Category Archives: Coffee & Desserts

cafes and places to go for those with the sweet tooth

Tea for Tu @ Northbridge

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Food by

A quirky little find in the heart of Northbridge but away from the hustle and bustle of William Street, Tea for Tu is a good place for relaxing and chilling out with John Mayer music in the background while you’re alone with your thoughts or taking a break from the busyness of Northbridge.

The cafe is an extension of Tu, one of the specialty stores on William Street. Don’t expect too much as the cafe is small; 5 sets of mixed match tables and chairs and a couch upstairs or a few tables on the sidewalk. Tea for Tu does not have facilities (yet) to serve hot food so one would go there for the coffee and sweets.

Tea for Tu: sweets, coffee, teaThe pastries and macarons are from Choux Cafe, which is one of my favourite pastry shops in Perth, so double plus points for that.

At Tea for Tu size does not matter…it’s all about the ambiance.

Tea For tú on Urbanspoon

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Sayers Sister @ Northbridge

Posted in Breakfast/Brunch, Coffee & Desserts, Food by

There’s a cafe my family and I have been frequenting since the start of this year for our Sunday breakfast sessions. Food we eat for breakfast can either make or break our day…in my case anyway.

This new find is none other than my other favourite breakfast spot’s (Sayers @ Leederville) sister cafe; hence the name Sayers Sister. I personally find Sayers Sister to be better in terms of space and ambiance. Both cafes have a similar trend when it comes to their food.

What I love about this cafe – it’s very open, rustic, and charming. I particularly like the communal table in the middle of the cafe with jars of lollies.

Sayers Sister: communal table

In addition to just wanting to come sit in the cafe and enjoy a cuppa my family and I most definitely come here for the food too.

Some items in the menu change from time to time but our breakfast favourites include:

Corned beef hash, fried eggs, sour tomato dressing, parsley and red onion salad. Corned beef mixed through the potatoes made even more delicious by the tomato dressing.

Sayers Sister: corned beef hash

Baked omelette with spec. Lots of eggs, lots of spec. The omelette is always light and fluffy and quite light on the seasoning, which is good because the spec adds the saltiness.

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Potato rosti, bramley apple & thyme chutney, poached eggs, bacon & rocket leaf. Another potato dish that will leave you happy and full.

Sayers Sister: potato rosti

Saffron brioche french toast with gravilax. I haven’t had a 100% savoury kind of french toast before (the most I’ve had was french toast with a side of bacon) so this is a nice surprise. Brioche was buttery and the Gravilax added a nice depth to the lightness of the french toast.

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Spinach, ricotta, and pinenut crepe, poached egg, white wine sauce. Oh this one looks almost as healthy as can be. It can be quite a heavy and filling meal though from all the ricotta. The crepe itself has got a nice “bite” to it.

Sayers Sister: spinach and ricotta crepe

And who says you can’t have cake for breakfast? You totally can specially when the cakes look this good! So one morning I treated myself to a cake for breakfast and chose the passionfruit cheesecake. A good piece of cheesecake cures everything. The cheesecake was not too heavy on the cheese so eating the whole piece did not give me that sickening feeling.

Definitely do yourself a favour and go check this place out, tucked away from the main hub in Northbridge (but stay away from their mocha).
Sayers Sister on Urbanspoon

Melbourne edition: Babka Bakery Cafe

Posted in Breakfast/Brunch, Coffee & Desserts, Food by

My ex-colleague swears by Babka Bakery (again on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy) so I knew I had to get some goodies from this place whatever it takes.

Babka is a very small cafe (cosy might be a more accurate description) that serves breakfast and lunch and sweets and that also sells specialty bread loaves, pies, and pastries. Not only that, they also have chutneys for sale. Go try the beetroot one.

Babka: bread trolley

Babka interior

Line is crazy long both for those eating in and for those just buying some bread. Luckily, a table for 2 usually doesn’t need much waiting time compared to big groups. We had our brunch here before heading off to a cider festival nearby – 3 thick slices french toast with a side of bacon.

