Category: Café

Categories
Café

The Tin Shed – Nowra NSW Restaurant Review

This motel cafe about 150 metres from where I’ve been living in Nowra advertises itself as Nowra’s best bacon and egg roll, and after finally trying it on one of my last weeks in town I’m liable to agree, having never even had any of the other bacon and eggs around. Finding the actual cafe within the motel complex was a little difficult to start, and I almost walked into not one but two motel rooms with people actively making their beds or packing their suitcases before I was able to locate the café.

It was staffed by one single dude, which I guess is fair given they’re not really that busy – but it was one guy taking the orders, cooking, making the coffee, and answering the phone which meant that my post-nights haze was a bit more prolonged then I would’ve liked, sitting at their single table and waiting.

Luckily for both me and them, their Rocking Bacon and Egg Roll ($15.50) was seriously good. I honestly did not expect how good it was, and was blown away when I first bit into it. The bread is crispy (as my left posterior and inferior gum will tell you) and oily and deliciously toasted. The flavours are interesting far beyond your average B&E, with such an unexpected tanginess from the roasted pickles, the umami from the balsamic mushrooms, as well as the unusual strangeness from the use of melted camembert as opposed to just regular cheese. The egg was perfectly easy and runny, and the barbecue sauce well applied to flavour but not overwhelm. Each bite was actually extraordinary, and I realise now that I lie. I have in fact had another B&E roll in Nowra, and this is the better one by far.

UPDATE On my second visit to Tin Shed, only a fortnight later, the roll had changed. The bread was different, thicker, not as mouth-cutting, not as oily, and generally less good. This also threw off the filling to bread ratio, which was in perfect balance previously. I don’t know why they would have done this. Maybe they simply ran out of their usual bread.

VERDICT: Definitely worth a try. Call ahead to order so you’re not left waiting. I don’t know how to avoid getting the second kind of roll. Maybe show them this post and ask for the good one not the bad one?

The Tin Shed Cafe
9 Pleasant Way, Nowra NSW 2541
0409 992 109

Categories
Café Vietnamese

Coffee & Crackles – Smithfield NSW Restaurant Review

Our first attempt at brunch at Coffee & Crackles was thwarted when we arrived at 1:30PM on a weekday and were told that they weren’t serving food at that time. It was during a period of transition, the cafe having recently undergone a rebranding and merger with its co-located night-time eatery and bar Saigon Hustle.

The café part of the joint venture clearly lost the aesthetic fight int he merger, with only the small shopfront lit in natural light, the rest of the restaurant coated in dark paint, neon lights and scrolling projections.

This pricing of this crackling pork banh mi ($13) had me a bit conflicted when I ordered it. On one hand, while I believe that our migrant communities deserve to be compensated for the work that they do and the food that they serve and that it’s a double standard to pay $30 for a plate of pasta or $20 for three ravioli and only want to pay $3.50 for a banh mi, $13 is still a bit much compared to what I’m used to. That’s not to say that, taken outside of the context of what we generally pay for banh mi in Sydney that it wasn’t worth it. This banh mi was certainly high quality. The bread was warm and freshly toasted. It was crusty in a way that was tasty and crunchy, and yet somehow didn’t cut the inside of the mouth – honestly one of the best rolls I’ve had. The five spice pork filling was plentiful, as were the pickled daikon radish and carrots, making each bite both a meaty and a fresh delight. The generous serving of pate and Vietnamese mayonnaise imparted a good sense of umami and creaminess throughout the roll, with no corner spared. The pork crackling was separate from the pork meat, and distributed unevenly between the two pre-cut halves of the sandwich as the crackling was on the exterior surface and the sandwich was sliced diagonally. The crackling did impart an unnecessary saltiness to the bites where it made a showing, and perhaps less salt could have been used in its preparation. The chips, which were a surprise addition to the meal, I could’ve done without to save a couple of dollars. They were actually quite good – freshly fried and of potato in nature – but honestly if I wanted more food I’d just order a second banh mi, which I feel are a higher plane of enjoyment over regular fries.

The Bo Ne Sizzling Beef ($23) was also quite good. It featured a small MB2 wagyu steak, some kind of sausage or processed meat, liver pate, sauteed onions and a sunny side up egg served on a sizzling hot plate, with a separate plate of toasted oiled bread, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes. I’m far from an expert on bo ne, with my only previous experience to this point being the bo ne at Diem Hen in Canley Vale. Given that I don’t have much of a standard to judge against, I can only describe to you this dish in absolute terms.

The steak was cooked medium rare, tender and juicy, though the first bites were better than the last bites as it continued to cook a little on the hot plate as we ate. The live pate was some of the best I’ve had, and my partner especially enjoyed it caramelised on the hot plate. The egg was cooked to a degree of sunny side up perfection that I’ve never achieved, which is kind of crazy to me since presumably they just got the plate up to temp, took it off the heat and cracked it on. I don’t know exactly what the sausage like substance on the right side of the plate was – it was similar to siu cheong that you might get at a Cantonese BBQ shop – but it was quite nice with a bit of sweetness. The onion in this dish was in one corner rather than throughout the entire dish like at Diem Hen, which I preferred as it meant I could be the one deciding which mouthfuls I wanted onioned or unonioned. The bread was again freshly toasted and just great, excellent to pair with some pate or tasty sausage.

