Rosenbaum and Fuller @ Bondi Beach

February 16, 20191 Comment

This cafe is in a busy area in Bondi off Hall street where there’s heaps of cafes to try. Rosenbaum and fuller has only been open a few months and trying to pave their way in a busy industry. We visited after finding this via Instagram and liked the idea of its vision with an ethical and sustainable supply and use of fresh organic ingredients.

It is a cafe by day and restaurant by lunch and dinner, they often have live music in the evenings with some dinner specials.

We like the set up of the space, it is nice decor, ambience and the kitsch features, like the hanging bouquets and alcohol bottles. The pottery cups are also a nice touch.

The service was excellent, the waitress was very helpful and personable and dealt well with our many questions.

We really enjoyed our meal, although only 2 of the party ordered since the menu online differed to what is actually on the menu when you arrive (and some of us decided what we wanted before we arrived and they didn’t have it). In addition, the printed menu is a bit vague, ie “avocado on toast or mushrooms on toast”. In reality, the food is far more creative, interesting and enticing than the menu suggests. So we recommend taking a punt and giving something a go because it is better than it sounds.

We had the gnocchi with mushrooms, kale, potato and a poached egg which was super delicious.

The roasted granola was lovely and came with a huge serving of coconut yoghurt and berry compote. Quite a good choice for vegan diners.

The coffee is good – they use edition roasters. There’s tea and other drinks and well as some brunch cocktails and alcohol at lunch and dinner time.

We like the cafe and hope to see them do well.

13 O’Brien St, Bondi Beach NSW 2026

rosenbaumandfuller.com

Seafood buffet brunch on every Sunday @ Hyatt Regency, Sydney

February 10, 2019February 12, 2019Leave a comment

Sailmaker Restaurant can found on the ground level of the Hyatt Regency Sydney. Pass through the grand lobby with marble floors and high ceilings past the bar and up the stairs.

The Hyatt is an expansive hotel, just off Sussex Street on the CBD side of Darling Harbour. Under the Hyatt banner for approx 2 years, it is a sophisticated hotel with amazing dining locations including Sailmaker restaurant and also Zephr rooftop bar. Sailmaker, named after the original purpose of the building, creating sails for boats in the 1800’s has a long history in the area and we love that whilst dining, you can look out over Darling harbour and all of the boats. Sailmaker restaurant has a large open dining area sectioned off into two areas.

Sailmaker Restaurant are offering a new Sunday Seafood Brunch with limitless Chandon sparkling wine. It is available every Sunday from February 3, from 12pm – 2pm for $78 per person. There was also some great live music adding to the ambience, with the duo playing an excellent selection of songs.

There was a great spread on offer. The cold seafood bar immediatly took our interest, it was stacked high with amazing oysters, mussels, marinated baby octopus, smoked salmon and fresh prawns to gorge on. The seafood accompanied by a variety of dressings. This is certainly somewhere you can get your seafood fix.

They have a egg station with the staff cooking made to order omelettes, with additions of your choice including prawns and crab. They also do a great salmon benedict.

For those with a sweet tooth, the chefs can also make you waffles and pancake to order and there are also plenty of delicious pastries on offer.

It’s not all seafood, head over to the main buffet, for an impressive selection of hot food to insatiate your appetite; A huge succulent roast pork was pefectly cooked with crisp crackling and the impressive lamb pie is a must.

Fill up your plate with some of the roast vegetables and fresh salads; eggplant and bocconcini, kale or cauliflower, as well as bacon, hash browns and more.

There’s an overflowing cheese platter, charcuterie and breads, honestly we were in food heaven.

We thought we were finished, there was the dessert buffet to explore, we did have to channel our dessert stomach. The offering on display included; Brownies, lemon tarts, marshmallows, coconut slice, macaroons, a few beautiful cakes and a fruit platter.

It’s honestly best to try everything! Accompany this with a coffee and it’s the perfect end to a fabulous meal.

We would like to thank the Hyatt Regency for the invitation to dine and the hospitality provided.

