Bay Vista (Brighton-Le-Sands)

Now my friend suggested this place to me... SUGAR HIGH!

Bay Vista is a dessert cafe located opposite the beach at Brighton le Sands in southern Sydney, just south of the Airport. If you're in the mood to share a sticky sweet dessert, then do what we did. For all other desserts... come here anyway!

That last picture sums it all up: the Canadian Crunch ($18). Three scoops of their soft ice cream, served with whipped cream, maple syrup, sliced banana, pecan nuts and choc honeycomb.

I have to say: very sickening sweet. For a sugar lover like me... even this pushed the limits of my sweet tolerance: the caramel fudge ice cream, whipped cream and maple syrup combined to form a cloyingly sticky delight. Unfortunately for my friend, her limit isn't as high.

Verdict: Definitely a location to enjoy the views whilst licking away at an ice cream cone. Or pop inside to share some waffles, dipped chocolate fruits, or some other form of guilty goodness. Prices may seem on the higher side, but you get your money's worth of 'fat' =P


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Bay Vista
83 The Grand Parade

Brighton-Le-Sands 2216

Location: just directly off the Brighton beach, with plenty of 1hr street parking. If you don't mind walking 2+ blocks, then plenty of untimed residential parking within 5-10mins of the shopping sector and beach.

Hours:

Pricing: $8-25, with the majority of decent goodies hovering at $15+.
Portion size: hard pressed to finish one alone - a 'must-share' place.

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/70/750222/restaurant/St-George/Bay-Vista-Sydney"><img alt="Bay Vista on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/750222/biglink.gif" style="border:none;padding:0px;width:200px;height:146px" /></a>

The Grounds of Alexandria (Alexandria)

Another day, another outing. Although I didn't get to visit the Grounds last time, I had a brilliant chance to go today - and made full use of it =)

Finding parking isn't easy, and we walked the long way around the block to get to the Building-7A entrance... but we found our way in the end. And what a sight greeted us: a relaxing shaded garden, a chook shed, organic veggie patch, with a delightful shopfront! In 30 degree heat... any shade was a delight. Being seated required a five minute wait, but into a cool shady interior.

The menu was quite interesting and varied, and pricing was quite reasonable too. Our decision: the chicken confit, and the lamb salad. However, definitely there were other things to select... it wasn't easy.

Verdict: Hmmm... mixed reaction. I loved the chicken confit, with a succulent chicken maryland tenderly cooked, and presume it was grain fed too, judging by its yellow hue. However, it was quite salty - which I liked, my friend didn't. The lamb salad, however, left a little to be desired - there is quite a bit of meat, which is good - but we didn't like the texture (rather lumpy). But I can't quite fault the dish - done reasonably.

Service was attentive, no complaints at all. Definitely a place I would revisit, but try other selections instead.

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The Grounds of Alexandria
Building 7A, 2 Huntley St
Alexandria 2015

How to get there: Huntley St, just near the Bourke Rd intersection. Off-street parking is hard to find, otherwise politely park in the proper guest spots on 4 Huntley St. Entrance is on Huntley St, close to the Bourke Rd intersection. Or... walk the long way behind Building 7B, 7C and 7D.

Hours:
Open daily 8am - 4pm.
Sundays 8am - 3pm.

Pricing: $$
Mains between $12-20.
Specialty and organic drinks available for $$.

Bread & Circus (Alexandria)

My Supplementary exams are over! Finally!

I was forced to re-sit this Clinical exam as a formality - for a low mark acquired back in March this year, when I was (rather) untrained and unpracticed. In any case, I made it through, and now I can relax!

*ear to ear grin*

So what to do with myself? For this first day out (for the rest of my life, as an Optometrist instead of a student), I met up with a friend, enjoying what little time I have in Sydney (before a Europe trip, then starting a job in Queensland in 2013).

Getting back to what's important in this posting: the food! So it was about 2pm when we started feeling peckish, and we were around Ikea Tempe... so why not a short hope over to the Cafe district over in Alexandria? We were considering Grounds of Alexandria, but they close at 3pm on Saturdays - a bit rushed. Next on the list: Bread & Circus.

This organic cafe is tucked inside the open warehouse at 21 Fountain St, behind Don Campo's coffee at the front. We managed to get here just in time, placing our order shortly before 3pm. Our waitress told us they were out on quite a number of items... so I'm not surprised that they chose to wrap things up early by 3, instead of their usual 4pm closing time.

Despite having a number of items crossed out, we still liked what we saw on the menu... and the choice wasn't that easy, to be honest. Eventually, we decided on the following:

Smoked Turkey with Agave Blue Cheese dip (Sandwich box, $15). Or, as my friend called it - a deconstructed sandwich.

