Alfie & Hetty Restaurant - Glebe

We were invited by the great people at Alfie and Hetty to dine at their restaurant and try their food. Stepping into the restaurant, it felt really homey and cozy. Being two terraces (and previously two different restaurants) joined together and refurbished to it's original shine, the fireplaces, lighting, furniture, paintings, vintage everything - just made the place really comfy. The friendly and smiley staff also helps make you feel like home. They've even got an upstairs lounge area with it's separate bar, sofas and balcony area - perfect for a private function.

It took us a while to decide what to order as everything sounded really tasty. Smelling the wonderful aromas in the air didn't help us narrow down our options but we finally settled for a couple of entrees and a signature roast to share. The scallop entree was cooked perfectly. Like perfect Canadian scallops (AMAZING) on a bed of cauliflower puree and crumbed chorizo. The flavours can do no wrong and I just absolutely love the cauliflower puree - sooooo smooth, sooooo creamy, and soooo awesome with the bits of chorizo. It took a lot of self control for me to not lick the plate.

Our other entree was the beef tartare. We got a wonderful cylinder of hand cut pasture fed Hereford prime tenderloin which had this really creamy texture and zesty punch. It felt fresh and clean and wonderfully morish. Whilst egg yolk is normally placed on the top of the beef pile, at Alfie and Hetty, the egg is mixed in with the cut up beef - probably the source of the creaminess. It came with handcut  rustic-looking chips and aioli. Who can say no to that? :)

As for the main - we opted for their signature smokey beef ribs to share. It definitely could feed two people cos it was massive and it smelt just so good! I wish I could ask the beef to smile as it is so unphotogenic - but oh so good. The menu said that 2 days of TLC was put into cooking this beef and you could kind of tell - the meat just simply melted in our mouths. No knife required - just so so so so tender! The sauce glaze on top was smokey and BBQy but hubby pointed out that if there was a good smokey chilli sauce on the side (like at the American joints), it would have made it even better! But honestly, I was pretty happy to sink my teeth into this meat. There was sweet potato and wilted greens scattered around but really, nothing could draw us away from the beef. I eyed some lamb roast from other tables and that looked just as succulent and tender as our beef. Worth checking out next time I think!

Since we had stuffed ourselves with glorious meat, our stomachs only allowed us to share a dessert. It was a tough toss up between their creme brûlée, chocolate fondant, and apple-rubarb crumble (which came highly recommended by their super friendly manager). The brûlée won our hearts and we were not disappointed. Great toffee layer on top and smooth, vanilla-rich custard - it was superb! Awesome finish to our meal :)

It was a really enjoyable night. We knew we were in for a treat from the moment we stepped in, with the delicious aromas filling our senses. And we were not disappointed. Would not mind revisiting this restaurant again in the future!

As anyone who mentions this blog post gets 10% (til the end of Feb), it's not a bad idea to try out this place soon! :)

Alfie & Hetty
207/209 Glebe Point Road
Glebe, NSW 2037
Tel: (02) 8957 0652

We dined as guests of Alfie & Hetty but the photos and comments are entirely our own. 

Cafe Otto - Glebe

For a breezy brunch, Cafe Otto in Glebe was visited. Hosting a variety of food on their menu, it was a bit of a task to decide what to have... breakfast? sandwiches/burgers? pasta? seafood? At the end, hubby decided on a steak and I on a baguette.

Our pineapple and mango frappe came, glass overflowing, with icey goodness and a strong pineapple flavour. There was a hint of mango in the mix but pineapple was the predominant flavour. It was coolly refreshing.

 pineapple and mango frappe

Hubby ordered the smallest steak (250g) and opted for mash and veges with it (mainly cos I like mash :P). He wanted the steak cooked medium... but unfortunately, it was more medium-well/well-done. Hubby still thought it was tasty enough. I liked the mash - sooo creamy and buttery and unhealthy but soooo yummy.