Babka: french toast

The bread was nice but the french toast was dry and could do with more sugar on top. The bacon though was perfect and delicious. I know, it’s weird. Who doesn’t like bacon? But what makes bacon even more likeable is when it just just crisp enough without being dry and burnt.

I told Lily before we left that I needed to come back here to get some pastries before we fly back to Perth. I already received orders for some croissants from Auntie C, who raved about Babka the last time she visited Melbourne.

So I made it back to the bakery before they closed for the day and got myself a box full of pastries – almond croissants, escargot, and sweet danishes. A total of 11 pieces of pastries in the box.

Babka: pastries

Top left: escargot. Flaky and full of sultanas. I know some bakeries sting on those little buggers but Babka’s escargots are loaded with them and they tasted like they’ve been rehydrated with some sort of alcohol…even better.

Top right and bottom left: rhubarb danish and apple danish. Not too sweet and out of the 3 types of pastries the danishes are the only ones I had to eat 2 of.

Bottom right: almond croissant. So good yet so sinful, like sinful enough to give you a heart attack. The whole thing is very delicious and I specially liked it because it doesn’t have the custard in the middle but rather just a concoction of almond meal.

A week of eating these pastries for breakfast made me feel like I was about to have a heart attack. As good as they were, they are in fact too greasy. Too greasy but they’ve got a hold on me; I couldn’t resist taking another bite even though I know I should stop eating butter.

Babka Bakery Café on Urbanspoon

Plum and blueberry tea cake

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Food, Recipes by

Guys, I realised I have not posted any new recipes since time immemorial so here’s one. I’m in a phase of branching out from the usual chocolate cakes I make so I thought why not use seasonal fruits? And more importantly I bake in smaller portions nowadays so I feel less guilty. The recipe for this cake is adapted from The Australian Women’s Weekly and is good for about 4-5 guilt-free servings.

Plum and blueberry tea cake

Ingredients
150g butter, softened
110g caster sugar
2 eggs
112g self-raising flour
38g plain flour
30g almond meal
1 medium sized plum, sliced
handful of blueberries (fresh or frozen)
icing sugar for dusting

Method
1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Grease and line a 6-inch round cake pan (or springform pan).

2. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then beat in eggs one at a time. Using a spatula gradually fold in the flours and then almond meal.

3. Spread about 1/3 to 1/2 of the cake mixture into the prepared pan. Arrange the plum slices in a circular border (or alternatively arrange the plum slices in a random order). Then spoon the remaining cake mixture over the plum and smooth out the batter. Add the remaining plum slices onto the batter and sprinkle the blueberries. Press the fruits lightly into the batter.

4. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when tested. Cool the cake in the pan. The transfer cake onto a serving plate and dust it with icing sugar.

5. Serve and enjoy.

Plum and blueberry tea cake sliced

Philippine edition: The sweet stuff

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Food by

Hello everyone! The past 2 months have been such a whirlwind experience. I have been to and fro the Philippines and Hong Kong and now I’m back in Perth and things do not seem to be slowing down. In an ideal world I would’ve been updating this blog with lots of food experiences in the said countries soon after I’ve experienced them but let’s face it when I’m on holidays I start my day early and I don’t come back home to rest until I’m squeezed out of my last drop of energy.

But fear not! My iPhone is full of photos of, what else, food waiting to be posted. So bear with me please for the next few posts…I’m still figuring out what the best ways are to show you what it was like dining in Manila and Hong Kong.

I’ll kick it off with a few sweet things.

Cupcakes by Sonja

I think Cupcakes by Sonja started the whole cupcake craze in Manila when it first opened. “Legend” has it that Sonja, the owner of  the cupcake shop, used to work at the Magnolia Bakery in NYC. Yes, that right; that’s the bakery featured in Sex and the City. I’ve been meaning to get my hands on some Sonja’s cupcakes a few years back when I visited Manila but I’ve been forwarned by a few people that the cupcakes are not really worth trying. I think I’m experiencing a deja vu. The same thing happened to me when I was in NYC and lining up to get some Magnolia Bakery cupcakes.

