Espresso and Matcha's Foodie Odyessy - Sydney - Day 2 Breakfast : Cafe Cre Asion

Our second day in Sydney started with a breakfast at the very popular Cafe Cre Asion, which proved very difficult to find in Alberta Street. Once there, it was hard to miss, due to the amount of people there, with some tables and chairs spilling onto the streets.

Of interest, the tables and chairs were both very short, which meant leaning over when we had to eat our food.

 

The menu was provided, and we noted the savoury foods up for order, but the objects of our desire were to be found elsewhere.

After doing thorough research online, we had our eyes set on the numerous matcha and earl greay themed cakes, tarts and fondants.

Before sweets though, we did order a sandwich, because it was still breakfast. With that our Tomato, Mozarella and Avocado sandwich came. Whilst the fillings were refreshing and quite tasty, the bread was infused with quite a fruity flavour, which caught us both off guard.

Our cakes and drinks came not long after.

We both had matcha lattes, which were served in very traditional looking wooden bowls. I really appreciated the freshness of the matcha, especially the fact that they were both made without sugar, so that we could adjust to our liking. It had a smooth creamy texture, but was probably one of the strongest matchas I've ever tasted. 

The swiss roll was just as intense. With its colouring, you could see that the matcha was very strong in the roll. The cake was light and fluffy, whilst the filling was generous and rich. 

Our last cake for breakfast was the Matcha Fondant (also know as lava cake). Keeping in mind we already found the flavours in the swiss roll to be strong, this cake blew our minds. It was a matcha powdered chocolate cupcake on the outside, but inside was super intense matcha lava. To top this off, there was also a little cup of extra matcha to pour over, and some fruits in jam as an accompaniment. The cake itself was considerably denser, and tasted akin to a brownie without the nuts. I really enjoyed the filling, and it complimented the juices of the strawberries and blackberries wonderfully.

Price Range: $10 - $20pp

Taste: 9/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 8/10

Espresso and Matcha's Foodie Odyessy - Sydney - Day 1 After Dinner : 85 Degrees Cafe

With our dinner at the markets in mind, Queen V and I had purchased cakes from 85 Degrees Cafe to enjoy at the hotel after dinner. 

My regular readers will know that this is one of my all time favourite cafes, with their cakes and drinks, its a must go for me every time I go to Sydney.

My drink of choice is always the 85 Degrees Coffee, which I find to be exceptionally fragrant, not very acidic and without foam on top. Like many of the bubble tea joints, I prefer to have it with a reduced sugar content.

I had the Strawberry Hokkaido, whilst Queen V had the creme brulee. The Strawberry Hokkaido cake was deliciously light and fluffy, with strawberry jam and cream filling, which was a cool and refreshing way to round off the day.

Price Range:

Taste: 9/10
Value: 9/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 7/10

Espresso and Matcha's Foodie Odyessy - Sydney - Day 1 Dinner : Chinatown Night Markets

With our late lunch and subsequent afternoon tea, Queen V and I decided to keep dinner relatively simple and headed to Chinatown for the weekly Night Markets to get something quick. With our good friend Burger Connoisseur's recommendation of Mamak as one of the best Malaysian restaurants nationally, that became our first stop.

The pop up store was very crowded, but only had three items on its menu.

We paid at the counter and waited for our order, which came relatively quickly considering how many people were waiting for their food.

Between the two of us, we shared a Satay Chicken and the signature Roti Canai.

The Satay Chicken was actually breast fillets (rather than thigh fillets, which some other places use). Despite being grilled, they managed to retain a lot of the moisture, which is always appreciated. The added cucumbers and onions (to the side) gave it a bit of added freshness, and the sauce was a lot less thick and less peanutty than I would have imagined, but I really enjoyed it none the less.

The signature Roti Canai was extremely flaky and soft. The curry wasn't particularly spicy, as the chilli paste was placed separate to the sauce. For the price of $6, I consider it a very good deal.

We rounded off our meal with some takoyaki at colotako. The line to this store was also very long, which was what attracted us to it. The takoyaki came in four flavours, being octopus, prawn, crab and vegetarian.

We got to watch the takoyaki get cooked after we ordered.

We ordered one set of crab takoyaki which were served piping hot. We added our own sauces and bonito flakes. Each ball had a crab claw attached (with quite an impressive amount of crab meat), and it had quite a creamy texture that we both enjoyed immensely.

Espresso and Matcha's Foodie Odyessy - Sydney - Day 1 Afternoon Tea : La Renaissance Cafe Patisserie

The reason why we skipped dessert at The Tea Room, was so that we could try another place on our hit list, being La Renaissance Cafe at the Rocks. We underestimated the (long and uphill) hike, and were quite tired (and hot) by the time we got there.

