Category: Café

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Café

Lil Miss Collins – Parramatta NSW Restaurant Review

Lil Miss Collins, with its inventive, road-less-trodden menu and all day alcohol options ticks plenty of boxes for intrepid brunchers looking for a high quality alternative to nearby Circa Espresso. We’ve been twice now – once on New Years Eve 2019 (I will leave you photos but not really any comments from this visit), and once more recently after a run of night shifts with our nights crew.

These Sweet Potato Fries ($9.80) were quite good, with a soft texture on the inside but a crispiness on the outside. They retained heat well, remaining warm for the duration of consumption. A good choice by my junior colleague DTC.

The Beef Brisket Sandwich ($17.50) was good, but only good. The toasted sourdough was crisp and adequate. The beef brisket filings were good, though taken as a whole, the sandwich, with its beef, American cheese, cabbage slaw and spicy mayo was just a bit too tasty for me. Each bite was a bit of an onslaught of saltiness, not adequately tempered by the bread. This is one situation in which the bread to filling ratio probably leant too much to the filling side of the equation – that is, this sandwich was a bit overfilled. It was by no means a bad toastie, but probably not one I’d get again.

I really enjoyed the Salmon with Miso Black Rice & Citrus ($25.90), though neither my girlfriend, nor my junior colleague MC did. The salmon was pan seared to medium perfection, neither overdone nor underdone. The miso and jalapeno rice soup had a nice umami flavour. The radish, golden beets, and pomelo citrus salad was just fine. I had never had a beetroot that was not red before, but I didn’t really think they tasted as special as they looked. I don’t know that the salad and salmon were really synergistic in taste or texture, but at the same time having a bit of freshness did not hurt. Overall good.

The Phoenician Kafta Bowl ($22.80) is a reasonably low carb option for those on a shred, if you ignore the very ignorable pita. The main component of this meal is essentially a gardenlike salad, spiced up with some pomegranate, flat bread crisps (a la fattuosh) and yoghurt. The two grilled lamb kaftas are the dish’s star ingredients, bearing a juicy, warm meatiness that don’t quite match with the coldness of the rest of the dish. While the kafta are very good, the fact that you can actually order them individually for a mere $3.75 each would lead me to suggest giving this bowl a miss and adding a couple of kafta to a different main .

The following items were consumed sixteen months prior to the writing of this post. Recollection is hazy at best.

I remember nothing about these Ricotta and Sweetcorn Fritters ($18.50), though my partner says that she remembered liking them. She’s generally much more of a fritter fan than I am, and she even enjoys many of the fritters that I straight out dislike.

I think I remember enjoying this Crispy Skin Barramundi with Braised Fennel ($23), or at least the barramundi component. I was and still am confused by the inclusion of a giant piece of white wine braised fennel, which I had never had before and wasn’t a fan of.

This is obviously some kind of elaborate French Toast, no longer served, and not identifiable through any secondary sources at this time.

AUGUST 2022

Back from our look into the past, we shall discuss this Squid Thai Pasta ($24.90). It straddled the line between “not bad” and “not good”, a pad thai-like creation with an unusual focus on tomato sauce and unclear identity as to if it wanted to be a stir fried Thai noodle dish or a pasta. It was not the worst thing I’ve ever eaten, but at the same time not something that I’d like to ever eat again. Most unusual was the addition of Turkish bread on top of what was clearly already a carb-loaded noodle based meal. The squid was at least succulent.

VERDICT
Lil Miss Collins, overall good. You should go, and let me know if I’m wrong.

Lil Miss Collins
13 Wentworth St, Parramatta NSW 2150
(02) 9635 3273

Categories
Café Latin American

Storgē and Co. – North Parramatta NSW Cafe Review

My girlfriend and I often fall victim to sponsored posts on social media, and it was just such a sponsored post that led us to Storgē and Co., one of North Parramatta’s foremost demountable-based Latin American restaurants.

