The Grumpy Barista, Petersham

The cronut craze is still going strong in Sydney, and one of the ultimate cronut destinations is none other than this charming little cafe in Petersham, called The Grumpy Barista. I'm loving the quirky name, especially since the staff appeared to be the total opposite of grumpy - they were all smiles and the service was warm and friendly, despite it getting a little busy at times. Unfortunately, they were sold out of cronuts on our first visit, which was only around 1.30!! Not sure why they don't make another batch for the hungry afternoon cronut crowd, but I guess having such a limited number does makes them all the more desirable. It definitely got us returning a second time, just to try out the highly anticipated cronuts!

They have few outdoor seats, which is nice for soaking up a bit of sun, although it can get a little chilly during winter particularly on windy days.

With the word 'barista' in their name, it seems to suggest they are pretty serious about their coffee, and indeed you can expect a good cup of coffee here. Definitely nice to have something warm and pleasant to drink whilst waiting for your food to come. 

Now onto the food!

Sicilian eggplant stack with melted bocconcini and homemade 

Italian tomato sugo ($11.00)

This dish is great if you are a lover of eggplants. The flesh was soft and silky, yet still firm enough to form a photogenic pyramid stack. The rich flavour of the tomato sugo was complemented well by the chunks of bocconcini cheese.

Chilli kicked salami, bocconcini, artichoke, baby rocket 

on long ciabatta panino ($9.50)

This panino was fresh and well-balanced. The bread was just the right texture, soft and slightly chewy. The strong chilli flavour of the salami was balanced with the mild and earthy taste of the artichoke and light creaminess of the bocconcini cheese. 

Italian hotpot // Baked eggs, mushroom, onion, homemade mild 

chilli tomato sugo ($13.50 + add chorizo for $2)

This Italian hotpot was a classic combination of tomato, mushroom and onion and the flavour was rich and saucy. The baked eggs and chorizo gave the dish some much appreciated texture and protein, with the spiciness of the chorizo giving the dish an extra kick. Warm and hearty!

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2nd visit (for the cronuts!)

Raspberry jam cronut with rose petals ($5.00)

Nutella-injected chocolate cronut and crushed Oreos ($5.00)

And now, the ever photogenic cronuts! Yes they are as delicious as they look. The pastry was light and crispy and not too oily. Nutella and Oreo crumbs are always a reliable option for chocolate fans and was brought to another level with the rich custard filling. Soooo decadent, but so good. The sweet tangy taste of the berry jam, the hint of rose and the creaminess of the custard are also a terrific combination.

The counter with the pastry cabinet

Cute decor

Cronut cabinet

Devon Cafe, July (Surry Hills)

So, we are back at Devon! This place has become one of our regulars whenever we need guaranteed good food and once again it did not fail to deliver. After this visit, I can say that we have tried more than half the item on their winter menu.

Since we have been here so many times I'll just skip straight to the food. To read more about Devon and other items on their menu check out our previous posts (Post one and Post two).

Lamb Sandwich: slow roasted lamb with garlic confit, roasted capsicum, cheddar and spinach served with chips and aioli 

The first item on the FF table was the lamb sandwich and looking at the description, there's no way you can go wrong with this. Between two golden brown slices of toasted bread was the perfect sandwich filling as every bite you get a mouthful of tender lamb, subtle flavour of garlic, sweet roast capsicum, a sharpness and saltiness from the oozy melted cheddar and let's not forget the spinach (though we are FF we still encourage eating greens :P).

KJI Chicken Burger: Korean fried chicken in a brioche bun with gojujang and peanut sauce, brussel sprout and kimchi slaw served with chips and aioli

The second item on our table was the KJI chicken burger which the majority of us ordered. In the little brioche bun you get a very generous and massive piece of fried chicken which was crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside. The gojujang (Korean chili paste) and kimchi are elements in this dish that gave us subtle Korean flavours and surprisingly with mix of peanuts (and most possibly other stuff) in the gojujang the sauce was more nutty and sweet rather than spicy and was delicious with the chicken. Though it was a satisfying feed and an item I was eager to try out my number one preference will still go to the eggs blini (highly recommend!). However, the KJI chicken burger is definitely an interesting and unique fusion of flavours that is worth a try.

That's the end of our most recent Devon post, and there will probably be more to come in the future. Hopefully next time it will be on their newly launched dinner menu :)

Stix Desserts (Surry Hills)

Stix dessert which opened only a few months ago has been popping up on instagram recently and looking at all the photos made us eager to try this place out. So when we got the chance we headed to Crown street in Surry Hills to hunt this place down. 