For our efforts though, we were rewarded with delightful sight of numerous cakes and pastries. Comparing them to the Brisbane patisserie scene, I would find it more akin to Le Bon Choix as opposed to Chouquette, due to the emphasis on mousses and bright colours of the cakes.

Seating was at the back, in a rustic style courtyard with a really cute bike.

I ordered the Tiramisu, whilst Queen V had the Goya.

The Goya was a raspberry passionfruit mousse with almond nougarine. After the long hike, Queen V agreed that it was quite refreshing and light in texture whilst intensely fruity. The mousse tasted akin to what we have at Le Bon Choix, but for the price tag of $10.50 for dine in, we found it a little more expensive than we would have expected it to be. 

This was my tiramisu, which I was very keen on trying out. Whilst it contained the essential elements of mascarpone and a soaked sponge, it turned out to be very sugary, and the amount of cocoa was a bit too much for my tastes, rather than a light sprinkle, I brushed almost half a centimetres worth off the top of the cake before eating it. Due to the intense sweetness of the tiramisu, I was also unable to taste much of the espresso from it either.

Price Range: $7 - $20pp

Taste: 6/10
Value: 6/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 7/10

Espresso and Matcha's Foodie Odyessy - Sydney - Day 1 Lunch : The Tea Room - Queen Victoria Building

After my Gluttonous Sojourn last year, a close friend of mine, Queen V, decided that it would be a great idea to travel again to Sydney and hit some of the places we didn't go last year and try some other new places. Our first stop after getting off the plane was the iconic Queen Victoria Building, to have lunch at the infamous Tea Room, being one of her favourite restaurants.

 

With its high chandeliers and waiters in suits, I felt as if I had walked into a castle in an anime (fulfilling many princess dreams).

As Queen V is supremely organised, she made the booking well in advance, which ensured we were promptly seated.

We were provided with complimentary bread, a slab of butter, and some condiments. Whilst the bread was a good starter, I would have much preferred it to be served warm, so as to melt the butter. 

We started the meal with a shared entree, being the Lamb Wellington, which was cooked medium rare, and covered with a delicious flaky pastry and served with hummus and tabouli. I was really impressed with how tender the lamb was, and really appreciated how the pastry remained crispy without going soggy from the meat juices. The additions of hummus and tabouli really balanced out the dish to give it a lighter finish too.

After a very short wait, our mains and sides were served. Queen V and I ordered the same main, being the Wagyu rump, with radish and asparagus salad. We also shared sides of shoestring fries and truffle mash. 

The Wagyu Rump really exceeded my expectations. Being more of a tea room, I would have expected their scones and pastries to be very good, but their steak was very tender and smooth in texture. Whilst it appeared a little small, it was actually quite filling. The wagyu was well seasoned, and potato puree (mash), was also well infused with the meat juices.

As for the sides, we soon realised we probably ordered too much potato. The fries were freshly fried and crispy, but only seasoned with salt. We would have liked for it to come with options of dipping sauces, or at least sprinkled with herbs. On the topic of herbs, our truffle mash came sprinkled with chives. It was mashed quite smoothly, but the truffle flavours were really more subtle to what I would have liked it to be.

Price range: $50 - $70pp

Taste: 8/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 9.5/10
Environment: 9.5/10

Max Brenner - Carindale

After an arduous day of shopping throughout Carindale we decided to treat ourselves to some afternoon tea. We had heard a Max Brenner had opened in Carindale and went in search of it in the complex. Located not far from Yum Cha Cuisine, we headed in to check it out. 

With a wide variety of chocolate selections including milkshakes, pastries and ice creams, we took our time making our order as we drooled at the menu. Having made our order we grabbed a table and ordered our food. The décor and setting was very familiar to its Southbank store. Simplistic, the bright colours and food themes was quite relaxing. The ceiling reminded me of chocolate bars and made me very eager for our sweet afternoon treat.

 Our treat for the afternoon was the Chocolate Mess Party to Share. A chocolate sponge cake generously coated in chocolate syrup topped with ice cream, whipped cream and sprinkles (yay sprinkles!) served in a tin. What the photo does not reveal is that we were also provided with a spatula to serve so you can imagine how decadent we felt when we dug into it. One of my companions remarked it had the appearance of a steak coated in ice cream and sprinkles. Unfortunately for me my companion did much to share the chocolate mess with themselves leaving me much deprived and wanting more.

To wash it all down we ordered drinks a hot chocolate Cappuccino and an English Breakfast Tea. The milk served with the tea was generous and my companion liked the cup that was served with the tea. 

As for my Cappuccino, I liked the added chocolate that made the drink very special and enjoyable. Overall we enjoyed our treat but were very full (and feeling rather guilty!) Max Brenner Carindale is very much a solid choice for your afternoon chocolate treats after a hard day of Saturday shopping.

Price Range: $10 - $25pp

Taste: 7/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 7/10