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.
Unlike Rockdale’s former Angry Gnome (RIP), a café named in keeping with the appearance of its owner, Little Couple’s small but cute space near the train station in Campsie is staffed by two seemingly extremely normal sized people.
I rarely post photos of spaces or decor on this blog. I’ve always felt that food always comes first, and that no amount of flowers or lit up branded signage can make up for bad food. However, I really liked how Little Couple was able to maximise the usage of their fairly small space, by providing a nice elevated seating area overlooking the kitchen, above what I presume is their pantry. The airconditioning was a nice reprieve from the 40 degree sun, and it was just a nice place to be. Sadly the mango smoothie ($7.50) pictured in this interior design review we honestly didn’t love. It felt a bit too sugary.
In terms of food we had this LC Beef Wrap ($15), a very reasonable sized toasted wrap with a large portion of bulgogi beef, spinach, tomato, cheese, and aioli. Each bite was juicy and yummy, and based on the quantity of meat supplied as well as the location of their shop, one local Korean internal medicine specialist we discussed the wrap with believes that they must be losing money on each wrap.
The K-Toast ($7) featuring buttered bread sandwiching a cabbage omelette and sugar and tomato sauce I loved less, mostly because I had misread it as a crab omelette. Taken on its own merits it was fine, but not something I’d get again.
Overall thoughts That bulgogi wrap, with this cafe’s prime location, has got to make a great grab and go for train commuters. I only hope their business model can sustain it, because local internal medicine specialist CJP thinks it might not be able to.
Little Couple Cafe 1/199 Beamish St, Campsie NSW 2194, Australia +61 416 302 724
Chooksy’s, Nowra and Bomaderry’s answer to Wollongong’s esteemed Chicko’s, was on our must visit list during my partner’s recent stay in town.
First, the hot chips ($4). These were seriously good, next level. They were freshly fried with an incredible amount of crunch that persisted for well into half an hour after we got them. A colleague of mine had mentioned that she had thought about purchasing the restaurant (apparently up for sale at time of writing), but that perhaps she didn’t need to as her friend had worked at Chooksy’s and knew the secret recipe for the chip seasoning, though I suspect the actual secret to these chips are how freshly fried they are each time. Amazing.
The cheesy potato bake ($6) was really as described – cheesy and potatoey. Not too salty, which was good, but definitely one for my partner’s love rather than mine.
Interstingly, Chooksy’s does all of their burgers as either a wrap or a burger. We had an Extreme Chilli Chick ($13) as a wrap, which was actually extremely chilli. It was a chicken schitzel folded into a wrap with jalapenos, lettuce, onion, and two types of extremely hot sauce. I must admit that we underestimated just how extremely chilli this wrap was going to be, and it was nigh inedible for my poor weak tongue. Perhaps someone else would enjoy it.
This Salt & Vinegar Chicken Tender ($2.20) was quite bad. It didn’t give the impression of real meat that came from an animal.
Quite surprisingly, Chooksy’s fried chicken ($3.20 per piece) was actually unavailable the first time we visited, at around 2PM on a weekday. They were all sold out, and so we had to go back a second time to experience the promised delight. Their fried chicken was actually quite disappointing, perhaps moreso in light of our second journey, with a sad moistness after just ten minutes in the bag, and not much discernable flavour apart from saltiness. I would not rate this chicken above the Colonel’s.
The Chippy Chick ($13) as a roll I also felt like took some good ingredients and put them together only to make them worse. This roll consisted of a chicken schitnzel, hot chips, and liquid cheese and gravy. Unfortunately the combination of these winning ingredients, (especially their chips, which as mentioned above are usually great) made everything a bit moister, less crispy, and more mushy than desired. A surprising disappointment, though definitely much more edible than the Extreme Chilli Chick.
THOUGHTS In the face of other options and in a somewhat health-conscious state, I would only recommend the hot chips at Chooksy’s, which I believe are of the top tier of hot chips in all of NSW.
La Lune Market in North Strathfield is a sunny Korean-run but not Korean-themed cafe, located under a gym a little bit away from the hustle and bustle of the old Arnott’s factory precinct. Their house specialty is their basque cheesecake, though on my first visit to La Lune it was some of their other offerings that caught my eye.
The ham and cheese croissant ($7) is a little more than just ham and cheese in a croissant. La Lune Market employs the use of a sticky honey mustard glaze atop the croissant for an extra depth of flavour. While this is an innovative touch, it unfortunately doesn’t distract from the actual croissant and its filling itself, which I found a little lacking. Review of the cross-sectional images will reveal a somewhat denser pastry, with inadequately melted cheese. While I don’t profess myself to be a croissant expert, I do think that it would’ve been a stronger showing with a warmer and meltier slice of cheese inside.
