There are numerous specialty dishes and foods Australia also offers an enormous variety of cuisines, including Italian, French, Greek, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Thai, Japanese, Indian, African, Lebanese and Korean.
Things to know: Service is European-style and varies from waitress and waiter service to self-service. Bistros, cafes, family-style restaurants and ’pub’ lunches at the counter offer good food at reasonable prices. Most restaurants and hotels are licensed to serve alcohol; private hotels and guest houses cannot be licensed by law. Some restaurants
will allow guests to bring their own alcohol and are called ‘BYO’ restaurants. Licensing hours in public bars are 1000-2200 Mon-Sat, however most pubs are open until 2400; Sunday hours vary. Restaurants, clubs and hotel lounges have more flexible hours.
National specialties:• Sydney rock oysters.
• Barramundi (freshwater fish).
• Tiger prawns.
• Macadamia nuts.
•
Yabbies (small freshwater lobsters).
• Beef is the most popular meat and lamb is also of a high quality.
• There is a wide variety of excellent fruits and vegetables.
National drinks:• Australian wine.
• Australian beer.
The major vineyards (wineries) are outside Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra and Adelaide. The largest single wine-growing region is in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, two hours' drive from Adelaide, where high-quality red and white wines are produced. For further information, visit
www.australianwineandbeer.com).
Legal drinking age: Drinking age is 18 years or over.
Tipping: Not as common as it is in Europe and America, nor is a service charge added to the bill in restaurants. 10 per cent for food and drink waiters is usual in top-quality restaurants, but is optional elsewhere. With taxis it is usual not to tip but round up the cost to the next dollar.
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