Storge and Co features a mix of indoor and outdoor courtyard seating, though it appears that the indoor seating is not used on days with clear weather. We parked in the Petbarn next door, making a note to buy some cat food so that we wouldn’t feel bad about taking their customer only parking.

The Crispy Dog ($10) is pretty good. It is a hot dog of grilled chorizo, pico de gallo, parmesan, and a rich creamy sauce, topped with a generous serving of potato crisps for an extra crunch. The flavours of this hot dog were quite good. The chorizo sausage itself had quite a complex flavour which rose beyond mere saltiness, which I did not expect from a $10 hot dog. The pico de gallo provided freshness, whilst the potato crisps were salty and crispy. The white creamy sauce was a bit heavy, though in conjunction with all the other flavours and the deliciously toasted bread was not as unbalanced as in the pepito.

This creamy monstrosity is the Pepito ($15). It is essentially a toasted sourdough baguette, filled with 24-hour marinated beef tenderloin, parmesan, mozzarella, and topped with “heavenly sauce”. The beef was very tender, juicy, and tasted good, but that was essentially the best part. There was an absolute cheese overload, and while I can’t tell you the exact components of the heavenly sauce, I assume it is named so as the rich fatty creaminess books you an express ticket to heaven. The sauce and two cheeses mixed together make this a very heavy roll indeed. Not at all wholesome, and not really that good to taste either.

Enthused by our recent positive empanada experience at Mas Tinto, we ordered Storgē and Co.’s cheese and guava jam empanadas (3 for $9.50). Unlike Mas Tinto’s Storge and Co’s were a major disappointment. Where Mas Tinto’s guava and cheese empanadas were lightly but deftly flavoured, Storge’s take is much more heavy handed. I was surprised to find both a too-sweet and too-salty filling, The flavours were unfortunately far too strong, and the dipping sauce did nothing to help with this. It would’ve been better for them to sell them individually, but I imagine that if they did they would only sell one to each customer, and no more following that.

The Thre3* Milk Cake ($6.50), consisting of sponge cake soaked in and topped with three or four different types of milk reminded me of something served for dessert at a year 6 camp. Not awful, but not very good either. A strange hit of nostalgia, and a no go from me.

INTERIM IMPRESSION
I think ultimately, out of the things that we tried at Storgē and Co., there are more losers than winners. While their Crispy Dog was good, it’s only a member of their seasonal menu, and not part of the regular cast. I wouldn’t mind coming back to try their Reuben Sandwich, though a return to Storgē and Co. is reasonably low on my list of things to do.

A RETURN

True to my word, I returned to Storgē and Co whilst servincing my car at West End Mazda across the road to try out their Reuben Sando ($12). The sauerkraut to meat to cheese ratio was certianly achieved, but I felt that whilst the bread was well toasted the insides remained extremely tepid. If I had to rate this sandwich against the two other Reuben’s previously in my life, I’d put this between the excellent one at Croquembouche Patisserie that I had no less than 10 times in 2020, and the extremely low-tier average one I had at Nepean Hospital in 2019.

Whilst I won’t bore you with exterior shots of the Beef Empanada (3 for $9.50), I can tell you they looked exactly the same as the guave empaanda from the outside. They were, however, much better. The more solid contents meant that the beef empanada wasn’t as piping hot, and therefore more easy to eat. The savoury filling of potato and beef was quite hearty, and the flavours were actually well comlimented by the provided dipping sauce. They were really not bad.

VERDICT
After trying quite a few things on their menu, I think really only the Crispy Dog was anything very special.

Storgē and Co.
69a Church St, North Parramatta NSW 2151
0413 054 553

Categories
Asian Fusion Café Korean

Cafe Elation – Gladesville NSW Cafe Review

Though moving to Western Sydney has greatly limited our pegfeed options, Gladesville’s Cafe Elation had been kept in the back of my mind as a sort of consolation prize to the loss of easy access to high-feed areas. Cafe Elation’s core offering of what is essentially Asian Fusion Brunch fit well with this blog’s focus, and so the 25 minute drive down A3 was made.