 Grain-fed sirloin (250g) with mash and veges - $18

My choice of a smoked salmon baguette was ordered with a side of chips. There was smoked salmon, cos lettuce and cucumber in a super fresh and soft and slightly warm bread roll. It's advertised promise of avocado was scarse to non-existant whilst it's 'wasabi mayo' was wasabi-less. Nonetheless, it was a good delicious roll. The chips were also reasonably good, crispy and crunchy on the outside...each one being quite short but consistent, and not overlly deep-fried or burnt or oily. Nice.

smoked salmon baguette - $9.50 with chips - $3

All up, I think it was a relatively good brunch. If you're sitting outside in their courtyard, remember that it's still a smoking zone (but compared with being stuck in a ventilation-less tiny shop with loads of smoking businessmen, it was relatively tolerable).

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 27/40

Cafe Otto
79 Glebe Point Road
Glebe
NSW 2037
Tel: (02) 9556 1519

Digi.Kaf (2) - Glebe

It was a rare Saturday morning with no commitments. My partner asked me where I wanted to eat and immediately, Digi.Kaf, an awesome brunch place we went to in previous years floated into mind. Hence - to Glebe we went.

First - coffee. We both wanted Cappuccinos. It was made nicely here. The coffee is almost strong enough and almost creamy enough and hence, almost yummy enough :) Just a tad short of Melbournian coffee.

cappuccino

In terms of food, my hubby picked the baked beans with sausages ($14.50). This was a substantial pile of cafe baked borlotti beans, onion and roasted capsicum submerged in a rich herbed tomato sauce. My hubby asked for the sourdough toast on the side so it wouldn't be crazily soaked in it. The sausages were very rich and aromatic - chewy and yum. And the poached egg was cooked to perfection... the yoke oozed out. My hubby said that this was probably one of the better baked beans he's had for a while.

baked beans with bacon or sausages - $14.50

I opted for the green eggs and ham ($16.90). This was three eggs made super scrambled and creamy with basil pesto stirred through it. This was served on top of a crusty sourdough toast, wild rocket and plentiful generous rashers of crispy grilled prosciutto. The creamy scrambled was really YUM. Soooo creamy - sooooo pesto-flavoury and deliciousness~

Green Eggs and Ham - $16.90

There's a reason why I wanted to come back - great food, good coffee, good service, great atmosphere.

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7.5/10
Value for money - 8/10
Overall - 31.5/40

Digi.Kaf
174 St Johns Rd
Glebe,
NSW 2037
Tel: (02) 9660 3509

San Churro - Glebe

After the Taste of Sydney Festival (Yes - I'm still waiting on my partner to post up the photos), we decided to grab a drink with a few friends at San Churro in Glebe.

For a quick chilled sugar hit, I decided to opt for the Ice Choc Frappe whilst my partner grabbed a Spanish Coffee.

My Ice Choc Frappe was quite yummy. Nice and cold and refreshing and not too sweet. Very icey and nice :)

iced choc frappe

My partner's Spanish Coffee was also quite nice. Interestingly, there was the thick (I think possibly condensed milk?) on the bottom and dark black coffee on top with a slighty layer of froth on top. My partner was a bit confused about this to begin with ... do you just drink it? or do you stir up the milk into the coffee? A bit wierd at first- I thought this coffee was very yummy. The coffee was strong, and yet, the milk made it oh so very sweet. Similar to the Viet coffees - super strong, super sweet.

Spanish Coffee

This was a good finish to a day of yummy fine food.

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

San Churro
47 Glebe Point Road,
Glebe
NSW 2037
Tel: (02) 9692 0119

Flying Fajita Sistas - Glebe

Dinner meetup with a couple of close friends - just to catch up - took place at Flying Fajita Sistas in Glebe. We booked a balcony table for 3 at 7.30pm (which we later found out was a big NONO).

Fajita Sistas offered a decent variety of interesting beers (some unavailable when you try to order them), cocktails and other alcoholic beverages. My friend decided on the Bohemia, a light rich lager which my she said was pretty good.