Sailmaker at Hyatt Regency

161 Sussex Street, Sydney New South Wales 2000

Phone: 02 8099 1234

Bear With Me

January 31, 2019January 31, 2019Leave a comment

Thanks to the knowledge of my hip little brother and trendy girlfriend, we found this cafe in South Hobart and were pleased to find it open on Australia Day, especially when pretty much everything was closed.

We enter into this good sized cafe with a little lounge area and the front, and plenty of tables inside and a huge shared table where we sat. The space is fresh and modern with lots of greenery and the ambience is buzzing and it has a really positive vibe about it. Our waitress was excellent and very hospitable.

We would say that the food could be describe as creative twists on dishes you know with lovely flavour combinations and everything that hit our table was enjoyed and devoured by all.

Always a fan of ordering granola, this is possibly the best we’ve had. It is far more than your typical granola. With Macadamia and Wattleseed granola, served with Waiora Natural Honeyed Yoghurt and fruits – the fruit gels were incredible!! We could have demolished a few plates.

We loved these Peanut Butter Salt and Pepper Tofu Gua Bao buns – with shaved cabbage and mustard cress and burnt chilli mayonnaise, roasted peanuts and cucumber. We enjoyed this vegetarian dish and were impressed at its quality of flavours.

Our friends sampled the eggs Benedict, sitting on a crispy potato rosti flavoured with thyme, crisp apple and smoked master stock braised ham hock. This was a great choice.

The breakfast salad would normally be my go to so I’m glad one of us got it; with grains, roasted nuts and seeds, kale, broccoli and avocado, pomegranate, beetroot, hummus and olive oil dressing. Add a poached egg and hot smoked salmon and you’ve got a healthy dish that is inspired.

Not to be left to last was the amazingly fluffy lemon ricotta hotcake that deserves accolades. With creamy ricotta, fresh local berries, blackberry gel, crisp raspberries, ginger crumble organic maple syrup, it’s such a generous serve and incredibly tasty.

They also have kaffir like coconut chia pudding, and açai bowl as well as Brioche breakfast rolls and toasted croissants. The chocolate and raspberry croissant looked incredible. The bread is from Imago bakery and patisserie and we personally enjoyed the gluten free bread.

This cafe also has great coffee, using ona brand. They also have smoothies and even matcha lattes. The cafe is really a top notch spot and it’s a shame it’s not in Sydney, we’d be there every week.

Bear With Me

399 Macquarie St, South Hobart TAS 7004, Australia

Speciality Coffee and inspired menu @ Single 0, Surry Hills

January 25, 2019January 28, 2019Leave a comment

Over the holiday period, we finally had the time to just chill out and visit some cafes that we’ve had on our list for a while now. We do enjoy Single O coffee, and have had it a lot when the roaster was previously in our local area. Since it’s departure, we’ve enjoyed it at a few cafes around Sydney. Recently we opted to visit its popular specialty coffee cafe in Surry Hills. In a side street that’s not too busy with vehicles.

Whenever you drive past, it’s always busy, evidence of it being a quality cafe. We arrived and had our name on the waiting list, but not for long, we were seated fast. Staff are obviously experienced in high turnover of customers, taking our coffee order as soon as we sat down to enjoy whilst selecting and ordered our food.

Nice smooth milk based coffees, which use only 3% milk but they also have filter, pour over, batch brew and iced drinks too.

The menu is extremely appealing and the majority of the menu items are healthy and made with using ethical produce, interesting flavours and Australian native ingredients.

We had the avocado and beetroot hummus, as well as the mothership bowl, with poached eggs, avocado, roasted mushroooms, roasted pumpkin, fermented cabbage, kale, turmeric cashew cheese, mixed grains and hazelnut dukkah. We often order this sort of dish if it’s on the menu, but this was one of the better ones we’ve eaten. The flavours are really lovely, a nourishing brunch dish we enjoyed a lot.

The coffee spiced beef brisket burger sounded extremely inviting and looked superb, however new year new me and went for a healthier but also appealing meal, the native nori toasted tomato with black rice, edamame, tempeh, asparagus, sesame dressing and a poached egg.

