Category: Café

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Café

ZIA Kitchen – Roselands NSW Restaurant Review

Let me first tell you that until last Saturday I didn’t know Roselands was a suburb. I just thought it was a shopping centre.

There is plenty of street parking in Roselands, and I was able to park right outside ZIA. This was both a blessing and a curse as I then felt the need to sit at an outside table so that I could keep my eye on my car and make sure no shenanigans happened to it. I’ve never felt the need to do this before but this time the need overwhelmed me. I would come to realise, while writing browsing their website for this review, that there is significant room inside, as well as a nice garden.

Service was pretty bad! It took a long time to be seated, and an even longer time still for a waitress to come and notice that we hadn’t been given any menus. Table water was a precious resource, with only small Duralex cups being offered, and no bottle or jug of water to pour from ourselves. We were only offered water twice during our lunch, and I also saw our fellow diners sit with empty glasses of water for significant periods of time. This was complicated by the fact that it was an extremely sunny day, and that we were directly under some outdoor heaters.

There were a few other service related problems that were too small to mention. I know I’ve spent a lot of words on the above, but I’m not normally a service-oriented guy so to be so put out by the service was a new experience.

The Braised Wagyu Beef Rib ($23) with zucchini smash, truffle, greens, hassleback potato, poached egg, beef jus was very good. The waitress asked me how I wanted my beef which I thought was odd because it’s really only a small amount of beef rib. The beef was tender and the zucchini and greens were a welcome addition to my mostly meat based diet. I could not identify any physical truffle, perhaps it was just oil, but I cannot confirm. The potato to other-food ratio was a bit high. My girlfriend asked me to bring her home a serving, which she didn’t enjoy. She said it was too truffly. I disagree.

My vegetarian friend/colleague had the Wild Mushroom ($18) with whipped goat’s cheese, truffle pumpkin puree, pine nuts, sourdough toast, served with a soft poached egg. I had some of the goat’s cheese and mushroom, which were both good. I can’t tell you if the cheese is whipped in house or if it comes like this. My friend was satisfied with her meal but also hypo-hydrated.

At the end of the day I thought that ZIA served a pretty good meal. I just wish that we they weren’t so stingy on the tap water. I think I’d go again, and I think that I’d recommend ZIA to a friend or colleague. Maybe ignore the concerns about the car and just sit inside though.

Z.I.A Kitchen
+61 2 9750 5122
62 Canarys Road, Roselands NSW

Categories
Asian Fusion Café Japanese

Pokemeow – Rosebery NSW Cat Cafe Review

Cats are my favourite animal. Even though we have two small cats at home, we often find ourselves in wonder of cats on the internet, on the streets, and now at Pokemeow Cat Cafe.

One of the great joys of Pokemeow Cat Cafe is being able to sit outside and peer into their cat playground. Their clowder of cats, consisting of two Maine coons, a sphinx, a ragdoll, a munchkin and a very beautiful but average domestic shorthair, are an absolute delight to watch. Being able to watch them play and interact during our meal really elevated the experience. There’s also the opportunity to pay $10 for a 30 minute play session inside the playground (book beforehand online), but we chose not to as we felt it would be a bit weird to have all the diners look at us as we did so.

The overall vibe of the place is very pet friendly as well, and many of the other patrons brought their dogs along for brunch. There was, in particular, a very good yellow labrador who my partner got to pet.

While the six beautiful resident cats at Pokemeow are undoubtedly their main draw, their Asian fusion brunch menu isn’t anything to sneer at either.

I had the black sesame latte while my partner had just a normal large cappuccino. It strikes me that asking for a black sesame latte is more or less asking for fun milk please. A protip to new players, make sure to mix up your black sesame latte – there tends to be a lot of stuff that sediments at the bottom.

We enjoyed the truffle chips, which came covered in a cheesy parmesan. They were fresh out of the fryer and unfaultable.

I quite liked the six spicy fried chicken wings. I thought that they were reasonably priced (≤$10) and freshly fried and delicious. My partner thought they were not as good as the ones we had at Belle’s Hot Chicken the previous night but I thought they stood well on their own.

I felt that the earl grey pancakes were a bit dry on their own, but just fine when combined in a single bite with the provided mascarpone, berries, and sauce. I probably wouldn’t get these again, but my partner was a big fan.