Bohemia - $7.00

We ordered a mixed platter entree to share ($23.90). It came on two plates, three dips with chips on each. There was guacamole, sour cream, pepian, salsa, queso fundido (ie. the one with melted cheese) and frijoles (ie. beans). It was an interesting mix of dips - some I favoured over others (eg. the green pistacio looking one was warm and no where near as appetising as the cold green guacamole one). What we learnt, however, was that we had to sit here and gobble up all the chips before the waiter comes to clean it up and give us our main. So yes - we were there chatting and chatting and chatting until the sun came down and we were sick of eating corn chips with dip.

Mixed Platter of guacamole, salsa, cream, pepian, queso fundido and frijoles - $23.90

For the main, we ordered the Sistas Double Fajitas ($45.90) to share between the three of us. We chose the chicken and chorizo for our fillings. The chicken was marinated well with herbs and lime which was then chargrilled till tender (and it was quite charred - you could taste the chargrill even though you can't really see it that well in the dark). The Chorizo was a little bit too spicy for my liking but had lots of lots of flavour (and again, chargrilled quite some). They were a bit stingy on the fajita wraps, however, giving us only 6 slices for a huge hotplate of meat. The fajitas also came with guacamole, sour cream and salsa, pineapple, jalapenos and very very little cheese, salad, black bean and rice. The very very little cheese made me a little sad (since I'm a cheese lover and would have loved to cover my whole fajita in cheese).

The Sistas Double Fajitas (chicken and chorizo) - $45.90

Other than the fact that they were stingy on the fajita wraps and the cheese, the fajita's actualy tasted pretty good. However, no matter how good the food tasted, my appetited was instantly stifled by the sighting of a HUGE HUGE COCKCROACH. Yes - I HATE insects, cockroaches especially. The fact that there seemed to be more than one crawling near our table and on the wall behind us really freaked me out to the point where I was sooooo relieved about leaving. Upon leaving, I had multiple intrusive thoughts about cockroaches - how I swear I heard one walking around in my bag, and how my leg seemed a bit itchy and I swear it was a cockroach crawling up. Luckily for me - cockroach did not follow me home.

Nonetheless, foodwise - it was okay, a bit pricey though. Service wasn't great. And I dislike eating next to cockroaches. Hence, probably won't be back - or if I have to be, I will like a table inside thankyou.

Ratings:
Food - 7.5/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 1/10
Value for money - 5.5/10
Overall - 20/40

Flying Fajita Sistas
65 Glebe Point Road
Glebe
NSW 2037
tel: (02) 9552 6522‎

Restaurant Atelier - Glebe

Restaurant Atelier

A degustation at the small cozy Restaurant Atelier was the destination decided upon for our post-masters celebratory dinner. Offering 7-course degustations "tailored" to each group of customers for $80 per person ($50 extra for matching wines), the friendly staff were happy to accommodate alternate dishes for our non-fish and vegetarian friends.

The restaurant is quite small as after fitting our crew of almost 20, the restaurant could only accommodate a few more tables of customers. However, the atmosphere was awesome, giving off a dimly-lit, cozy romantic feel.

After seated, we were offered sourdough bread with an anchovie tapenade, balsamic olive oil and Echire butter. Many ooo's and ahhh's were heard about the tapenade and the balsamic olive oil with one friend even wanting to take the oil away. The bread was also warm, soft and pleasant to eat.

Sourdough Bread with anchovie Tapenade, Olive oil & Balsamic, and Echire Butter

The first course of the day was a prosciutto with fig sorbet. Hiding under the prosciutto was a green fig and sitting pretty on the top is a yummy breadstick. My tastebuds did not agree much with this course. I loved the bread stick - it was crunchy and lightly salty - but other than this, the dish was overall extremely sweet. Almost sickening so. I guess it's partly my bias though. My company seemed to devour this and so I guess, if you like the taste of fig, you will like this. In my opinion, the cold fig sorbet's sweet aura soaked through the prosciutto, overpowering the saltiness of the cured ham. As such, even without touching the green fig underneath, the whole dish was super fig-tasting.

