Saturday, September 22, 2012

Fusion Cafe, Eastwood

"It's not worth the effort to cook tonight."

That was my mother's decision to take a night off, so we headed off to a cafe I've tried once before - and enjoyed!

Fusion Cafe in Eastwood is tucked away within the arcade, on the western (busy) side of Eastwood Station. Reminiscent of a "Hong Kong Cha-chaang-tang" (Western-style cafe serving Asian dishes), this place has a wide range of Asian selections to enjoy.

I did mention a vast menu, right? I exaggerate a little - there's at least 30 different choices there to enjoy, and some come in a "set menu" - the 6 favourite dishes served with a drink (coffee, tea, lemon and honey tea, cold drinks a surcharge).

You could always choose to bump up the dinner set to include soup of the day as well, a slice of dessert cake, or both. We were thinking of trying the dessert cake... unfortunately, the waiter mucked up the order, and put us both down for the standard set menu (it's only cake, right).

I don't much more to say, to be honest: it's a simple, homely place for a good Asian feed. We ordered the baked spaghetti of fish in cream sauce (top) and Baked Portuguese chicken rice - two dishes worth of creamy, filling (to the point of bloating), fattening goodness that delighted my tastebuds.

Fusion Cafe, Eastwood
127 Rowe St,
Eastwood 2122

Location: western side of Eastwood station - between the Station and the massive council car-park. Entry through the pedestrian-only arcade on Rowe St.

Hours:

Verdict: Wow factor? Not really - as I said, things are rather simple. But it's a cheap alternative for those evenings where you don't want to cook.

Price: $11-$15 for a set meal.

Fusion Cafe on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Laduree Paris (Macarons), Westfield Centrepoint, Sydney




Slightly unusual, but this will be a post written in three parts: one part of shopping, one part photo decorating, and one part devouring!

So it's been a week since Laduree expanded to Down Under, opening up their first Australian franchise in the heart of Sydney inside Centrepoint Westfield. After hearing the raves last week, this is definitely a place I had to go visit at some point... and hopefully avoiding all those queues they reportedly had!

Well, on this fine Tuesday morning, I joined the queue at 9.40am, with around 15 people ahead of me. It took around 10 minutes to move towards the front, then 5 minutes for selections, then I was out of the sector by 10am - not too bad, with all's said and done. There was still a short queue after I left - so the crowd's going strong.

The first thing I noticed after heading up the northern escalators in Westfield Centrepoint is the sector they've carved for themselves - long elegant glass displays showing off their selection, then the (rather out-of-place) queue-marking tape they have in banks and airports. Tucked behind the front counter is the cafe zone, shiny place-sets all laid out in a quiet spot, away from the hustle and bustle of pedestrian shoppers.

I'm going to have to come back here for the cafe experience... maybe as a second surprise for my friend (read on for more!)


Well, of course I would be productive - 10 minutes in a queue is quite a bore, you know! Pulling out my SLR, snappy away at a few objects that caught my eye...

Next thing I knew, folks to either side of me had their iPhones out, snapping away too (I started a trend!). Although... I did spot a Samsung amongst the lot...
Also, I struck up a short chat with the chap in front of me - and learnt that a teenage girl will be getting a sugary birthday treat from Daddy - lucky child!

Now if only someone could spoil me too... anyone?? =)





My turn came... and what to choose! Yikes!

The Eternal Dilemma of the Macaron Minded =(




Well... I somehow (with a bit of assistance) got my selection down pat - and ordered three sets of 8:
One for the Clinic Staff (hello UNSW Optometry Clinic!)
One for a close friend as a surprise, and
One for MEEEE! I'm not walking away from this empty handed with an empty stomach!

Pricing: $3.20 apiece makes these one of the most expensive macarons I've had in Sydney. It is worth it? See below to find out ;)

If you want them in a box, you'll have to order a minimum of 6, else you get the unfortunate paper bag.
The premium gift box (I've seen similar from La Belle Miette, Melbourne CBD) will set you back a pretty $2.40 extra - but it's worth it if you're going that extra mile for someone extra special. My friend and I have an understanding - quality and quantity will make up for the superficialities of life. So I saved the $2.40, and went for long-box of 8 - no surcharges but still setting me back at $25.60 per box.