Contrastingly, the house sandwich ($14) may just be one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever eaten. This sandwich’s bulging contents include ripe avocado, tomato, lettuce, chicken in mustard mayonnaise, cabbage, and a slice of cheese. It is in fact so bulging, that wrapping paper is needed to keep it together in one part. The creaminess of the mustard mayonnaise and soft chicken synergised perfectly with the ripe avocado and tomato, while the crisp, fresh lettuce provided the perfect foil for those rich tastes. A sandwich generally has no right to be this good, but to be fair, a sandwich generally has no right to be $14 either. A big recommend if the budget is willing.
The iced matcha latte ($7) was a little sweet but still quite refreshing and nice. It is extremely unfortunate however that they saw fit to load the cup up with such a vast quantity of ice, leaving little room to put the actual drink. Really poor value, in my opinion.
OPINIONS A couple of things rubbed me the wrong way, but one thing that I can’t look past is the sheer quality of their house chicken sandwich. It’s so good, and so wholesome, that I would be happy if there were a shop that sold just that.
Not my dog.
UPDATE, JANUARY 2025.
I had never really planned to return to La Lune despite the excellent chicken house sandwich pictured above, however was drawn back after a string of night shifts by my colleague who sold us on the fact that every fortnight she goes for a run around the bay and then stops by here to have a beef bulgogi wrap.
This is a woman who is a KNOWN foodie, someone who puts actual effort into being an influencer, and as the bulgogi wrap ($16) hadn’t been on the menu the last time I visited, we all agreed to go along. What I found (and she will probably dispute this) was quite disappointing. It was essentially a wrap with some beef bulgogi, a little bit of tomato, garlic sauce, hummus, parsley and cheese. It was not exciting.
The wrap was $16, which is the same price as the house chicken sandwich (only a $2 increase in 3 and a bit years, that’s honestly not that bad), but nowhere near as good or as special. I found it a bit dry, the flavour wasn’t that exciting, and the beef wasn’t the best quality (although to be fair I had actually made myself some shabu-shabu with raw beef, with rare Wagyu beef from 2GR during my night shift – also taking a leaf from the same friend who introduced me to nocturnal microwave cooking for one).
I had half the wrap, but finishing it was just one of those cases where it didn’t feel like it was worth the calories to continue to consuming a thing that wasn’t that enjoyable, so I gave it to one of my hungry juniors who was eyeing it after having demolished his chicken sandwich.
I also had an iced mont blanc ($9), generously donated by friend, colleague and good bloke PMR, which I felt was oddly expensive for something that tastes exactly the same as a cold brew mixed with water from my sodastream and topped with a dessicated slice of orange. I literally made this for myself this morning, and apart from the layer of cream which I didn’t have on hand I don’t think it tasted that different. Anyone with an extra nine dollars should note that the orange slice was bitter and not candied.
This basque mini cheesecake, which may be have been around $16 – I don’t think the price was actually on the menu – was expensive but very delicious, paid for and shared with PMR. The fresh cream and the delightful, and the cake was not too sweet, and just the right balance texturally between airy and dense. I regret not getting a cross-section of this cake, but it is definitely something worth trying, especially if you have a wealthy benefactor shouting.
La Lune Market Shop 1/13 George St, North Strathfield NSW 2137
After a few false starts at the beginning of 2021 I was finally able to visit Soul Mill for breakfast with my colleague JZHW on my last week of work in the Kogarah-Rockdale region.
Soul Mill specialises in oven baked goodies, most of which are cheesy and with a Middle Eastern theme. We enjoyed our Oven Burger ($9), which had a strong pide quality.
Our Oven Wrap ($9) was also very nice. I cannot for the life of me tell you which of the many menu options it was, though cross-sectional analysis reveals some greenery, maybe some chicken. Egg. What I can tell you was that the bread was thin and not overportioned, with a strong emphasis on the fillings. While I can attest that both my colleague JZHW and I enjoyed it, I feel very bad that I’ve left seven months between eating it and reviewing it and I am essentially doing them (and you) a disservice but not being able to describe it well.
Ah yes, some kind of manoosh, possibly the meat, cheese, and sujuk ($8.50). I have warm feelings about this manoosh, and actually do remember the moistness of its toppings and its superior taste. This manoosh stands out for its excellent price-to-quality ratio, and having had a number of manoosh during my days living in Western Sydney I would rate this towards the better end of the scale.
COMMENTS It’s unfair, but what I remember most about Soul Mill was trying to go three times and only succeeding on the third. Each time was within the hours noted on Google, and without any evidence to the contrary through their social media channels. To be fair, it was the start of the year, not too far removed from the holiday season, as well as in the midst of some low grade pandemic-style uncertainty. Regardless, their food is filling and wallet friendly, and worth a visit if cheese and manoosh are your thing.
