The contents of this blog are matters of opinion formed over one more visits. There has been some artistry applied and metaphors and similes should not necessarily be taken literally. All meals are independently paid for - the author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Kooks Cafe is an Indonesian breakfast joint in the inner city that just so happens to be deeply David Bowie themed.
We started with a masala chai helix ($9.90), which is basically this roti based croissant like structure. It is quite large, covered in cinnamon and powdered sugar, and filled with a smattering of masala chai spices that are ultimately a bit sweet but not too sweet. Multi-layered, multi-sticky, and quite delicious.
We enjoyed also the beef rendang wrap ($21.45) which was a bit expensive for its size. It was composed of quite a crispy kind of pastry with a nice filling of beef rendang, inclusive of flavour and beefy chew. Despite this strong showing, factors against its favour however included a quite wet and drippy bottom (a bit of leakage), and its overall price to size ratio.
The most breakfasty item we got was the roti telur ($13.20), which we didn’t love. The best way that I could describe it to someone who couldn’t see images would be if you could imagine a gozleme like structure filled with egg, a slight amount of extremely mild chilli and some onion, and an overall lack of flavour.
The pastry was quite soft and unexciting, kind of felt like what you would get if you steamed a pancake, though my partner won’t say that she regret getting it as she really wanted to try some of Kook’s sambal, and this was her window to it. To me, it really kind of felt like something you could make in the microwave or in the steamer at home, and I wouldn’t get it again.
It’s hardly fair to write a review about a cafe based only on a croissant that they don’t make themselves, but here I am doing so – this site is as much an attempt to drop pins on everywhere I’ve eaten as it is a real attempt to write food reviews.
I had this croissant ($6.80) from Story So Far on the morning of the second portion of a difficult verbal quiz. My morning’s caffeine needs were already met by a white Monster.
I was informed that it was baked buy a husband and wife operation nearby, but no further information was volunteered.
It did what it needed to do and absolutely nothing more.
Not to be outdone by the banh mi my junior brought for me at work from Nguyen Hot Bread in Canley Vale during our last fortnight together, I picked up a variety of three options and an almond croissant to share on my way to work.
We had a selection of banhs mi. The first to be pictured and discussed is the roasted pork roll ($7), eaten by me, ultra fresh, walking through the hallway at work so that I can provide an accurate account of its quality for the internet. The bread was nice and fresh, slightly crusty on the outside and soft on the inside – no complaints or painful mouth cutting here. The filling sadly was not ideal, with the pork being really quite dry, and uninspiring (again, note that I’ve eaten it fresh in this case.) On subsequent visits the pork has actually been quite good, and I’ve now had banh mi from here at least six times.
The pate I will discuss in this subsequent paragraph dedicated to the original pork roll ($6.50), which was much better than the roast pork. Unlike most porks roll that I’ve had, the pate at Thuan Thien was very thin and spread with a spoon rather than a knife, which I didn’t find too problematic but my Vietnamese friend did not find satisfying. Whilst I agree the volume administered was on the lower end of the spectrum, she was quite disappointed by it. Luckily the standard collection of cold cuts in the original pork roll meant that there was little opportunity for error, and this is overall a pretty good roll, even eaten at our late lunch period after 6 hours in the fridge. There was no mention of the option of extra pate on the menu, but I suspect it’s something you could convince them to do for a little extra. but I now have learned to just ask for it, and it makes it all delicious.
It’s hard to know if this next roll, which I ate at lunch 6 hours after purchase, is the same roll as the roast pork roll, or in fact the BBQ pork roll ($7), which I had also ordered. I guess I should assume that it’s the BBQ pork roll which I had ordered, but it kind of looks nothing like the menu photograph, with not a smidge of crackling in site. Either way, it was surprisingly not as dry as the first roll I had that morning, so there’s a chance that it was in fact different. I should note the inclusion of red onion on this banh mi, which I feel is not that common an ingredient, whilst my friend and colleague, an influencer in her own right, decried the lack of daikon in this store’s offerings (not a problem for me.) I appreciated also the inclusion of a proper buttery Vietnamese mayonnaise, rather than margarine from a tub, which is passed off as acceptable at some establishments.
