Food story: Circa

As I was in Sydney over the weekend for a concert , I decided to go check out Circa cafe, a joint that is topping the cafe rankings on Urbanspoon for Parramatta. It was such a lovely place, with nice waiting staff and the best French toast I've had so far in my life. Pictures and Full review down below...

Circa

The cafe was set in a tiny little garage

The grand entrance :D

From where I sat

A cool teapot of Chai

The BEST french toast I've ever had

And another one before I ate it.

This is what I saw from my table while I ate :)

The table next to me

An awesome interior!

Mirror menu...

And cow print couch, yeah!

Graffiti walls

I really liked these hats...

But these coolest things were definitely this comic wall

And this window and sky corner! :)

Cafe: When I think Sydney, I usually think big cafes (and usually spaces that lack the personality that Melbourne cafes do...Can you tell that I'm a Melbourne snob? :P) But I was pleasantly surprised when I found Circa, a tiny little cafe converted from the garage of an old building, off a hidden street in Parramatta. Circa was lovely and reminded me of all the places we have at home. It was a very little, narrow space, but had exhibited wonderful personality from the graffiti walls and roller-doors to the actual people working inside (Or outside. You could sit on mismatching little chairs outside if you wanted more space). The place was super cool with lots of quirky and whimsical bits and pieces. My favourite things were: The mirror menu, the fake deer's head, the penny-farthing bicycles mounted on the walls, the Elvis Presley street sign and comic wall at the back and finally, the 'sky' corner - with faux windows and walls painted like the sky and whimsical flying toys and mobiles hanging from the ceiling. All very cool.


Customer Service: Was really good, actually! The guy who came out to greet me was very helpful with introducing the menu and was pretty attentive to orders and questions. And he was friendly,  conversational and super nice about my tourist habit of taking photos of every little corner of the cafe. The food came out quite quickly with no problems at all. All the other waiters/ chefs/staff I encountered were also very polite.


Food: I had a Chai tea and a French toast with labne (yoghurt), rhubarb and pistachios....and I wanted to eat more because everything I got was so delicious and everything I didn't get looked just as good, but I was so full that it just wasn't possible! The Chai tea was perfect, not too bitter or spicy and not too sweet. And it was served in a lovely Asian teapot. The French toast with labne, rhubarb and pistachios was the BEST French toast I have ever had, hands down. The bread was thick and soft, with a slightly crunchier surface. It was coated with the right amount of egg mixture, so it wasn't soggy or overly battered. It was sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, which gave it that lovely, sweet taste and scent. The labne, a creamy, thick yoghurt and rhubarb, a very sweet, tangy and pulpy sauce gave the dish wonderful contrasting flavours and textures. The pistachios gave the toast crunch. I really enjoyed this brunch, especially after a 10 hour bus trip. As I said before, if I could, I would have eaten more. I'm hoping I'll get the chance to try the Portobello mushroom on toast next time. And I'd recommend anything from here, not just for the wonderful taste of the food, but because everything, from memory, was only around the $7 mark!!! Which is super cheap compared to the brunch stuff we have at a lot of cafes in Melbourne! I'm definitely coming back, for sure.


Anyway, information if you make the trip...


Price: $5-$15 (I think there were some pricier lunch stuff, but most of the food only costs as much as the drinks!)


Address: 21 Wentworth Street, Parramatta, Sydney


Website: No actual site, but check out its Urbanspoon page:
http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/70/1581529/restaurant/Sydney/Circa-Parramatta