Progressive Dinner

Had a 'Progressive Dinner' at PLUS (church uni group0 tonight. Although the food was simple, the concept is interesting. You have entree, main and dessert at 3 different houses. Everyone goes into a car and then we drive to the different houses. Luckily they were all close to church.

Entree: greek salad and lamb skewers (felt like a main)

Main: homemade coated chicken wraps

Dessert: chocolate custardy thing a guy made, which taste like that 'Yogo' yogurt

People are so generous in giving up their time for organising/prep/making the food. Cooking for over 30+ people isn't easy.

Had a 'Games Day' at a friend's house earlier (instead of studying), mainly because she has homemade spring rolls. It's like a 1hr trek down south, but decided to relax since I've been procrastinating, so might as well make it official and play board games and wii. (Obviously I'm still not doing any work right now). Went to Cabra earlier to get a pork roll, but I think they gave me less filling since I looked like a tourist taking photos, and don't look Viet...it was $4.50 and not $3 which I was expecting. It was alright, nothing amazing. This was the one which had many posters of media coming to their shop, so I guess it's more expensive compared to other places...Still need to do a Cabra food run. Not even the middle of the day and Cabra is cray (and t's scary with random people talk to you even though I tried to avoid eye contact..)

Left of Field

I was in the area so decided to try this relatively new brunch place (opened for just over a month I think). The location under some apartments isn't bad with river views, but currently there's a lot of construction so views are a bit limited. Decided to sit inside, and luckily it wasn't stuff or too packed.

love the modern but chic industrial feel

kitchen

easter sweet treats

Botanical cold pressed green juice-$7.50

It is more on the expensive side for the price, but this green juice was delicious. Not too sweet and not too much of that weird vegetable after taste. Super refreshing on a hot day. Regular coffee was $3.80, more than the average $3.50. It was a bit watery and too hot for my liking ):

The most disappointing thing was waiting for the food, 30mins for just 2 dishes, one which is technically premade apart from the egg. Normally I wait for all the food to come before starting on the drinks since it looks better in photos. Waited so long that the coffee art sank and disappeared, and it didn't help that we were in a rush to go other places. The table of 4 next to us sat later than us but got their food around the same time. They only have 2 chefs working, with quite a lot of seats inside and out, so maybe that's why. Service was really friendly, if only the food came quicker.

Hotcakes with caramelised banana, earl grey custard and maple popcorn-$16

so fluffy (but not even)

Anything with tea infused instantly draws my attention. Loved how it was stacked high with fresh fruits scattered. I thought it would be drowning in the custard, but it was only the top layer, and some drizzled towards the edges, but there was definitely not enough custard for all 3 pieces, only the first piece has custard. Literally had to scrape the plate for the other 2 pieces. The earl grey flavour has a super subtle after taste, I was hoping it would be a good hit of tea, after reading other people's reviews. I think my plate had minimal custard since other people's photos on instagram had a generous servings of custard around the whole base of the plate, plus the 2nd and 3rd hotcake also had custard. Other people's photos on Zomato had literally a pool of custard on their plate. Not a good thing serving minimal custard, especially to a person who loves their sweets and desserts.

I really do feel ripped off with less since I came all this way basically to try it. Maybe I came on a bad day..? The hotcakes itself weren't too buttery or dense and super fluffy. The dish was surprisingly not sweet, even with the maple popcorn (I guess there wasn't much maple to begin with). Loved how they used fresh berries, but there were only 3 pieces of banana...The waiter and owner asked if everything was good, which I replied yes, but it's not like I can ask for more custard or return the dish since it's not a fine dining place and they can just add some extra to the pancakes. I hindsight, I should have given my honest opinion at that time, but didn't, so I guess that's where blogging comes in...

Tl;dr-not enough custard and it didn't have much flavour.

Gin & juniper cured ocean trout on grilled rye, poached egg, fennel salad and yuzu foam-$19

The trout was cured beautifully, not too acidic yet still fresh. However, couldn't really taste the gin/juniper flavour, it was just cured like it had been seasoned, but not really salty. Egg was poached nicely, but my egg and hence the dish lacked the height compared to other people's. Also, I had less trout on my plate compared to others. A bit more salad with the creaminess from the fennel would have helped balanced the dish more. Didn't see or taste the yuzu foam, which I was looking forward to. The rye was definitely over toasted, since the edges were black and super hard to cut into. I hate wasting food so will always try my best to eat it. Ended up using my hands, but the thicker ends of the toast was just too hard to chew without fearing that you're teeth would crack. The rye was also super thin, which may have contributed to it being over toasted.

Overall, the waiters were friendly and loved the decor and super spacious inside, but personally I think my dishes lacked inconsistency with other people's especially for the long wait for only 2 dishes ): I guess there's always room for improvement...

