Categories
Bakery Café Japanese

Café Cre Asion – Sydney CBD NSW Japanese Bakery Review

Manned by four people in a small industrial kitchen, Cafe Cre Asion is a hidden gem tucked around the corner behind about 16 security cameras. We went after a recent brunch for a sweet treat. They’re currently takeaway only, however it’s hard to imagine how they would manage to seat people on a normal day given their tiny footprint.

Raspberry Macaron
Chocolate Macaron

Sadly they were out of yuzu macarons, so we settled for chocolate and raspberry. I didn’t think these were very special.

Chocolate Cookie
Vanilla Cookie

Cafe Cre Asion’s cookies had a strong shortbread quality. They were very buttery and smooth, but had different textures and mouthfeels between the outer crust and the inner cookie, acting almost as two desserts in one.

Apple and cinnamon muffin

Wow. I really enjoyed this apple and cinnamon muffin. Without a hint of exaggeration this was the best muffin I’ve ever had in my entire life. Like the cookies, it felt like I was having 6 muffins in one. Each bite gave me a new experience, as I tasted the various components and textures separately. The muffin itself was very moist and light, while the muffin top had a nice and caramelised surface. Within the muffin there were pockets of cinnamon and apple which I found truly delightful. I cannot stan for this muffin enough. Please have one.

Second Visit

I returned in the middle of December 2020 to try some more baked goods after a disappointing visit to nearby Paramount Coffee Project.

All four cookies at Cafe Cre Asion

The Matcha cookie was dense with matcha flavour and not too sweet. I think it is suited more to an Eastern palate.

The Caramel and Walnut cookie is their only cookie that has “bits” in it. It is quite good, and I particularly enjoyed the walnut pieces.

Baked cheesecake

Baked cheesecake not good. Don’t get.

Swiss roll

Fruity swiss roll is pretty fruit. Light sponge roll with lots of cream. Quite nice and it almost feels like you’re not being bad with all the fruit.

Third visit

This chicken, mushroom, and wasabi mayo toastie ($13) is actually amazing. The chicken breast is so tender, complemented with the exact scientifically perfect amount of creaminess from the mild wasabi mayo. I shudder to think of just how much trial and error would’ve been neede din the lab to perfect the ratios, but it all just works so well. The lettuce, each leaf individually perfect, adds a nice fresh crisp to the sandwich, while preventing the juices of the sandwich soaking into the base layer of bread. The enoki, also great. This is sandwich science in action. I’ve never had a more perfect toastie in my life.

VERDICT
Despite not having any of the matcha or Japanese stuff that Cafe Cre Asion is known for, I’ve really enjoyed my two visits to date. I’d like to come back and would encourage you to do the same.

Try the muffin. It will change your mindset on muffins.

Café Cre Asion
(02) 8021 1629
101/21 Alberta St, Sydney NSW 2000

Categories
Asian Fusion Café Malaysian

Cafe Rumah – Surry Hills NSW Malaysian Restaurant Review

Rumour has it that Cafe Rumah is one of the top Malaysian-fusion cafes in all of Sydney. To be fair, there aren’t really that many. My partner and I ventured into the inner west one sunny Friday morning for a bit of Asian cuisine.

Mama Yang’s Pork Belly Rice Bowl ($18) was delicious. The pork belly was cooked well, with a great melt in your mouth feel to the fat and skin components. The fatty pork to lean pork ratio was just right, and neither components overpowered the other. The fresh herbs and pickles added an additional level of flavour to the soy-braised pork belly and rice, and gave it a new spin compared to the usual pork belly fare that we normally get from Chinese restaurants around the city. I can definitely recommend this dish.

While Mama Yang prevailed in her dish’s light deliciousness, the Tom Yum Chicken Congee ($16) faltered. I found the tom yum congee to be far too tasty. The tom yum and flavours were too strong, and took away from this congee’s ability to be a wholesome and warming meal. In their defense, the congee had all of the requisite ingredients, including what seemed like $5 of ginger alone, but it is perhaps this generosity that led to its defeat. Too tasty, not wholesome.

The Milo Dino ($6.50) was a surprise hit. Six dollars is a lot to pay for a glass of milo, but the taste was nice and I didn’t choke on the powdery stuff on top.

Overall I think Cafe Rumah tends towards stronger flavours, and is perhaps a miss if you are someone who has a softer palate. Personally I would still like to come back and try their roti john, so I guess it’s a recommend with caveats.

