Social Brew Cafe

food spread

First brunch since end of May, so 2.5 months no-brunch-in-Sydney streak was broken. Easily the longest I've been without brunch since I started uni (from memory). Recovery  Breakfast after a night out at Eye Ball, so decided to walk here to try out this cafe. Got here around 10am and luckily there weren't too many people since half an hour later there were lines. Sunday mornings in this area is quite cute, especially with everyone walking their dogs around.

Capp-$3.50, Watermelon juice-$8

Coffee was decently priced and had good flavour, but by the time I took photos etc in the super windy winter winds, it was obviously just warm. The watermelon juice was nice and refreshing.

Mushroom and parmesan bruschetta, black truffle oil, soft poached free range eggs and creme fraiche on white sourdough-$20

#yolkporn

I normally don't order bruschetta because it's really just fancy toast, but when the waiter said this was one of their more popular dishes and I also saw truffle oil in the description, I knew I had to get it. It was super fragrant with the truffle oil and parmesan sprinkled on top, although you can't taste much of the truffle oil since it's not proper truffles. There were around 4/5 different types of mushrooms on a nice thick slice of toasted sourdough. Bread probably didn't need to have as much butter since there was heaps of runny yolk to soak up. Creme fraiche added some creaminess to it, but I didn't think it was really needed. I did find a tiny piece of egg shell in my dish, and so did my friend in her deli plate, but it's not fine dining/restaurant, so didn't bother letting them know.

Special of the day: pork belly burger-$20ish?

It did indeed have a super crunchy skin. This serving was pretty generous, but the chips were a miss.

Smoked salmon and avocado with micro mesclun lettuce, buttermilk dressing and avatar on grilled flat bread-$16

Finally a place generous with smoked salmon.

Wood smoked salmon Benedict, sautéed kale and wasabi hollandaise served on a brioche bun-$18.50

This reminded me exactly of a dish at The Grounds, with salmon and avo + egg served on a thick piece of brioche. 

The Brew Deli Plate: buffalo mozzarella, smooth avocado, roma tomatoes, prosciutto, mushrooms a la Greue and soft boiled egg served with olive and rosemary sourdough-$20

First time going on a bus and a car hits it. You could hear the inaudible groan of everyone on the bus, cause it was almost at the end of the route, so everyone was almost home. I was about 7mins away from my stop. Luckily no one was hurt and the car sort of nudged the bus (couldn't see any massive dents on the bus) but it still sounded quite loud. Normally we would have had to get off the bus and wait for the bus after which was 10ish mins later (according to the lawyer who I recognised as a cx from work lol). I think the bus driver just got the guys details and saw the bus was in drivable condition so just kept going. That's why I try to avoid travelling in peak hours, since everyone is in a rush to work or home. The guy must have been pretty blind though, cause there was no way the car would've easily made it past the bus which was already stopped on the side and the pedestrian island in the middle of the road. Probs on his phone or something...

soz for snapchat cam

Can't believe they already released the 2018 diaries. Normally they release it in Oct/Nov. Decided to use my Kikki K bday voucher, although I'm not a massive fan of the colours this year. Diary this year was black to 'symbolise' my bleak year ahead, so wasn't going to go black again for next year (why do they repeat the black?) The colours are too bright for next year, but decided to go for the aqua, i.e. Tiffany Blue copy. I like the past ones I've had which are a pastel purple and pastel/soft blue...Maybe this will 'symbolise' a brighter year next year?

Some people are just genuinely so nice. Like one of our participants, almost every visit, buys us a hot choc to get us going for the morning. Last week she bought us these Portuguese tarts, like I don't even know you could buy them at uni, and don't even remember when was the last time I had one. Like she already volunteers her time for us, and just goes the extra effort to make our day. Need more nice and thoughtful people in the world.

My uncle and his friend flew then drove around in the US the solar eclipse. It's these life experiences I would love to have one day... Why are almost all eclipses in the US? Then there's my cousin who got her her husband to take care of her baby so she can do a mini Europe trip. Pls stop spamming with photos, doesn't help me with starting my assignments.

I don't know why but my phone has recently not been connecting to free wifi. Not sure if it's because I cleared a lot of my wifi keychain things from my computer and somehow linked to my phone...It's not fun trying make my remaining 200mb last for 10 days.

