Vicinity - Alexandria

Remember that Saturday where it was absolutely bucketing down? Well that was the morning that my friends and I decided to meet up for brunch at Kepos St Kitchen. For a table of 6 on this miserable day, we were informed that we needed to wait 1.5 hrs. In torrential rain? Nope - we were not waiting. Instead, we decided to give Vicinity - the large restaurant on the corner of Bourke and Collins St a go - thinking that they'd have more room for the 6 of us. And we were correct - not only was there a table waiting for us, there was also undercover parking, perfect for the occasion!

We had, unfortunately, missed breakfast - so we were given the lunch/dinner menu. It didn't look too over-appealing for our unbreakfasted stomachs, but we all managed to choose something anyway. Coffee first - just average. Nothing special here.

Cappuccino

One of my friends and I opted for the fish of the day - crispy skinned barramundi with squid ink pasta, sweet potato, cauliflower puree and mussels ($24). Apparently cooked in their wood fire grill, the skin was crispy and the fish was cooked quite well. The cauliflower puree was tasty, as was the blackened pasta. Not a bad dish.

fish special of the day - barramundi

One of us chose the meat of the day - which in this case was the slow cooked chicken, finished off in the wood fire grill, smoked eggplant and sweet potato puree ($24). Unfortunately, this was not as spot on as the fish. My friend said that the chicken was cold and slightly tasteless.

meat special of the day - chicken

Another friend opted for the pork belly ($28). Big juicy looking slab of pork belly with crispy skin, morcilla, romesco, fennel and orange salad. No complaints from her about the dish - nor were there amazing praises.

pork belly

My hubby got talked into sharing the 38hr cooked lamb shoulder with a friend ($34pp). This massive slow cooked lamb was topped with a tahini yoghurt, sumac and sesame seeds. A hint of lemon to finish it off. Hubby said that is was good - tender (some bits more than others), but there's been better.

lamb shoulder

So all up, the food was alright. It's a great location for a group of people on a rainy day. Try any other cafe and we'd be waiting for hours in the pouring rain. Not sure if the food is 'wow' enough to warrant a return visit though...

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 7.5/10
Value for money - 6/10
Overall - 27/40

Vicinity
90-96 Bourke St
(corner of Collins St)
Alexandria
NSW 2015
Tel: (02) 9002 1333

The Grounds of Alexandria - Alexandria

On a nice warm spring day, what better than a chillaxy experience at a cafe? The cafe spot we picked for the lazy Saturday was The Grounds at Alexandria - a popular spot for families and couples in the midst of the up-and-coming suburb.

I've been told that the wait for this place can be as painstaking as 1 1/2 hrs - so when given the news that it'll be approx a half an hour wait, I was relieved. Not long after a leisurely stroll along their gardens and stalls for the day (checking out their hens, their herbs etc), and a detour to the deli next door, our buzzer rang and we were guided to our table.

The Grounds gives off that 'happening' vibe. Loads of chatter, laughter just reverberating around the walls. The waiters dashing around the place trying to keep on top of everything. People lining up for takeaways. The whole lot. But whilst busy - it felt like the 'nice' sort of busy, and not the 'I'm so stressed' type. We ordered coffees first - the cappuccinos were heaps smooth and rich and creamy - the perfect 'wake-me-up'.

coffee

I opted for the beef burger ($18) which came with a small container of heavenly beer battered fries. The chips were golden and crispy on the outside and fluffy goodness on the inside. It was also very consistent - every chip was good. The beef brisket patty was juicy and tasty as was all the other bits of the burger - the cheese, lettuce, the dill mayo - all encased in a really soft toasted brioche. Mmm...

'Ground' beef burger - $18

Hubby's spiced chicken baguette ($14) was not as awesome. The "ramzey's secret' spiced deep-fried chicken was alright, the bun was average and the spicy mayo inside just as advertised... making for a good but not wow chicken baguette. It came with a side of leafy garden greens ... but chips would have been much tastier!

Ramzey's secret spiced chicken baguette - $14

The Grounds is a pretty good place to chill out. It can be hard to get a spot for large groups (though there are a few bigger tables around) and the place is not really that conducive to D&Ms. But what you get is good coffee, lovely surrounds and decent food.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 30/40

The Grounds of Alexandria
Huntley Street
Alexandria
NSW 2015
Tel: (02) 9699 2225

Crust

I don't know why but I've had a HUGE craving for pizza for quite a few weeks now. So on the weekend when my partner asked me what I wanted to eat, I said - PIZZA! And being nice, he agreed to it.

Mentally flicking through the pizza joints available, I decided to test out Crust - the gourmet pizza takeaway place that's become immensely popular in the recent year (but we'd both yet to try).

Crust Alexandria Store

They had quite a decent menu so it took us a while to decide what pizzas we wanted. But in the end, we'd opted for the Meat Deluxe ($16 for medium, $20 for large), and the Philly Steak ($16 for medium, $20 for large).

Crust

Thin yet not too thin pizza base, crunchy on the edges, soft in the middle, smothered with bbq sauce, and topped with smoked ham slices, pepperoni, Italian sausage bits, chicken fillets, ground beef and bacon and cheesed up - that was our Meat Deluxe. Yes. It was an awesome load of meat, meat and more meat. It tasted absolutely delicious on the base of bbq sauce.

Meat Deluxe - $16 (medium)

I had originally wanted to try their wild mushroom pizza (which was mushrooms of all types) to balance out the all meat pizzaa but was met with the aweful stare from my partner which implied "are you serious?". So I succumbed and opted for the philly steak. The philly steak tasted completely different to the meat deluxe. For one, it was tomatoey and not bbqy. And it had rocket on it - adding some greenery. It also bought along quite a strong taste of capsicum, both fresh and roasted. The pizza had loads of topping of black angus roast beef slices, caramelised onions, mushrooms and a delicious twizzle of dijon mustard. It was pretty awesome! Different awesome to the meat deluxe - but awesome nonetheless.

Philly Steak - $16 (medium)

I normally eat maybe around 3 slices of pizza? But here - I swallowed up a WHOLE pizza. Yes - I was quite disgusted with myself, but it also meant that the pizza was deliciously enticing enough for me to eat it whole :P

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - ? (we took it home - so ambiance was great~ )
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 23.5 + ?/40

Crust Pizza (Alexandria Store)
486 Botany Rd,
Alexandria
NSW 2015
Tel: (02) 9690 0233
http://www.crust.com.au