bacon" ($11).

You can now "live a little" between 10am-3pm on weekends, because Bayswater Diner has just started serving brunch at this time. With all the fried, high-carb, cheese-rich options on offer, ordering a Half Cantaloupe ($9) packed with fruit salad can seem like a saintly, boring move. But hear us out – this was our nutritional bargaining chip. Getting our saintly dose of melon and berries meant we now had the moral go-ahead for a hefty order of Herb and Sea Salt Shoestring Fries ($7). And as much as Will enjoyed his thoroughly unrestrained Reuben sandwich ($12), with its rich right hooks of cheese, corned beef, pickled cabbage and ranch dressing, having a palate/guilt-cleansing serving of fruit was much appreciated.

While Will covered the lunch beat, I was keen on breakfast – and the "important meal of the day" is done extremely well at Bayswater Diner. While there are a lot of fun choices – Huevos Rancheros ($14), Breakfast Burrito ($14), Buttermilk Pancakes ($15) with berry compote and hazelnut butter ($15); hell, even Scotch Fillet Steak ($17) if you're up for it – I like the old fallback of eggs and sides. There are fancy add-ons, such as Smoked Sausage ($4) and Trout Gravlax ($4), but I opted for fried eggs (I naively asked them if they had fried eggs – as if they wouldn't! They fry everything else!), mushrooms, coconut yogurt and hash browns.

As someone who is aiming for a lifetime achievement in the category of eating fried potato, I gotta say the hash browns at Baywater Diner are really good. Like, category-killer good! They're not the traditional crisp, cross-hatched discs we're familiar with. They're a garlicky, herbed and salty jumble of potato cubes – tiny building blocks of delicious. Will says in America, they're called "breakfast potatoes". I hope they jump curfew and get served at all mealtimes. They're damn fine.

The 'shrooms are good, sure; the eggs are fried and sunny; and the tart coconut yogurt is good dunking practice for the dry wholemeal toast slices. But, really, the potatoes are the winner here.

Also a winner – the vibe at Bayswater Diner. The soundtrack is joyfully time-stamped in the American past, with a playlist that cycles through '20s jazz to '50s rock. The decor has the period-transporting elegance of art deco (with a few kitsch mustard bottles thrown in for fun); and, there are big open windows that allow you to stretch out your elbows and thoroughly exercise your people-watching skills (in fact, you get a good view of Barrio Chino opposite – which is also run by Bayswater Diner's owners, Peter Lew and Nicole Galloway).

And even at brunch, you can still order the DIY sundae. That's if you can decide between mini marshmallows, Maltesers or all the other nutritionally defiant toppings on tap.

Bayswater Diner, 33 Bayswater Road, Kings Cross NSW (02) 8021 3040, Baywater Diner. You can follow Bayswater Diner on Twitter and Facebook.