Category: Café

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Café

Rolling Penny – Newton NSW Cafe Review

Tempted by the positive reviews on Google Maps, we rolled into Newtown for a very sunny 8AM breakfast at Rolling Penny. Our waiter cheerfully let us know that there was a whole new menu starting today, which disappointed me very deeply as I had already had my mind set on what I wanted. Luckily what I wanted was still on the menu, albeit renamed and with a small price increase.

Rolling Penny Twice Cooked Roast Chicken

The Twice Cooked Roast Chicken ($18) with burnt butter sauce, mixed greens, roast garlic, beer pickles, garlic sprouts on brickfields ciabatta roll is the latest reincarnation of Rolling Penny’s famous chicken baguette. The sandwich had a mild and balanced flavour, with the creamy white sauce accentuating the umami of the moist chicken. The bread was soft on the inside yet crispy on the outside. My partner didn’t like that the pickles interrupted the otherwise warm and smooth taste of the chicken roll, but I enjoyed that they were there to punctuate the blissful smoothness with a bit of sharp tang. Overall the chicken roll is comparable to the chicken baguette at Cafe Mckenzie, and if you like one then I recommend you try the other. I can recommend this expensive sandwich.

Rolling Penny Portabello Mushroom

Excuse the awful photo, but the Portabello Mushroom ($17) with mushroom jerky, braised leeks, smoked mozzarella, radicchio & truffle aioli on a brickfields ciabatta roll looked as good as it tasted. We made the decision to add pancetta ($5), which turned out to be absolutely the right choice. The mushroom roll was incredibly juicy and rich, with lots of cheese and umami flavours. This got old quickly, however, and I found that the pancetta really did a great job at adding some variety in terms of texture and flavour. I would even go so far as to recommending the pancetta as an essential add on to this roll, which unfortunately takes the total to $22, a thoroughly expensive sandwich. I did not like the mushroom roll as much as the chicken roll.

Rolling Penny Divorced Eggs

The lighting and our positioning was unable to suitably capture the visual appeal of Rolling Penny’s Divorced Eggs ($18.50) – 2 poached eggs, salsa verde, romesco sauce, toasted pistachios, Meredith farm feta served on brickfields rye and caraway. The Divorced Eggs was visually arresting, a celebration of bright and contrasting colours with its salsa verde and romesco sauce. We did not, however, enjoy this dish as much as we did the two rolls. The two sauces were good, but too tasty, and the overall ratio of sauce to bread and other less tasty components hung on the too tasty side of the scales. Each mouthful, especially towards the end of the meal, was so drowned in flavour and saltiness that it was difficult to enjoy. The eggs were well poached, and I did peek a giant pot of eggs with an Anova sous vide cooker on the counter. The toasted pistachios were my favourite ingredient of the dish, and added some variety to the otherwise mushy texture of the sauce and eggs. I wouldn’t get this again.

Last of all, the coffee was very good. My partner liked that they gave me a red cup and an orange saucer, and her an orange cup with a red saucer. I didn’t notice.

Overall verdict: I enjoyed the chicken and mushroom rolls thoroughly, although both were quite expensive. I would recommend coming here but it has to lose a point for 1. price and 2. the divorced eggs.

Rolling Penny
583A King St, Newtown NSW 2042
(02) 8056 8897

Categories
Asian Fusion Café Chinese

3 Ronin – Chippendale NSW Cafe Review

UPDATE: See my thoughts on their Pho here

3 Ronin is a new Asian-fusion cafe in Spice Alley (Central Park Sydney) with a limited but exciting menu.

The Quinoa & Rice Congee with Poached Salmon, Slow Egg, Shallots & Radish was the highlight of the meal. It was a successful exploration of umami, combining both Winter and Spring themes. We really felt like the congee warmed us up from the inside out, while the coriander and cripsy sour radish provided a fresh Spring feel to it. The salmon reminded us of thick cut, raw smoked salmon that was lightly poached in the warm congee soup, and provided a well balanced protein load for the rest of the dish. The “slow egg” was a highlight of the dish, and something I had never experienced before. The egg yolk was not cooked, but firm and didn’t spill. Absolutely perfect.