But alas I made it to Serendra at The Fort and found what I was looking for. The shop looked pretty from the outside but the inside was disappointing. It was dark and it did not feel clean. There is some sort of sticky feeling when I walked in (and no it wasn’t the humidity). Lily came along to the Philippines as well and her first reaction was “my god this place stinks”. I chuckled but I agree 100%! Think of it as like a sugary musty smell. While Lily waited outside because she could no longer stand the smell I waited semi-patiently in line holding my breath from time to time.

It was finally my turn and I got myself a Mocha cupcake.

The cupcake base is delicious. Moist chocolate cupcake that is not too sweet. What makes it mocha though is the coffee flavoured icing and that was not good. The icing was too grainy and it was too much blob on a perfectly good cupcake based.

My cupcake experience here was exactly like how it was at Magnolia Bakery; although if I were to choose between the lesser of 2 evils it would have to be Sonja’s.

Chez Karine

Sitting next to Cupcakes by Sonja is Chez Karine, a fairly new establishment in the dessert scene at The Fort. Chez Karine serves up French sweets and the whole place screams cute. The shop is cute. The packaging is cute. The pudding containers are cute. The menu is cute. And for what it’s worth the shop has a sweet smelling waft that is inviting.

I wanted to buy one of each of everything they had to offer. Out of everything that was there only the macaron were subpar in appearance. I ended up getting 1 each of the macarons that were available and a jar of royal vanilla pudding. The macarons were so-so; nothing special about them and the texture is not all that great. It was too soft. The intriguing flavour I had though was maple bacon. It was not as strange as I thought it was going to be – a hint of maple taste with the tiniest amount of bacon bits – but something I probably will not have again.

What did save the day was the royal pudding (pictured above). I couldn’t resist buying one of those because the tiny jars looked too cute. I’m pretty happy too that the stuff inside the jars were delicious! Royal pudding is like a firmer type of custard and there is a caramel syrup sitting at the bottom. The syrup had the faintest hint of bitterness which completely makes the pudding an enjoyable experience.

Philippine Edition: An ode to mangoes

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Drinks, Filipino, Food, Travel by

Cut up some green mangoes and add onions, tomatoes, pork crackling to turn it into a refreshingly sour salad then top it off with shrimp paste

if fruit shakes have awards…mango shakes would win the best fruit shake ever award

can’t get enough of these shakes!

Even unripe/green mango shakes are just as great! It’s really sour but works up your appetite!

This might be the only place where you can get California Maki with mangoes in it. And no, it’s not weird at all when you’re in the Philippines. In fact, a California Maki here without that tiny piece of mango is not a California Maki :)

Mangoes are a great accompaniment to desserts too like milk pudding

mango ice cream anyone?

The Philippines’ most famous export…probably. Dried mangoes – so you can give them out to everyone you know…

There is nothing like Philippine mangoes!! Mabuhay!

*Dried mango photo source http://www.sweetsweetmangos.com/dried_mangoes/7D_Dried_Mangoes_5Pack180.html

Superstar Waffles @ Northbridge

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Food by

After being in food heaven over in Sydney, I’m back to reality now. Back to enjoying Perth’s food scenes. So after much rescheduling for a waffle date Lily and I finally made our way to Superstar Waffles in Northbridge.

Who can resist waffles, right? The only places I have ever had waffles in Australia are at my house, Gelare, and Max Brenner, which, by the way, I had to travel all the way to Sydney or Melbourne for. But now that we’ve an awesome place for waffles, it’s probably time to sell my waffle iron. Superstar Waffles’ waffle prices ranges from $4 to $9.50. And they’ve also got a selection of hot and cold drinks to go with them.

Obviously this is now our new hang out place. We once had just the waffles for dinner but this is more a dessert kind of thing because it’s not enough to fill you up if eating it as a meal. The waffles are light and crunchy on the outside. Basically the same waffle base and they top with it a variety of “stuff”. Trust me, get a scoop of ice cream on the side…it makes the whole waffle experience so much better.

Some of the flavours we’ve had are (clockwise from top left): chocolate, banoffee, peanut butter mousse, and sweet milk.