The concept of their ice cream is that you pick a flavour, then you can have it dipped in a chocolate of your choice (white, milk, dark) and coated in a topping. The small selection of toppings were a little disappointing but the choices of flavour for the ice creams was amazing and left me feeling indecisive. On different days they have different flavours and the options range from refreshing non-dairy sorbets to creamier alternatives, they also have GF for those that can't take gluten :) Luckily you get to try before you buy~

All the flavours looking colourful~

In the end we settled for the hazelnut coffee ice cream and blood orange sorbet. The hazelnut coffee was sweet, creamy and nutty with the hazelnut flavour coming through stronger while the coffee was hardly noticeable, however I was happy with it being just hazelnut and loved it. The salted pretzel (yes pretzels and ice cream!) was really nice with the dark chocolate adding a crunch and slight saltiness which cuts through the sweetness. For those who prefer something lighter and refreshing the sweet and tangy blood orange sorbet is highly recommended. 

Hazelnut Coffee dipped and drizzled in dark chocolate topped with pretzels/Blood Orange Sorbet with peanuts and drizzled dark chocolate

Overall a fun and creative way to enjoy ice cream which serves great as a simple after lunch dessert or just for whenever you have a sweet tooth or crave ice cream :)

The Choc Pot (Burwood)

The Choc Pot is a cute little chocolate cafe only 5 minutes walk from the station on Railway Parade. It's a convenient location but a little random and easy to miss as the store is quite small and is on the quiet side of the street (side across woollies and other stores) next to an empty patch of ground that is waiting to be brought and constructed on. The interior was nicely furnished with white, yellow and timber theme and the environment and staff were very friendly. However the seating area is not very large (though they do have a few tables outside) and quite cramped so it is a place more suitable for smaller groups.

Behind the counter we could see a shelf displaying their wide selection of teas in beautiful glass jars all with label (adorable!), many of them sweet or fruit based which goes very well with the rich chocolate desserts and a nice touch to the menu is that they would put a list of recommended teas to go with that dessert. Even though we just picked which ever tea appealed to us it's nice to know and have that suggestion if we are ever indecisive about our teas. 

 Pouring the Mango Sencha

For those who like a stronger flavour of tea I definitely recommend the mango sencha. The mango fragrance is very prominent as we could smell the aroma around as soon as we opened the lid of the tea pot. Slightly sweet from the mango flavour with a hint of bitterness from the green tea, it really help cut through the richness of the chocolate desserts. On the contrary,  the lime and coconut sencha is more subtle in the flavour and mild in taste which was quite refreshing.

 Lime and Coconut Sencha

First their signature molten choc pot, this was AMAZINGGGG! It came out steaming hot and the sight of the melted chocolate dripping down the side makes you just want to dig right into it. The texture was soft and moist and oozy and the good thing was the fondant itself wasn't overly sweet so it complimented well with the chocolate sauce. The hot fondant would have gone well with an ice cream but unfortunately that does not come with the dessert and you need to pay an extra $2.50 which would be a little expensive considering the price of the fondant is quite high. Nevertheless we thoroughly enjoyed it and did not miss the ice cream, definitely a must try!

 The Molten Choc Pot

The second item we had was the pannacotta which was smooth and creamy (as the description described it) and was everything a good pannacotta should be. Flavourwise it was more of a vanilla flavour rather than white chocolate. The tangy pineapple and mint salsa was a nice contrast to the rich pannacotta and balanced out the sweetness, however I personally did not like the combination of the pannacotta with pineapple that much.

White Choc Pannacotta Splice: smooth and creamy white chocolate pannacotta with a refreshing pinapple and mint salsa

In conclusion it was a very enjoyable experience and we will definitely be back to try more! Very eager to try their chocolate souffle as well as some of their chocolate drinks~

Devon Cafe, Surry Hills (June 2014)

So here we are back at Devon Cafe, eating our way through their delicious winter menu. I love how Devon changes up their menu every season, bringing back some old favourites as well as serving up their new creations. (Also, winter = the Australian truffle season! Another reason to get excited hehe)

Our favourite spot in the cafe is in the court yard, but today we were seated at a communal table towards the back, in front of a garage door. Nevermind about the cold draft coming in through the door, as food photographers, our primary concern was that it affected the lighting of the photos :P Talk about #firstworldproblems. On the upside though, it was a relatively private corner, and you don't get people walking past you all the time. And a bit of fresh air doesn't hurt :)

Now without further ado, let's talk about the food! First up, we have Breakfast with the Sakuma's.

BREAKFAST WITH THE SAKUMA'S ($24.50)

Blackflower Patisserie (Haymarket, Chinatown)

Of course, it's not a complete meal without having dessert. Our next stop was Blackflower Patisserie which is on an easy to find, easy to spot location on Ultimo Road right across Paddy's market. 

