Bills, Darlinghurst

With 2 cafes in Sydney and 6 in Japan & London, one would expect the food and service at Bills to be nothing short of spectacular. Sadly it was not so....

usually, long queues = good food...

I began my Queens birthday long weekend with an outing to Bills on Saturday morning. We decided to try out the Darlinghurst cafe since that's where it all began. As I drove by and saw the queue, I was happy. Long queues usually meant good food :) So I quickly dropped the wifey and friend off to get a spot in line whilst I went off hunting for a car spot. Parking is painful in this area with most places being just 1hour free. 



Whilst staring through the window at other patrons eating with my face pressed against the glass (i jest), a delivery guy came by with about 4 boxes meat.  Noticing that it was from Vics Meat, I was excited, knowing that they bought quality stuff. Vics Meat is my go-to place for when barbeques are thrown. Visit it some time! :)

Anyhow, after about 30 minutes, we finally got a table inside.

Chic interior

Upon entering the cafe, we were greeted by a large communal table with artsy magazines, plants and 'fresh fruit' in the centre. The place looked good however the low ceilings only made everyone's chatter seem extra loud. We found ourselves raising our voices more than usual just to have a decent conversation.This is where it all started to go downhill...

After our coffees were ordered, we asked for a bottle of water and 3 glasses. When this was placed on our table, I had something that looked like a 3" long slimy beansprout root stuck to the side of the glass, half of it floating in my water. I'm usually not toooooo fussed about little things but this was quite gross, so I had it replaced. 

When the coffees arrived, I didn't bother taking any photos. No latte art, nice fern leaf , no hearts or cute bears, not even a blob of milk froth or anything that resembled the barristas pride in his work. It looked like he stirred it with a spoon!

Zucchini fritters, deep fried egg, haloumi, parsley salad, tahini yoghurt, pickles ($23.50!)

I planned to order the Zucchini fritters dish all along after recollecting a photo I saw from another blogger on Urbanspoon. I must say, she was a really good photographer.  :)

The 2 slices of  Haloumi had gone cold and rubbery, the deep fried egg was well...deep fried I guess, and rubbery as well. The pickles looked exactly like those that you would see at a Sushi Train outlet and I'm not sure if you can see it but, the parsley leaves I was given were really old and stringy. If you looked up any online dictionary, the word salad means "a dish of raw vegetables" I only had a vegetable (plural!) so how can it be a parsley salad! :P 

If I had to find a positive here, the Zucchini fritter was nice and crunchy. It was flavoured well. Now on to the missus's meal.

Corn fritters, roast tomato, spinach and bacon ($21.50)

What a waste of good meat! There were 2 slices of bacon on plate but they were cooked as 1! The kitchenhand didn't even bother to stretch it out on the grill. Sheer laziness. Then a handful of spinach leaves were placed next to the bacon and this was propped up by the corn fritter. Missus found a few slimy leaves between that pile. 

Once again the positive here would probably be the Corn fritter.

With the number of cafes out there still left unvisited, Bills for now is right at the bottom of my list of places to visit in the near future. The food and drinks were nowhere up to par with the prices charged for it.

If anyone from Bills is reading this, please take the above as constructive feedback. 
It is the collective thoughts of a few people who go out every weekend for brunch.

Brewtown, Newtown

Over a month ago, I tried, going to Brewtown but the crowd outside were just crazy. Under usual circumstances, I would have waited but as I was starving, I could wait no longer and decided to visit another nearby cafe. It wasn't that memorable so I shan't blog about it.
This time round, I had no further plans for the day so didn't mind the short wait outside.

Situated on O'Connell St, Brewtown is located on the Northern part of Newtown where everything happens. I've lived in this suburb for over 10yrs and I'm still not sick of it. There's always something new to see, cafes to visit, people to watch, etc.

If I had to gripe, it's slowly losing it's 'feel' as more and more commercialized shops start to may their way in *coughfroyocough*, pushing out the quaint little 2nd hand op shops that just can't keep up with the crazy rent....anyway I digress.