The almond croissant ($4) was pretty good. Lots of custard inside, and cheaper than Zouki.
Overall thoughts Will I add Thuan Thien bakery into the rotation? It’s possible – but only because it’s somewhat on the way, now that I’ve started taking tolls to work and A) XCel Roll has dropped off in quality and B) Nhu Y Kings Hot Bread requires a more significant detour.
Update, mid 2025. The quality was better on every subsequent visit, and this is now my regular haunt.
Thuan Thien bakery 199 Concord Rd, North Strathfield NSW 2137
I’d wanted to go to Lucien, Circa’s new baked goods project [their second such embassy in Parramatta after Good George (née Georgie Boy)] for some time, but a combination of factors – primarily my period of Southward exile and the lack of easily-accessible free parking around the cafe’s vicinity – meant that I never had the opportunity to take my colleagues there for our fortnightly college-mandated post-nights breakfast. My temporary specialty change from intensive to aged care and the 8:30AM, Monday to Friday starts that came along with it has however provided me with new opportunities for a quick pre-work breakfast that I never had the energy to try when I was starting at 8.
This sujuk danish ($10) was first on the list of breakfasty snacks picked by my partner, a hater of manoosh but surprisingly a lover of this. This tasted exactly like an identical manoosh of sujuk and cheese, with a bit of mild green chilli inside and a laminated pastry rather than your typical manoosh base. It was pretty tasty and good, but I don’t know that it was better than a full $9 sujuk and cheese pizza pretty much anywhere (though I am more a fan of the half meat half cheese, as far as manooh goes). The serving of caramelised onion I did not feel added any goodness to the dish. I’m glad my girlfriend liked it though, because it means I got to have more of the next thing.
The next thing was this excellent fig tart ($7) that I don’t quite have the tart-focused vocabulary to describe. I’m quite bad at identifying individual components of baked goods without an itemised list from a menu, so I’m essentially going to lie to you and say that the positive attributes of this tart was the freshness of the fig, which as an Asian child growing up I only ever had dried, the lightness of the marscapone, and the buttery yet nutty texture of the possibly almond base. Again, I have no way to confirm that these were the actual components of the tart. I guess I could ask them on social media and see what they say. But nonetheless it was really good. I want another. (UPDATE: I am reliably informed that it was vanilla ricotta just under the figs, and a bottom of hazelnut paste with chopped hazelnut on top.
This pistachio and rosewater swirl ($8 – there are literally no official names for most of these items) was not bad. but not my favourite.. Made with croissant dough, but still a bit on the breadier side. Not too sweet. The almond cream filling within the swirl didn’t really do anything for me taste wise, but again, my partner liked it.
OTHER THOUGHTS At the very least I’m glad that my partner and I liked different parts of our meal, which meant that I got to have more of what I liked, without the obligation of finishing what I didn’t. Worth a return visit.
My mother wanted me to look at an apartment I couldn’t afford in Five Dock. We had pastries we couldn’t afford instead. Allow me to explain:
The Corn & Cheese ($7), true to its name, was an open pastry topped with corn and cheese. It gave a memory of pizza, what with its cheesiness and a slight hint of capsicum. The pastry was quite flaky and excellent.
The Vanilla Tart ($7) was really just fine. A bit runny, a bit fancy, what with its expensive black dots (included).
The Cherry Cream Cheese ($6.50) was the cheapest and my favourite of the bunch. Both my partner and I love a good sour cherry.
The Hot Dog Twist ($7.50) tasted lik esomething you could get for $3 from Breadtop but with laminated pastry. I don’t even particularly like those hot dog buns, don’t think I’ll be getting this again.
The Sticky Nuts ($7) I found to be unfortunately a bit too sweet and sticky for my taste, though I did very much enjoy the huge mountain of croissant dough underneath the caramelised sugared layer on top.
Overall thoughts I honestly didn’t know before going that this was a Korean bakery not that any of the items that we had was particularly Korean. Tenacious Bakehouse remains my S-class Korean pastry shop of Sydney. Maybe if we didn’t eat out so much we could actually afford to buy residential property.
Buttercrumbs Croissant Shop 1/189 Great N Rd, Five Dock NSW 2046 0421 339 389