Pork Belly Poke Bowl + Slow Egg

The Pork Belly Poke Bowl with Slow Egg ($21) was an unfortunate let down. The execution of such a poke bowl with meat rather than raw fish was far more like a bibimbap than a poke bowl. The carrot, kimchi, cucumber, cabbage and enoki mixed with the quinoa, brown rice and gochujang in exactly the same way a bibimbap would, though we felt that it was too wet. We like our bibimbap dry and crispy, served in a claypot, and felt that though this was a bibimbap was all but in name the texture and consistency of it left something to be desired. We were also disappointed by the pork belly, as we had expected cubes but instead got strips. I think we were just envisioning something completely different to what we got.

The Eel on Egg ($24) was actually quite good. Though the serving size of the omelette, eel and nori could have been larger, the taste and contrasting mouthfeels of these elements were quite pleasing. The crispy nori was a particular delight, followed by the delicate French omelette. The soy glazed eel wasn’t as oily and melt-in-your-mouth as the eel that we had had the previous day at Hukuya, but still up to standard. Quinoa and brown rice once again made an appearance – ingredients that I don’t usually expect or like in Asian dining, where white rice reigns supreme.

For drinks we had a fairly run-of-the-mill soy cappuccino ($5) and an Iced Choco Meme ($8). The meme was ordered based on name alone, and I was not at all expecting this huge monstrosity of whipped cream and chocolate and sesame flavours. I also didn’t expect for our waitress to pronounce it “me-me”, which is the memey way to pronounce meme.

VERDICT A hit and miss 3.75 Asian brunch affair. I wouldn’t go too far out of your way, unless you’re also going to the Ryde City Council public toilets that are helpfully co-located.

Cafe Elation
226 Victoria Rd, Gladesville NSW 2111
02) 8592 7188

Categories
Asian Fusion Café Indonesian

ASLAN Coffee Roasters – St Peters NSW Cafe Review

The first thing my partner said upon reviewing the choices on Aslan’s all-day menu was “I really appreciate you always looking for places for us to eat, and I know it can be hard to always pick winners”. Though technically Indonesian-inspired, the majority of items on Aslan’s menu are classic brunch fare. As pursuers of the fine art of Asian fusion cuisine we opted for the two Asianmost looking items available. It was with these two choices that I would, over the next half hour, make her eat a great meal and also her words.

The Hot Smoked Salmon Kedgeree ($16.50) was an aromatic dish of tumeric rice with slaw and salmon mixed in, topped with an egg and a trail of shichimi and served with a small pot of curry sauce. Despite her initial misgivings my partner came to enjoy this dish. She really liked that the slaw was mixed into the rice, providing a crisp and crunchy texture with each bite. The hot smoked salmon provided a good umami flavour without being too salty, and the lemon added an element of freshness to balance out the otherwise quite substantial meal. The little pot of curry came with a warning from our waitress – “be careful, it is very spicy” – though was very good and just the right amount of spice for us to add all of it in.

I have to admit that I enjoyed the multicoloured ?prawn crackers in the Beef Rendang Indonesian Style ($16.50) way more than I should have. They were just warm, freshly fried, crispy crackers filled with umami goodness – far more addictive than they had any right to be. The stated star of the show – the beef rendang, was very generously portioned, with a mixture of melty fatty bits as well as healthier leaner bits. The turmeric rice and salad, though similar to that in the kedgeree, was not as good owing to the discordant placement of its ingredients. We much preferred to have the salad mixed in with the rice. There was adequate sauce for all of the rice, salad, beef, and crackers.

Our soy cappuccino came with an apology – soy is hard to work with to make latte art, though this wouldn’t have even registered with us had it not been mentioned. ASLAN prides itself on its specialty coffee, and their house blend as pretty alright.

VERDICT
Though ASLAN’s St Peters menu is pretty light on original Asian fusion dishes, what they do have is pretty good, as well as pretty cheap. I’d recommend a visit if you’re in the area. Just look out for the giant lion’s head mural.