Before going I have already decided that the cheeseburger macaron was a must try, the cakes however took us a little longer to decide as they all look pretty and sounded delicious. 

Cheeseburger Macaron $3.20

Let's start with the much anticipated cheeseburger macaron. I must say, this is the cutest macaron I've ever had, but also the least favourite macaron I've ever had. It's a little pricier than other quality macarons out there but I guess you're paying for the novelty of it. Taste wise it was just very sugary and sweet as the filling of the "cheese" and the "tomato" are just made from fondant and the "beef" red bean paste.

 Lust Rose mousse, lychee jelly, hazelnut feuilletine $7.50

The Lust cake was my favourite of the day as I'm a little bias towards rose flavoured sweets and the combination of rose and lychee is a match made in heaven. This cake was a combination of flavours and textures which is not too sweet and not too heavy. The frosty pink outside is actually white chocolate and cracks as you dig your spoon into it. Encased in this thin white chocolate case is the airy mousse with a layer of soft jelly between, as for the hazelnut feuilletine base? Fat Friday loved it. It was light, crispy and deliciously hazelnutty. 

OMG Salted caramel, chocolate mousse, caramel jelly, brownie base $7.50

Lastly OMG, this one was a lot richer compared to Lust and the texture was thicker and heavier. On top of the brownie base is the also airy chocolate mousse with the slightly gummy caramel jelly centre, this was all encased with the salted caramel mousse (?), the texture of this was a lot different to the usual mousse which is light, airy, and whipped, on the contrary it was a little stickier and heavier, however this did not compromise the taste, which reminded me of honey comb with a hint of saltiness. This is finished off with a sticky and glossy layer of chocolate ganache decorated with tempered chocolate and gold dusted peanuts. 

Overall a wonderful experience and great tasting cakes, will definitely be back to try more :)

Chez Dee (Potts Point)

WE'RE BACK!!! After a very long break. Now that exams are finally over it's time for us to keep up to date with our blogging, so stay tuned for our most recent Fat Friday adventures (as well as not so recent ones :P).

Our Friday adventure this week took us to Chez Dee Cafe at Potts Point in Kings Cross. Though we initially planned to have Ms G's but unfortunately when we got there they were closed for renovation (until dinner that night! If only we were there for dinner...) so we decided to head down to try out Chez Dee, which has been on our Fat Friday suggestion list for quite a while.

This little cafe is only around 10 minutes walk from Kings Cross station, so very convenient :) Located on Kellet Street it is actually a terrace house renovated to a cafe and with the colourful Asian/Middle Eastern/gypsy like decorations in the interior it certainly gives a very laid back and slightly exotic feel (sorry, forgot to take photos of the inside).

Anyways, on to the food. The menu consists of a range of breakfast items from muffins, muesli to the big brekkies with sausages, egg, bacon and everything else you'll want in a breakfast. Going down the list we can see the food uses mostly classic combinations such as poached eggs with ham, citrus with fennel as well as classic dishes like Nicoise salad. Their list of tea however was quite unique with different blends of florals, green teas, black teas and herbs which was definitely worth a try for the tea lovers.
After long indecisiveness we settled for the corn fritters and the beetroot salad.

 Corn Fritters with smashed avocado, lime mascarpone, bacon, cherry tomatoes and pesto.

Firstly the corn fritters, I can say it wasn't bad but was definitely not a dish that makes you go "wow, that is delicously amazing!" The thing I liked about this was the bacon, tomato and the pesto as they gave a contrast of texture and flavours from the saltiness of the bacon to the fresh sweet tomatoes and the aromatic pesto. The down side was that the corn fritters were quite mushy and soft and just broke down as we tried to pick it up with our forks. Together with the avocado and mascarpone it just all mushed and tasted the same. It would have been better if they put freshed avocado so it would be a more obvious existent in the dish and I really hoped for a larger piece of lime so I could squeeze more juice to give it a bit more acidity to it because the the "lime mascarpone" was also non existent amongst everything mixed together.

Beetroot and Spinach Salad topped with honey gorgonzola bruschetta with crispy bacon, apple, walnuts and a honey and mustard dressing.

The salad honestly was a little underwhelming. I found the cheese on the bruschetta too strong for my liking, however that is just a personal preference. On first taste the salad was very sweet from the dressing, we could see some mustard seeds but the flavour was not obvious and overpowered by too much honey. On the contrary the beetroot was very sour, very very sour.

Overall the food was so-so. Considering Chez Dee is a cafe and "gourmet grocer" it was very disappointing that they didn't use fresh avocado and instead used something that tasted like it came out of a container. We also never got our "crispy bacon" which was listed in the description for our salad. However our experience was pleasant, there is a lot more to offer on the menu than what we tried and it is definitely a great place to sit, have a drink and relax in the comfortable and relaxing atmosphere of the cafe.

