Cowbell 808, Surry Hills

I got to hang with some of my oldest and closest pals yesterday, and we found the perfect lunching spot at Cowbell 808, a cafe located on Bourke Street in Surry Hills. And when I say "perfect lunching spot", I mean that it was perfect in every sense of the word. Not only was the food and service excellent, the table we chose was situated right next to a ginormous open window, and we were caressed by gentle gusts of cool air the whole time we were there. I don't think you can appreciate how welcome a phenomenon that is unless you've experienced summer (or the lead-up to it) in Sydney. 

Despite the warm weather, I ordered a long black. Having just spent the past few weeks subsisting on watery instant coffee, this freshly made long black sent my brain's pleasure centre into overdrive. I enjoyed the full-bodied smokiness of the black coffee with a few more sips before I asked for a small glass of milk to add to my beverage. 

The window we were seated next too. Natural air-conditioning.

For lunch, I ordered the roasted beetroot salad with orange cous cous and mint. Whoever plated the dish did a totally awesome job. It came out on a wooden board, looking like an artwork and oh-so-fresh. The cous cous was generously drizzled with olive oil and was still warm, which went nicely with the cool, sweet beetroot and mandarin slices. 

 

Roasted beetroot salad with orange cous cous and mint ($10). Pretty as a picture!

My friend L. went straight for the Cowbell 808 burger, which came with a side of onion rings. L. was totally awed by the size and height of the burger, and we spent some time debating the best way to eat it (she eventually settled on using a knife and fork, the dainty creature she is). The patty looked so juicy, and when she cut into it, we saw that it was nicely pink (my favourite way to eat meat!) I tried some of the patty and it was very tender, though perhaps slightly under-seasoned. I didn't try the onion rings, but L. seemed to like it very much.

Cowbell 808 burger, with fried onion rings ($18)

My other friend H. chose the poached chicken sambo. A 'sambo', H. explained upon our quizzical looks, is simply the Aussie slang for 'sandwich'. L., who has always lacked the propensity to let things go (I love you dear, but you know it's true), asked why you would replace a two-syllable word with a two-syllable slang. Just...eat your burger, L. ;P

Poached chicken sambo (didn't note down the price)

H.'s sambo came piled high with alfalfa sprouts and chicken pieces mixed with mayonnaise. H. said she liked it a lot.

 

We enjoyed our meals at a leisurely pace, then spent some time chatting about nothing in particular, and admiring the deco. I thought the basketball hoop in the middle of the room was very cool, and H. wanted to shoot some goals with our used napkins (I talked her out of it). 

Graffiti!

I can see Cowbell becoming 'our special place'; somewhere to return to again and again for the ever-changing specials, the calming atmosphere, and the attentive and welcoming staff. 

Cowbell 808

616 Bourke Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010

(02) 9698 5044

Fro-yo @ Noggi, Strathfield

The weather's been so hot for the past couple of days. Perfect for frozen yoghurt!

Strathfield seems to have become a magnet for fro-yo businesses lately. Moochi opened up sometime late last year, and recently Noggi has popped up only a few doors around the corner. I have been to both, and each has their respective merits. In my opinion, Noggi has the upper hand atmosphere-wise, and I got more of a youthful vibe from its staff and decor :D

I like in particular how everything is green and fresh-looking. The menu is placed next to a panel explaining how to assemble your own, customised fro-yo dessert.

In addition to four kinds of frozen yoghurt (original, wildberry, green tea, and biscotti) with various toppings, Noggi offers waffles served with fro-yo, smoothies, and the usual selection of espresso beverages. The fro-yo comes in various sizes, ranging from a cone (which doesn't come with toppings) to the crazy 1300g serving known as a "groupi". With the exception of the cone, all sizes come with 3 free toppings (ETA: A friend brought it to my attention that the 3 toppings are actually not free; you can either buy the fro-yo without toppings, or get it with all 3 toppings for a higher price. Thanks, S.!). The sign on the bottom right hand corner says, "Come in your high school uniform & get your toppings for free!"Is this referring to the 4th topping? I can't believe I'm even contemplating suffering the humiliation of bumping into someone I know while donning my old high school gear.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you will direct your gaze to the larger measuring cup in the picture above. That is what the 1300g "groupi" comes in. On a second visit, I saw one being prepared. I hope whoever had ordered it was planning on sharing, because that was one giant-ass bucket of fro-yo. There were three different flavours of fro-yo in the single cup, so I guess they'll let you combine flavours. I stuck with the regular size on my first visit, and chose green tea as the base. The toppings? Fresh blueberries, mochi, and Oreos.

