Tag: sandwich

Categories
Latin American

Pochito – Mascot NSW Restaurant Review

Having to drive my previously-slightly-inebriated partner to work following a night out meant that I had an excuse to try one of our local cafes on the way back home. Pochito, one of Sydney’s few homes of empanadas and other Chilean cuisine, was next on my hit list.

Pochito, as the story is told by its owners, means the feeling of sleepiness induced by a meal. While I can’t find such a translation online from Spanish, what I can find is that pochito means kidnapping in Russian. Something to think about.

Chicken and mushroom, Four cheese empanadas.

After having a seat at a table of my choice (all tables were free), I indulged in three of Pochito’s specialty empanadas.

Four cheese empanada (left), chicken and mushroom empanada (right)

The four cheese empanada ($5) was too cheesy for me. It’s a stupid thought to put down on paper, but I’m sticking to my guns. Apart from the cheesiness there was not much other flavour. The chicken and mushroom empanada ($6) was quite creamy, not bad, but not as good as our third contestant. My partner thought that both the four cheese and chicken and mushroom empanadas were missable.

Beef empanada

The traditional beef empanada ($6) was by far my. It had a tasty filling of beef, egg, and onion, as well as some olive and sultana that I wasn’t quite able to appreciate. This was served with a dish of coriander salsa, which was delicious.

Lomito Sandwich

The Lomito Sandwich ($12) is a Chilean specialty, and really delicious. Included within its milk bun was a generous serving of marinated pork loin mixed with smashed avocado, a tasty, juicy slice of tomato, and a lot of mayonnaise. I actually ordered the lomito after I had finished my half of the empanadas, as they had not quite hit the spot. I’m glad that I did. The lomito sandwich really is special.

DISCUSSION

Pochito is a family run business, and during my visit I interacted with multiple family members, who were all quite nice and welcoming. At one point during my meal the owner of the restaurant came by and asked me if I was a foodie. I must admit that I was too embarrassed to say that was, and basically lied through my teeth and told her no. She said something along the lines of “I guess everyone needs to eat to stay alive though.”

Sorry Paulina.

4.5/5, mostly for lomito. (Empanadas alone 3.5/5)

Pochito
1021 Botany Rd, Mascot NSW 2020
0402 432 920

Categories
Café

Culture Bean – Kogarah NSW Cafe Review

I would estimate that I’ve been to Culture Bean thirty to forty times over the past twelve months. Located on absolute prime real estate across the road from St George Hospital, Culture Bean is the leading off-campus provider of coffee and food to my starving colleagues whilst also commanding its own customer base from the wider community. Culture Bean is the favourite local cafe of one of our consultant intensivists in particular, but also known to frequented by everyone else we work with.

The reasons behind the fact that I’ve got very few photos to show for the sheer volume of food I’ve consumed from Culture Bean is multifactorial. It’s a bit embarassing to take photos of food in front of colleagues at work, especially bosses. Each meal also becomes less special the more you eat somewhere, and therefore in the mind less worthy of photography, even if you never took any photos to start with.

Bacon and egg sandwich

The bacon and egg sandwich ($11.50), not to be confused with the bacon and egg roll, is a fully featured, stuffed with ingredients sandwich featuring egg, rocket, halloumi, heaps of bacon, and your choice of sauce (default is hollandaise and barbecue). It is very filling, and the flavours are perfectly balanced. It is much better than the bacon and egg roll ($7), which I feel to be a bit too bread heavy and dry in comparison.

The mainstay of management at Culture Bean is their fantastically good value egg and haloumi slider and regular coffee combo ($8). These hot little sliders can be optioned with a vast array of sauces if you know to ask (otherwise you will be given barbecue), and make for a great post-ward round snack. The coffee at Culture Bean is from Gabriel Coffee, and is always of good quality.

Acai Bowl

Culture Bean’s literally award winning Acai Bowl ($16) is pretty OK. My first acai bowl ever and was just fine, not mindblowing. Knowing this is apparently one of the best in Sydney did not make me want to get any more acai bowls from anywhere else.

I have enjoyed the bocconcini pesto sandwich but wish it would have some meat in it. Conversely, I have also had the chicken pesto sandwich and wished it were less dry, and thought it could perhaps benefit from some bocconcini in it. Culture Bean would really be onto something if they could put both chicken and bocconcini in the same sandwich.

The Pulled Pork Burger ($10) is a good value burger full of saucy, wet pulled pork and a carroty Asian slaw. It’s quite nice and pretty cheap, but make sure you have some paper towels nearby as it does get quite wet.

I tried the Blue Heaven ($16) with blue spirulina, banana, mango, kiwi, goji & dragon fruit one day after a night shift. While I liked the dragon fruit I wasn’t a big fan of the other fruit, nor was I a fan of the weird blue colour. Just not really my thing to be honest, maybe other people like this.

I enjoyed the Culture Burger ($12.50), which is essentially a chicken thigh burger in an activated charcoal bun. They are able to do this is a normal bun if you ask, which I tend to do since I’m not really sure if activated charcoal is good for you or bad for you.