What I really like about these waffles is that they are fresh and satisfying. The waffle shop being situated in a “little alley” doesn’t hurt either. Just about the cosiest place to chat and eat freshly made waffles.

Of course if all you want if something little they have waffle sticks too. It’s a bit messy to eat once you get to the middle part but this chocolate waffle stick is my best bet – just the right serving for me and it’s oozing with real chocolate sauce and peanuts.

My rating: 8.5/10
Superstar Waffles on Urbanspoon
www.facebook.com/superstarwaffles

Sydney edition: Adriano Zumbo Patissier

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Food, French by

Ah well, I made a little sidetrip to Sydney last week and it was glorious. Tiring, but it was a good break. Now I’m back to reality and back to blogging about food I had in Sydney, which will comprise the next few posts. The list is by all means not exhaustive of all the places I’ve dined at – just a few ones that I really enjoyed.

One of the “must” on my list to do/try/buy whilst there was Adriano Zumbo Patissier. It was mainly about the Zumbarons since everyone talks about it and I got intrigued. What could be so good with his macarons, I thought to myself. With a few people requesting that I bring home some Zumbarons, I made sure that my schedule would all plan out perfectly. That was one of the last things I bought since macaron/pastry shelf life outside the fridge is really short.

Zumbo has 3 branches from what I can recall. Off mum and I went to the Star City Casino branch since it was the most accessible one from our hotel. This branch here also has the dessert train, which I didn’t get to try.

I had a clear idea of what I wanted to buy: a box of 10 macarons please, I told the lady at the counter. One of each of the flavours. In addition to those I also asked the lady which cakes would be ok for travelling. Citron tart, passionfruit tart, and carrot cake. OK, might as well buy those too since I was already there.

I’m happy to report that all but one of the sweets I bought from this pastry house survived the plane ride.

Whoa. There term Zumbarons is a trademark?! Anyway, the flavours range from simple to different and they were interesting to sample. I had to slice each macaron into quarters so we can all have a taste of all the flavours. Let me see if I can recall what flavours were made on that day (from left to right, top box first):

  • Pancake and maple syrup – has a slight hint of maple syrup
  • Peach iced tea – first thought when I tried this: it really does taste like peach iced tea!
  • Banana – banana flavour too sweet and too artificial
  • Chocolate – normal but very thick layer of ganache
  • Salted butter popcorn – my 2nd favourite from the box of 10. Tastes like the popcorns you get at the cinema with a buttery filling. They should sell these in movie theatres!
  • Blackened vanilla – a bit strange; reminds me of charcoal. You do get vanilla but with an after-taste.
  • Custard crunch – nothing special
  • Malted milkshake – this is yum! It had a certain fragrance to it. The colour alone was enough to intrigue me – it’s the blue/green metallic one.
  • Annunziata – normal chocolate flavour with cinnamon sugar on the top shell
  • Salted caramel – this was good too but I’ve had better

For $2.50 each I think these Zumbarons are good for the price. They are bigger than what you’d normally get in Perth for the same price plus the filling is a thick layer of yummy goodness. With that said, the filling may be a little too thick though. The proportion of macaron shell to filling is a little off such that you don’t get to taste much of the shell, which is a shame because the shells were good too. They had the slightest crunch on the outside and borderline chewy/soft on the inside.

Carrot cake and citron tart above. The citron tart is sublime – tangy, not too sweet, and very smooth. It has a thin layer of gelatin at the top for that gloss but it also give it that “bite” when you eat something so smooth.

The carrot cake, on the other hand, is not your typical carrot cake. It has the cinnamony carrot cake taste with a biscuit base and middle layer of mousse. Nuts and sultanas give it a good texture.

Passionfruit tart. The one above is what it’s supposed to look like and the one below is what happened to the one I brought home after a 5-hour flight. I talked to a friend who has lived in Sydney and apparently this had also happened to her so this passionfruit tart is prone to sliding of the crust. Regardless of what it looked like it still tasted divine. Almost similar to the citron tart but with a passionfruit taste, of course.