We’re also good authority that this place does a great bacon and egg roll, one of the best in Sydney. We’ll be back to try some of the other menu items in the near future.

Single O

60-64 Reservoir Street

Surry Hills NSW 2010

Phone: 02 9211 0665

Mon – Fri 6:30am – 4pm

Sat 7:30am – 3pm

Sun 8:00am – 3pm

Food ’til 2:30pm

Calabur cafe – hidden little gem in Bondi Junction.

January 19, 2019January 28, 2019Leave a comment

Calabur cafe is super close to Bondi Junction Westfield and Eastgate shopping centre. Walking by, you would probably not notice it, underground off the Main Street. Definitely make it a destination to visit.

It’s a vintage, rustic style place, with exposed bricks, pipes, rustic chairs, succulent plants, and feels like some of the cafes we’ve seen in Bangkok. They hold a few events like live music and charity fundraise too.

On walking in, the waitress and waiter were super polite and were warm and friendly. We took a seat at a table for two, and they offered us a larger table if we pleased. Very nice atmosphere!

We ordered the granola fruit market which was delicious – greek yoghurt with granola, kiwi fruit, blueberries, kiwi fruit and passion fruit, there was also some honey to put atop the creation. It looked beautiful, a real work of art!

We also had the ‘spicy’ Onsen eggs, which actually were not too spicy, served with avocado, heirloom tomatoes, radish, carrot and mushrooms.

The ‘magic’ noodle salad of purple steamed butterfly glass noodles that are meant to turn a lighter purple with a touch of lemon, served with carrot, seaweed, cucumber, zucchini, radish and a sesame dressing. You can have this with raw fish, so we opted for the tuna. This is a lovely fresh and healthy dish.

The coffees were excellent and a nice smooth brew.

Jally’s Cafe @ Camden

January 16, 2019January 16, 2019Leave a comment

We love that the cafe has a bit of history to it. In its previous days it was a garage owned by a chemist in the 1970’s. The cafe is opposite what once was a theatre, you’ll see reflections of Camden’s historic past on photographs on the wall. This is brilliant, considering Camden is one of Australia’s oldest towns.

This was turned into a cafe in early 2017 and it looks like a rustic garage with indoor and outdoor seating (made of light wood) and there’s also a backyard garden area.

Its vision is to serve wholesome food and great coffee. Open early, you can pop in for your morning coffee rush. They have plenty of varieties of milk if you have certain health requirements.

Food wise, the kitchen is open 7am – 3pm.

Whether it be smashed avo, bacon and egg rolls, pancakes or a brekkie bowl, we’re sure you’ll find something up your alley. It’s predominately a healthy menu. They’re pretty popular for their range of Acai bowls too.

We went for the brekkie bowl with quinoa , kale, mushrooms, roast pumpkin, avocado and 2 Holbrook eggs with almond dukkah . They were kind enough to replace the avo with feta for me, and add chicken. A super healthy dish and it was quite big, so I took a bit home.

We also had a gluten free dish – the zucchini, lemon and feta fritters, served with roast pumpkin and tomato, beetroot hummus, rocket and poached Holbrook egg. We both thought the pumpkin on both dishes was super flavoursome.

Plenty of options are vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free etc, so you will definitely find something for you.

There’s a heap of health based bars and sweets in the front counter, as well as pre made salads for those on the run.

Jallys also have a whole foods store in Whitemans arcade. It’s stumps me why it’s not next to the shop, but it’s worth a look. Selling grains, nuts and environmentally caring products, we purchased a few things. They give a card for a free coffee which is a bonus.

Jally’s Cafe

10 Larkin Pl, Camden NSW 2570, Australia

https://www.jallys.com.au

Three Blue Ducks @ Rosebery

January 11, 2019January 11, 2019Leave a comment

The Three Blue Ducks concept began in Bronte and they’ve since expanded with stores now in Byron Bay, Rosebery and Brisbane. They also host weddings and functions and you often see them at other events off site. With a big team of staff, you will note one of them is an ex-Masterchef contestant.