COMMENTS / VERDICT

I feel AWFUL that the staff at Culture Bean know my name and I don’t know theirs. The service is always really nice and friendly, and the food pretty good too. I always feel guilty when I walk past Culture Bean to go to Concrete Jungle/Cafe 959 and the guys at Culture Bean just look at me with this look of sadness. They are my home cafe but sometimes I want something different. Definitely the best place in easy reach of the hospital (but sadly out of Spectralink reception).

5/5

Culture Bean
2217/15 Gray St, Kogarah NSW 2217

Categories
Asian Fusion Bakery Café

Humble Bakery – Surry Hills NSW Cafe Review

“Humble Bakery is pretty humble and quiet,” my friend said to me after my visit yesterday, “don’t let too many people know.”

“Don’t worry.” I replied. “No one reads my blog anyway.”

Humble Bakery is located on Holt St in Surry Hills, surrounded by plenty of ticketed parking. Venture around the corner onto Hart St, however, and you might just be able to snag a free one hour park. The cafe has high ceilings, large light-filled windows, and an open kitchen, allowing curious diners the opportunity to surreptitiously take photos of their work.

I had brunch on a Sunday morning with just one other customer around a large communal table, with room for at least another ten and some more classic dining tables on the back platform. While Humble Bakery might have been able to fly under the radar up to now, the quality of its offerings suggest to me that this anonymity is unlikely to last, regardless of what kind of review I empty into the river.

Croissant around LP’s Pig Head Sausage

The Croissant around LP’s Pig Head Sausage ($10) is widely lauded but I think ultimately not as great as it could be. LP’s smallgoods are generally unfaultable, and it’s hard to not like a dish that incorporates them. The missing X factor is the croissant (ie. the Bakery’s domain), which I felt was colder than it should’ve been. I feel like this kind of croissant sausage roll should be warm inside and out, and even though I was eating in it just felt lukewarm. Not really a great buy for $10, I wouldn’t recommend this.

Pork Belly Roll with kimchi, carrot, jalapenos and mayonnaise ($18)

The Pork Belly Roll with kimchi, carrot, jalapenos and mayonnaise ($18) is truly very good. The bread is fresh and warm, perfect for soaking up all of the flavourful juices of the roll. The pork belly is undersold on the menu – there is no mention of it being five spice pork belly, and an accurate representation of it at that. The kimchi, carrot, and jalapenos (mild) add a delicious freshness to the roll. This was a really great sandwich, much better than the LP’s pig head croissant, and one that I would strongly recommend. A surprisingly coherent Asian fusion roll – just don’t compare it to your local Hot Bread store’s in terms of price.

VERDICT
My meal started off weak but ended up strong. I’d like to come back to Humble Bakery when I get the chance.

Four out of five spices

Humble Bakery
50 Holt St, Surry Hills NSW 2010

Categories
Café

Cafe 959 – Kogarah NSW Cafe Review

Café 959 has sprung up from the ashes of the recently defunct Concrete Jungle, on prime real estate on the corner of Gray St and Queens Avenue near St George Hospital.

Cafe 959 plays it safe, featuring roughly the same menu items as its predecessor, including old favourites the warm chicken poke and ricotta pancake. The cafe was jam packed at 2PM on a Saturday, obviously benefiting from its prime location and Concrete Jungle‘s old regulars.

I had a very reasonably priced bacon and egg roll and coffee ($10 – takeaway only price). Service was brisk, and they have introduced innovative new seats next to their takeaway service window for waiting in. While the bacon and egg roll isn’t going to make any top ten lists, it’s definitely adequate with filling adequately moistened by barbeque sauce. A very reasonably quick lunch or breakfast for the weekend shift-worker.

Portuguese tart

The Portuguese tart looked like it would be good but it was not. The pastry looked like it would be flaky but it was rather doughy and sticky. The filling was too sweet for my tastes. A tie with Culture Bean‘s equally disappointing but actually much different offering.

The Chicken Sandwich was actually quite good. There is a lot of mayonnaise and cheese inside, which makes it feel a bit heavier than the sandwiches offered next door at Culture Bean. The bread was the standout component, a light Turkish bread which was actually very good when toasted. A winner.

I hope that as Cafe 959 finds its own they will introduce more of their own items onto the menu.

Cafe 959
13 Gray St Kogarah NSW 2217
0408 668 284

Cafe 959 Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
Categories
Café

Schnitzel Shop – Botany NSW Restaurant Review

Schnitzel Shop is a recently opened takeaway joint in Banksmeadow/Botany, located quite close to Croquembouche Patisserie. They offer a simple diner menu of rolls and burgers, with salad ingredients prepared by a young woman and the meats freshly cooked on the grill by a man who appears to be the owner.

pork belly roll

I had the pork belly roll ($8.50). Service was quick, and the roll was jam packed with juicy fresh salad components. The pork belly was not what I expected (I don’t know why I would expect a Caucasian man and a south-Asian lady to make me a Vietnamese banh mi) but was good in its own way.

chicken schnitzel roll

I also had a chicken schnitzel roll, however I was only able to have it after ten hours in the fridge, and then a minute in the microwave. It wasn’t as good as the pork belly roll, but I can’t say if it was due to the travel time.

While I can recommend Schnitzel Shop I wouldn’t go so far as to recommend actively going out of your way to go there. It’s more of a local spot.

Schnitzel Shop
1645 Botany Rd, Banksmeadow NSW 2019
(02) 9316 9354