Henry Lee's

I wanted to try out this cafe mainly for the drinks, since they looked and sounded good on paper. Weather was perfect for trying out this courtyard style cafe, loved the vibes here. It wasn't really busy on a Thursday morning.

food spread

   

courtyard

Pleasantly surprised when I walked into this cafe, and to be honest, wasn't expecting it from a cafe in Redfern. It's set in a courtyard which has some covering so even when it rains, most tables won't get wet, but also has natural lighting which comes through. Although if you do sit on a table in the sun, those dots on the ceiling are going to cast heaps of 'dot' shadows over your table...

cute menu

Apparently they don't really have a popular dish since everything is popular. A lot of the dishes though are sourdough topped with something, or have similar ingredients but in a salad form/different presentation. I guess it really depends on what you feel like on the day.

White Lavender Hot Chocolate: white Belgium chocolate infused w/ lavender & served w/ your choice of milk-$6

I just decided to go with normal milk, since I wanted to try the 'og' version, well more like try the actual hot choc without the milk flavour altering the taste. Really loved this drink since you can taste the lavender without it being too overpowering. I love floral flavours in drinks. I'm not a big fan of white choc, but luckily it wasn't too sweet here. 

Aztec Chili Iced Chocolate: Dark Belgium chocolate infused w/ cayenne pepper & served w/ vanilla bean ice cream & your choice of milk-$7

Went with coconut milk in this one (50c extra). I don't think I could really taste the coconut in it, but I could actually appreciate the chilli in this drink which gave it a nice kick, then balanced but the smoothness of the dark choc. Again, this drink isn't on the sweet side either cause of the chilli. 

super big wooden square board

Tangier: Tagine baked soft eggs in mild spicy rancheros sauce w/ pumpkin topped w/ crispy kale, Mexican guacamole, Persian feta & served w/ crispy tortillas-$21

I actually didn't have any baked eggs during winter, which is normally one of my fav go to brunch winter dishes. Then again, I wasn't here much this winter, and when I was here it wasn't even that cold...The main difference in this one is that the yolk was still quite runny compared to others which are generally cooked through. They also added bits of pumpkin which helped reduce the amount of sauce in the dish, so it wasn't too salty or spicy. I could actually tolerate the spice, so pretty much wasn't spicy at all. Wished there was more tortilla to mop up the sauce, since they only gave one pieces (and on the menu it's plural lol).

Henry’s Dream: Sourdough topped w/ nasturtium & pine nut pesto, avocado, heirloom tomatoes, radish, lemon zest & whipped ricotta then sprinkled w/ za’atar w/ poached egg-$21

#yolkporn

I actually try to avoid having avocado toast at cafes (because I'm trying to save for a house deposit-jks). It's cause I can make avo toast at home, but just nowhere as pretty. I did cut into an unripe avo since I had a sudden avo craving the day before, so thank goodness for ripe avo on this toast. Loved how they added edible flowers to the dish. Wished there was more pesto in it, since I couldn't really taste it. Same with the za'atar since I found the herb/spice was quite subtle even though you could see it. I couldn't figure out what the black smear/sauce is...some slightly acidic/tangy sort of sauce..? The sourdough crust was quite hard to cut into even with a sharp knife. Yay for a nice runny yolk to soak up with the toast.

I also liked how they have bigger tables as well, I guess cause their actual plates are quite big. Would recommend to come here even just for the drinks.

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.

    

French earl grey hot choc-$4.50

The other day I had this hot choc, which obviously didn't looks as fancy as the ones they show online because they only put a tiny bit of fairy floss on it. The petals did make the drink smell more fragrant, but this is probably one of the most disappointing drinks I've ever had. It just tasted like hot milk. It wasn't even frothed that well or like a silky/smooth milk. Couldn't taste the tea flavour or the usual sweetness from a hot choc. I much prefer T2's french earl grey tea, which I can probably make a better version of it at home with my cheap milk frother but better quality milk. I initially wanted the truffle hot choc ($9) but probs won't get it since their hot choc was just hot milk. Price wise for a hot choc in the city is ok, just an extra $4.50 for like a slice of truffle is a bit more like do I really need this?

Some people question what I do with my time. Well for one thing, stuck calling Apple Support and ultimately they're just like reinstall OS X. It's been a year, but I can never connect to my home wifi without putting the password in...it connects automatically to other networks.... Before I went overseas, also spent a good 4 hours calling Telstra....