I’ve been off baos ever since I had my first baos from a food truck in New Zealand last year, a very bad collection of oversauced disasters. The Waygu Bao ($17.50) was however very good. The brisket was nicely cooked too hard and not to raw. The meaty flavours mixed well with the pickled cabbage and aioli. An overall hit.

This cheesecake style thing was just fine.

Overall i can recommend 3 ronin. I’m a sucker for Asian fusion brunch and the congee is definitely worth a try.

UPDATED: See my thoughts on their Pho here (spoiler: it’s good!)

3 Rōnin
26 Kensington St, Chippendale NSW 2008
0411 616 167

Categories
Bakery Café

Kurtosh – Randwick NSW Restaurant Review

My partner has been trying to get me to go to Kurtosh for a good six months. I was never keen as I’ve had a lot of baked goods in my day, but one day we found ourselves at Kurtosh after we travelled to Albee’s Kitchen only to find it closed.

Kurtosh’s slab cakes are cut from the slab and sold by weight, which is handy because it means you can get a few small pieces of different cakes to try at any time. These were reasonably good but not memorable enough for me to even remember what they were. I think the white one was tiramisu.

The smashed potato roll ($3.80) was good.

One thing that was memorable about Kurtosh was the extra-slow extra-poor service. There were two people working in the store that day, and I think we definitely got the less capable one (although it may have just been an off day for her). It felt pretty unusual being asked to repeat our order 3 times while we were the only people being served.

I think that if you work in Randwick you will eventually find your way to Kurtosh at some point. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but if you’ve just done a 12.5 hour night and the person who’s serving you has too it has the potential to get pretty dicey.

Kürtősh Randwick
20B/20C St Pauls St, Randwick NSW 2031
(02) 9314 5353

Categories
Café

Cafe Mckenzie – Randwick NSW Restaurant Review

Cafe Mckenzie is one of the new cafes that has opened up across the road from Prince of Wales Hospital. I first ate at Cafe Mckenzie while picking my partner up after a night shift, and then again after an interview (results pending).

Beef Brisket Hash

My partner really likes the Beef Brisket Hash ($19). She eats at Cafe Mckenzie with her colleagues sometimes and she tells me she’s had the dish five or so times in total. She’s a big fan of potato, which this dish has plenty of, so I think her feelings may be a bit skewed. I enjoyed the fresh radish, which is not something I normally go for. The beef brisket was yummy, and the poached eggs and beetroot relish provided a good balance for the more oily, heavier components. I can recommend this dish.

Lemon Ricotta Hotcake

Mandarin is one of the fruits that I never think to eat, but often enjoy when I try. The menu sells the Lemon Ricotta Hotcake ($18) with raspberry and lemon butter short. It’s topped with fresh raspberries and mandarin, which help to freshen up the pancake. The hotcake itself was soft and fluffy, and the flavours all blended together successfully. Maybe only a little bit too sweet.

Chicken Baguette

The Chicken Baguette ($12) with lemon poached chicken, mayo, avocado, shallots was quite good. Upon general inspection I was worried that the bread would be too hard, but the first bite allayed my fears completely. The bread was fresh , warm and crisp. The chicken filling was mild but good, and the surprise rocket was a nice addition. This baguette reminded me of the first time I had had rocket, which was back in 2011 during an open day at UNSW. I had purchased a chicken rocket sandwich from Biblio outside the Matthews Food Court for the exorbitant (for a high schooler) price of $7, which I enjoyed so much that I started buying rocket all the time for the rest of the year.

The Triple Cheese and Mushroom Toastie

I can’t believe how happy I am to spend $14 on a toastie. The Triple Cheese and Mushroom Toastie ($14) with mixed mushroom, gruyere, parmigiano reggiano, ricotta, dijon and thyme is one of the highlights of Cafe Mckenzie. The flavours are complex and delicious, and the quality is very consistent. The pickles on the side were a delightful surprise, and I wonder if it would help for these guys to actually start advertising all of the components of their food. Great for a quick breakfast. Can recommend.

The Lamb Meatball Soup ($17) with freekeh, tomato, lemon, toast is strong, but perhaps the weakest of a very strong bunch. I thought the soup was a bit sour, and we could’ve used a bit more bread keeping in mind just how much soup there was. The meatballs were delicious and I think this would be a good dish on a cold day. The soup and bread actually comes with Pepe Saya butter, which again I feel is worth mentioning on the menu, as it is a premium component.

