Showing posts with label Chai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chai. Show all posts

18 January 2012

Revolver Café: Café, Annandale (13 Aug 2011)

291 Annandale Street, Annandale NSW 2038
Phone: (02) 9555 4727


Brunching with the locals

“Our aim was to create a space that was like no other. To offer more than your typical cafe style food and coffee. To create a space that was in every inch and detail in some way a piece of me and what I love and to bring it all together in a timeless warm environment that makes people feel like they are at home not at a cold or clinical cafe.”

A casual brunch catchup with friends organised by Madam Wu from Music Munchies Review brings me to the popular Revolver Café nestled in the leafy suburb of Annandale. I was happy about all the free street parking in the area and the cafe seemed to have a nice community local feel. The decor was interesting and homely and the service friendly even though being very busy. The down-to-earth owner Rodney Jones was on service organising tables for customers and seemed to keep his cool and smile even under pressure. The Coffee ($3.20) and House made spiced chai ($4) were pretty good and the refreshing Watermelon and passionfruit juice ($5.50) was a nice combination — I wished the chai was bigger though. All the dishes ordered seemed quite reasonably priced for the quality.

The Lemon myrtle cured, house smoked ocean trout on sweet corn rosti ($15.50) flavours were enjoyed along with the Scrambled eggs, roast tomato, avocado & danish fetta & toast ($14.5). My Ricotta hotcakes with berry compote & maple ricotta ($14.50) were nice and plump in size although I had dish envy as I gazed at the Revolver Big Brekkie ($16.50) which came with everything you'd want to fill an empty stomach including crispy bacon. Perhaps throw a hash brown in there like Baffi & Mo to make it even more awesome. Chefs Eliot Richy and Rebecca Chippington seem to be doing a great job in their tiny open kitchen space and if you're interested learning more about the making of the Revolver Café then check out the Journey album floating around for some historic photos and newspaper clippings of how it came to be. There definitely seems to be a bit of heart and soul about the place that keeps the locals coming back for more, I certainly can't wait to return.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Friendly service, Interesting decor, Lots of street parking, Tasty dishes, Pretty good coffee, Prices seem reasonable for the quality
CONS: Expect to wait for a table when busy, Limited space on the small tables
MUST TRY: Revolver Big Breakie if you're hungry
DAMAGE: $76.90 for four

Coffee ($3.20), House made spiced chai ($4)

Watermelon and passionfruit juice ($5.50), Coffee ($3.20)

Lemon myrtle cured, house smoked ocean trout on sweet corn rosti with chilli capsicum relish & avocado ($15.50)

Scrambled eggs, roast tomato, avocado & danish fetta & toast ($14.5)

Revolver Big Breakie: Two eggs baked in our housemade beans, honey cured bacon, roast tomato, mushrooms, pork fennel sausage & toast ($16.50)

Ricotta hotcakes with berry compote & maple ricotta ($14.50)

Whoopsy daisy — that's what happens when you try and share some of the hotcakes

Table water, Bill $76.90 for four people

Chefs Eliot Richy and Rebecca Chippington — amazing what they achieve in such a small kitchen

Homely decor




Lots of tempting cakes on display

Decor and cutlery

Framed saucepan and retro salt and pepper shakers

Every café should have a mantlepiece for the crystal ware

Fireplace inside and community notice board outside

Cute tea cups

Toilet decor and window

Journey album

It's all in the name

Owner Rod Jones (right) greets one of his favourite customers

Dog friendly (outside)

20 November 2010

Coffee Garam: Indian Chai Making Class Tweetup, Surry Hills (20 Nov 2010)

29-37 Bellevue Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010


Brewing up a Chai

The preparation of Chai takes about 5-10 minutes. The water is boiled and the black tea leaves are added. Once the tea infuses into the water giving it a brown-black colour, the spices are added. Sugar and milk to taste. The mixture is allowed to boil until it rises. In India, the chai is filtered and served in special cups.

Thanks to Denea from Gourmet Rabbit for organising this free Chai Making Class aka #chaitweetup with owner Harvey Parekh and Chef Raj Mehta from Coffee Garam. The small cafe has only been opened for about 5 months and Raj joined in the last month to help try and achieve their clear passion to introduce authentic Indian snack food to Sydney including homemade Chai tea. Today's tweetup was mainly to demonstrate the process of making Chai tea and introducing a few tasty snacks. The homemade Chai spice mix including cinnamon, cardamon, cloves and ginger was very aromatic and reminded me of a wonderful aromatherapy oil blend — my mind starting thinking of a meditation room for some reason. Once prepared with black tea and milk the taste was flavoursome although it wasn't until the sugar was added that the taste of the chai was much better appreciated.

We also tried a sample of their homemade lemonade with spices which was refreshingly different. Tasty slices of Green mango, banana and sultana bread were also on offer which were moist and very nice — I wondered how it would go toasted with butter for breakfast. Apparently green mango is used commonly in India — you learn something new everyday. We tried a small sample of freshly made Bhel puri which was full of different flavours which worked well together. I was thinking the mixture would work really well served in a crispy pastry cup as a cocktail canape too. I'm not an espresso drinker so the Monsoon Malabar Blend was too strong for my innocent coffee palate but having it with a piece of caramel slice added the much needed sugar on my taste buds to make it more enjoyable. To finish off on a sweet note we tried their homemade Galub Jamun which to date is the best I've enjoyed in Sydney. Being freshly made the day before it had the right amount of sweetness and was very soft and moist — not like other places which might freeze them and become a bit firm and way too sweet, and sometimes sickly.

I'm looking forward to seeing their plans to expand the Indian snack menu next year and to try dishes that aren't your typical heavy Indian curries around town and are more sophisticated and different like you might find at Zaaffran to challenge the taste buds and share the diversity of true Indian cuisine.

Other blog reviews of Coffee Garam:

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Friendly staff, Reasonable prices, Passionate Chai tea makers
CONS: Their menu is currently trying to please Aussie tastes
MUST TRY: Galub Jamun, Chai Latte and Indian Masala Chai, Other Bombay snacks

Harvey Parekh (owner) and Chef Raj Mehta welcome the Chai Tweetup class

Homemade spiced lemonade to start

Black tea and Chai spices

Green mango, banana and sultana bread - it works!

Stirring in the milk

Sifting the chai

Pouring the chai into special glasses

Holding the chai so as to not burn your fingers

Indian snack time — Bhel puri


Indian snack food menu descriptions

Monsoon Malabar Blend espresso

Caramel slice adds sugar to your palate to help smooth out the coffee


Galub jamun — freshly made the day before
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)




Menu choices

Chai making class in action

Live Tweetup — real people talking to real people

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