Kitchen By Mike - Rosebery

I know that Kitchen By Mike has a big following. But for some reason, I'd never been a fan. Like  I know that the produce is fresh and made relatively well, but for that price, I think that you can get the same or better elsewhere. However, it does have a large seating area, making it convenient for our group of 10+ to all fit.

So at Kitchen by Mike, their menu goes from breakfast to lunch at 12pm. You line up like a good little school child waiting at the cafeteria and you make your selection. Salads are $5+ and meats are around the $15+ range. Everything you put on your plate adds to the amount you pay at the end of the line.

For this meal, hubby made all the selections. We got a roast chicken and a pork belly, with a cabagge and apple slaw, roasted root vegetable and bread. Came to around $25pp. Really not that cheap for self-service, no presentation style food. The chicken was OK, maybe just a tid bit dry for my liking. The pork belly (was quite a small serve) had good crackling but a ton of fat. If you weren't into eating mouthfuls of fat, there would have been very little of this slab that you could have eaten. The slaw was good. Fresh. Good amount of dressing. And the root vegetable was also decent. Highlight for me was probably the bread and butter. The bread was super soft and delish. The butter was also well churned - creamy and tasty.

Kitchen by Mike is right next to Black Star - so of course that is the obvious dessert choice. I was heaps disappointed that the only cake that seemed to be widely available was the watermelon cake. And if you were buying a big slab like we were, it was the only cake you could purchase. Yeh yeh I know it's big and popular and all that. But I'm not a huge fan and even if it was their best seller, I would want a bigger variety and more choice.

Ratings:
Food - 6.5/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 5/10
Overall - 24.5/40

Kitchen by Mike
1/85 Dunning Ave
Rosebery, NSW 2018
Tel: (02) 9045 0910

West Juliett - Marrickville

Working full-time in a place far far away from any shops or cafes, I never cease to be amazed by the shear number of people who manage to just chill out at cafes and restaurants during working hours. On this particular morning, we just managed to get ourselves a table at West Juliett, only deciding to come here after seeing a pretty amazing-looking salted choc chip cookie.

Coffee here was decent. And the food served all seemed pretty average. Hubby ordered a bacon and egg roll and I had a haloumi and egg roll. They really did look pretty similar. The bun was a good proportion of crispy and soft. Mine had a ton of chilli mayo on it which gave it a bit more zing. I wish there was a bit more haloumi, but it all went nicely with the spinach and egg. Hubby's bacon and egg got no complaints either.

Coffees

Bacon & Egg Roll

Haloumi and egg roll

So that's all good and all that but really the main event came from their house baked goodies cabinet - the pink salt choc chip cookie. This was definitely pricey but definitely very tasty. Crunchy outer ring with a chewy center. Good amount of choc chips. Good sweet to salty ratio. Yum. I have to say though, I have since proceeded to bake choc chip cookies at home and sprinkled pink salt on them - just as tasty!

All up, a pleasant experience. Probably made more pleasant as it was a day off work. Not a bad cafe to stop by for a breaky or brunch.

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 28/40

West Juliett
33 Llewellyn Street
Marrickville
NSW 2204
Tel: (02) 9519 0101

Cafe Shenkin - Erskineville

It was the long weekend and my uncle was over from Hong Kong. He seems to like coffee so I had every intention of taking him and my parents to Brewtown for some delicious coffee and cronuts. The plan was thwarted as a million other people also seemed to want coffee and cronuts that same day. Plan B? Cafe Shenkin we went.

Having some larger communal tables up back, our party of 5 were seated quite promptly (I did call ahead to put my name down on their list 10 mins before we arrived). Coffee was good. Better than I expected. The milk and froth in my cappuccino melded in smoothly and creamily with my coffee.

My mum ordered their Israeli Big Breakfast, only to be shocked by why it was so big. Two pita breads, two eggs, labne, smoked salmon, avocado, tuna and a cucumber and tomato tabouleh type salad made this plate look pretty impressive.

I convinced my uncle to try their shakshuka with chorizo. He was initially confused as to how to tackle this big pan full of red soup - but one he dug in, he seemed to quite enjoy the middle eastern flavours. My only gripe with this is that it looked heaps watery. I'm pretty sure I can make less watery but just as tasty shakshukas at home!