Stores vary in look and menu, however their approach is the same. We went to the Rosebery store which could be described as an open kitchen, large dining space and rustic decor. The store also sells some homely products like chopping boards, keep cups and cookbooks.

The restaurant group likes to use ethically sourced and organic produce and generally from local suppliers, ensuring the menu has fresh food, and as such the menu continues to evolve.

We were pleasantly greeted, taken to our table and perused the menu. Entrees, larger plates as well as the weekly sandwich special (this day was a smoked lamb) and even a bottomless brunch are on the menu. We were visiting mid week so unfortunately a bottomless brunch wasn’t on the cards for us, perhaps another time.

We ordered the oysters, which were beautiful. served with a shallot and red wine mignonette, the flavour was very refreshing. The lamb kofta was incredibly tasty, served on a spread of romesco, parsley and accompanied with a flatbread. This was a very good dish, but probably a little pricy at $19 for the size.

The other dining partners chose the poke bowl, with the addition of kingfish. A good serving, quite fishy with all the seafood and kingfish too, topped with a poached egg. Again, a lovely meal, but well above your typical price range for a poke bowl ($27).

We also had the wood roasted kingfish. Perfectly cooked, with a crispy skin and served with charred broccoli and a macadamia cream, pickled chilli and anchovy vinaigrette ($35). Flavours worked really well and the wood roasting enabled the natural fish flavour to be retained.

Other menu options include BBQ prawns, porchetta, sticky chicken, pumpkin salad and a buttermilk chicken burger (to name a few).

The bar has a range of boutique beers and ciders, cocktails and a wine list, as well as tea and coffee.

It is a lovely place to dine, staff are warm and welcoming and service was prompt. The food was extremely delicious, but it’s probably a little overpriced. We would recommend this for a special lunch. There’s a brunch menu too which we’d be keen to try at some point.

Three Blue Ducks

1/85 Dunning Ave, Rosebery NSW 2018, Australia

XS Espresso @ Prestons

January 8, 2019January 11, 2019Leave a comment

The new XS Espresso store is in a large space in a shopping complex featuring a new Woolworths off the Camden Valley Way.

It is styled similarly to the other stores and an open coffee window for people ordering take aways.

The young girl front of house was lovely and took us to a table. It it was extremely busy and buzzing with diners so took a while to get our order taken and served. However the manager was extremely helpful and generous. On our visit, it was only a few weeks old so they’re understandably busy and learning the ropes.

The menu is pretty much the same as the other stores, known for their freak shakes, over the top sweet dishes like pancakes and waffles, and a number of burgers. Don’t come here if you’re worried about your waistline. It is certainly a place to indulge.

We shared three dishes between us: The New York, New York – normally 250 g sirloin, but they had run out so we got the lamb – with roasted chat potatoes, asparagus, tomato and sweet potatoes with chimichurri. A super big serving and all components were very tasty.

I’m always keen for a healthy dish and there was only a handful of this category, so we ordered one of them. The “Happy Bowl” was bright and colourful and filled with nourishing goodies like quinoa, mashed sweet potato, kale, beetroot hummus, boiled egg, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado and radish. We added some chicken to it for the protein and polished this meal off quickly between us.

The other members of my party wanted a sweet option, and so opted for the absolutely beautiful ricotta hotcake. Extremely light and fluffy, it’s one of the better ones we’ve had. Topped with summer fruits and vanilla cream – we’d thoroughly recommend this.

They have Campos coffee, which we enjoyed, as well as smoothies and shakes. We tried the lovely banana smoothie and it was presented so nicely too.

You can’t visit XS Espresso without a freakshake. We opted for the XS Surprise / a Nutella and crunchie base, topped with fairy floss and a waffle cone, complete with a kinder surprise and covered with honeycomb and hundreds and thousands. Your family will go crazy for this! (And afterwards 😉

When you’re keen to indulge, pay XS Espresso a visit – it’s in a convenient location and very spacious. Enjoy!