Fig sorbet, prosciutto and green fig

The second dish suited my taste-buds much much more. This was a perfectly seared scallop with a 'Pot-au-Feu' veal terrine topped with asparagus and sprouts. The scallop and the terrine was separated by a chive crisp and nicely touched and decorated with a summer truffle and rosemary oil. The scallop tasted heavenly - lightly salted, not too raw, not overcooked. Mmm... YUM. The terrine was more interesting, consisting of cubes of veal and some green stuff ... but feel and texture was all quite separated and slightly disjointed - falling apart mostly. It tasted alright though I guess. And lastly, the chive crisp was lovely. Not exactly snap crunchy but flavoursome nonetheless.

Seared Scallops with a ‘Pot-au-Feu’ Terrine, Chive Crisp & a Summer Truffle & Rosemary

The next course was the marron tail. This was easily the best dish of the night. The marron tail was fresh - one bite into it and the lightly peppery seafoody juices just fill your mouth. This marron tail was accompaned with foie gras mousse which was light and fluffy, and a fresh pea salad and a pea and ham sorbet. The pea and ham sorbet was very OMG. Sooo much better than the fig sorbet, this one was fresh, savoury, cold and complemented the pea salad and the marron tail perfectly. Mmm... I would want more of this. The pea salad, lettuce piece and the deep-fried bacon crisp added the crispy texture element which complemented the moussey, melt-in mouth foie gras and sorbet very well. If this was the only dish of the night - this restaurant would get a 10 out of 10.

West Australian Marron Tail, Foie Gras Mousse, Fresh Pea Salad & Pea & Ham Ice Cream

Another dish that should have, but didn't hit the spot for me was the poached john dory fillets. The fish was definately not cooked right for everyone. A somewhat offputting fishy seafoody smell met my nose from a few seats down long before my fish settled in front of me. Luckily, my fish didn't smell bad. But it didn't taste good either LOL. The fish appeared not very fresh and hence, over-peppered. The poached nature ought to have given the fish a fall off the fork feel - but it was dissappointingly tough. The red piquillo pepper puree was nothing special, nor was the confit fennel and black olive salad. The olives were not pitted - and most found this deeply annoying. I also thought that putting capers in this salad was a bit out of place. So whilst this dish looked good appearance-wise, it did not meet expectations taste-wise.

Poached Fillets of John Dory, Piquillo Pepper Puree, Confit Fennel & Black Olives

After eating a not-so-appetising seafood dish, almost everyone was craving meat. Luckily, the next course was meat. The cocoa-roasted striploin of venison was served rare - chewy and with a full-on meat taste. The confit baby carrot puree and liquorice-infused sauce was praised by many people. The liquorice-infused sauce accentuated the charcoal feel of the cocoa-roast and bought with it a sweet sweet taste. There were also bits of baby turnip and white asparagus scattered around the plate.

Cocoa-Roasted Striploin of New Zealand Venison, Confit Carrot Puree, Baby Turnips, White Asparagus & a Liquorice-Infused Sauce

Now onto dessert. First up was a tonka bean creme brulee and a chocolate candied raspberry mousse with a poppy-seed flake pastry. I'm not a creme brulee fan but this creme brulee was pretty good. The tonka bean taste was infused throughout the smooth creme brulee and the sugared toffee top was nice and hard. A sign of a good creme brulee. The chocolate mousse was sweet and strongly chocolately. Amazingly, this tasted amazing when eaten with the savoury poppy-seed flaky pastry. Without this flake, the mousse was just ordinary.

Tonka Bean Creme Brulee with chocolate candied raspberry mousse

Last course of the night was served at odd paces. Certain people got his dessert plate long before others. Some thought this was rather unprofessional but perhaps this was because the souffle must be served straight from the oven otherwise it will flop in. The tahitian vanilla and chocolate fudge souffle was served with a malt-infused milkshake and a malt chcoolate ice cream. The how-to-eat instructions for this dessert was to poke a hole in the middle and pour some chocolate milkshake in. The rest of the milkshake can be drunk through the chocolate straw (drink before you eat the straw~!). I'm not a fan of souffles but my partner loved it. This milkshake was also not the best and the chocolate straw tasted somewhat burnt. The malt chocolate icecream was very yummy though. Good sweet end to the night and a good sweet end to 6 years of uni :)

Tahitian Vanilla & Chocolate Fudge Souffle with Malt Chocolate Ice Cream & a Malt-Infused Milkshake

Overall, the staff were friendly and attentive. They left us alone when we were roudy and they readily appeared and took our orders when we needed drinks. This dimly lit restaurant would be great for a small dinner party, or just a cozy dinner with your other half. But I guess if you were purely going for food, other restaurants would probably be a better pick.