Devon Cafe, Surry Hills (Sept 2013)

So here comes our very delayed post of our first visit to Devon at Surry Hills. I must say, this is definitely one of my favourite cafes around as it's only 5-10 minute walk from central station, nice atmosphere and the food is so good! Their menu changes seasonally which is something that makes you want to keep going back and try out their new dishes and one very exciting season for Devon is the truffle season in winter. 

We were lucky enough to be seated in the courtyard on a fine day (clear plastic covering so blocks rain but allow sunlight) which means good lighting for photos, yay~ The whole place gave off a really relaxing vibe, the staff were very friendly and the fresh flowers on the table added that little bit of love.

Anyways, on to the food :) Their coffee was great and nothing beats a fresh jar of juice at breakfast, you can't go wrong with the combination of watermelon, apple and mint in the refresher. 

Cappuccino and the Refresher 

The Ultimate Toastie

I was really excited for the truffle season (luckily we made it in time before it was over) so I had to try the famous ultimate toastie and it did not disappoint. It appears to be simple sourdough topped with mushrooms, cheese, fried egg and truffle shavings, but who doesn't love mushrooms??? The runny egg yolk, tender mushrooms, slight saltiness of the cheese and the aromatic flavour of the truffles was definitely a winning combination. On top of that the serving was quite big so it was a very filling and satisfying breakfast.

Citrus cured salmon: split dill cream, apple, celery, cucumber, fennel, soft boiled egg served with brioche

The citrus cured salmon was a much lighter dish compared to the ultimate toastie. The presentation was lovely with very clean and fresh colours from the green salad, cured salmon and that amazing runny egg yolk. The citrus and dill cream gave the dish a hint of tangyness that was quite refreshing and was perfect on that warm day.The dish is a mix of classic flavour combinations with a twist, giving eaters an experience of different layers of flavour and texture. Overall, very happy.

Little Lost Bread

And of course, we did end our meal with dessert, which was the Little Lost Bread, a brioche french toast with banana, nutella, jam, topped with a scoop of peanut butter ice cream. I loved the peanut butter ice cream, however I'm not a great fan of peanut butter and jelly together so it wasn't my favourite french toast. But it was still enjoyable and finishing this off after our large breakfast has left us in a deep food coma.

Ramen Ikkyu, Chinatown

Another Friday, another one of our food adventures~

So we started our day intending to lunch at the Devon café, but as the weather got cooler and windier we thought "it's so cold! why don't we have some hot, soupy ramen instead", thus we ended up sitting in the food court of Sussex centre with our steamy bowl of ramen. (But don't worry! On the next weekend when it was nice and sunny we headed down to Devon for a BIG Sunday breakfast, post coming soon!)

What is it about this humble ramen store in the middle of a typical Chinatown food court that caught our attention?

Well, since I haven't been around for a while I didn't know about its existence until elleeee suggested going there, apparently it was some really good ramen shop owned by a chef who once owned a fancy restaurant. After a bit of research (aka google) I found that chef Haru Inukai was owner of fine dining French-Japanese fusion restaurant Blancharu, until he sold his business and decided to settle for a little store in the food court.

Now for the food! A quite wide range selection of ramen (for a ramen store) as well a side menu with rice,  typical ramen toppings such as egg, bamboo shoots etc. Price wise(around $10-$15), I can say it is standard ramen price in Sydney and quite affordable (though there is one or two items on the menu that is above $20). Also, the shop offers free kaedama! (free refill of noodles when you have soup leftover) so for those that feel like maybe one serving of ramen is just not enough, remember to keep your receipts as you need to bring that to the counter for the noodles.

  

Salmon Ramen ($14)

Jamie's Italian, Sydney CBD

So it's our 3rd time dining here at Jamie's, and I guess that in itself says something. (For our 2nd experience, click here). The food has been consistently good, and the prices are reasonable if you go here for a special occasion (otherwise, I don't really think the price and wait is thaaat worth it). On this occasion, which was around noon, we waited about 30 minutes, after which we were taken to a table upstairs. Now, after being here 3 times and being seated at 3 different locations (upstairs, downstairs near the bar area and walkway, and downstairs towards the back near the kitchen), I'd say upstairs is the worst location - dark, noisy and quite cramped. I hate having to shout at the people on my table in order to be heard, and it was also more difficult to get a waiters' attention whilst upstairs. Service-wise, some waiters were more friendly and helpful than others, so it wasn't all good or all bad, but I guess it could be improved.

PROSCIUTTO, PEAR & PECORINO ($19.50)