Categories
Bakery Café French

Croquembouche Patisserie – Botany NSW Café Review

Wow! This review has really been a long time coming.

When we moved to Botany in January 2020 one of the first things we did, before we even started unpacking, was load up Zomato and look for places to eat. Croquembouche Patisserie caught our eye, and since then we’ve eaten there at least ten to fifteen times over the course of a year.

Croquembouche bills itself as one of top French bakeries in Sydney, and as the only French (non-Vietnamese) bakery I’ve ever been to I’d have to agree. We’ve eaten so many things at Croquembouche that I will only review our favourites.

The Reuben Sandwich is huge and flavourful. It’s actually the first thing I ever got from Croquembouche and has become a regular favourite. I would recommend to get it toasted.

The Ham and cheese croissant with béchamel sauce is excellent. The croissant is fluffy, and the béchamel makes the whole thing very creamy. They do an alternate ham and cheese croissant with gruyere which is a bit more expensive but I don’t like as much – no béchamel.

The Citron tart is my partner’s favourite thing from Croquembouche. In her words, “it’s probably the best lemon curt tart [she’s] ever had. Its balance of tanginess and sweetness is pretty perfect, and I wonder if it has some other complex citruses in there as well. Lemon parts are one of [her] favourite desserts, and [she] thinks that Croquembouche has one of [her] favourite tarts [she’s] ever tasted. You can’t quote me word for word, because I refuse to have non edited words and thoughts on a public platform. You’d better not be continuing to write what I’m saying.”

There is a healthy assortment of crepes on offer, which are all delicious and packed with ingredients like cheese, meat, and mushrooms.

This salted caramel tart was quite good, and not too sweet. This is coming from someone who generally doesn’t like salted caramel.

Croquembouche also offers an assortment of hot meat pies and sausage rolls. They’re pretty standard, and not really at the level of perfection as their other stuff.

Through the course of the year we had an assortment of fruity dessert pastries, which were mostly good and not too sweet.

This was an expensive but elevated hot cross bun.

The level of glaze on this apricot tart is enough to reflect stars in distant galaxies.

$10 for a bacon and egg roll and a coffee is actually quite a good deal. Unfortunately I think not everyone in the café can make coffee, and the wait for coffee during the morning rush can end up being a bit long.

My girlfriend loves chocolate mousse.

Some kind of savory bread of which I have no recollection. Looks cheesy.

This was a really nice sandwich, maybe Cuban, maybe something else, packed with ingredients including a generous amount of pickle. I’d get it again.

Look at this slice of unnamed tart.

Tart of berry. Small but concentrated.

This is one that surprised me. You would never expect such a dish sitting in the counter to have such perfectly poached eggs. Indeed this an entire brunch dressed as a sandwich. Really good, but flies under the radar.

I had a couple of these truffle and salami sandwiches throughout the year. Very tasty, but very oily.

The Salmon and Dill and Chicken and Dill sandwiches are also quite yum. A very pleasant dill taste mixed into a mayonnaise-like sauce with either salmon or chicken rillettes. I’ve never had one uneaten for long enough to take a photo.

THOUGHTS OTHER THAN EFFUSIVE PRAISE

If there’s one somewhat negative component of Croquembouche Patisserie it may just be the exquisite amount of care and time they put in to make the coffee and toast the sandwiches. I’m often in a rush in the morning before work, so I know to get my sandwiches untoasted and without coffee. Their food is also quite rich and buttery, which may be a problem in terms of long-term cardiovascular risk.

Having gone so many times in 2020 and not at all since moving to Western Sydney in February 2021, I wonder if these guys think I’ve died.

Croquembouche Patisserie
1635 Botany Rd, Botany NSW 2019
(02) 9666 3069

Categories
Vietnamese

Khoi’s Vietnamese Cuisine – Surry Hills NSW Restaurant Review

Not to be confused with the much more disappointing Khoi Eatery in Marrickville, Khoi’s in Surry Hills is a completely different, much better, family-run Vietnamese restaurant.

My partner is a big fan of corn. I have never known her to see corn on the menu and not want it. While I would have preferred some of Khoi’s visually appealing chicken wings, compromises sometimes need to be made. Nevertheless, the crispy buttered sweet corn, marinated with chipotle mayo ($10) was a hit. We liked how not all surfaces of all kernals were battered. We liked the buttery richness of the dish to start, however soon found that the portion was perhaps a bit big for the two of us to share – it was really more suited to four people. After a while corn just gets a bit lukewarm and boring. I wasn’t able to identify any chipotle or spicy flavour to this dish, but despite this it was quite good. I would NOT recommend this for a couple (unless your partner is a corn fanatic) however can recommend this for larger groups.

