Simon Food Favourites: Crepes

Showing posts with label Crepes. Show all posts

20 February 2020

Bitton Gourmet: French Cafe & Bistro, Rose Bay (17 Feb 2020)

23 Plumer Road, Rose Bay NSW 2029
https://bittongourmet.com.au/
https://www.instagram.com/bittongourmet/

Bitton joins Rose Bay

It's looking like a good start for Bitton Gourmet's new opening in Rose Bay taking over the prestige corner site where Bernasconi's ran for many years. As you enter you're greeted with their extensive range of gourmet jams, dressings and condiments. Cappuccino ($4.40) using Grinders Coffee was nice although positions itself as one of the more expensive coffees in the area. French Crepes with Bitton Strawberry and Vanilla Jam, Mixed Berry Compote ($16) had nice thin crepes and tasty jam. Would have loved more of the berry compote for the serving size. A small pot of double cream would do wonders as well. Outside tables are on the petit side so a bit of plate tetris will be required if you're thinking of sharing a dish with side plates. Service was welcoming and friendly as you'd expect from a hospitality veteran with two other well-established cafes in Alexandria and Oatley. Pleasant outside dining on a sunny day with local views of the green trees and golf course. For those with deeper pockets I spy glasses of NV Louis Roederer Brut Champagne available for $26 to wash down your breakfast order.

01 March 2010

Le Petit Cafe: French bowl of coffee, Coogee (28 Feb 2010)

63A Dudley Street, Coogee NSW 2034

Coffee, Crepes & Coogee

This new cafe of only 5 weeks definitely matches its name of being 'petit' with small outdoor seating and tables apparently designed from recycled timber by a kids furniture maker in the Blue Mountains. The decent tasting Cafe au Lait is served in a traditional French style bowl and the menu is printed on French exercise book paper. I ask for my Hot Chocolate in a bowl as well but it's not as chocolatey as hoped and lacks some depth of flavour. I enjoy the French Toast with banana and maple syrup with it's sweetness balanced with the light egg taste throughout. There's tempting crepes to choose from and the Breakfast crepe with double smoked ham, gruyère and two free range poached eggs is quite nice. The eggs were ever so slightly over poached but still a little runny.

It was a sunny day and it was quite warm inside the cafe which made it rather unpleasant to sit in so thankfully an outdoor table became available to enjoy the cool breeze — although the flies were out in force too so had to compete with these. Menu prices seem reasonable and so far there's two reviews on Eatability but one review gives full marks which I generally ignore — I often suspect reviews of 10-10-10-10 are by family members, close friends or even owners themselves but I could be totally wrong.

Is there anywhere else in Sydney where you can get traditional French bowls of coffee?

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: French bowls of coffee, Tucked away from the main pedestrian strip of Coogee, Efficient service, Reasonably priced

CONS: Hot inside, small seats and tables can be uncomfortable and awkward to eat at

MUST TRY: French Toast with banana and maple syrup, Cafe au Lait, Other crepes

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Cafe au Lait $4

Bowl of Hot Chocolate $4

French Toast with banana and maple syrup $9.50

Breakfast crepe with double smoked ham, gruyère and two free range poached eggs $13

Tiny table and crates reminds me of Baffi & Mo and Black Star Pastry

French exercise book lines

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21 February 2010

Eveleigh Farmers' Market: Kylie Kwong Cooking Demo, Eumundi, Achacha, Yalla, Blini Bar (20 Feb 2010)

Saturday Weekly Market 8 am - 1 pm
243 Wilson Street, Darlington NSW 2015
http://www.eveleighmarket.com.au

Organic and sustainable produce

I'm not a morning person at the best of times but this weekend I was curious to see Kylie Kwong cook up several dishes to celebrate Chinese New Year. The start of the event was introduced by two Chinese Dragons parading through the large undercover market with the beat of loud drumming. Kylie explained to the crowd that she'd sourced all the fresh produce from the stallholders and some of them were invited to come up and have a chat about their stall. I'm glad He Needs Food posted copies of the recipes because I forgot to take them. I've been to her Billy Kwong restaurant on Crown Street twice a few years ago. It has mixed reviews on Eatability and unfortunately doesn't take bookings so it can be a long wait depending on how early you arrive. I remember the seating was quite crowded and small which made it somewhat uncomfortable after a while, especially for my elderly parents. It's not cheap either but I guess she's sourcing quality sustainable and organic ingredients which can come at a premium price and the restaurant is located in the fashionable eating strip of Surry Hills. The signature dish of Crispy Skin Duck with Plum Sauce demonstrated today looked delicious.

After the cooking demonstration Kylie kindly made the time to have a photo with me — thank you! I then ventured on through the markets to find some much needed breakfast. Starting with the Eumundi Confused Eggs Smokey Bacon with sauteed onions and famous creole sauce which satisfied me out quickly — a very tasty and hearty breakfast indeed. I then came across the Achacha stall which grows and sells this exotic fruit in Queensland which originates from South America. I remember first reading about it through A Table For Two and Grab Your Fork, which went to a launch at Baroque Bistro. I think my dad would enjoy these because they are quite similar to mangosteen — also a lot easier to peel than lychee. Next stop was delicious and generous samplings of Yalla dips, salsas and yoghurts. Oh wow, these taste great and their hummus is one of the nicest I've tried — I'd love to visit their factory one day. My enjoyable foodie tour ends at Blini Bar which makes excellent savoury and sweet crepes with ingredients sourced from the market stallholders. I hope they start working in festivals because their Spinach, Mushrooms, Sweet Onion and Cheese Crepe is so much better than the ubiquitous Turkish Gozleme. The premium full cream milk used seems to make the crepes so soft, tasty and creamy.

If you're passionate about food, sustainability and organic produce then these markets are for you. It's a great day out and the stall owners are only too happy to talk about their produce and products and provide samples to try where possible — Yalla in particular were very generous. There's some real bargains to be found and I was surprised how reasonably priced some things were.

Other visits to Eveleigh Farmers' Market:
• 21 Aug 2010 - Kylie Kwong Steamed savoury pancakes with organic vegetables and organic egg, Jonima Flowers, Block 11 Organics, The Fungi Li-Sun, Bell River Estate Mulled Wine, Naturally Falafel, HealthyFeast, Yalla, Pepe's Ducks, AJ & LA Sorbello Fresh Produce tomatoes, Alto Olives oil and olives
• 20 Feb 2010 - Kylie Kwong Cooking Demo, Eumundi, Yalla, Achacha, Blini Bar crepes
• 7 March 2009 - Food samples galore

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Fair amount of free street parking, Good range of organic produce, Plenty of quality food stalls, Reasonable prices to be found

CONS: Can be hard to find a park close by, Very popular

MUST TRY: Yalla dips and salsas, Blini Bar's Spinach, mushrooms, sweet onion and cheese crepe

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