THOUGHTS (2020)

I am a Cafe Mckenzie Stan. If POW gives me a job for next year I suspect I’ll find myself here very very often. I think they would be perhaps even more successful if they added all of the secret elements of their food onto the menu. There’s no reason not to advertise that they serve Pepe Saya butter, or keep the rocket a surprise. 10/10.

UPDATE (2022)

I never did get that job, and ended up spending the next two years working in Western Sydney. My partner however was lucky and skilled enough to be chosen for a Eastern Suburbs training program, and I found myself back here with her and her colleagues after their run of nights. I think it is important to mention that they were happy to serve their lunch (11AM and onwards) menu to us at 9:30AM.

Along with a redo of the triple cheese and mushroom toastie (still fantastic, by the way), we also had the fattoush salad ($16) with optional grilled chicken breast ($9, hence $25 all up). This fattoush was perhaps the best I’ve ever had, and that’s spoken having lived as a working adult with access to food delivery apps in Western Sydney and now Sydney’s South West for four years now. I loved the freshness of all of the components, especially the variety of herbs (some combination of mint, parsley, and/or coriander) within. The chicken breast was an expensive addition, but reasonably well done with a tender, juicy, and tasty result. The total cost ($25) was reasonable despite the large cost of the chicken due to the quite good pricing of the non-proteinaceous base salad. Quite good!

I don’t know if this is made in-house or from an external vendor, but this passionfruit and raspberry cake ($6) was really quite nice. A bit on the sweeter side, but great moistness and combination of fruity flavours.

VERDICT
Very good. Can strongly recommend.

Cafe Mckenzie
Shop G04 &, G05/162-164 Barker St, Randwick NSW 2031
(02) 9310 0624

Categories
Café Modern Australian

A1 Canteen – Chippendale NSW Restaurant Review

Pegg asked me to find somewhere for brunch today. It’s our only day off together in 11 days so the stakes were high. After much deliberation we found ourselves looking for a park in Chippendale so that we could eat at A1 Canteen.

While we had previously had easy success parking for X23 Asian Fusion Cafe around the corner, today was not our day, and we ended up spending around 25 minutes circling the Central Park complex looking for a park. We finally found a 1-hour spot 10 minutes’ walk away, leaving us 40 minutes to get seated, order, eat, and leave. A true high-anxiety challenge, but one that we succeeded in.

A1 Canteen, I’m told, is run by the man behind Automata. Apparently is difficult to run two restaurants at once and thus this needs to be mentioned in every online review of A1, especially when they’re across the road from one another.

The Muffuletta ($20) is a vertical sandwich slice consisting of pressed meats, cheese, greens, artichoke, and olive salad. It is served with cutlery, and thus a dare to the patron to eat it with their hands. I enjoyed the Muffuletta as I would any other sandwich which would typically cost $7. It was meaty and cheesy, but otherwise not that special. The vertical cut of the sandwich meant that the filling to bread ratio was excellent, but the pedestrian taste did not justify its high asking price.

slow roasted lamb shoulder

The slow roasted lamb shoulder ($27) was significantly more interesting. It is served with small grilled flatbread, brocollini, cauliflower, chickpeas, and yellow chili pickles, each adding an additional dimension. The yellow chili pickles were particularly juicy and delicious, and added a nice tang to it. The price again is a bit steep for what it is. Looking at an older copy of the menu it looks like the lamb shoulder was previously $24 with a choice of two salads.

A special mention needs to go to the service at A1 Canteen. The kitchen was speedy and our waitress very observant to our hydration requirements. The room was spacious and decor nice. I personally felt a bit underdressed and outclassed in my T-shirt and trackpants.

Overall A1 canteen was passable but overpriced. I would not recommend the Muffuletta and would not have it again myself. One of the ladies next to us had some curried scrambled eggs which looked amazing, so I think we will probably end up going back at some point to try them. Three and a half overpriced weighted sandwiches out of Five.

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

NOTE: A1 Canteen is now permanently closed – Click here to read what I thought when I went back for a last hurrah.