Adriano Zumbo Pâtissier on Urbanspoon

Peninsula Tea Gardens (High Tea) @ Maylands

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Food, High Tea by

Nestled beside the historic Tranby House in Maylands with river views, our afternoon high tea at the Peninsula Tea Gardens looked very promising. After all, what better way to spend lazy Saturday afternoons than sitting down and drinking tea while looking at the serene view in front of you. The weather was very fine on a winter Saturday afternoon when we arrived at the tea garden. There was a cool breeze and we were given a table outside.

With all the negative reviews I have read about Peninsula Tea Gardens and after checking out their prices, I was really hesitant to give this place a try. Then the bride said she would love to have a high tea party outdoors or one with a view. And so we went ahead to make reservations at this place.

First impressions were good. The view is indeed spectacular. It’s a good place to unwind after a busy week. Service was fast too but that should be a given. The tea gardens specialises in high tea so I would assume that their service would be a breeze. Not long after our tea orders were taken the tier of goodies came out. I skipped lunch for this so I was already very hungry then.

Bottom tier: Savoury treats. Cucumber & cream cheese, Roast beef & horseradish, Leg ham & Dijon mustard sandwiches, and Smoked salmon & salmon mousse.

I was not a fan of their sandwiches. Not that they were horrible. They were too simple and too bland. And the bread was a tinge dry. The fillings were so little so the sandwiches are not something you’d be raving about. You know what? I can make better sandwiches. The salmon mousse was more enjoyable. It was tastier and was something different from the usual quiche that accompanies the sandwiches.

Middle tier: Scones with a massive serving of jam and cream

The scones were really big and I only ate half of my share so I could eat the other treats. The look of the scones could be better but other than that they were really good basic scones with the strawberry jam and cream served on the side.

Top tier: Sweet treats. Cupcakes, Lemon meringue tartlets, and chocolate squares.

The lemon meringue tartlets were good. Tangy and not too sweet. Now the chocolate squares were questionable. I still can’t make out what they were. They were squares of layered cake that are then coated in chocolate. The problem was that they were at room temperature when we ate them and the buttercream filling was starting to be very liquid. Taste-wise I don’t know what they were supposed to taste like.

By the time I got to the top tier I was already full from all the extra sandwiches I ate. So one good thing about this place is that you can bring home the leftovers and that’s exactly what we did. We took home the cupcakes and long before I could get my hands on them after dinner they were already eaten up by someone else. They did let me know though that the cupcakes were good.

Peninsula Tea Gardens is big on the views but the quality of food needs improvement. I can see where all the negative reviews are coming from. It is fair, in my opinion, to expect exquisite food when you are headed to one of Perth’s premier venues for a traditional high tea that offers a unique high tea experience. Sadly they are just not up to par. I also take issue with their teapots.

Yes I almost booked this place for the hen’s party only because the setting was fantastic and the bride loved the views when I showed her some photos. Then I thought we could all head out to Swan Valley after the tea since it’s not too far away. But no, it was a let down on food so I decided against it.

My rating: 5/10
Peninsula Tea Gardens on Urbanspoon

http://www.peninsulateagardens.com/index.html

Sayers @ Leederville

Posted in Breakfast/Brunch, Coffee & Desserts, Food by

Breakfast – the most important meal of the day. There’s no other way to enjoy my breakfast than going to places where good food is served and service is efficient. That’s my kind of lazy Sundays. Sayers is one such place. Time and again Sayers never fails to disappoint me or my companions. No matter who I drag with me to these early breakfasts they all have very positive reactions towards this food spot in Leederville.

I made it clear to my early breakfast “victims” the night before that we have to leave the house at 8am on the dot. The queue to Sayers gets really long the later you get there. Once, we had to wait for a good 40 minutes to 1 hour in summer heat. Now it’s winter and it’s cold; not many people are out on the streets that early but I am not taking any chances. Me waiting for a table with a hungry tummy is never a good combination. We got there half an hour later and the place is already full. All the tables inside were already occupied so we had to resort to sitting outside. Well, not that I’m complaining. The alfresco dining area has heaters on so the chilly day was bearable. This is one of the things I like about Sayers – sit in or sit out you would still get that cozy and homey ambiance. Where we sat it felt like I was in someone’s backyard just having a good time. I felt right at home.

