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Skip the 24-flight to Sydney and cab it to midtown’s Australian. There, the neighborhood worker bees who buzz into this split-level hive enjoy the characteristically friendly service (from a largely American wait staff), a wide selection of wines, and an extensive menu that mingles Aussie comfort classics like meat pies and sausage rolls with Asian appetizers like sticky tiger prawns. The plates are huge, as are the twenty (count ‘em!) flat-screen TVs that line the walls, playing live cricket matches (via Internet feed—the Empire State Building got in the way of the satellite signal). Thankfully, other than a few thirties-era rugby posters and a backlit photo screen of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the décor is not a Down Under theme park (no boxing kangaroos or wall-mounted boomerangs here). The perfect place to wash down an Aussie Lamb Roast with a bottle of Oz-brewed Tooheys beer or a glass of Oz-aged Syrah. — Darren Frei