Crispy spring rolls of pork, black mushrooms, and glass noodles ($10)

The Crispy spring rolls of pork, black mushrooms, and glass noodles ($10) were quite good. They had a complex flavour and texture that is rare in the spring roll world.

Khoi’s beef noodle soup, combination of rare Black Angus beef, brisket, beef balls & thin slice of ox tail ($18)

Khoi’s beef noodle soup, combination of rare Black Angus beef, brisket, beef balls & thin slice of ox tail ($18) was really good. The slices of rare Angus beef were tender. The brisket and beef balls were also good, however I have to give a point to Khoi in Marrickville for their beef balls over those at Khoi’s in Surry Hills – the one at this restaurant did not particularly stand out. We couldn’t identify any ox tail in our pho, however this was not really a bad thing as I often find ox tail too fatty and oily, like I did when we had ramen at Spanish Sakaba.

Super crispy skin Bannockburn Chicken cooked in Khoi’s master stock, ginger, shallot

The skin of the Super crispy skin Bannockburn Chicken cooked in Khoi’s master stock, ginger, shallot ($20) was, true to its name, super crispy. What this dish’s long name failed to mention, however, was that the meat inside was also very tender and juicy. The flavour was tasty but not too tasty, and I really enjoyed every last morsel of this chicken. My partner commented that it was not cooked as well as the Korean chicken from Soul Dining (also in Surry Hills), but I think she is wrong. I think they are both very good, and can recommend this dish.

Sauces

Overall I really enjoyed my meal at Khoi’s in Surry Hills. There are plenty of other dishes on the menu I’d like to try, so I would both recommend eating here and plan for a second trip.

5/5 bok boks who are allowed to roam during the day but locked up at night “for their own protection”.

Khôi’s Vietnamese Cuisine
583 Crown St, Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 8054 6306

Categories
Bakery Chinese

方包 Square Handmade Bread – Waterloo NSW Bakery Review

We happened across Square Handmade Bread after eating at Luckfood Fish Dumplings in Waterloo. It is a small bakery with modern facilities offering high-priced luxury breads as well as some desserts on a pre-order basis. Most breads were $15.80 per loaf, coming to $16.04 after credit card fees. They also serve coffee made from Grounds of Alexandria beans.

We ordered a loaf of garlic bomb bread – garlic bread loaf with cream cheese filling.

The square garlic bomb bread was quite good. It was not like a normal garlic bread, more sweet than salty. There was a lot of cream cheese filling, which I thought was actually to its detriment. I more enjoyed the crusty, less flavoured anterior, than the greasy creamy interior.

While good, I didn’t feel like this small half-loaf sized bread was worth $16.04. I concur with Robert H’s review in Google Reviews in this regard. For this reason, I am giving a 3/5, which could easily be a 4 if half the price.

方包 Square Handmade Bread
Shop 7, 5 Potter St, Waterloo NSW 2017, Australia
0415 353 369

方包 Square Handmade Bread Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Categories
Chinese

Luckfood Fish Dumplings 六福魚水饺 – Waterloo NSW Restaurant Review

Luckfood Fish Dumplings 六福魚水饺 is a small Chinese restaurant in Waterloo, centering around dumplings but also featuring other components of Chinese cuisine. Our lunch today was fully dumpling focused, and consisted of 10 each of five types of dumplings.

L: Cuttlefish dumplings, M: Fish dumplings, beef dumplings, R: pork and chive and prawn dumplings, pork and cabbage and scallop dumplings
Dipping sauce

We ordered 50 dumplings between the two of us for lunch, and managed to finish 45. The dumplings were small in size but not in taste. They were all boiled and all extremely juicy inside – each was bursting with soup which was an absolute treat. They were all handmade with a good filling to wrapping ratio. The dipping sauce provided was a mixture of soy, vinegar, and freshly chopped garlic, although garlic was optional for those who may not like it. I will describe the dumplings I had in order of goodness.

Pork A Dumplings (Pork + Prawn + Chive)

The Pork A Dumplings (Pork + Prawn + Chive) were by far my favourite. They tasted very similar to how my parents would make it. The dumplings had a good juice within them. A strong recommendation from me.

Pork B Dumplings (Pork + Scallop + Cabbage)

The Pork B Dumplings (Pork + Scallop + Cabbage) were good too. A stronger but less complex flavour compared to the Pork A Dumplings.

Lucky 6 Cuttlefish Dumplings

The Lucky 6 Cuttlefish Dumplings are part of the restaurant’s premium range, and recommended to me by the chef. The fillings were crunchy cuttlefish, and recommended for their internal juiciness. These were quite good, although a bit too salty for me.