Hubby got the Ziva - which was a olive and sesame puff pastry with hard boiled egg accompanied by a plethora of dips. The hommus was tasty and came as a generous serving. The other dips and chutneys were also really tasty - I just don't know what they're called...

I ordered a spinach and feta puff pastry with fried egg and salad. I was a little underwhelmed by my choice. There was barely any puff to my puff pasty and any spinach and feta that was promised was scarce. The egg was just that... and nothing too impressive about my salad either. Rather a 'meh' dish.

My dad went for non-middle eastern flavours. He played it safe with the 'eggs benny'. Two poached eggs on english muffins with hollandaise sauce drizzled on top. A classic that really can't go that wrong.

So all up, I think my uncle was pleased to have tried something different - something that Honky people don't have much exposure to. I felt like the coffee was good, the waiters were patient but the food was a bit hit and miss.

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 8/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29/40

Cafe Shenkin
53 Erskineville Road
Erskinville
NSW 2043
Tel: (02) 9550 5511

Code Black Roasters - North Melbourne

One of the many things that Melbourne does better than Sydney is their coffee. For whatever reason - Melbourne coffee is mostly smooth and creamy and delicious, whereas in Sydney, getting one of these creamy rich coffees is like winning the lotto. So it was a no-brainer that we would be hitting a lot of cafes whilst we were in this wonderful city.

We visited Code Black Roasters which is a few blocks away which is a few blocks away from the Queen Victoria Markets. The place was hipster - you could tell by the bearded employees and the crowd that's here (mac-books galore). As predicted - coffee was AWESOME. Rich, aromatic, creamy, hits the spot.

Foodwise, I ordered the hot smoked salmon and hubby ordered a 'T-rone' steak sandwich. The toasted sourdough sandwich had thin porterhouse steaks cooked medium (or a bit more medium-well) with thin haloumi slices, iceberg lettuce, a jalapeño mustard and tomato sauce. It was tastier than I thought. The steak slices were more tender than expected and the haloumi and mustard complemented the meat well.

My hot smoked salmon was cooked through and a bit tough and rubbery. I would have much preferred it loads more pink. Likewise, my poached egg was overdone and un-runny which was a let down. I liked the crispy herb potato hash and of course, the avocado (which you can't really get wrong). The hollandaise sauce was also OK. All up - it was OK... just not great.

So I guess that the coffee was amazing but the food may need to be refined a bit.

Ratings:
Food - 6.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 6.5/10
Overall - 26/40

Code Black Roasters
119 Howard Street
North Melbourne
Tel: (03) 9381 2330

Devon on Danks - Waterloo

We hadn't been out to brunch in a while as I was sick of paying ludicrous amounts for hipster avocado smash on toast. So when hubby took me to Devon on Danks, I was a little weary... especially as it looked exactly like Danks Street Depot (a place where I've had really good and really average experiences).

Agreeing to sit on the high seats meant instant seating for us. My coffee was actually pretty delicious. Smooth and aromatic.

skim cappuccino

Foodwise, hubby got the soft shell crab roll. Crispy soft shell crab sprinkled with sichimi pepper, nori sheets, wasabi mayo, tobiko, pickled cucumber, daikon, and carrot, all served in a soft hot-dog style bun. It was actually really tasty. Really good textures and loads of flavour.

soft shell crab roll

I couldn't look past the 'Dr Seuss's Green egg and ham'. This was a juicy caramelised thick cut bacon - half meat and half fat - super duper tasty and succulent, with a 63 degree egg topped with pea puree and green tomato ketchup. Zomg YUM! But definitely not something you could eat lots of... 

green eggs and ham

There were cronuts and donuts displayed across the counter, all looking beautifully delicious. I simply couldn't resist but to order the Milo and chocolate ganache cronut. Unfortunately, looks are deceiving. Or maybe, I'm just not a huge fan of cronuts? It wasn't crispy or flaky enough and had a bit too much oozy custardy ganachy stuff inside... I think it's just me. I'm sure it's a good cronut and loads of people around us were ordering multiple cronuts.

Milo Cronut

I quite liked the food here but it does come at a price. Although there's more seating here compared to their Surry Hills branch, there's probably still a bit of a wait for seats at popular times. The food is fresh and comes relatively quickly and service is efficient but not really that attentive.... but overall - worth a try.