I went with a few other fro-yo aficionados on the second trip there, and we got two regular cups. One was biscotti fro-yo with mochi, Oreo and Cocopops:

The second cup held the original flavoured froyo, with gummi bears, mochi, and fresh watermelon pieces:

Next time, I shall try the wildberry fro-yo, and report my findings! :D

Noggi

2/2 Albert Road, Strathfield, 2135.

Website: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Noggi-Strathfield/252426288138707

So, recently...(the Reader's Digest version)

Salutations! As much as I would love to sit down and type out a long and detailed recount of all my fabulous eats over the past few weeks, I still have two huge exams to get through before the holidays. Despite being basically house-bound in the weeks leading up to my first exam, I did manage to squeeze in some nice yummies. I find eating to be quite a good coping mechanism (not to mention procrastination device xD). It's like: oh, stuff it all, who cares about [insert complex scientific concept], I'm gonna get me a big ol' slice of CHOCOLATE MUDCAKE.

Chocolate mudcake from Pasticceria Papa



And another one -

Chocolate mudcake from Pasticceria Sulfaro

Believe it or not, I actually acquired both of these on the same day, to be eaten on the same day. Let's just say I was in a very self-destructive state of mind at the time; blame it on all those disease flowcharts I had to cram into my limited brain space!

While we're on the topic of chocolate, I developed an addiction to Lindt Excellence 85% Cocoa last week. I admit to having a weird obsessive-compulsive personality where I get fixated on one kind of food for a period of time, where I would keep eating it day-in, day-out, until I get sick of the taste. Don't be shocked by this next picture - they were on sale at Woolworths! In the week leading up to my second exam, I (no joke) ate a whole bar every. single. day. It was very liberating...

Note: only the 85% bars were on special; I bought the 99% ones from the Lindt cafe in Martin Place. They're half the size and double the price of the regular bars, so I couldn't afford to develop an addiction to them!

Being a good big sister, I somehow managed to bake and ice 165 cupcakes for my sister to take to her grade at school as part of her birthday celebration. There I was, smothering vanilla cupcakes with thick, buttery icing in semi-darkness, with only my iPad screen (showing my study notes) as the only source of illumination. Good times.

Ahem, yes, I was inspired for the design of these from a well-known cupcakery in Surry Hills...

What else, what else? Ooh, that's right - I turned 21 years old! I celebrated it with a dinner out with friends and family. My birthday cake was a whole ricotta cheesecake from Pasticceria Papa (my goodness, do I love that place or what?)

More recently, I went and had brunch at 2042 Deli & Cafe in Newtown with an old friend who happened to be in Sydney (she studies interstate). It was a delicious affair, and the joy of her company made the food taste all the better.

Perfectly poached eggs in 2042 Deli & Cafe's Eggs Benedict.

Okay, I can no longer stand the voice in my head screaming at me to "GO STUDY", so this is where I will end the entry. Will write in more detail once these exams are over! (soon...soon...)

Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills

Just as people have certain dishes they consider as "comfort food", I view Bourke Street Bakery as my very own security blanket, and a home away from home, if it isn't too presumptuous to say so.

At times, I would purposefully get off the bus a few stops earlier, just so I can walk past the bakery on my way to wherever it is I am going. Sometimes I would go in and grab a few things for lunch or a snack. On the rare occasions that I am actually not hungry, I am content to simply admire the window display of gigantic sourdough loaves, raisin snails, and (my personal favourite) the pain au chocolat.

The said pain au chocolat.

My friend Pumpkin Pie, a self-confessed Bourke Street Bakery aficionado, gave a somewhat embarrassed recount of the time she and her mother polished off half a loaf of sourdough, just the bread on its own, at lightning speed while sitting inside their car. I countered her story with one of my very own: myself and another friend, each clutching an armful of brown paper bags filled with baked goods sweet and savoury, stumbling over to the park across the street and wolfing down half of our purchases before our brain could even process what it was we were eating. And when it did start to process, the scent, sight and atmosphere of the moment only served to stimulate our appetites further, and we finished everything off at a more leisurely pace, agreeing at the end that this was one of the best eating experiences we have shared.