Onto the breakfasts now their menu is interesting. Of course you can still get the usual something on toast, the big breakfast…etc. but Auntie C and I opted for food that we don’t usually have elsewhere. Although the cafe was full, our waiting time for the coffees and food was not long at all.

Uncle J and my little cousin shared a plate of the full breakfast presented the Sayers way; not sloppy and not greasy. Looks clean and simple and the taste does not disappoint.

Auntie C had the potato rosti with poached eggs, bacon, onion jam, and lemon scented wilted spinach. Everything about this dish is perfect. Rosti has a slight crunch on the outside, the amount of spinach is generous, and onion jam to bring it all together.

I had the charred sweet corn and pecorino cheese croquette with poached eegs, beetroot leaves, and bearnaise. Food was served straight after plating so when I dived into my croquette it was steaming and oozing with pecorino cheese. The taste of the cheese was definitely there and it went really well with the uberly smooth mashed potatoes. Bearnaise sauce I can’t fault either. It was so tasty Auntie C and Uncle J were fighting me for a bit of sauce for their own poached eggs. What I loved the most, though, was the little amount of corn salsa on the side. The dressing was sweet and tangy and it left me wanting for more corn salsa…and I don’t even usually like corn.

At the end of our breakfast I was very tempted to get sweets. The cakes on the counter looked divine and I want to eat a slice of every single cake and slices there. We were very full after all the potatoes we had and were so tempted to get the cakes for take away.

But I guess we’d save those sweets for another time. Some time soon I hope!

My rating: 9/10
Sayers on Urbanspoon

www.sayersfood.com.au

Choux Cafe @ Swanbourne

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Food, French by

That little French cafe and boulangerie along Shenton Road is pretty well-known amongst macaron and French pastry lovers and it is not popular for no reason. The cakes and macarons on display in the fridge are colourful enough to entice you.

On a fine and chilly Sunday morning, L and I went Choux Cafe for a breakfast. Not your typical Perth breakfast scene as this is obviously a French kind of cafe. No eggs on toast, no big breakfasts, no pancakes nor muesli. What you have on hand to choose from are French goodies like baguettes and brioche from their boulangerie and croissants and pain au chocolat from their viennoiserie. If you want you can also have lunch items for breakfast like quiches, pies, and sandwiches.

It wasn’t a hard choice for me. Of course I’d eat the croissant. The hard part was choosing if I wanted plain, savoury, or sweet. In the end I settled for a croissant with smoked salmon, capers and avocado.

Amazing amazing croissant. Flaky and buttery. It has that perfectly baked croissant crust when you bite into it (or, in my case, when I slice it). The smoked salmon works perfectly with the croissant too. I was hesistant at first but the whole meal was nothing short of delicious – perfect croissant, just enough salmon, capers not overpowering, and avocados to complement everything.

L was debating with the various quiches available but, in the end, had the classic quiche lorraine.

The pastry was good, the egg mixture was divine, but a little too much bacon for me. Since this was L’s food, allow me to quote what she said: “I LOOVVEEED the bacon”!

And as if the savouries were not enough, we had to have dessert for breakfast too. We shared a piece of reine margot and 2 macarons.

Reine margot is a pistachio layered cake with mango and pineapple cream. It is refereshing, to say the least. Cake was spongy and the cream filling is very tropical.

The macarons. Well these babies by Emmanuel Mollois are famous for all the right reasons. I thought I have tried the best macaron there is in Perth until I had the ones from Choux Cafe. The shells are light, chewy, and taste fresh. Now the fun part comes from choosing which flavour to have. L wanted the blackcurrant with cream cheese filling and I wanted the strawberry jelly and basil one. Blackcurrant and cream cheese was heaven for L but it was so-so for me. I’m not enitrely sure that cream cheese was the best filling for this. Nonetheless you would still have that sweet and tangy sensation in your mouth. I, on the other hand, loved that basil macaron. It looked like Christmas in a macaron. The basil taste was very prominent and I loved it! It was mellowed out by the strawberry jelly and I think that both flavours worked very well together.