For the Asians (and non-Asians) out there who have tried Stinky Tofu, you should agree with the old saying "there are 2 types of people in this world: those who love the stink, and those who don't". Applies equally to the Blue cheese in my opinion: it stinks. And I had a cheese platter last night (with Blue cheese), so that didn't make things any better.

Next: the Smoked chicken with Dijon-chive-yoghurt dip ($15, Sandwich box) - much the same as the turkey above.

To wash things down, we tried the berry-banana smoothie, with kefir ($12). Now this seems costly for a glass of 'fruit-milkshake', but that's a premium you pay for decent organic food. And if you don't know what kefir is... look it up like I did. Something about healthy lumps of milk-like things... I'll let you form your own opinion about it. Mixed into a smoothie, it was rather nice overall.

Verdict overall? We loved this place. $42 for a lunch is rather pricey... but I write that off as a social expense.

Breaking it down - she loved the Turkey box, I loved the Chicken. For different reasons too - remember I mentioned 'stink' earlier? She likes Blue cheese - I don't. So that split us up... but likewise, I loved the tang of the Dijon mustard in my yoghurt dip... and she didn't. Oh - and the hint of chives just rounded things off perfectly for me... so it was almost ideal with one lunch box each. Turkey vs Chicken... each to their own - I liked the chicken breast, she didn't... turns out she loves turkey as well.

(Some things are just meant to be... =P)

And the smoothie: yummy. Hints of berry and banana, and the kefir didn't overpower the whole thing. Pricey though. Very pricey.

Definitely worth coming back here... after I save up a bit first. =P

Bread & Circus
21 Fountain St
Alexandria 2015

How to get there: Find street parking if you're lucky, otherwise try the Dan Murphy's carpark directly opposite. If you can't seem to find 21 Fountain, then look for the Don Campo's coffee, and follow it through to the back of the warehouse.

Hours: 8am-4pm daily, a new menu every day
Cost: Mains mostly less than $20. Enjoy the organic food =)

Le Pain Quotidien (Westfield Centrepoint)

So I've been off the blog for a bit: preparing and undertaking my final exams... I'm going to be an Optometrist!!

Well... soon: been recalled for further assessment regarding a placement from back in March. Stupid policy. Oh well... so next week I'll let you know how I went =)

In the meanwhile, I've let myself relax. After all the cramming and stressing and sleepness nights... (not the latter for me, thankfully), there was light at the end of the tunnel - a celebration! Congratulations to Britt and Michael - two wonderful optometrists (a few years above me) who tied the knot today =)
All the best, and blessings, to them both!

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So after the wedding, I caught up with a friend of mine - for an afternoon of catching up, relaxing, and simply while-ling the time away... navigating up and down George St in the Wynyard-Town Hall sector. Lunchtime came around, and she remembered this little place we walked by last time...

Tucked away on 4/F Westfield Sydney (or the skybridge via 2/F Myer), this quaint little cafe has a homely feel to it. Atmosphere - a lovely place to have a coffee or tea.

<Sorry for the lack of a location photo: today was more a catch-up rather than a food-exploration expedition - my fault>

Deciding to share was the easiest decision to make... but share what? We debated a bit, eventually opting for the Soup of the Day and a Tartine.

Soup of the Day: today's specials was either the Carrot (above) or the Cauliflower soup. In either a 'Cup' portion ($7.95) or 'Bowl' size ($9.95), we chose the latter to share - and you'd get about two small bowlfuls in the 'big' bowl above.

Although this place boasts about its bread... I have to admit I found nothing special about it. So it was a miss for that. Soup itself was rather nice - definitely would consider a second bowlful or more =P

Tartine - this is the Grilled Chicken and smoked Mozzarella with rocket and basil pesto. In order: ?,  ?,  'rabbit food' and 'tasty garnish...wish there was more'. It's hard to fault grilled chicken, but it didn't have any 'wow factor' about it - and either did the cheese. I need not say more about the salad, though the pesto dressing did redeem this dish. Presentation ... was better than the food. =(

Overall... it's an experience. Service was good, fast and attentive, nothing to fault there. For me, however, I miss :(

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Le Pain Quotidien (Westfield Centrepoint, Sydney CBD)
86-100 Market Street, Westfield Sydney, Level 4
Sydney, NSW, 2000

Location: via Myer Skybridge from 2/F, or the Pitt St side of Centrepoint, 4/F

Food: Mains up to $20. Desserts ~$7-10ish (didn't try - we picked up a few macarons from Laduree, then headed over to Hyde Park).

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/70/1564034/restaurant/CBD/Le-Pain-Quotidien-Sydney"><img alt="Le Pain Quotidien on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1564034/minilink.gif" style="border:none;padding:0px;width:130px;height:36px" /></a>