Look for the street between Guzman Gomez and T2, you should immediately see a crowd of people standing around. To confirm that you're at the right place, look up towards the left and you should see this signboard. No it's not reversed. I was just standing on the other side of it. :P



 Brewtown took over one of my favourite bookshops, Berkelouw Books. At first, I wasn't too happy it was going but what can you do...life moves on, and just like that, Brewtown was born. I'm glad to see that it's kept the whole industrial feel of it, making it a tad bit more nostalgic.

From where we sat at the bar, we could see the steampunk coffee machines bubbling away like some sort of evil scientists lab. Did I order it? no. I am not enough of a coffee connoisseur to be able to appreciate it .. maybe in time.

 Soon enough, we were served by one of the most polite, eloquent waiters of all. Maceo. The coffees got ordered first followed by our meals. I like how underneath each cup, there was a 'sexy gnome' on the saucer looking back at you. then as you drink your coffee down, the word Brewtown appears on the inside rim. Little things I know, but hey that's what life is about! I WISH I could show it to you but silly me deleted the photos from my phone before sending it to my email address.

Anyway we sat and waited, then chatted some more, then waited, then admired the underside of the high roofs, then waited some more. Turns out, there was a mix up with our orders and it didn't get processed! #&*$(@#&$#

Maceo was very apologetic and promised to 'fix us up' after our meals. So after what felt like forever, the food finally arrived. Wheeeee~!

Grilled black sausage home made hash browns, canadian bacon and house relish with boiled eggs

I was starving when my plate arrived first but of course there was always time to take a picture!  The bacon was not overly fatty , the black sausage was packed full of flavour and the hash browns were a delight to eat. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. If I could comment, this dish would be so much better if there was just 1 more hash brown to balance out with the other items(Not to mention the missus who kept eyeing it off and wanting more of it).  I was also very impressed by the egg, perfectly boiled and smooth I had to take another photo!

That's one sexy egg

 The missus decided to take the healthy road today and ordered herself a meatless dish. As light as it looks, it filled her up. I had some of the polenta and found it to be quite tasty. It went well with my black sausage. :)

Baked polenta with mushrooms, grilled asparagus, poached egg & parmesan

Throughout our meal, Maceo kept asking if everything was all right and that if we were ok. Gotta love his attentiveness! He followed through with his earlier promise and after clearing our table space, Maceo brought out 2 cronuts. The regular  glazed one and a raspberry filled one. 

Glazed cronut in the front, Raspberry at the back

For those who are unaware, a Cronut is like a croissant/donut that has been  deep-fried. Now coat it in sugar (krispy Kreme style) and you have a cronut! Yes......calories galore. It definitely was delicious and a MUST to try if you've never had one before but as to regularly eating it, I might pass on that.  I wanna make my belly jolly, not jiggly.

Make it to Brewtown if you can as it's definitely worth a visit. Heck, spend the whole day in this suburb whilst you're at it.
There were so many other stuff on the menu I wish I could have ordered but that's ok. I'll come back another time.


Brewtown Newtown
add : 8 O'Connell Street, Newtown
opening hours :
Monday 10am-4pm
Tuesday - Thursday 12pm-4pm
Friday - Sunday 10am-4pm
map /website

Paramount Coffee Project, Surry Hills

Most peoples dilemma in the morning before heading out is "What do I wear today?"
For me, it's "Where do I eat today?" 
As I lay in bed going through my list of  'cafes to visit'  I whined to my missus, 

• Should I just go somewhere close by yet again?
• Shall I go further out? 
• It's almost 10am and most places will be packed already!
• Shall I just decide based on suburb and then wing it? 
• Shall I go savory or sweet today? This will help me choose which cafe to go to!

She replied, "Just pick one!"
So, after moaning and groaning over one of "life's tough choices", we made our way to Paramount Coffee Studio.

Outdoor area that comfortably seats 14ppl and  lotsa dogs

After giving the waitress my name and being told that the wait might take about 30 minutes we decided to order coffees first and check the place out. The interior has a nice classy industrial-like feel about it. Polished concrete floors and loads of natural light. 

hipster looking bikes.

TokyoBike takes up the back portion of the restaurant. Can't say much here as I don't even own a bike except that they looked really cool! I probably wouldn't be able to pull it off but it certainly looked like hipsters bicycle heaven. From what I've read, the emphasis is more on comfort(and style) and less on speed.