Can't believe it's the season finale for GoT already next week. Monday nights are going to be so boring, which means I should actually start studying...

Nts: never lying face first on my yoga mat ever again.

LuMi Bar and Dining

Birthdays are really just an excuse to go out and eat. Every year I treat myself to some fine dining, because what is life if you don't enjoy the finer things in life? (Well every year I've worked...) Literally all my savings go into food. This year decided to go somewhere 'cheaper' (*cough under $200pp) since I've already gone around the world in both Europe and Asia, and have long well reached my food quota for the year. Decided to come here since the chef was on MasterChef as a celebrity chef (who lost but that doesn't really affect the quality of the restaurant since when was reality tv all that real...). This place is a fusion between Italian and Japanese (so many post-Jap feels...). Be prepared for a photo spam.

Different side of Sydney

The restaurant is actually quite quiet around this area, so it's nice to come this side of Sydney.

Cute tea set

menu

Went for the 8 course degustation for lunch $115pp. Normally they have the 5 course menu for lunch, so you have to call them up if you want the 8 course for lunch. I think price wise it's decent since you get a few snacks, and a petit four to finish. Even though the blinds were drawn it was still quite sunny.  The main problem was dealing with moving shadows when taking photos...

bar

Snack: snapper jelly with fish mousse and Neptune seaweed

inside

The flavours of this jelly reminded me of miso soup rather than a fishy taste. It was really flavourful and you have the slight creaminess from the fish mousse inside.

tapioca with seaweed

So crispy and love the way they used seaweed as a seasoning. Interesting how they placed it on top of the the raw veggies.

soft cheese- not too cheesy, and yes it was soft. 

Jap steamed egg custard with shell fish oil and caviar

Loved the presentation of this in a scallop shell on top of the sea shells. The flavours were quite interesting and not too salty. I do prefer the crab steamed egg custard I had in Tokyo since it was more eggy/flavourful.

Brioche bread + breadsticks 

This is probably one of the best brioche breads I've ever had, probably even better than some French bakeries. From far away they looked like muffins. It was still nice and warm when it came on the table and super easy to pull apart. Super soft and flavourful, didn't even nee the extra butter on the side. Since it's not your normal complimentary sourdough, they do charge $4 for each additional bread, which is pretty cheap if you compare it to Asian bakeries where it's just all air inside. If only I could take one of these brioches home...Breadsticks were average, but I did notice you only get them if you have the 8 course tasting menu.

Veal, yoghurt, jerusalem artichoke

First time having raw red meat. I was too scared to have steak tartare in France just in case I got sick. I do love my steak pink inside, but having it completely raw is a new experience. It was surprisingly nice, and the flavour of it reminded me of a cross between salmon/tuna, texture wise sort of was similar to sashimi. The yoghurt added a lovely creaminess to it whilst still being light. Loved the crunch of the jerusalem artichoke, if only they were readily available in packets to buy off the shelf...

Miso-stone

A spin on the classic minostrone soup. The scoop mini balls from different veggies and other ingredients such as cucumbers, radish, pickled radish, potatoes, carrot, pumpkins, potato, macadamia nuts, and poured in a tomato soup, but unlike the normal red tomatoes in the original dish, this one had a clear green tomato soup base. Really an interesting concept. I saw that they do chop up the core of the veggies, for example, the cucumbers have the skin on, so I guess they use the middle for other stuff.

Agnolotti, parsnip, truffle (added more truffles-$15)

without truffles 

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It's almost the end of winter and I missed the beginning of my favourite season since I was overseas, which also means that the truffle season is almost over. I am a massive truffle fan, and if I could have truffle everyday, I would. So it made sense to pay the extra $15 for some shaved pieces of truffle. If you had the 5 course lunch, you could opt to add truffle in the pappardelle (below), but it was in fine strands, rather than seeing the fine grains of the truffle. I found the truffle they used here smelt good but it didn't taste as strong compared to other truffles I've had. The pasta itself had a parsnip sort of liquid cream inside which bursted with flavour. The sauce was supposed to have some truffle flavour already, but couldn't really taste that much.

