West Juliett, Marrickville

I fell in love with this place today! Hidden in a suburban area of Marrickville lies my new favourite cafe, jam-packed with endless parking spaces and away from the bustling of the town centre.

There’s also ALL DAY BREAKFAST folks!!

Poached eggs, avo, feta, parsley, cress, lemon & dukkah on toast $14.9
(Extra chorizo $3.9)
Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺

Excuse the side of chorizo… I thought my dish would taste too leafy if you know what I mean! Hahaha the combination of these ingredients were so delicious with the ooze of the yolk (porn) and the crunch of the sourdough toast. The cress and parsley, which looked unappealing in previous photos from research, tasted absolutely fantastic with the light drizzle of olive oil, infusion of lemon zest and crumpled feta. Although the dish was slightly salty from the feta, I couldn’t resist sprinkling some complimentary himalayan pink salt on the poached eggs! Why haven’t I discovered dukkah earlier?

Breakfast plate, poached egg, avo, leg ham, tomato, tomato, provolone, toast $14.9
(Replaced leg ham with crispy bacon)

The Hardware Société, Melbourne

Let’s just say I created quite the tantrum, somehow convincing my friends to visit Hardware 1-2 hours before our flight home. The long lines, taxi cab rides and constant hassling? No regrets.

I’ve heard the queues can get quite lengthy but we tried our luck at 11am on a monday mornin’ and godsend, the wait lasted no longer than 8 minutes. Lunch times are probably flocking with hungry office workers and students. To my delight, the poster in the window stated that they now had all-day breakfast since the 21/7/2013! When does that ever happen in a renowned Sydney cafe?

Baked eggs w chorizo sausage, piquillo pimientos sauce, crunch almonds, queso de cabra goats milk cheese $16
Rating: ☻☻☻☻☻

I felt like the flavours and the ingredients used were admirably complex to an extent as opposed to the usual baked eggs I’ve eaten (ingredients carelessly chucked into a pan), and most probably ignited my love for chorizo in baked eggs. It cooked nicely through in the pot progressively and the warmth went down well with my glass of freshly squeezed juice. Fried eggs w Jamon, manchego cheese and paprika oil $17
Rating: ☻☻☻☺☺

Why I keep coming back to Parra: Circa Espresso

My first visit was back in July and I’ve been back twice ever since. I rarely return to cafe’s but Circa’s gotta chokehold on me! Probably because it is anywhere but Surry… har har. You can find free (3 hours) parking a short walking distance away from Westfield’s.

In the BG: Avocado, Green pea mash with a hint of chilli on sourdough toast served with a lemon wedge (discontinued) &
Baked Eggs w/ Sujuk, Danish Feta, tomato and a hint of chilli served with toast $17
Cappucino with extra shot
Rating: ☻☻☻☻☻

The classic. Everybody has to try it. Admittedly, this was one of the first baked eggs I’ve ever tried. And an unforgettable one for that matter– not that it was spectacular or that it contained secret ingredients but because it was minimalistic. Like, food minimalism (does that exist?). So simple, yet so tasty. I wish I had received more rocket leaves though, the feta was a tad overwhelming with it’s tanginess! Nonetheless, a perfect light breakfast dish.

Not much to express about smashed avocado on sourdough bread but it was simply delicious spooning some avo for my baked eggs…

Ottoman Eggs – poached free range eggs w crumbed eggplant, garlic labne,
burnt chilli and sage served w seeded sourdough baguette $16
Rating: ☻☻☻☻☻

Comfort food! Hits the spot. The components of this dish worked really well together; the oozing egg yolk combined with the garlic labne instantly formed a perfect splendid condiment for the bread to be mopped clean. The roasted chilli sage is anything unlike I’ve had before, it added that extra crunch to the mushiness of the crumbed eggplant with a mere hint of spice.

Black Star Pastry, Newtown

You can’t refuse the Strawberry Watermelon and Rose cream cake… even if it costs $7.50 for a small piece. It is definitely worth the 45 minute commute from my hometown.

The tiny innards of the cafe? bakery? holds a barista with shelves encasing with delectable pastries and sweets. I hear the lamb shank pie and the lamb shake pie & beer brisket pie are quite the popular studs as well – but nonetheless, the Strawberry watermelon cake steals the show!

It’s a funny story actually, I brought some cake home for my mum to try and she was very critical of the cake haha (we own an Asian bakery). Her view of the cake was that there was hardly any cake but an abundance of cream and fruit, she was also surprised by the (edible) rose petals. There’s probably only one layer of actual ‘softness’ that deems it as a cake. Who knew dried rose petals tasted so good?

The cake is super light to eat, it isn’t heavy on the sweetness but the fact that it is predominantly rose cream and fruit probably holds the reason why. If you’re not a cake lover, this cake will prove you wrong.

I also loved the Salted caramel panna cotta. Awesome combination! Gold leaf accent on top ;)

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Where?
Black Star Pastry
277 Australia St Newtown
(02) 9557 8656
Opens seven days 7am-5pm