Almond&macadamia milk latte and a piccolo for me

The wait for a table only  took 10 minutes and soon enough we sat ourselves outside. No problems as the weather was lovely. I really liked my piccolo as it was well-balanced. I can't say much about the latte though. The almond and macadamia milk drowned out any hint of coffee and left you with a strong milky/nutty aftertaste with each sip. Not a big fan. :-\ This however turned out to blessing in disguise as the missus ended up ordering an awesome backup drink!

Caramel Popcorn milkshake THE BOMB!

If you're thinking of visiting this place, and you already have your drinks ordered, please make sure you get this milkshake. I don't care! it's worth it! Just like the caramel from West Juliett, this was another one of those items that blew our minds! It wasn't overly sweet but frothy, creamy and packed full of flavour. It stayed true till the last sip and unlike most other shakes which tends to turn into a sloppy mess of bubbles once you get to the bottom, this one somehow stayed thick! I couldn't stop stealing sips from the missus. :P

Crab Po Boy. Claw is waving hello..or was it help...?

 It didn't take long before the first dish arrived. Soft-shelled crab, coleslaw inside of a milk bun. I don't know what in the world a milk bun is but it was sweet. The batter for the crab was nice and crunchy without being too oily. The savoury taste balanced well with every other ingredient and with that being key, it was a damn good burger.

Popcorn prawn salad.

Next up was my dish. The popcorn prawns. Mmmmm. where do I start. Imagine a fresh bed of baby leaves salad with a nice light dressing. Now throw in KFC-styled popcorn chicken, only replace it with prawns and voila! You have a 'somewhat' healthy dish. It's not the heaviest of meals but perfect as a filler. I could have eaten this AND the crab po boy. I'd highly recommend this dish. 

 I ordered a side of onion rings and whilst it was nicely battered and crunchy, it wasn't that much to shout about and hence, it gets a little picture instead.




 


The missus and I both share the same trait of leaving the best for the last bite so I had a popcorn prawn and she had this little crab claw to end our brekkie.







Paramount Coffee Project is definitely on the cards as a place to visit again. Dave, the 'outside waiter' always had a smile on his face and was forever polite. He gave recommendations and was a pleasure to deal with. The same goes to the gal who took our names when we arrived and the same goes to the cashier. The setting is stylish, the food is definitely up there and if I had to compare it to any other cafe, it would definitely be Three Williams...... both of which I hold very highly in my books. 

West Juliett, Marrickville - April 2014

Just like Hubes, our Saturday mornings these days are spent attending house inspections. This means that our breakfast outings has to be alot earlier which isn't a problem at all. 

Being early risers (7 to 8am) this just gives us more opportunity to spend the day doing more stuff!.....after a good breakfast of course. :)

This time round, 'West Juliett' was the cafe of our choice and coincidentally, it's another one of those places that's literally 5 minutes walk from where I live.

Side story We saw A GIGANTIC dog on our way to the cafe. I mean look at it! his paws were the size of my clenched fist!!! This gentle giant came lumbering towards us and just plopped itself by our feet and went into the 'rub my belly' position. It was still abit scary because I could see that my head could easily fit into his mouth. (Not kidding). His name was "Dave" and he was a 5yr old Leonberger. A giant dog breed.

So we got to West Juliett and even at 8:30am, there was already a queue of people. We put our names down on the waiting list and stood in line for about 15 minutes and it was worth it. We plonked ourselves on one of the outside tables and started checking the menu out.






 First impressions count and boy did they leave one! No matter how busy it got, there's

always a waitress making sure that everyone is served. Glasses of water were also brought to us without the need to ask for it. Coffee art was also not left neglected, even when the takeaway queue was literally out the door. The coffee (Beans were from locally roasted White Horse) was nice, creamy and unburnt. No complaints here. 

 Speaking with a few other food bloggers, they've all said to me

"You must order the 12hr pulled pork salad ($12.90)" or 

"Make sure you drink the salted caramel Milkshake ($5.90)" or 

"Don't leave that place without getting the pink salt chocolate chip cookie ($3.50)"...... 

Come on!!! I've only got 1 stomach!!!