OTHER THOUGHTS
All in all I enjoyed my visit to Coffee & Crackles, even if certain items on their previous menu, for example their bo kho tacos, were no longer available after the merger. Saigon Hustle looks to have a pretty interesting Vietnamese fusion menu for dinner though, so I’d like to come back at night some time in the future.

Coffee & Crackles
678A The Horsley Dr, Smithfield NSW 2164
0423 460 054

Categories
Café Japanese

Matcha-Ya – Haymarket NSW Restaurant Review

Tucked in Darling Square’s Steam Mill Lane is Matcha-Ya, a small cafe with both matcha and non-matcha drinks and desserts.

While we are yet to eat anything at Matcha-Ya, I am able to comment with authority on the quality of their beverages.

Hojicha Latte

The Hojicha Latte, served in this large cauldron, was visually appealing but didn’t quite hit the spot.

The matcha latte with chilli, served in this takeaway cup, was quite good and weird. It was quite spicy, with an actual chilli inside the cup.

Matcha-Ya
NW.05, 10 Steam Mill La, Haymarket NSW 2000

Categories
Café

Badmanner Thymes – Parramatta NSW Restaurant Review

Badmanner Thymes is a small-ish cafe in Parramatta, conveniently located across the road from the frozen-in-time Eat St Carpark, which in 2022 is somehow yet to discover contactless payments, or reasonable walk from the nearby (and free) Westfield Parramatta parking. Badmanner serves up a relatively limited food menu for breakfast, which sadly does not encompass its much broader lunch menu. We went, as we often do to such places, after an intensive care night shift at the end of our work week.

I chose the relatively basic Brekkie Burrito ($16), a reasonably sized wrap of sautéed chorizo, hash brown, avocado, tomato salsa, scrambled egg with a hint of chilli relish from a breakfast menu of similarly basic items. I have no complaints about the quality of this burrito, though it would have been nice if there were other, slightly more complex items on offer.

Food aside, we did enjoy the service and the coffee, and the fact that they gave the sleep-deprived eight of us a gigantic dining table in our own private room to eat and debrief around. That was something very special, and an experience we’ve never had at Parramatta’s more popular cafes like Circa or Lil Miss Collins.

Presented for my own amusement only, a couple I ran into on the way to Badmanner with matching shoes and walking in perfect synch.

Badmanner Thymes
1 Horwood Pl, Parramatta NSW 2150
0410 406 889

Categories
Asian Fusion Café Japanese

Koku Culture – Ashfield NSW Restaurant Review

Koku Culture is home to one of the best brunches I’ve had all year. I’ve never been shy about my love of Japanese-fusion breakfast and brunch foods, and Koku Culture’s tiny Ashfield store fits the bill completely.

The Torched Confit Ora King Salmon Fillet with 63 degree egg ($24+$2) was sublime. Ora King Salmon is always a treat, featuring a rich oiliness and delicate mouthfeel far beyond your average grocery store Tasmanian Atlantic salmon. I try to order some Ora King salmon every now and then from the popular online fish delivery services, and even when cooked inexpertly by me at home the difference is noticeable. Koku Culture’s torched confit king salmon fillet definitely lived up to expectations – tender inside with a slight char on the outside reminiscent of aburi sushi. The miso dressing was tasty but not overpowering, and the green tea soba salad surprisingly refreshing, especially with the egg (a $2 supplement but important) and miso mixed in. This has to be a must-order dish from Koku Culture.

This Crispy Rice Cheeseburger ($15) with Chips and their secret sauce was also fantastic, but in a completely different way to the salmon. Where the salmon felt clean and healthful, this was perfect in terms of sheer debauchery. The rice “buns” were perfectly cirspy and fried out the outside, with a light but slightly sticky texture on the inside – a bit “QQ” as we would call it in terms of Chinese food. The seafood was similarly crispy, enjoyable and not merely for decoration. I opted for an extra patty ($5)(probably wasn’t necessary in this case, and I’d just stick with a single patty in the future) , and both beef patties were cooked to a delicious level of juiciness, mixed in with their special sauce and fresh lettuce. Even the chips were good.

The matcha affogato, which I can’t see on their menu any more, was pretty OK. The ice cream was good, the coffee was black. Mixed together it remained a bit black for my taste.

That’s a good Matcha Brownie right there.

COMMENTS
I enjoyed Koku Culture. Definitely worth a visit, but make sure you budget in some time for the queue outside.

UPDATE
These guys are now closed forever, before the publication of this review. This is part of why I’ve pushed this review far into the future in terms of scheduling – they’re not going to get more dead. Hopefully Kenji Okuda and Donna Chau can bless us once again something good.

Koku Culture
1/355 Liverpool Rd, Ashfield NSW 2131
0402 697 475