Beef + Onion Dumplings

The Beef and Onion Dumplings were my partner’s choice – she was keen on some dumplings that were not seafood related. I didn’t like them, but I generally never like beef or lamb dumplings. I feel like beef dumpling are always too beefy.

Signature Fish Dumplings

The Signature Fish Dumplings were not very good. I’m not sure what type of fish they use, but I thought it tasted a lot like the frozen basa fillets you get at the supermarket, down to the weird water taste. Not a keen bean for this one. This was the only plate that we didn’t finish – we only had 5 of these between the two of us.

In conclusion: while the restaurant is called Luckfood Fish Dumplings, their best dumplings are in my opinion their pork, prawn, and chive dumplings. All of their dumplings are boiled and bursting with juice and flavour. While there were some that didn’t appeal to me quite so much, Luckfood Fish Dumplings 六福魚水饺 provides homestyle food and good value for money. (Please note that any order of 20 dumplings can be a mixture of flavours – we paid $51.90 for 50 dumplings and a can of Calpis Water)

A nod from me. 4/5.

六福鱼水饺 Luckfood Fish Dumplings
Shop 11/5 Potter St, Waterloo NSW 2017
0405 313 333

Categories
Asian Fusion Vietnamese

Banh Xeo Bar – Rosebery NSW Vietnamese Restaurant Review

Banh Xeo Bar in Rosebery is a mixed-race family affair. Helmed by Benjamin Sinfield and Tanio Ho, the restaurant serves up Vietnamese inspired dishes with a dash of Western flare. This sense of co-operation is also seen in the staffing at the restaurant – with front of house being run by Caucasians and the kitchen run by Asians.

We were initially skeptical about this hip looking bar with a clientele of mostly Eastern Suburbs types (although we ourselves are technically Eastern Suburb locals at this point) and $15 banh mis, but quickly settled in to an authentic and tasty meal.

The Vietnamese iced coffee ($5.50) was really good! It was not too sweet.

Crispy pork trotter in salt and vinegar butter ($12.50)

We started with the crispy pork trotter in salt and vinegar butter ($12.50). This dish consisted of two deep fried pork trotters in a butter sauce with a slice of lemon. The pork was very deep friend and crispy, and the internal fats were nice and rendered. The meat itself was very oily, and I thought that the lemon was absolutely necessary to cut through the fat a bit. The butter was a bit of a superfluous addon to such an already heavy and oily dish. Overall a recommendation.

Banh Xeo with roast berkshire pork ($26.50)

Our first main was the Banh Xeo with roast berkshire pork ($26.50). This was the first time I’ve ever had Banh Xeo, and I didn’t quite know what to expect. The egg pancake was fried to a very good warm and cripsy level. The filling inside, with pork and bean sprouts, had varying textures that amused the tongue, with a good umami flavour. The banh xeo was served with lettuce wraps and BXB’s marinated carrots and pickles, which when eaten together were able to provide multiple levels and types of crunch, crispiness, umami, and cut through the fat. This was an absolutely delicious dish.

The Combination Special Bun Bo Hue – beef flank, beef tongue, and pig head nugget noodle soup

The Combination Special Bun Bo Hue – beef flank, beef tongue, and pig head nugget noodle soup ($22.50) was a delight. We optioned it with 2 additional eggplant croquetas (on the plate in the photo), to be described separately.. I really like all the different types of meat in this soup – and also that despite being in the Eastern suburbs they didn’t shy away from serving things like beef tongue and pig head. I loved the varied textures of the meat, and also the high meat and vegetable content of the soup – there was never really a boring spoonful. A special mention goes out to the pig head nuggets, which were just delicious parcels of meatiness and fatiness that added a whole different dimension to the beef tongue and flank. The soup itself unfortunately doesn’t make it into my top soups, as my personal feeling was that it had too strong a soy flavour for my liking, but I recognise that this probably just a personal preference – I enjoyed the The Combination Special Bun Bo Hue more with the supplied lemon squeezed in. The lemongrass and chilli condiment, allegedly made by Ho’s mum, was good however didn’t find much use in this dish.

The eggplant croquetas (2 for $5) were enjoyed by my partner but not me. They were very smooth inside, and the form is made purely by the fried exterior, which I guess is a technical achievement. I think I’m a little bit allergic to eggplant.

Overall I can really recommend Banh Xeo Bar in Rosbery. It manages to straddle the line between authentic Asian cuisine and the rice paper rolls and banh mi that are more easily palatable to the South East Sydney populace. There really is something for everyone, to post gym yoga mums to two hardened deep-Asian diners.

4.5 Yums.

Banh Xeo Bar
11/61-71 Mentmore Ave, Rosebery NSW 2018
(02) 8542 5259