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

Food story: L'atelier de Monsieur Truffe

L'atelier de Monsieur Truffe

Hot chocolates and Coffees :)

Delicious dark chocolate on toast: Tartine au chocolate!

With salt...so goood...

Hot cakes

Pan fried carrot cake with carrot gel and dust, carrots and ...cheese

I was intrigued with the carrot dust and carrot gel

Pretty chocolate related stuff 

A few chocolate posters

Chocolate postcards and such!

At the counter :)

The space

Where the masses eat

lovely plants :)

lovely pastries

lovely chocolate rooster!

The greenery on our table

The little red door

Cafe: What a nice cafe/shop! I'm pretty sure I once heard that L'atelier had taken over an old warehouse space (that probably explains the suburb we were in - it looked like a place for warehouses and clearance departments!) It was relatively easy to find - no sign, but the red door was a good giveaway. The cafe had plenty of open space and good natural lighting from having a clear ceiling. There were minimal decorations, so it had a nice natural feel to it - but what it did have was lots of plants and chocolate, both of which I liked. Look out for the giant chocolate rooster! :D

Customer service: We had a nice waitress. She was attentive enough to come back and take our orders without our flagging her down after we sent her away because we were having trouble deciding. The only odd thing was that they didn't have enough menus. It was a busy day for brunch (Sunday morning when I went with my friends) so I guess that makes sense, but I've always gotten a menu for brunch, no matter how busy the place...

Food: My favourite brunch pick was definately the Tartine au chocolate! We'd all decided our own dishes, but we were tempted to try the chocolate stuff as L'atelier is well known for its chocolate (...it's brother store being the famous collingwood chocolate place, Monsieur Truffe!) We had our Tartine with dark chocolate, which was delicious (It was probably a good choice too, given how much chocolate was on the toast. You wouldn't want to OD on that stuff :D) The toast was hot and crunchy, the chocolate creamy and soft and the salt brought out the sweetness in our little treat. My friends picked nice dishes - the Croque-monsieur (no pictures, sorry) was nice and crunchy, with lots of cheese, ham and served with salad - it was also massive! The hot cakes also looked awesome with fruit (but they forgot the lemon sauce? :S) And me? I picked the strangest dish on the menu. Pan fried carrot cake with carrot dust, carrot gel, dutch carrots and some sort of cheese...I enjoy trying new things and I get tempted when I see weird combinations? The carrot cake was really good. The carrot gel was tangy and sweet :) But the dutch carrots, although honey-gazed, and the savory cheese just felt weird with the cake...like it should have been a separate dish. I think if they wanted to make it work better, the carrots should have been sweeter (more honey) and the cheese should have been Mascarpone cheese rather than what I had (sorry, the name has slipped me at the moment, will update if I remember!) Nonetheless, it plated up well. All in all, lovely place - You must try their chocolate dishes!


Price range: $6-$20


With thanks to: My brunching buddies Harini and Kate for a nice morning out!


Address: 351 Lygon Street, Brunswick East


Website: http://monsieurtruffe.wordpress.com/

Food story: Provence Artisan Bakers

Not so long ago, I met up with my China crew for another one of our famous food adventure. (As you can tell, we all love good food, cool little brunch spots and photo-taking :D). We were going to go check out Madame Mango, but that turned out to be closed, so we ended up at this little Parisian joint.

Provence Artisan Bakers

Nice looking bread loafs and cakes

From where I sat

Mediterranean eggs with bread and herb mayonnaise 

A closer look :D

Veggie breakfast!

Mushrooms :)

Drooling at breads once again :D

Plants and coffee

Lights that remind me of lamp posts

Just another Parisian cafe

Pretty droopy pot plant!

Such nice decorations everywhere!

From the front

Cafe: This is one of those blink-and-you'll-miss-it cafes on Burke St in Camberwell. From the outside, it looks like an ordinary little coffee shop...but when you walk it, it becomes a quaint little French-inspired bakery, complete with Parisian styled decor and rows of pastries, breads, muffins and vanilla slice :D There are lots of little pot plants, lovely framed pictures and fancy little bits and pieces to look at. The cafe is small and doesn't seat many, but you're welcome to sit outside or by the window, where its easier to join a couple of tables.

Customer Service: The cafe was rather busy when we were in, so the waitresses were busy with their jobs and our breakfast orders were late. But as it was really busy and there were several of us (some who had missed their alarms and were on their way :P), we didn't really mind. The service was pretty ok.