Cafe Rumah
(02) 9280 2289
71-73 Campbell St, Surry Hills, NSW 2010

Categories
Japanese

Yakitori Yebisu – Regent Place Sydney CBD NSW Izakaya Review

Expensive, but why?

We ended our search of a late night feed one Wednesday night at Yakitori Yebisu in Regent Place, quite a legit looking and feeling Japanese izakaya.

Upon approaching the restaurant we were greeted by a staff member who told us quite sternly that we would have to spend at least $30 per head for a seat. That was fine, we thought – but we didn’t know just how easy it would be to spend that amount.

The vibe inside was lively, with several groups of young people, as well as a few couples, drinking large towers of beer and chatting. Ordering was via an iPad tablet system, which was good as it helped us to minimise interpersonal contact.

We ordered a couple of beef yakitori ($7.80 each) and chicken yakitori ($4.80 each)– both were tender and delicious but at a mind numbing price.

We also ordered a variety of sushi, again mind numbingly expensive. We thought that the salmon roe gunkan ($9 for 2) was of poor quality, as it was too salty, but the sea urchin gunkan ($15 for 2) tasted good though much too expensive than it had any right to be. The aburi salmon ($7 for 2) and aburi scallop ($8 for 2) were good, however the flavour somewhat drowned out by the mayonnaise, and the constant thought at the back of our minds was that we could get the same thing for less than half the price across the road at Sushi Hotaru.

Ultimately the food pictured and a garden variety bottle of Kirin beer hurt us to the tune of $72.20. While the vibe was good and the food was reasonable, the exorbitant prices at Yebisu are indefensible.

As young professionals we are somewhat price insensitive but Yebisu takes it too far.

Avoid. (2/5)

Yakitori Yebisu
Regent Place, 7-10/501 George St, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9264 3272

Yakitori Yebisu Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
Categories
Greek Middle Eastern

Capri’s Kebab Pizza – Arncliffe Takeaway Review

We’ve had Capri’s Kebab and Pizza n-number of times over our numerous night shifts. Capri’s has the distinction of being open until very late most nights, late enough for us to reliably order at the end of a long night shift ward round.

The establishment itself is actually quite confusing, as it shares a location and phone number with Megabite Pizza, however there appears to be two separate menus, with Megabite providing Middle Eastern kebabs and pizza and Capri’s the Greek version.

Mixed Yiros (roll $13) – Delicious yiros meat in a wrap with hot chip, salad and tzatziki. Just what you need to keep your will to live during a night shift.

Capri Special Pide ($18) – Fresh and hot and cheesy, an unfaultable pide for the time of night.

One problem that I will point out about Capri is that they charge an additional $2 for tabouli, which, on top of a $14 charge for the base kebab is a bit steep. Tabouli is in my humble opinion an essential component of your kebab, and a $16 kebab is just too much. The other thing I’d mention is that I prefer the beef and chicken mixed kebab over the lamb kebab at Capri’s (neither are pictured). This is because while the lamb in the lamb kebab is indeed real lamb, it is extremely fatty, whereas the beef and chicken are your regular doner fare.

In my opinion Capri’s delivers a known quantity of good quality food, and is my personal pick for the night shift grind. This is not an opinion held by all of my colleagues, however, some of whom prefer Capri’s arch nemesis Adam.


Capri’s Pizza Kebab
266 Princes Highway, Arncliffe NSW 2205
(02) 8509 5889

Categories
Italian

Bistro on the Greens – South Coogee NSW Pizza Review

This is a quick DoorDash review of pizza ordered from Bistro on the Greens before a night shift.

I enjoyed the Diavola ($21), which had a good spicy flavour to it. It was not as special as Da Mario‘s diavola, however, which is still the best I’ve ever had.

I found the The Henning Calzone ($20) to be a bit difficult to eat. It was not pre-cut and I tried to eat it like a sandwich but had much difficulty. In this regard I would rate my previous calzone from Beretta in Ramsgate higher.

The San Remo Linguine (not pictured – $25) I could have lived without. I enjoyed the prawns but not the pasta, which I thought was not sauced enough. I put it into the fridge after a couple of mouthfulls. My partner took this to work and enjoyed it, apart from the prawns which she doesn’t normally like. She threw the prawns away and I didn’t get to eat the rest.

Bistro on the Greens
5 Henning Ave, South Coogee NSW 2034
(02) 8075 8348