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29/40

Devon on Danks
2 Danks Street
Waterloo
NSW 2017
Tel: (02) 9698 7795

Bootsdarling - Darlinghurst

I must be getting old because I can no longer sleep in on the weekends, and instead, find myself wide eyed at my normal work wake-up time without the need for an alarm. As such, my hubby had to force himself to go get up and have brekky with me somewhere - on this occasion, at Bootsdarling cafe in Darlinghurst.

Being super early, there were seats a plentiful. The coffee here was really smooth and tasty - rendering my usual need to add sugar to my capp surprisingly redundant. Definitely a good wake-up.

Food wise, hubby ordered the corn and zucchini fritters which were really light and fluffy. The fritters also had a hint of ricotta and were stacked nicely with a poached egg, bacon and loads of pesto salsa verde on the side. I have to say - I liked it so much that I stole the whole plate from hubby and swapped him my pulled pork after just a few bites.

The slow cooked pulled pork was mixed with a pea hash, kale and a perfect poached egg. A decent tub of Dijon mustard accompanied this plethora of meat. It was tasty and packed full of soft succulent meat... a bit too much meat for my breakfast liking - but hubby liked it muchly, which aided a smooth swap of meals :)

Quite a nice little gem of a cafe. Good vibe and friendly service. Will definitely be back for some awesome coffee.

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 6.5/10
Overall - 29.5/40

Bootsdarling 
333S Dowling St
Darlinghurst
NSW 2010
Tel: 0421 181 534

Prato Cafe & Diner - Abbotsford

I was looking up  yummy brunch places and came across this cafe tucked away in Abbotsford. Abbotsford is not a suburb we frequent so I was pleasantly surprised when it was just 15 mins away from home. So what drew me to this cafe tucked in amongst expensive waterview properties? I saw a photo of their fish pie and thought - 'I've got to eat that!!!" So guess what I ordered? :)

The cafe is spacious yet friendly and welcoming. Although staff was not abundant, service was prompt enough. Coffee here was also pretty tasty! Smooth and rich and aromatic - campos coffee.

Hubby had his heart set on many things. He finally decided on the homestyle bacon and egg roll. We called the waitress over to order and he ordered.... the beef burger. What happened?!?!?! The beef burger came on a super duper sesamed bun. Over-sesamed for sure! The cheese burger came with Gruyere, onion, pickle, ketchup, and mayo, served with crispy golden french fries. It was average... Why is it so hard to find an awesome burger in Sydney these days? :(

My smoked fish pie was super super delicious. Large chunks of smoked white fish with sweet leek, potato and peas and a light golden bread crumb. The fish was so smokey and the combination of the lot was creamy and really tasty! However, it is quite rich, so much so that it was truely difficult to finish the dish alone.

This cafe is quite a gem. Quiet and tranquil with indoor and outdoor seating, and lovely high ceilings too! Worth a visit for sure :)

Ratings:
Food - 7.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7.5/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29/40

378 Great North Road
Abbotsford
NSW 2046
Tel: (02) 9712 5638

Rustic Pearl - Surry Hills

Before bracing ourselves to launch into our nephew's 3rd birthday party, we decided to grab a quick early breakfast around Surry Hills. We ambled into Rustic Pearl, a cozy small ish cafe on Crown Street.

Water served with a thin slice of lemon and mint was a nice touch. The menu appeared tasty and it took a while for us to deliberate our choices. At the end, hubby got a bruschetta and I opted for a fancy bacon and egg roll. And of course we got coffees which were creamy, smooth and tasty - not a bad start to the morning.

Hubby's bruschetta was a mess of sucuk (a dried, spicy turkish sausage), fresh tomato, rocket, pomegranate molasses and melted buffalo mozzarella, finished with soft boiled organic egg. Hubby's problem with this dish was the avocado that was smeared on the toast - he said that it made the toast all soggy and undesirable. The other components looked delish, but hubby said that it was pretty average.