Toby the dog, who left the side of his master to watch us eat. This was his expression throughout the length of our meal, and would return to his face each time he was done devouring whatever we gave him from our bounty.

Amongst our purchases were two sausage rolls, a variety of sweet tarts and a pain au chocolat to have then and there, as well as a few loaves of various sourdough to take home (or just in case we were still hungry afterwards).

We started with the savoury: the sausage rolls.

Pork & fennel sausage roll

The pastry of the pork & fennel sausage roll was very, very buttery and flaky, as evidenced by the state of my shirt afterwards, but did not taste greasy at all - a true indication of the freshness of the ingredients used and the rapid turnover of goods at the bakery. The pork and fennel filling was juicy, aromatic and very well seasoned. I can say with certainty that this was the best sausage roll I've tasted up to that point in time.

Inside the pork & fennel sausage roll. Look at the beautiful colours of the pastry and filling.



The lamb, almond & harrisa sausage roll was similarly fresh, flaky and delectable. A sprinkle of what looked to be poppyseeds on top gave this a distinctly gourmet look. It tasted gourmet too! ;D

Lamb, almond & harrisa sausage roll.

The insides of the lamb, almond & harrisa sausage roll.

The sausage rolls were quite substantial in size, but we had just completed a long run and still had more than sufficient stomach space to accommodate desserts. So, without the slightest reprieve, we moved onto the sweets!

Ginger brulee tart

There's certainly no skimping on the ginger in the ginger brulee tart. The caramelized top tasted of deeply burnt sugar and ginger (a good thing!) and the custard underneath was smooth, wonderfully chilled, and held echoes of the gingery flavour.

Chocolate tart

The chocolate tart reminded me of a Twix chocolate bar. I maintain that Bourke Street Bakery has the best sweet tart crust (the recipe for which, if I recall correctly, may be found in the bakery's cookbook). It's not crumbly like shortbread, but very brittle, like a freshly made cannoli shell or the casing of a brandy snap. And tastes best when chilled, I reckon.

 Passion fruit meringue tart

The passion fruit meringue tart was definitely the stunner out of all the tarts in appearance. Perfect balance between the acidity of the passion fruit curd, and fluffy sweetness of the meringue.

Chocolate mousse and raspberry tart

The mousse component of the chocolate mousse and raspberry tart was very chocolatey, but not too sweet. The raspberry part was quite sour. They paired very well together.

Lemon curd tart

On the brink of a sugar coma, it was a good thing this lemon curd tart lived up to its name. The curd is indeed very sour and lemon-y, and may not necessarily be everyone's cuppa tea, but if you like a bit of bite to your desserts, do try this!

Oho, if we haven't scared you off yet with our gluttony, you should know that somehow, we managed to fit in a chocolate croissant as well!

Surely I am not the only one who sees a cute little piggy snout in this?!

And that was the end of our feast, I promise :D

Bourke Street Bakery

633 Bourke Street, Surry Hills.

Phone: (02) 9699 1011

Website: http://www.bourkestreetbakery.com.au/

Opening Hours

Monday to Friday: 7am - 6pm

Saturday & Sunday: 8am - 5pm

The Tea Cosy, The Rocks

Scones, despite their haggard appearance, always makes me think of ladies in fascinators taking their tea on some English hillside. Although, I doubt real ladies eat scones the way I do - crumbs a-flyin', clotted cream behind one ear (???how did it end up there???) and jam stains down the front of my dress. Good thing I wasn't enjoying these scones with other real ladies (sorry, guys). Nah, it was just me and two of my oldest and bestest friends, popping into this little gem on a cafe (previously Tara Tea Room; now known as The Tea Cosy) on one fine, Saturday morning.

Haha, you can see the edge of my polka dot dress; my one concession to being lady-like!

My attire for the day - definitely a case of "WHAT was I thinking?!" It's okay, you're allowed to laugh; I sure did when I saw the picture. I look like I'm posing for a royal portrait! xD

Prior to immersing myself in the foodie culture, I've only ever tried scones from Bakers Delight. Not that they were bad or anything. In fact, I'm rather addicted to BD's berry and white choc, and choc mud scones. I've just never had a properly made English scone before, fresh from the oven and all fluffy and piping hot. Eager to satisfy my curiosity once and for all, I ordered the "deluxe" tea set, which came with two scones (any flavour of our choosing), clotted cream, Hank's Jam, and "bottomless drinks" (whatever and as many drinks as you want).