Ratings:
Food- 7.5/10
Service - 8/10
Ambiance - 9/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 32/40

Restaurant Atelier
22 Glebe Point Rd
Glebe
NSW 2037
Tel: (02) 9566 2112

Maroo - Glebe

Maroo

It was a Friday afternoon and we had plans of a celebratory degustation booked for Restaurant Atelier with the rest of my lovely clinic people. But I was hungry. So was my partner. We had 15 minutes to spare. What better than a quick snack? LOL

We popped into Maroo in Glebe - just opposite to our dinner destination and ordered a rainbow roll ($10.80). Expecting flash quick service for just one sushi roll - we were made to wait... quite a little while. We were quick to forgive, however, as the waitress was super super apologetic and looked super super stressed out. I guess they just needed more staff here.

The rainbow roll tasted really fresh. The salmon wrapped inside the roll was very tasty and every piece was in nice bite-sized portions so I didn't have to embarass myself by biting it in half and letting all the insides fall out. If anything, I was just a bit taken back by the soy sauce - it was soooo strong and salty... and I swear I didn't put that much on :P

Rainbow Roll - $10.80

Anyway, we gobbled, we ate, we paid and we dashed off to our dinner degustation. A good snack thought my partner and I.

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

Maroo Japanese Seafood Restaurant
29 Glebe Point Rd
Glebe
NSW 2037

Digi.Kaf - Glebe

Digi.Kaf

A yummy brunch at Digi.Kaf at Glebe was on the agenda for today. This place is an internet cafe - with a warm sofa-cozy area containing a good range of magazines and newspapers, as well as free internet usage. Greeted by friendly waitstaff and a variety-ful menu, my partner and I had quite some difficulty deciding what we wanted to order.

Coffee-wise, my partner had his usual Capp in a mug, and I, my usual skim mocha. The coffee here was good, but for some reason, Sydney coffee just isn't quite as smooth as Melbourne coffee. Melbournians just seem to have a better coffee culture ish. Nonetheless, the coffee here is better than most other Sydney cafes - it's strong and tasty... yet slightly watery tasting (hence not as smooth as Melb coffees).

Cappaccino - $4.50

mocha - $3.50

Food-wise, my partner's quesadillas ($17.50) with added grilled chorizo ($4) did not disappoint. He happily gobbled the tortillas, which were stuffed with re-fried beans, roasted capsicum and yummy tasty cheese, topped with a spicy tomato jam and sour cream. Under the tortillas sat a little pile of rocket. The eggs also looked light and fluffy... yet my partner was too full by and hence, was unable to polish them off.

quesadillas with chorizo - $17.50 + $4

I got an omm.com ($17.50). This was a three-egg HUGE omelette with a choice of three fillings. In mine was smoked salmon, mushrooms and shallots (a good pick, thought I) with tasty cheese. I think I would have preferred my omelette a little slightly less cooked - yet, it was very tasty and yummy and delicious anyway. The huge size of this meant that my toast went virtually untouched.

omm.com - $17.50

Overall, this cafe had friendly attentive service. The atmosphere was chillaxy and laid back. And, because this cafe is in the Entertainment book (which has buy one main get one free), we left this cafe $30 out of pocket... yet with two free coffees for our next visit (much thanks to the friendly waiter dude).

Ratings:

Food - 8.5/10

Service - 8/10

Ambiance - 8/10

Value for money - 8/10

Overall - 32.5/40

Digi.Kaf

174 St Johns Rd

Glebe

NSW 2037

tel: (02) 9660 3509