Sucuk bruschetta

My bacon and egg roll was a crispy yummy bun encasing a beautifully cooked  organic fried egg, bacon loin, rocket, tomato relish and hollandaise sauce. Impossible for me to eat as a whole and a touch messy as I cut it up. It was tasty enough but not spectacularly amazing.

bacon and egg roll

All up, it was a pleasant experience. Food and coffee came promptly and it helped us chill out for a bit before heading to a hectic kids party. Not too bad :)

Ratings:
Food - 6.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7.5/10
Value for money - 6.5/10
Overall - 27.5/40

Rustic Pearl
415 Crown Street
Surry Hills
NSW 2010
Tel: 0406 930 083

Milse - Auckland

On my resent trip to Auckland, I had read up on this new hip dessert cafe - Milse, in the Britomart area. I had my heart set on trying their Salted Caramel & Hazelnut Gelato Stick but funnily enough, when I stepped into this relatively small, dessert-packed cafe, we ordered lots of salted caramel stuff... just not my initially wanted gelato.

Hubby got sold by the 'Verrines'... little pots of sugary goodness. The one he picked was the hazelnut, salted caramel, valrhona alpaco one. It was sugary and sweet. The salted caramel was gooey and nice and the little chocolate bits was a good accompaniment. Not a bad dessert but no salted caramel gelato.

I decided on their macarons. I got my favourite - salted caramel macaron. It was delicious! The tiramisu one was yummy too.

It was not until we got our last choice of sugary goodness that I wish I just stuck to my first decision of grabbing a gelato stick and walking. Hot chocolate here is $7. The 'salted caramelia hot chocolate' is $11. Neither of us thought this would be "WOW" but we decided to get it anyway... for some odd reason... and No, it was NOT wow. I thought it was a bit weird. Not quite sweet not quite caramelly and not quite salty. I didn't like it. Hubby didn't mind it though. He thought it was exactly what he envisioned salted caramel hot chocolate  would taste like.

We were sitting at the bar during the course of our sugary meal. We saw them make all these different desserts - gelato pops, wobbly custardy things, sundays, tarts etc. I would definitely come back next time I'm in Auckland for more desserts :)

Ratings:
Food - 7.5/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 7.5/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29.5/40

Milse
27 Tyler Street
(the pavilions at Britomart)
Auckland City
Tel: (09) 368 9487

Ponsonby Central - Auckland

It's my first trip to NZ - and I have to say that Auckland certainly has that super chillax feel to it. Barely able to sight people, barely crowds and yet, restaurants and delicious-looking cafes abound. One such restaurant-dense area is Ponsonby Central - a market full of delicious looking food! I have to say, our indecisiveness on our visit left us walking up and down and back and forth for the better part of an hour. Tasty looking meatballs? A delicious looking burger? Super yummy crepes? Inject-your-own donuts? At the end of a long deliberation, we opted for 'el sizzling Chorizo' - an Argentinian BBQ place.

After choosing the place, our next dilemma was to figure out exactly what to order. The chefs/waiters at this little joint were nice, friendly and luckily, patient enough with us. Should we get a platter? or one of those awesomely juicy short ribs that the man next to us were eating? Or maybe a pork belly? After much umming and ahhing, we opted for the deliciously looking chunk of beef short rib and a chorizo.

The beef short rib was delicious! The meat, particularly that close to the bone, was medium rare and super duper tender and tasty. YUM!!! Hubby did eat a lot of it, but if it were in front of me, I would be picking up the bone and devouring it! (loosing what ever little lady-like manners I have). The chimichurri sauce was also really tasty :)

beef short rib

My chorizo was not what I expected. The sausage was full of flavour, but it was a bit pink in the middle. Being pork, I was a bit hesitant, but the waitress assured that the pork was pre-cooked and that it was meant to be a bit pink. I took a dive, ate it anyway, and didn't get sick :) The bread was also cooked on the grill - it was a bit dense but it went well with the meats. The toasted almond slices on top of the salad was also heaps delectable.

chorizo

After the meaty meal, we walked by 'the Dairy', the shop next door and couldn't pull away from their ice cream cookie sandwich. This was two fresh cookies of our choosing, sandwiching a large scoop of icecream, also of our choosing, all topped with fairy floss. ZOMG sugar overload!!! We had the anzac cookie and the choc fudge cookie with a butterscotch icecream... and between the two of us, we were unable to finish it. It got a bit messy to eat though, as if you bite the freshly baked cookies, the icecream gets squeezed out of the sides.

icecream cookie sandwich

Loved the food aromas here at Ponsonby Central. Would not say no to another trip here just to try the other stores.