XS Espresso

Shop 5/1975 Camden Valley Way, Prestons NSW 2170, Australia

Where cafe meets craft

January 4, 2019January 4, 2019Leave a comment

The Press Shop is locates inside a Bespoke letterpress shop in the stunning town of Bowral in the Southern Highlands.

Locally owned, they source and prepare quality food and focus on using small farmers, producers and local supplies in order to best highlight what the Southern Highlands region has to offer. With fruits and vegetables from Moonacres farm, Piccolo Farm, Highlands organics, Brillig Farm, Living Earth Farm to name a few. There’s truffles from Robertson truffles, olive oil from white chapel grove, mushrooms from Li-Sun, meats from maugers and Robertson village butchery, eggs from Taulca Park, honey from the Honey Collector, this café really shows respect to their local area.

Head chef Nathan West has put together a delightful menu using these fine ingredients, and the meals tasted so fresh and were absolutely beautifully presented on the plate.

Lunch is served from 12 – 3pm. As we were in a group, we were able to sample a few of the menu items. We would describe this as simple food, done in a very elegant way, showcasing the skills and vision of an inspired chef.

The Waffles were served at a nice lunch size, not overbearing like many cafés these days. Topped with a refreshing coconut sorbet, peaches, mint and a white chocolate crumble. This dish is vegan and dairy free.

The local greens frittata was laid beautifully on the plate atop a goats curd and decorated with herbs and lovely thin slices of potato crisp.

The potato gnocchi was incredible. Served with new season tomatoes, roast onion puree, vino cotto and herbs, this dish is perfect for everyone, including vegetarian and vegan diners.

Something more filling and very approachable is the Taluca Pork free range Cuban Sandwich with pickles. Fresh bread, great meat and served cut in half with cheese and a side of cucumber and herbs.

There’s also a roasted carrot dish, zucchini salad, beef brisket sandwich, eggs benedict and even a kiddies menu. I’m presuming this menu would change seasonally.

Drinks wise, the coffee was great too. Speciality coffee, using beans from Cultivar, who source these from Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Costa Rica. You can have a regular milk based coffee, filter coffee, or a flavoured one like turmeric, matcha, velvet (beetroot) or a hot choc. Organic teas, wild-grown herbal teas, house made iced tea, kobmucha and milkshakes are also on the menu.

At the back of the café is a beautiful letter press shop selling handcrafted papers, cards and other lovely gifts. You can also see the letterpress machines and can understand the work that goes into making products of this quality in the old fashioned way. It’s lovely to see them preserving this century old art form.

Come for a few meals, coffee and leave with a satisfied belly and a few handicraft purchases.

The Press Shop

www.thepressshop.com.au/

391-397 Bong Bong Stret Bowral, The Southern Highlands, 2576 NSW

Healthy food and store @ Hills Organics

December 26, 2018December 27, 2018Leave a comment

Hills Organics is a cafe inside an organic food store. As soon as you walk in you can’t help but go straight to the shelves and have a peek at all the various healthy products in the store.

After we’d finished browsing the shelves, we sat down and had a look at the menu. Everything sounded so inviting.

We decided to go for the Keto Breakfast Plate as we were quite interested to try the keto bread. This dish was (gf,df) and consisted of an in-house made macadamia keto bread (gf). avocado, kaleonaise sauce, organic mixed salad leaves, smoked salmon, cashew cheese and organic poached eggs. The bread and the cashew cheese was super tasty!

The sunshine bowl was very refreshing and was served in a cute coconut bowl which made us feel like we had escaped to somewhere tropical for a bit.

Staff were very friendly and looked like they enjoy working there which could be because it is operated like a family orientated business. Overall a good vibe and lots of wholesome goodness to enjoy. Although it is located in a business area, the atmosphere is so relaxed you don’t even realise that it is.

Another thing to note is that if you’re into all things healthy and organic, you most likely won’t leave this place without a thing or two. We ended up getting some Kombucha and a few protein snacks for the road.