Food: All the pasteries and bread looked sooo good! I'm sad to say that I didn't get to try any on the day I was there, but I'll update you if I ever get my hands on that vanilla slice. For brunch, I had the Mediterranean breakfast, which was Provence Artisan Bakers' specialty dish. This was pretty much eggs scrambled in a tomato sauce with feta cheese sprinkled on the top and a serving of rye bread and herbed mayo on the side. The dish was nice - cooked well and presented well - but not the best brunch dish I've picked. It was a matter of personal taste- I think I'm just not much of a tomato paste person. But it did add a nice, sweet tomato flavour to the eggs and I really liked the way they were served in a cute little red pan. The bread and herb mayo were delicious too. Personally, I really liked the look of the Vegetarian big breakfast and the mushroom and avocado on toast. Those looked tasty. All in all, try the breads and pastries...and try the breakfasts - they're all very good vegetarian/ healthy options!

Price range: $12-$20

With thanks to: My China crew :)

Address: 919 Burke Rd, Melbourne, Vic , 3123

Website: None of its own, but check out its urbanspoon rating! http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/71/1510641/restaurant/Camberwell/Provence-Artisan-Bakers-Melbourne

Food story: Coin Laundry

I finally got around to Coin Laundry the other day, which is one of the more famous brunch spots on the South-East side of the outer city areas in Melbourne. I'd been hearing awesome stories about the concept of the space and about the actual food (Banana bread :D) So I was pretty ecstatic when my old roommate suggested we have our catch up session there. Here's what I thought about the place: 

Coin Laundry

Such a cool building - it use to be a real coin laundry!

They never took down the sign, so it became the cafe name :D

The communal table :)

The Coin Laundry breakfast

What's on the plate?

My friend had corn and cheese fritters

Banana bread with Expresso butter

Just couldn't get enough of this one :D

Pictures of cool people doing the laundry? :D

The space

Front of the cafe + counter :)

Cupcakes and pasteries!

I liked the random pot plants on the windowsill

Looking at the front :D

Cool wall

The Tea towel ceiling!

Cafe: Of all the cafes I've been to so far, Coin Laundry has had the smartest approach to their space. The cafe gets its name from the sign hanging just outside its building, which was left there during the building's transformation from a laundromat to a cafe. This has been a wonderful selling point for this place, a 'cool' factor, which is often brought up when people talk about Coin Laundry. In regards to the actual space, the cafe is bright and airy, with lively ambiance. It's not an incredibly big space, but there are enough tables inside and out for a big brunch gathering (There's also a communal table right in the middle). They've decorated the place in a lovely way, with its laundromat history used as a theme. Look out for the tea towel ceiling and interesting prints of people doing their laundry :) And don't forget to take a peek at the counter as you pay - there's heaps of pastries and cupcakes that you might want to try before you go.

Customer service: The staff were attentive and focused and everything came out right and on time. I guess if you're looking for super-friendliness, most of the guys there were a little vacant in that department. But I did encounter a waitress who was very friendly on one of my visits, and while I don't expect everyone to be like that, it did add a little bit to my experience :)

Food: I had the Coin Laundry breakfast, which was very filling, but not particularly unique for a big breakfast. The beetroot relish was different, but I quickly discovered that it wasn't really my thing. The eggs were a bit too sour for my liking (probably vinegar), but I did enjoy the lemony-avocado that was on my plate. My friend tried something interesting: Corn and cheese fritters. Her plate looked lovely. The taste verdict? She thought they might have overdone it a little on the acidity. But I actually liked her corn fritters quite a bit. They were thick little patties full of corn and cheese :) But I wasn't so sure of the food here until I tried the Banana bread with Espresso butter. It is THE BEST dish at Coin Laundry for me. I think it was more like Banana cake, but it came out nice and warm and smelling of Banana. It was also very soft and there weren't too many walnuts to destroy that texture. And the generous serving of Espresso butter was very creamy, melted very nicely and gave it a wonderful coffee scent. So overall food verdict: I'd probably go back for more Banana bread and maybe fruit toast, but not for the Coin laundry breakfast. I'd probably recommend one of the more exotic dishes too (like corn fritters) because there's quite a few on the menu :)

Price range: $6-$20

With thanks to: My awesome roomie, Lisa

Address: 61 Armadale St, Armadale 3143

Website: Nil, but check out its urbanspoon page here:

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/71/1547260/restaurant/Victoria/Coin-Laundry-Cafe-Armadale