El Sizzling Chorizo & The Dairy

136-138 Ponsonby Rd

Ponsonby Central

Auckland

Element 6 - West Ryde

Being hungry on a Saturday morning but with only a limited amount of time landed hubby and I at Element 6 at West Ryde, a hipster trendy-looking cafe joint not too far away from home. There was crazy amount of people here already when we got there around 11am, all seated around tables that were relatively too small, and with chairs that look cool but aren't altogether comfy. But that's IN, right?

There were too many things on the menu that we wanted but we finally settled on a couple. Hubby settled on a way-too-healthy smoothie - the 'green with envy'. This green concoction had kale, celery, spinach, mint, cucumber, and apple all whizzed up, sweetened naturally with agave syrup. He really enjoyed it, and amazingly, I did too. My skim capp was decent too.

green with envy smoothie

skim capp

When our food came out, I experienced ultimate food envy. Lucky for me, hubby allowed free access to the source of my envy. The crazy looking and smelling dish comprised to rosemary garlicy mushies of all kinds. It was served with two perfectly poached eggs, squeaky yummy haloumi, baby spinach, roasted tomato and sourdough. Hubby also added bacon to it all. SOOOO awesome.

Garlic Mushrooms

I probably would have loved my meal too if it wasn't overshadowed by the garlicy mushies. I got the chorizo roll with egg, cheese, tomato and delicious aioli. The chorizo was tasty, same with the egg and cheese...Unfortunately, the sauce and the tomato made the bun a bit soggy and unsavoury.

Chorizo roll

We had a pretty tasty meal at Element 6. Probably would come back some time for some more tasty garlicy mushrooms.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 28.5/40

Element 6
65 Ryedale Road,
West Ryde
NSW 2114
Tel: (02) 8021 2838

Brewtown - Newtown

For a lovely brunch catchup with awesome friends, we went to Brewtown in Newtown. On a Saturday at 11am, there was quite a crowd. That, coupled with the fact that we needed a table of 11, meant that we had to wait a bit. However, they accommodated us better than I thought possible.

Drinks first. My coffee was quite delish. Smooth and aromatic. Funnily enough, my coffee-addicted hubby went for the juice of the day - which I think had kale, ginger, apple and something else in it. It was a bit sour but refreshing. I just wish that freshly squeezed juices could be colder. After his juice, hubby succumbed to his caffeine addictions and ordered yet another pretty perfect coffee.

freshly squeezed juice

skim capp

We all ordered, but because we were all pretty hungry whilst waiting for our food, and because we eyed some freshly baked cronuts coming out from the kitchen, we decided to order a few to share. There was the cinnamon one, a glazed one and a jam-filled one. Cronuts remind me of a denser krispy kreme. I like it, but I'm not sure that I absolutely love it. My favourite of the three types was the glazed one :)

cronut variety

My brekkie of choice is the Mini egg benedict brioche roll ($8.50). I had it was a side of avocado smash. This was good and surprisingly heavy... I could barely finish it. Unfortunately, my egg (along with a lot of my friend's) was a bit over-cooked and didn't give that usual ooziness. I was glad I had the avocado to add to the flavours.

Mini egg benedict brioche roll $8.5

Hubby ordered the Corned beef hash with garden peas, poached egg and parmesan crumbs ($15). His meal came out quite a bit later than every one elses. But to reward him for his patience, his eggs were cooked to absolute perfection. The corned beef hash was also heaps tasty. There was a good balance to this meal.

Corned beef hash with garden peas, poached egg and parmesan crumbs $15

For the rest of my friends, they ordered a selection of different meals. I didn't get to sample, but I saw lots of full and satisfied looks around the table. The only critic coming from one of my friends is that their beetroot cured ocean trout was not cured enough and was more akin to sashimi... which he wasn't too huge of a fan of eating first thing in the morning.

meatball, tomato, basil sauce and mozzarella baguette $15

Beetroot cured ocean trout with goat’s cheese, caper berries and baby beats $16.5

poached eggs, sourdough, relish, avocado smash

Beetroot cured ocean trout, avocado smash, rye sour dough toast, dill, persian feta & beetroot relish $16.5

Baked polenta with mushrooms, grilled asparagus, poached egg & parmesan $15

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29/40

Brewtown
6-8 O'Connell Street
Newtown
NSW 2042
Tel: (02) 9519 2920