Anyway, I tried to order the 12hr pulled pork salad but found out that it is only served from 11am onwards. I settled for the Haloumi egg roll ($9.90) instead. It may not look like much but you  could tell the freshness of its ingredients with each bite. The greens on this plate are sourced weekly from the local markets and the free range eggs came from some lady by the name of Mary from Wyong. (There's photos on their facebook page to prove that the chickens were.... 'free'.



 Now here comes the best part. Wenni ordered the French Toast ($13.90). It came with grilled peaches, ricotta and salted caramel. After the 3rd "This is really good!!!" from Wenni, I had to put my roll down and try hers...She was not telling fibs. Firstly, I was really amazed that the slices of egg coated sourdough was so soft and easy slice up! This shouldn't be much of a surprise since the bread is from Sonoma and based on previous experiences, they have not failed me so far. The ricotta was ok, the peaches were sweet and the salted caramel was "lick-the-plate-clean" good. I can't say anything else about it but just go and try it out yourself.


With so many more dishes to try, it seems like a few more trips back here is on the cards :) Thoroughly enjoyed this outing and highly recommend it! Who knows. You just might bump into 'Dave'!

West Juliett
Address : 30 Llewellyn St, Marrickville, 2204
Opening hours : Mon-Sat 7am-4pm

Website : facebook \ Google Map

Bean Drinking, Crows Nest - March 2014

There is a near endless number of cafes in the inner west area. Places with great food, loads of seats, in warehouses, hole in the wall....there is just so many that even if you went out every weekend, there will not be a time when you can confidently say that you've been to them ALL.

This weekend, we decided to mix it up a little and travel further out to the North. 
No offense to anyone but personally, anything that involves crossing the Harbour Bridge is considered too far and requires pre-planning. So we packed our bags, charged our mobiles, brought water and snacks and proceeded with the adventure for the morning. I jest...

Now the guys at Bean Drinking are serious about their coffee. Not only do they have their own roasters,they also sell an assortment of Hario brewing equipment. I will in no way try to pretend that I know half of the things on their coffee menu which includes coffee that can be ordered in an assortment of brewing methods!

Ambiance wise, this place is really nice. there's a little park just opposite the shop where you can sit under a tree and sip your coffee whilst watching the kids play, the dogs pant or just doze off. 





The coffee art was good with no complaints from my friends. The hot chocolate was dranked down in a jiffy. I ordered something called an "Arnold Palmer" thinking it was somewhat like a long black but mixed in with lemonade. it was just ice tea with lemonade but the tea was replaced with Cascara (coffee cherry pulp) :P
    

Bean Drinking focuses on fresh produce and what's in season. With that I hope that the chicken meat in my toasted "Perfect Chicken" was free-ranged and corn fed. Portions were nice and large so at least I was full and only needed my next meal about 5hours later. :)

Wenni and Hubes had the "breakfast Brioche" I personally think Brioche anything is good! It definitely looked it. Should have asked for a bite....

Lou had the Brioche French Toast. I'm not sure about how it tasted. I didn't ask her. Maybe she can comment on this post to tell us exactly what she thought of it. Hmm... I've got a craving for this now...I know what I'm going to order next week.

 Mishy had the "Hearty Breakfast Board". I didn't like the presentation of this dish as it looks as if everything was just chucked onto a chopping board and served. Mish did say the 
mushrooms were too vineger-ry for her. 








Crows Nest has it's fare share of 'crazies' too. The guy sitting behind us was barking to himself. The girl sitting next to him moved at the first chance she got. lol

So...my take on this place. 
As a place to catchup with friends for coffee and maybe a slice of cake, sure thing! 
As a breakfast place that I'll keep in my list of top 10 which ticks every box, probably not. 


Bean Drinking
Shop 1, 13 Ernest Place, Crows Nest 
opening hours : Mon - Sun 7am-6pm
 Website : link / Google Map

The Wolf & Honeybee, Newtown - March 2014

Picture this. You have an appointment in 1 1/2 hrs time. You have nothing to eat at home. There's not really enough time to drive out, look for a cafe, possibly queue up, wait for your food and maybe deal with traffic on your way home. 

What.Would.You.Do.

I took this as an opportunity to pull my finger out and try the cafes that are literally just around the corner. 