The grilled salmon green tea soba salad was a bit of a weird one. The salmon was pretty standard (no better than anyone could make at home), however I would’ve liked a bit more of it. I couldn’t really appreciate the green tea flavour of the voluminous soba noodles until I had a further bite of a chicken wing to contrast against. I thought that the soba noodles perhaps were featured too prominently in the dish, however did enjoy it once the soba were mostly powered through and I could pair it better with the remaining sesame dressing, carrot, and tomato salad components. My partner didn’t really like this dish, but in retrospect and on deep introspection I did. I probably still wouldn’t get it again. Offer to pay for double salmon if they will let you.

I really enjoyed my visit to Pokemeow. Their food was pretty good, and there are a lot more Asian fusion brunch options left to try. I loved watching the cats play and interact, and would absolutely come back agian.

Pokemeow
1/8 Crewe Place, Rosebery NSW 2018
0416 668 468

Pokemeow Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
Categories
Café

South Dowling Sandwiches – Alexandria NSW Restaurant Review

South Dowling Sandwiches is a local sandwich joint well known for its massive packed sandwiches. A protip is to order online for pickup, as it minimises your wait time and therefore exposure to potential airborne pathogens in COVID-19 2020.

The sandwiches are overall quite good. They generally run around $9-$12, with more asked for the more full featured sandwiches. They are normally loaded with savoury flavours, with their caramelised carrots being a house specialty.

I thought that their tuna salad with lemon chive mayo ($13.50) was actually quite wholesome and delicious, and enjoyed it more than their salads. Can definitely recommend this one.

Overall would recommend giving South Dowling Sandwiches a go. I’m still on the fence about it personally, I think I enjoy the sandwiches at Two Fives a bit more, but they are generally the same concept.

South Dowling Sandwiches (Alexandria)
Shop 42C, 110 Bourke Rd Alexandria, NSW 2015
+61 2 9698 8388

South Dowling Sandwiches Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
Categories
Café Modern Australian

A1 Canteen (Revisited) – Chippendale NSW Brunch Review

When we heard that A1 Canteen in Chippendale was closing down, we knew we had to visit again to try their famous curry eggs before they disappeared off the face of the planet. These were the same eggs that mesmerized me during my previous visit to A1 Canteen back in July.

Armed with months of insider parking knowledge, we booked ahead and found street parking early in the day. This was a much less awful process than last time.

Curried scrambled eggs

While visually arresting, the curried scrambled eggs ($19) were ultimately a bit of a disappointment. The dish basically consists of three elements – egg, sausage, and muffin. The egg is meant to be the star of the dish, but I found it the weakest component. Despite its orangey look, the eggs were in fact not that curried. The curry flavour was quite weak, and did not live up to the expectations set by the eyes. They were cooked just fine, but definitely were not as light and perfect as those at Dopa. The muffin component was superb. They were toasted to a crisp ideal of perfection, contrasting synergistically with the runniness of the eggs. The sausage, which is from local delicatessen LP’s, was complexly textured and enjoyable. My partner specifically remarked how nice it was to get a normal sausage as opposed to a chorizo which she feels is a bit overdone in the brunch scene.

Panna Cotta

A1 Canteen also served me my first ever Panna Cotta ($13) with stewed rhubarb ( I thought it was strawberry), long pepper, and olive oil. I thought it was fine. My partner was more enamoured with it than me, so I will let her explain in her own words: “The olive oil added a lot to it in a surprising way. It was creamy and yummy and I really liked the olive oil and it was not something I thought would go with it, but it really brought out the flavours. I never experienced such an olivey flavour before.”

Overall I was again a bit disappointed by A1 Canteen, but I would’ve been equally disappointed if they had closed down without me every trying the curried eggs. Go if you want.

A1 Canteen
Ground 2/10 Kensington St, Chippendale NSW 2008

Categories
Café

Single O – Surry Hills NSW Restaurant Review

Towards the start of jobs season 2020 we met up with one of our colleagues from the CoE for brunch at Single O. We parked on a particularly hilly street not far from the restaurant. These are my thoughts as best as I can remember them.

This tomato was quite sour. The biscuit type thing underneath was a bit salty. It was visually appealing but overall I didn’t like this.

This burger, not otherwise specified, was crunchy. My partner got the dressing all over herself like an idiot.

How can I rate a meal I can’t remember? One thing that I do remember is being asked “have you ever dined with us before?” which I thought was a bit pretentious for a cafe.

Maybe it was not that memorable.

Single O
60-64 Reservoir St, Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9211 0665