Really liked the sermon today. Since there were baptisms, the talk was simple and easy to understand. Sometimes there's just too much too think about lol. Basically it used analogies about insurance replacing whatever is broken like houses/cars, but life insurance can't replace your life, only gives you money. Actually, you don't even receive the money because you're dead, so life insurance doesn't replace your life, but you can receive eternal life by believing in Jesus. Life after death (:

Wolfe & Co

There's not many places up north which have good food and coffee, but so glad I live close to this place. I think Saturdays were made for discovering new places to eat (:

foood

Pineapple Caramel: tropical fruits, house-made coconut yogurt sorbet, granola crumb, lime-$17.50

Initially I wanted the French toast, but it sold out since it was a busy Saturday so I opted for another pretty dish. Loved the yogurt sorbet. It's not as smooth as normal sorbets and a tad bit icy, but definitely worth trying. Wished there was more coconut flavour. The mango/passion foam was also on the sweet side along with the mango puree, but it was still bursting with flavour. The pineapple is hidden at the bottom. After a while the caramel did become too sweet for the granola (and I have a sweet tooth). Luckily the type of mango they used was a fresh, slightly sour mango, and the passionfruit helped cut the sweetness. Couldn't really taste the lime though... Also loved the edible flower on top and the raspberry powder. 

iberico jamon, black truffle, scrambled egg, green shallot, harissa aioli, milk bun-$19

truffle!

There aren't many places they sell stuff with truffle not in winter, but I am drawn to anything with truffle The burger was very fragrant, if only they had even more shaved truffle, but I guess there's a limit without increasing the price...I normally don't like scrambled eggs, but these were fluffy and not too milk. The jamon was well seasoned and sliced thinly. So glad the aoili wasn't too chilli. Milk bun was super soft as well.

Autumn Fig (by Elizabeth Hamilton): local honey, fig puree, praline, vanilla ice cream, milk, fresh fig, praline dust garnish-$7.50

Not a bad price for a shake with figs! Loved how it was served with a fresh fig and paper straw. The shake itself was quite milky, and not as sweet as normal shakes so couldn't really taste the ice cream or honey added in. I think an additional dash of honey would help bring out the fig. The shake also had a bit of texture from the praline and fig seeds/puree. Loved the presentation.

Regular capp-$3.50

Coffee was so good! Perfect drinking temp, coffee not too bitter but still aromatic with well frothed milk. Would come back here just for the coffee.

Sitting outside because inside is more stuffy

open kitchen!

daily bakes

Jeff de Bruges

Yay, another #zomatomeetup, and what better than something sweet to end off a super busy week! I have a sweet tooth, and love to try whatever is new out there. Jeff de Bruges is a French company with many franchises over there. They use Belgium chocolate made in France, and have Italian soft serve ice cream. Chocolates are imported from France. They opened previously in 2009, and now have re-opened in Bondi Junction. Didn't bring my camera, so iPhone pics it is...

Definitely ate one too many chocolates...

one of each please

Easter chocolates so cute!

Bruxelles dark: dark choc ganache

An original and favourite of the French people. The ganache is smooth but not melt in your mouth. Love how it's not grainy with sugar, and I think even people who like milk won't mind this dark choc since it's not too dark.

Feuille milk: smooth hazelnut praline

Milk is sweeter, but not overly sweet (towards the end of the night, all chocolates were sweet, after eating over 10...). Loved the nutty flavour from the praline inside.

Maison de Jeff dark-70%: praline w/ almond pieces, spiced w/ cinnamon and coriander

Love the dark choc in a super cute house shape, would have preferred more cinnamon, but it was an interesting combo with the coriander seeds which weren't too overpowering. One of my favourites

Trefle milk: milk choc ganache w/ early grey tea

Would have liked a stronger hit of earl grey, was more on the subtle side

Bloc Gianduja

Like nutella, but better

Tiramisu: tiramisu gianduja, dark choc coated w/ Amaretti biscuit pieces

Another favourite, bit of coffee and choc with some texture from the soft biscuits.

Snoby'chic Vanilla: duo of praline and white choc cream w/ vanilla and biscuit bits

Loving the vanilla in this super creamy filling. Teeth just sinks right through

Valentines day special-praline hazelnut w/ milk, rose petals and almond syrup

Any chocolate w/ rose petals is good. So fragrant

Biscuitine white: praline w/ gianduja and crispy puffed rice

The white choc wasn't overly sweet, and loved the crunchiness from the puffed rice, another fav

Taste citrons: dark choc ganache w/ lemon and white choc decoration

Was expecting a bigger hit of lemon, but it was still a good end to all the sweet.

Also tried the Orangette, candied orange w/ dark choc 70%. Definitely not sweet, and packed with orange flavour. The Amande dark is an almond loaded with heaps of spices.

Pear jelly-so cute and filled with real pear flavour, but it is sweet with the sugar around it

Juliette: white choc, bits of caramel and cranberries

It's so pretty! Loved the fruits which actually made the white choc/caramel not overly sweet

personalised Easter eggs

soft serve

dark choc and salted caramel

I found Italian soft serve is smooth not icy, but at the same time not as creamy. The cone was more on the soft side, I prefer a crunchy waffle cone. You can also choose toppings, but opted not too since I've already consumer too much sugar. The dark choc was definitely good quality stuff. I would have like more of a hit with the salted caramel, the salt came more as an after taste.

Strawberry and Vanilla

I thought the strawberry was more on the artificial side with overpowered the vanilla. They used madagascan Vanilla which was super yum.

orange blossom marzipan and fruit shaped marzipan

Tried a bit of the orange blossom and it was sweet but hand lovely notes of orange and floral tastes. Other marzipans were so pretty!

take home goodies!

Definitely worth trying if you're in the area. Everything is sold by grams (apart from the stuff in super cute packaging).