Simon Food Favourites: Baked eggs

07 April 2012

Kazbah: Middle-East & North Africa, Balmain (1 Apr 2012)

379 Darling Street, Balmain NSW 2041
http://www.kazbah.com.au

A taste of Arabia in Balmain

Weekend brunch at the Kazbah seems to be a very popular activity so it's probably best to book a table in advance. My Bloody Mary ($14) definitely had a spice kick to it obviously helped along by the harissa. Twitter recommendations to try the Breakfast Tagine Lamb Mince ($19.50) were well-founded and was a very enjoyable and tasty dish. The Breakfast Tagine Roast Pumpkin ($19.50) was OK but unfortunately I didn't find it as flavoursome. The Chackchouka Scrambled Eggs ($18) with smoked salmon was pretty good though. Next time I'd like to try the Kazbah Breakast Feast for only $25 per person but you need at least 8 people. I noticed on the service t-shirts there's three locations now including Darling Harbour and Top Ryde so it seems the Kazbah is successfully expanding its empire. The buzzing atmosphere probably helps to make it kid friendly along with the coloured crayons on the table to occupy their creative minds or those young at heart.

Other visits to Kazbah:
• 1 April 2012 – Breakfast Tagine Lamb Mince, Chackchouka Scrambled Eggs, Bloody Mary Cocktail
• 8 May 2009 – Mixed Mezze Plate, Tagine of Goat, Stuffed Chicken, Beef Eye Fillet, Fish of the Day, Affogato

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Interesting menu, Nice decor and buzzing atmosphere, Seems to be kid friendly

CONS: Need at least 8 people for Breakfast Feast, Can be hard to get a table on weekends so best to book ahead, 2.5% surcharge for credit cards, Metered street parking

MUST TRY: Breakfast Tagine Lamb Mince, Returning to try Kazbah Breakfast Feast

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Minted table water

Bloody Mary cocktail: Vodka, Spicy Tomato Juice, Harissa ($14)

Breakfast Tagine Roast Pumpkin, Spinach, Roast Capsicum, Roast Tomato, Caramelised Onion, Feta, Eggs served with Turkish Toast & Lebanese Bread ($19.50)

Chackchouka Scrambled Eggs, Smoked Salmon, Turkish Toast ($18)

Breakfast Tagine Lamb Mince, Sucuk, Spinach, Roast Capsicum, Roast Tomato, Caramelised Onion, Feta, Eggs Served with Turkish Toast & Lebanese Bread ($19.50)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Bill $107 for four. 2.5% surcharge applies for all credit card payments

I'm not a fan of plastic covered menus where the plastic has gone all bubbly and warped making it hard to read — it's my equivalent of nails on a blackboard

Crayon time

Nice cosy decor and buzzing atmosphere

Large groups can be catered

Three locations now — Balmain, Darling Harbour and Top Ryde

Nice toilet features

Mens toilet has bench area which could possibly be used as baby change area

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14 February 2012

Circa Espresso: Coffee café, Parramatta (12 Feb 2012)

21 Wentworth Street, Parramatta NSW 2150

http://www.circaespresso.com.au

Parra-does-matta café

Forgive me if I'm wrong but it seems aliens have transported a rustic Melbourne laneway cafe into the outskirts of Parramatta central. Circa seems to have picked up some social media interest of late to the annoyance of the locals that probably wanted to keep it all to themselves — too bad. I first noticed it mentioned on a tweet by The Heart of Food and not long after I had the impression Adam Dunn might have taken up residence to eat his way through the menu, perhaps he actually did. Upon arrival I had to first decide on my preferred spot to sit which I likened to deciding on the lesser of the two evils. Inside was noticeably noisy due to the coffee machine in a very confined space but was covered and outside had the unshaded protection from the hot sun which also had the added attraction of flies trying to share your food — we chose the later with a baby on board. If you're young and hip you won't notice the uncomfortable nature of sitting on a crate with tiny tables that made me feel like I was sitting at a kids tea party. But I guess this has all helped to keep the menu costs down to keep you coming back for more.

With the hope of a good coffee the Cappuccino ($3.50) was well-liked for its smoothness and medium roasty flavour and their latte art rosettas just as impressive as Cafe Ish. The Banana bread with house passion fruit butter ($6) came with ridiculously thick slices to easily share between two if not more. One of the favourite dishes of the day was the Baked eggs with sujuk, danish feta, tomato and hint of chilli served in the pan ($13) with good flavours. A bit of butter on the side for the toast might have been nice too. The Portobello mushrooms, danish fetta, basil pesto, caramilised onion and baby spinach ($8) was also good but more awkward to share. My main reason for visiting was to try the French toast with poached rhubarb, labne & pistachio ($13) with flavours that worked well together on the thick slices. I didn't mind the saltiness in the labne in moderation. The Breakfast wrap ($8) was probably our least liked dish. Maybe it was the thickness of the wrap that didn't appeal to me, making it harder to appreciate the contents. My Affogato ($5) was satisfying but would have been even better with a smoother and richer flavoured vanilla bean ice cream like at Cafe Sopra and Jamie's Italian. The Honey Soaked Chai with bonsoy ($4.50) was enjoyable for those who like a bit of spice. I like how they've served it with Turkish glasses and a heavy tea pot. Hopefully I'll have a chance to revisit to try other reasonably priced menu items.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Reasonably priced menu that tastes pretty good, Seem to make good coffee with nice rosettas

CONS: Low level seating and small tables can be awkward and uncomfortable, Seems very noisy and rather squashed inside, Limited shade outside, Watch out for flies and rain outside, Limited street parking nearby

MUST TRY: Baked eggs with sujuk, Portobello mushrooms, Coffee

BABY ON BOARD: No room to fit a pram inside and toilet too small for changing a nappy

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