Salvage Specialty Coffee - Artarmon

We were heading to a Jap pottery sale on the weekend in the Artarmon area and decided to brunch there too. It was a slightly difficult choice as 2 pretty popular cafes were right next to one another on Wilkes Ave but at the end, we opted for Salvage Specialty Coffee (as it had pretty high ratings on bean hunter :P).

We were seated quickly and served quickly - impressive. Coffee here was likewise impressive. Disappointing that they only have one size of coffee cos I would have loved a large cup of my skim capp.

Food-wise, the blackboard offered lots of temptations. Even though there wasn't tons of options, there were many that we wanted to try. After intense discussions with the waitress and much deliberation, we finally opted for the Sloppy Salv (?? I actually forget the name...) and the Croque Madame (which was a weekend special).

The sloppy salv was a brioche burger containing some really tomatoey and slightly spicey mince bolognese. It reminded hubby of a MOS burger. It was definitely sloppy - pretty much falling apart. But pretty tasty :)

 The Croque Madame was exquisite. A perfectly soft-poached egg with delicious running yolk sat atop my toasty of black forest gypsy ham (super tasty), swiss gruyere, and dijon. The other half of my toasty was topped with creamy delicious bechamel sauce. Loved every bite of this crunchy, soggy, tasty, flavoursome concoction. YUM!

All up, I liked this place. Coffee is good. It's chillaxy. The food is really tasty. Definitely worth a visit if you are nearby.

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

Salvage Specialty Coffee
5 Wilkes Ave
Artarmon, NSW 2064

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

GT Fish & Oyster - Chicago

We were in Chicago over Easter. And what seemed like "the thing" to do was to go out to brunch on Easter Sunday. And so, after some trawling over the net, I found and booked 'GT Fish & Oyster' for a 3 course Easter Sunday Brunch. GT Fish & Oyster is a 'bibs gourmand' rated restaurant - so I guessed that it would be pretty decent. The verdict? Exceeds expectations!

We sat down, not really sure what to expect. As they had the name "oyster" in their name, and the waitress seemed so sincere when introducing the oysters available (some from east coast, some from west coast USA), we decided to get some to start our meal. We got a couple of oysters from 'Mirada' (Washington oysters), a couple from 'Penn Cove Select' (also Washington oysters), couple from 'Rappahannock' (from Virginia), and lastly, a couple from 'Saltworks' (also Virginia). Conclusion? Washington oysters were tastier... but really - Aussie oysters are yummier (esp coffin bay ones :P)

Onto our three course meal... We were initially in a conundrum - as there was 3 options in each course. We couldn't decide which option in each course to pick! The chicken and waffles? The lobster roll? Crab eggs benedict? There were too many tasty things on the menu!!! To our surprise (or shock), we didn't have to choose... we get them ALL!!! So it's a three course meal that's actually really like a NINE course meal. I have to say, we were definitely not the only table who were clutching a doggy bag, as well as our stomachs, out of this restaurant.

Course 1 was cinnamon churros with some tasty, flowery, sweet cream dip, Monkey bread with a crème fraîche and dill, and french toast with strawberries. It was ZOMG. Such a sweet sweet start. The churros were super crunchy, yet really soft and fluffy inside. Possibly one of the best churros I've actually had. The cinnamon dusting was actually really tasty. Hubby loved the french toast. This was also really light and fluffy. My favourite in course 1 was actually the monkey bread. I had no idea what monkey bread was before that day - this one was a savoury, semi-dense, but super tasty sesame bun. Simple. But I loved it!

The second course was a prawn cocktail, crab and spinach eggs benedict, and a white fish quiche. The prawns were fresh - tick! The crab in the eggs benedict was really tasty and really sweet-tasting. Really really liked this! But what blew me away was this quiche. Simple in appearance but in terms of taste??!? Packed full of flavour! The fish gave it a really sweet aroma. The eggy custard was smooth and light, but rich in flavour all round. The pastry was also good. Lucky we weren't made to choose one option of the three - I might have missed this spectacular dish!

The last course was a lobster roll with onion rings, a duck enchilada, and chicken & waffles. Let's start with the lobster roll. The lobster was fresh and with just the right amount of mayo, all served on a light buttery bread roll. The pickled veges and the onion rings were great accompaniments to this. The duck enchilada was definitely tasty - loads of duck and pretty yummy corn chips abound! But something definitely puzzled me in this meal - the chicken & waffles... This, according to my friend who lives in the US, is the next 'in' thing. This is a waffle with friend chicken, semi-drenched in maple syrup to make everything sweet. Sweet chicken...? Must be an American thing.

So we had a great experience at GT Fish & Oyster. Would definitely return if the food is of this quality all the time :) (and if we were ever in Chicago again).
Oh! And definitely don't have their coffee... 

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 8/10
Ambiance - 7.5/10
Value for money - 8/10
Overall - 32/40

GT Fish & Oyster
531N Wells St
Chicago, IL 60654
Tel: +1 312 929 3501