While there I couldn’t resist their bread so I brought home a la complet – a wholemeal baguette. Crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. It is nothing like the “baguettes” you get from Bakers Delight. So I have been toasting the baguette and spreading liberal amounts of butter for breakfast. Fresh bread really can’t be kept for long so I used the remaining half (I could only eat so much bread by myself!) to make bread and butter pudding. You know what? That baguette worked just perfectly with the crust and all.

Don’t forget to try the beef bourguignon pie too when you go there for lunch. Flaky pastry with a very rich and flavourful beef filling.

There is nothing very spectacular with the venue itself, space in theindoor dining area is quite tight actually. They also have an alfresco dining area at the back past the kitchen. What I do like about the venue is that it is quietly nestled in the middle of a suburban area. It is very easy to look out the window and drift into a daydream, specially on a rainy day, while sipping a cup of mocha made with rich chocolate and munching on a macaron. My only problem, really, is the older lady who just happens to serve me every time I’m there. She’s not the warm and friendly kind and does not have the French charm, in my opinion. Could do much better with a smile.

My rating: 8/10
Choux Cafe on Urbanspoon

www.chouxcafe.com.au

Donna Hay Molten Chocolate Chunk Brownie

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Food by

Continuing on my “Donna Hay pre-mix” series, as I’d like to call it, tonight’s dessert was made using the Molten Chocolate Chunk Brownie pre-mix.

This has to be the easiest brownie I have ever made! Aside from the pre-mix all that was needed were:

150g butter, melted

2 eggs

That’s it! Dump everything into a mixing bowl and mix until everything is well combined. Then add in the chocolate chunks that came with the box.

This is a very good brownie mix – tastes like real chocolate and crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle. It smelled very heavenly too when baking filling the whole house with the aroma of chocolate.

If there’s one thing that needs improvement it would be the amount of sugar in the pre-mix. The brownies were too sweet for my liking and too chewy because of all the sugar caramelising. The brownies from the edges were almost rock hard and my little cousins found it hard to eat them. They were still chewable when freshly baked but after they have cooled down it will take a lot of effort to munch on them. Other than that, a slice or two and a glass of milk are all it takes to get the party started. Ice cream and cream optional.

Cafe 58 Espresso Bar @ Palmyra

Posted in Breakfast/Brunch, Coffee & Desserts, Food, Modern Australian by

Right smack in the heart of Palmyra sits Cafe 58 Espresso Bar, truly a local cafe that seems to busy all the time. Palmyra is not included in the territorial lines where I’d consider myself a local but I will happily travel the 15 minute driving time to get to this cafe.

Most nights we come here for coffee and desserts. But, after much raving about the dinner menu, Auntie J took us there one night for a big family affair. We had reservations at 6:30pm; the cafe was dimly lit and the staff was just getting ready for the dinner rush. This I found strange, to be honest. I would have expected a cafe/restaurant to be fully ready and prepared if they take reservations for as early as 6:30. A few of us arrived first and were showed to our table but it took forever to be handed the menus. They seemed understaffed and everyone looked like they were on to something else other than minding the customers. There is a $25 2-course special on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and given it was a Wednesday night we were interested in knowing what the blackboard specials were. The blackboard was empty and we had to wait a good 15 minutes for the specials to be written on the board.

Three of us had the specials that came with an entree of a tasting plate of olives, chorizo and beetroot dip with 3 thinly sliced bread and a main of barramundi with mashed potatoes.

I am not a big fan of this kind of entree and this really just reinforced that. Nothing special except that it was a good start to fill the hunger and enough to keep us from going insane waiting for the mains.

An hour after we were seated, the mains finally appeared. This was really a ridiculous waiting for a cafe specially since we were among the first few tables to have ordered. Anyhow, the food did come and they were all devoured in 10 minutes because we were that hungry.

Here is the grilled barramundi with lemon butter and creamy mashed potatoes.