Pappardelle, duck, hazelnut

I love when I see duck on the menu since it's my favourite protein. Although it is more in a ragu form, it really complemented the flavours of the pasta. It was super flavourful, probably because it was cooked in individual saucepans with a large slab of butter. The pasta was super silky and cooked al dente. Loved the crunch from the hazelnuts as well.

Lamb, celeriac, chilli kosho, carrot puree

Lamb was super soft and melt in your mouth. There was quite a bit of fat though since they used the shoulder. Loved the plating of the sheet of celeriac. The chilli kosho wasn't actually that chilli, and helped complement the spices in the lamb (slowly building my chilli tolerance). The puree was super sweet and tasted like pumpkin more than carrot, pretty sure they said it was a carrot puree. There was a rosemary (?) powder sprinkled on top as well.

Granny Smith Apple: green apple sorbet, liquorice mousse, finger lime

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My favourite dish was this apple, it's unlike anything I've seen or tasted before! It's a real apple with the top cut and stalk still intact, then they core it and hollow out the apple, before putting in a mousse, sponge and green apple sorbet on top. How do they manage to make the apple hollow inside whilst keeping the skin intact? I loved how it was presented on gum leaves, and they sprayed a food scent on it, so it smelt even more like a super fresh and sweet granny smith. I love a bit of theatre in food and it delivered. The sorbet was on of the bests ones I've had and really kept true to the flavour of the granny smith without being too acidic. Couldn't really taste the liquorice mousse, but loved the burst of the sour finger lime, making this dessert really refreshing and not sweet.

cute candle (which I slightly burnt my finger and left wax all over the table for them to figure out how to clean once it dried....)

Douglas Fir ice cream, rhubarb, extra virgin olive oil

Another refreshing and light dessert to finish. This is not your normal ice cream, since it was super light and texture reminded me of foam from a foam gun. It tasted sort of like pine, well the scent of the fresh Christmas trees. The olive oil helped to cut back the sweetness of the rhubarb, which I did find was just a tad bit too sweet.

Petit four: pear and rosemary friand

For once, the petit four wasn't chocolate. Although it does seem a bit stingy giving one petit four, for the price you pay it's ok. The friend was quite buttery inside with a crisp edge. It did have pieces of pear and rosemary sprinkled on top. Again, needed to go with 8 courses to have the petit fours.

open kitchen!

the chef!

If you're after something a bit different and not too pricey, I think LuMi does a pretty good job. I would even come back here just to have the apple and brioche bread again. Too bad there's no a la carte here...

Shout out to the Optom Soc this year for breaking the hoodie trend and making wind breaker jackets. Could actually test to see how wind proof it was today with the super crazy winds. They even blocked off trees at uni and sent an email telling people to avoid trees...I think the jacket did work.

So another ep of GoT was leaking on Wed (5 days earlier). You would think after the leak of ep 4 that they would tighten their security or what not. Still had to watch it to avoid spoilers, but now that means have to wait over a week for the season finale.

It's been a good week catching up with friends, and G8s for the hilarious chats/advice haha. Although I do need to start my assignments/start studying. Not studying for a period of time then knowing you need to study but lacking motivation ain't easy. So much for having extra time to restudy previous years things...

How has 4 weeks of uni already gone past? I feel like Nov will just roll by, and it'll be exam time.

Yellow Stage

Shoutout to Shirley for these cakes! Thankful for thoughtful friends who know you love cake and haven't been able to make it to this new cake shop in Eastwood 💜 (I have no idea why there's no pink/red emoji in blogger keyboard thing). Surprised these cakes made it to uni and back in one piece, yay for winter so things don't melt as fast.

Ciel: white chocolate mousse cake filled with pistachio praline for texture and raspberry paste

The cake was quite light and not too sweet. Would've liked more pistachio and raspberry flavour since the white choc overpowered the other flavours a bit. Have to give credit to this cute looking cloud shaped cake.

Yellow stage: mousse cake filled with pineapple and yuzu

I think it was also another white choc mousse cake. Loved the acidity from the pineapple and yuzu, but the yuzu flavour could have been a bit stronger. Also, who doesn't love an edible flower on top?

inside

If I'm ever in the area, I wouldn't mind going to the dessert bar and try out their other cakes.