ASLAN Coffee Roasters – St Peters
1 Council St, St Peters NSW 2044
0488 827 526

Categories
Asian Fusion Café French

Auvers Cafe – Rhodes NSW Restaurant Review

Our recent return to living and working in Western Sydney has given us ample opportunity to revisit some of our favourite cafes from before our 12 month Eastern Suburbs sojourn. Auvers Cafe is the Rhodes counterpart to Auvers Dining in Darling Square, and keeps the tradition of Asian-French fusion alive in a more casual daytime venue.

For drinks we had fun milk in two varieties – black sesame and hojicha. Both were quite good, though I wish their fun milk was offered with some caffeine included.

The first food I want to talk about is this bargain basement scrambled egg ($4). It’s not the best scrambled egg I’ve ever hard (Dopa’s furikake scrambled egg don takes the cake by far), but at $4 is an absolute steal.

The Beef Curry Pasta ($23) was seriously good. It’s been one of our favourites over the last three years, frequently brought home by my partner in a takeaway box after a night shift. While it was good back then, having it fresh in person brought a whole level of previously unknown joy. Eat-in plating of this pasta was quite beautiful, similar to the Ox Tongue Soba Cabonara at their Darling Square store. The curry sauce, though not written down explicitly any more, was a tasty and flavourful rendang style base that coated each strand of pasta perfectly. The serving of beef was generous and tender, and the parmesan crisp added a nice and upmarket feeling variation in texture to the dish. I particularly liked the addition of tomato salsa on top, which added a delicious freshness and contrasting flavours. A can’t miss.

The Squid Roulade ($22) was a bit of a confusing and overall non-satisfying dish. The main attraction was essentially a squid tube filled with dry and almost gamey tasting “wagyu” beef mince. This tube was situated on a bed of black rice with edamame and pomegranate seeds mixed in, topped with crunchy fried kale. The rest of the squid was battered and deep fried, served aside the roulade and next to a swirl of black cauliflower puree.

I thought that this dish ultimately failed in both taste and composition. The taste of the squid roulade was too mild and unexciting, and the mince inside so dry that I doubt it being wagyu made any difference at all. The rice mixed with edamame and pomegranate was fine but difficult to pick up and eat with the fork provided. The fried kale was my partner’s favourite part of the dish – she does like fried foods in general – but I felt didn’t fit with the theme of the rest of the dish. I would avoid this one.

The chocolate croissant looked very plain but was actually surprisingly full of chocolate cream. Quite good.

SUBSEQUENT VISIT

The Soy Cured Salmon ($26) was an interesting, beautifully presented near miss for me. The fatty cured sashimi salmon was soft and delicate, but let down by the blobs of radish and yuzu gel, which I felt were too salty, even though I enjoyed the citrus notes. The accompanying salad was probably better than the main attraction. I really enjoyed the fresh little pickled radishes, which just tasted so bright and crisp. The avruga caviar, which I am told is not actually caviar, was also great mixed into the quinoa to give it a bit of umami and salty flavour and set it apart from all the dull quinoa out there.

I quite enjoyed the Grilled Wagyu Soft Tacos ($28), even though in my weakened state I was not allowed to enjoy all of it. The wagyu beef cubes were juicy and tender, worked well with the yakiniku sauce mayonnaise, which is something I’ve never seen anywhere else. The perfectly light and moist scrambled eggs also benefited from the yakinku sauce, while the salsa with coriander added an element of freshness. The hot chips, of which I only had a single chip, were sadly extremely good and fresh. I can’t comment on the naan bread (a weirdly thick choice for a “taco”) as neither my partner nor I had any of it.

Overall I can recommend Auvers Cafe in Rhodes as one of the best places for an all-day Asian fusion brunch menu out West. Service is speedy, and the food is great.

5 French gauge stars

Auvers Cafe
 2/42 Walker St, Rhodes NSW 2138
(02) 8040 2403