Workshop Espresso: Coffee, CBD Sydney (24 Feb 2014)

500 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Workshop-Espresso/120204888032058

Espresso to go

They manage to pack a lot into this hole in the wall style coffee shop on the outskirts of The Galeries. Three baristas, two service and two in the kitchen pretty much matches how many customers can sit around the central service counter. Every little space is valuable and your small table ledge is just wide enough for your coffee, mobile, sweet treat and glass of table water served by young, friendly and energetic staff. My Cappuccino ($4) using Toby's Estate coffee is made well and has an interesting flavour depth. My water is kindly topped up without asking and I'm appreciative of the bag holders available underneath the wall bench to hang my camera bag. This place is popular for a decent caffeine hit and well located for your shopping adventures in the CBD.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Good coffee, Friendly and efficient service, Reasonably priced menu, Centrally located in CBD, Handbag hooks under wall bench

CONS: Very limited seating and cramped space

MUST TRY: Coffee

VERDICT: For a quick caffeine fix their coffee should serve you well and takeaway seems to be your best option due to limited seating

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Passionate barista team

Cappuccino ($4) — made well, interesting flavour
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Very limited bench space

Menu

Limited space and seating

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Bowens' Bacon & Egg Rolls at Orange Grove Market, Lilyfield (25 Jan 2014)

Saturdays at Orange Grove Public School (Cnr Perry St & Balmain Rd)
22 Perry Street, Lilyfield NSW 2040

http://www.organicfoodmarkets.com.au/markets_solo.php

Best Bacon & Egg Roll in Sydney

I love discovering new places I've never heard of before and the Sydney Food Bloggers Choice Awards has done exactly that when Bowens' Bacon & Egg Rolls won the Favourite Bacon & Egg Roll category. For this reason I had to track down and check them out. The first challenge was working out when and where they were. They didn't seem to have a website and weren't on Urbanspoon (so I added them now) and I found most of the information on other food blogs. Ponytail Journal provided the best information while Gobbled and Gulped and Kings Cross Markets blog provided extra pictures and details about their stall when they were at Kings Cross. I was warned about the queues but it doesn't quite prepare you seeing 30 plus people lining up in front of the stall in anticipation for their bacon and egg fix — and well deserved. Once you get to order the service was friendly and helpful. The kitchen is efficient and constantly pumping out crispy fried bacon and gooey eggs in soft pillowy buns. These guys have a system and it works a treat and I can't wait to have it again.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Tasty and reasonably priced, Friendly service, Efficient system, A chance to check out all the other market stalls

CONS: Queue gets really long but is constantly moving, Only available at markets, Street parking can be a challenge due to popularity of the market so arrive early

MUST TRY: Bacon & Egg Roll

VERDICT: Friendly and efficient service providing one of the best bacon & eggs I've had in Sydney

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Are these the best Bacon & Egg Rolls in town?

The famous queue on Saturdays

Accepting their Sydney Food Bloggers Choice Award for Favourite Bacon & Egg Roll

Is there anything better than the smell and sound of crackling bacon in the morning? I think not.

A very orderly service counter and saucing area

Tomato, BBQ and tabasco sauce

Bacon & Egg Roll ($6.50) — soft pillowy bun, plenty of tasty and crispy bacon, nicely cooked egg

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Kitchen in action

A later you get there and longer the queue gets

Flight path above

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Happy Valentine's Day (14 Feb 2014)

Love is in the air

Hoping everyone had a nice Valentine's Day with their loved ones. My day started off with the Mrs leaving me some adorable heart-shaped watermelon for breakfast and a heart of yummy Bacio chocolates on my man cave desk. I also received some much needed new board shorts and a t-shirt which fit me perfectly — woohoo! I bought some red roses for her and some Lancome Tresor perfume from David Jones which also came with a bonus gift pack — awesome. During the day I spotted a rainbow rose in Martin Place which I'd never seen before. Very cool. For dinner we dined at Tastevin in Darlinghurst for the first time which is a lovely French bistro and is highly rated on Urbanspoon. We started with a Negroni and Kir Royal to settle into the night and then followed with a lovely meal of freshly shucked oysters, duck live pate, confit duck leg, beef fillet, creme caramel, flambeed crepes suzette, creme brulee and all washed down with French wine. The friendly and polite service and nice decor made for a perfect night out and one to fondly remember.

 

How to have your puppy and eat it too (31 Jan 2014)

Shop 9.22 World Square Retail, 680 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.breadtop.com.au

Nose to tail puppy love

After the initial curiosity and excitement of half my office taking photos of this puppy cake it was down to business of eating it. First decision to make was where to make the first cut. The most obvious answer was 'off with its head' — and so we did with screams of laughter and awkward fascinations. Thankfully no kids were witness to this and probably shouldn't be unless parents want to give their kids morbid instincts with their much loved pets. In the end it was quite a nice cake. The sponge was fresh and soft. The flavour of the tiramisu was pleasant. The face was made up of a generous amount of icing cream for those who really love their sugar fix. It made for a fun afternoon tea to celebrate Chinese New Year even though it wasn't a horse cake which might have been more appropriate for Year of the Horse. I'm left pondering why such a cake would actually exist in the first place and if there's any significance of it being a dog rather than having other animal cakes available. If anyone has a theory please feel free to share.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Potentially m akes for a humorous cake cutting time

CONS: Dog lovers might be mortified

MUST TRY: Finding out who first invented the puppy cake
VERDICT: Was quite an enjoyable cake if you can negotiate finding a piece that doesn't have too much icing cream

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