[Note: from looking at The Tea Cosy's website just now, it seems that the the "deluxe" tea set is no longer offered and has been replaced by other sets.]

I chose a raisin scone, a date scone, and strawberry jam.

Woah, carb overload! Being mindful that we were heading to Sweet Infinity Bakery next as a part of our own little food tour, I had half of each scone, but went big on the clotted cream and strawberry jam. In fact, each mouthful was more topping than the scone itself...just the way I like it! ;P

For my first drink, I ordered a diet coke. It was quite hot that day, I remember.

We stayed at the tea room for a pretty long time, and a second drink became necessary - an iced coffee!

Urgh, I felt so sick after taking a few sips. Nothing to do with the drink itself; my own fault for being greedy!

My friends both ordered the normal scone sets, which comes with two scones, double cream, normal (not Hank's) jam, and one beverage of choice.

Cute tea-cozy:

The scones were warm and fluffy, and with plenty of clotted cream and jam piled on top...delish!


The Tea Cosy (formerly Tara Tea Room)

33 George Street, The Rocks, Sydney.

Phone: (02) 9247 4955

Website: www.irishdesign.com.au/g/4145/the-tea-cosy---tea-rom.html

Opening hours

Fridays: 10am - 4pm
Saturday and Sunday: 10am - 5pm.

Lindt Chocolat Cafe, Martin Place

I wistfully think back to those childhood times when I wouldn't have thought twice about having a thick slab of some generic chocolate mudcake for an after-school snack. These days, I tend to save my "chocolate allowance" for the more high-end stuff: a pretty choccy from Colefax or Belle Fleur, a square of Lindt Excellence 99%, a raspberry and chocolate mousse tart from Bourke Street Bakery etc. Remember, my friends - good food has no calories; only happiness :D

After spending half the day on my feet volunteering for a uni event, I was famished an in serious need of a sugar boost. My friend P., who was conveniently roaming the city on that day, suggested that we meet up for afternoon tea at the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place. Sounds good to me!

We chose a cake each as well as three scoops of Lindt ice cream to share between the two of us.

First up - the Opera cake. A firm favourite with my friend, who'd purchased the large version on numerous occasions for special events. In fact, she took home one on the day for her dad's birthday!

Looking at how beautifully thin and even each layer in the Opera cake was, it was obvious that the Lindt pastry chefs really were maîtres chocolatiers. According to the Lindt website, the gold leaf on top is 24-carats. Wow!

The cake I picked was the Chocolate & Pear Poire - milk chocolate mousse with a centre of caramelised pear and caramel mousse. Loved how everything was just melt-in-your-mouth, including the pear!

We were allowed to pick three flavours for our ice cream dessert. We decided on the Lindt Excellence 70% cocoa, Black Forest, and Cookies & Cream.

We both found the Excellence 70% to be strangely powdery in texture. The other two, however, were absolutely addictive. Especially the Black Forest, which tasted like it had pieces of chocolate sponge swirled into the ice cream.

Clearly our insulin response wasn't what it used to be, as we found ourselves teetering on the edge of a sugar coma after we licked the last dregs of melted ice cream from our spoons. Time was I could have polished off this whole lot by myself without feeling the least bit ill. Although, my heightened sensitivity to sugar may not necessarily be a bad thing :D

We had a quick wander around the shop.

Lindt chocolates.

Macarons known as "Delices".

Lindor Balls. Some of the flavours I've never come across before, like peanut butter (now my favourite). I brought home a bag of these.

Various cakes, in indiviual portions and the full-sized versions.

Lindt Excellence bars, including the 99% cocoa one(!!!). I've been looking for the 99% for ages. I bought it and tried a square later at home. INTENSE! Probably better suited to melting in a mug of hot chocolate or coffee (easy Mocha!) than eaten on its own.

Next time (and I do intend to return there), I'm going to try the waffles or a slice of the Wimbledon. Maybe both!

Lindt Chocolat Cafe

3 Martin Place (Cnr Phillip Street),

Sydney 2000 NSW
Phone: (02) 8257 1600

Opening Hours

Monday to Friday: 7.30am – 6pm
Saturday & Sunday: 10am – 6pm