The fish was good, not too heavily seasoned and cooked perfectly. And that mashed potatoes were divine. Really one of the best mashed potatoes I have tasted. It was creamy, almost puree like, and seasoned just right.

Then we have the aglio olio pepperincino – al dente spaghetti with olive oil, garlic and parsley with a hint of anchovies and optional fresh cut chilli. This is a very tasty pasta dish. The only problem was that it was drenched in olive oil and I mean literally drenched. Given that K had this dish, she had to scoop out the pasta onto a plate. Otherwise she would’ve been drinking olive oil on the side too. A little cousin had the same pasta without the chilli but he was oblivious to the amount of olive oil. He probably thought it was sauce.

Uncle J, then, had the chicken parmigiana. This is the lowest ranking dish of the night. It’s not that it wasn’t good. It just there wasn’t really anything special about it. Crumbed chicken breast topped with Napolitana sauce and an oozing amount of mozzarella cheese. The layer of cheese was too much for him so he scooped off some. Other than that, the chicken was juicy and the side of Napolitana pasta was good too.

To save the best for last, out of all the dishes we ordered, I thought that I had the best dish for the night – marinated chorizo chicken. It was a grilled whole chicken breast with spinach, baby potatoes, sliced chorizo and grilled prawns. The chicken was succulent and the prawns were smokey. The jus made the dish even better. I loved and savoured every bite.

Onto dessert. The staple that we always have here at Cafe 58 is the sticky date pudding. It was love at first bite so we have been getting this pudding every time we drop by for coffee. It is sweet, sticky, date-y and just the right size for sharing. Served warm with ice cream. The best part is that you can hardly taste the sodium bicarbonate (that is usually evident in other cafes’ sticky date products).

I was feeling adventurous that night too so I got myself a choc avalanche tart. Oh my. This tart is very sinful. It looked harmless at first but a very rich chocolate filling was waiting for me when I dived into it. I am a big fan of the filling but not the pastry. There is something about it that did not go well with the chocolate. I think it was that eggy taste. It was so rich I only ate half an took home the other half.

Overall, Cafe 58 gives a good dining experience with the occasional mishaps that cafes experience from time to time. Staff are very friendly but some needs to be more attentive. Looks like we’ve found another place we can pig out at.

My rating: 7/10

Cafe 58 Espresso Bar on Urbanspoon

JACS @ Applecross

Posted in Breakfast/Brunch, Coffee & Desserts, Food by

It’s been a while since I’ve last been to the Applecross breakfast scene. There’s just too many food places to check out in so little time. And like they say – too many choices too confusing. I was pressed for time this Sunday morning having woken up late and I originally planned on whipping up a cheese and tomato sandwich at home. But that did not appeal much to me anymore as soon as I saw the loaf of bread (I casually work in a bread bakery so go figure). So I ventured out somewhere closer to home and dragged Auntie C with me onto Ardross St.

JACS has been a family favourite of ours since the first time we went there. Good food, friendly service and very nice atmosphere. It was a very fine day with a cool breeze so we sat at the alfresco area. It’s always a good idea to head there early as the place fills up very quickly by 9:30am or so.

I would usually stick with the big breakfast and a skinny latte but this day I had something different and I was very happy with my choice – a toasted truffle brioche with mushroom ragout, poached eggs and spring onions.

I thought it was looked small when I first saw it but halfway through I felt very full already because the brioche was filling. I definitely underestimated the power of that brioche. The mushrooms were button mushrooms and enoki. The ragout had a strong vinegar taste at first but it mellowed out after a few bites so thought it worked well with the brioche. The eggs were poached too soft and runny for my liking. Overall, it was a good breakfast with my usual coffee. Would definitely order that again just to break away from the usual bacon and hashbrowns.

Auntie C had the salsa poached eggs made with 3 poached eggs, ham, tomato and avocado salsa, rocket and 2 sourdough toast. A very refreshing breakfast I must say. The salsa was just divine and the saltiness of the ham gave the whole dish that flavour.

We left with very happy tummies. And oh, our next mission is to dine for lunch.

My rating: 8/10

JACS Applecross on Urbanspoon
www.jacsapplecross.com.au