It's funny how whenever someone askes me where I went over the weekend, I would tell them of places far and away and of the dishes I had and what thoughts were about it. I've never spoken about the the places that are close to home, nor have I ever given it a chance.

With that, my missus and I decided to walk out to the Wolf and the Honeybee.

This place has been here for since 2011 and as small as this cafe is, it certainly makes up for it in quality. You can't go wrong with Campos coffee. The tea supplied here is from Teacraft. And the bread...my god. where do I start, the bread's REALLY GOOD! Ordered in daily from Brasserie Bread.

We seated ourselves outside of their shop and ordered our coffees immediately whilst looking through the menu. 

Happy with the presentation and taste. No problems with it whatsoever.

Now, I don't know why but I must have unconciously felt like eating healthy for a change so I opted for the vegetarian smashed egg roll.

I can't tell you exactly which bread they used but boy was it tasty!! I'm usually not a fan of Sourdough but this was refreshingly crunchy (not the "rip the top of your mouth up kind) and soft on the inside. In between 2 slices of awesomeness was scrambled free range eggs, grilled haloumi, tomato and homemade capsicum relish. 

I'm pretty sure Wenni was sick of hearing me say "This is really good!" by the end of the meal.
This was evident in the fact that I didn't pay attention to her ham and cheese croissant nor did I take a photo of it. :D

When paying the bill (cash only premises), I asked the cashier how did the name come about. He explained that the owner's surname (Conal) in Gaelic means Wolf, and then he mumbled something about the ex-girlfriend being the honeybee... or something like that. I didn't question him further. :)

If you want to stay away from the hustle and bustle of Newtown but still be within walking distance, visit this place! 

The menu may be limited but the quality is certainly there.

The Wolf and the Honeybee
Address : 206, Edgeware Rd, Newtown
Opening hours : Daily 8am - 3pm
map / facebook

Molly Coddle Cafe, Newtown - Feb 2014

I'm not a fan of waking up early in the morning especially on weekends.
When I say early, I mean 7am.
8-9am is fine, but not before that.
A friend at work has been relentless at hounding me each Friday to join him for the Sydney Park run; a 5km run around Sydney Park at St Peters. For about 4wks, I've used most of my good excuses but I finally caved in and decided to give it ago.
I finished the run with a decent time, bade my friends farewell and walked home.

Knowing that Hubes was home alone and that my missus had another engagement, I texted Hubes and asked him out for cuppa. After a nice cold shower and a change of clothes, we both walked out of our respective homes.

The Southern end of King Street has had a big boost in the number of cafe popping up. Some places have been hit and miss and so far, none have been consistent with either their service or food or a combination of both. This time round we decided to try out Molly Coddle Cafe.

Molly Coddle cafe took over the spot of Zagaris(which closed down last yr), which took over the spot of Blue Vein cafe. Hmmm... bad feng shui??? Oh well, let's see how long this place lasts! Ambiance wise, I like it.  The outside tables were well shaded by the hot sun, there was a nice cool breeze and we had a view of King St to people watch.

Hubes ordered his usual Cappucino and I had flat white. Not really sure what type of coffee art they were going for but have a look for yourself what you think. The coffees pretty good! I didn't check out what beans they used but it was nice.

After much deliberation we finally decided on what we wanted to try out so here they are.

Corn,zuchinni, coriander fritters served with bacon and homemade chutney. $15.50.





I must say, the helpings at this place are pretty large. The chutney was really good but the Fritters were a little too doughy for my liking. I struggled to finish my meal. If I had to score it, I'd give it a 6/10. Good if you're after a nice big meal that is just OK in taste.

Molly's Signature - Senoritas.
Poached egg on Sourdough with chicken chipolatas, ricotta, chorizo and heirloom tomatoes. $15
(note - the eggs are on the top left side of the photo. I should have asked hubes to cut it open so you could see the runny egg in all it's galore)



Watching Hubes eat his meal, he must have enjoyed it. I forgot to ask him how it was but it certainly looked tastier than mine. From what I can see the eggs were poached well and the yolk was nice and runny. it didn't look too oily so would have been a good balanced meal. Once again, the helpings were LARGE!

If you're ever in the South end of Newtown, do check this place out. I've got nothing really bad to say about this place. : )


Molly Coddle Cafe
address : 622 King Street, Newtown