Here's a side-view of them sitting prettily:

*Salted Caramel: Salted? Really? Hehehe... I did like this one for the caramel flavour - sweet and sticky =)
*Strawberry Marshmellow - I had this one much later than the almond marshmellow, and I changed my mind: certain flavours work better having the plain marshmellow core, and this is one of these.
*Ghana Chocolate (dark) - I had this one first before the normal chocolate... but it didn't amaze me.
*Vanilla - light and simple. Not much in terms of flavour, though.
*Pistachio - nuts! That's all I will say about this one =)
*Orange Blossom - VERY similar to the Vanilla - it was hard for me to distinguish between two white macarons with similar (but subtly different) fillings. A slight floral hint came through on this one... but not by much. Still, liked it for what it is.
*Chocolate - less entertaining than the dark chocolate. Both had a nice texture and taste to the shell, but the ganache was dense and chewy. Not what I was expecting for a chocolate macaron - I'm more into one that melts into chocolatey goodness.
*Almond Marshmellow - well, the nutty flavour definitely came through on this one. Not a ganache in this one though - the filling is actually a plain marshmellow, enhancing the nutty-ness. Enjoyable, but not a favourite - marshmellow in a macaron... what is the world coming to!

Laduree Paris (Cafe and take-away macarons)

Level 3, Westfield Centrepoint
Town Hall, Sydney, 2000

Location: take the northern entry along Pitt St, or enter via any of the Market St entries and walk to the other end. Up the escalator to Level 3, and it's on your immediate left.

Hours: open 9.30am daily Monday to Saturday, 10am Sundays.
Closes as per Westfield hours (5.30pm standard, 9pm on Thursdays).

Verdict: A fraction overpriced for their value, but definitely one sweet cookie to enjoy in your own sweet time.
(Aside: I'm still composing this post while nibbling away at one of them =P)

Ladurée on Urbanspoon

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Cheeky Chocolate, Bakehouse Quarter

Well, what can I say? After a long day out, I need to recharge my sugar batteries.
I apologise to my dearest friend, but even her company all day isn't sweet enough =P (I know I'll probably get slapped when she sees this)

Following on from being out all day at Biennale with dinner at Fratelli Fresh, we headed over to North Strathfield's Bakehouse Quarter. Now this was a place I had a hankering to go to, ever since one of my friends told me about it a year ago. We had planned to go two months earlier... unfortunately, our plans (spelt 'traffic') fell through and we cut our time losses, opting to come back another time... TONIGHT!

When we got there at 8.45pm, the place was already full: the main table under the chandeliers was filled, all the couple-y nooks and crannies and the cafe tables for 4 were all taken. There were seats outside as well, with large open-air gas heaters to keep the atmosphere alive... we decided not to, on this windy evening.

Reading other blogs about this place, I came with a hint of trepidation. Not regarding the food - the Zumbo-designed creations at this place is worth the hype (and also the 20 minute drive from the City). Rather, the level of service that everyone either loves, or hates, about this place. More on that later.


Stepping in, there is a cosy warmth to the place. Despite all the bustle and chatter of a full cafe, everyone here is quiet pleasant - not rowdy or too noisy! Now the normal routine is to enter and be seated... but with a full cafe this was impossible to do. So we made a beeline for the pastry cabinet - the showcase of their confections! For Zumbo-designed creations, there was a lot of items to select from (on par with the offering from a Zumbo outlet: too many to try in one evening, I'm afraid =(





Fortunately for us, a few couples left soon after we arrived, and we were quickly seated. After the 5 minutes at the showcase, we had narrowed down our desires from the selections on display: the Hazelnut Dome, White Chocolate & Passionfruit Cheesecake, and the Hazelnut Milk Chocolate Cake.

Desserting out with friends are quite easy: draw two circles, list the things you want, list the things she wants, and see what overlaps. (Basic high school maths... but who cares :P) Chocolate-y and hazelnutty items caught our attention first, from which we pruned out the Panna Cotta and other items.

(I promise you - I'm going back for that Chocolate Panna Cotta sometime!)


For my friend and I - plans are short-lived concepts which we shatter into little bits. In this case, we just sat down and were almost ready to order... before we opened up the menus to find more creations!

10 minutes and a lot of page flicking back-and-forth later... we committed to our final selection:

Dark Hot Chocolate ($4.90, above) - smooth and warm =)

The Hazelnut Dome ($11): it was a narrow toss up between this one, and the Chocolate Bomb/sphere listed in the menu. It was either one or the other - I was certain that two big circle-y things would have been too much for our post-dinner snacking... and I was close!

This was simply a delight! I'm not going to dissect this down to the components - all I will say is that if you love your sugar, this is one you have to try at some stage: chocolate mousse here, bits of salted caramel there... I just loved how everything intermixed so well!

"Roll the Dice is it Naughty or Nice" ($18) - Chocolate creme brulee, cinnamon ice cream and cherry gel with pistachio sesame crumble.

Remember how I said we were thinking of getting the cakes? Well... after looking at the menu, we decided to try one of these instead. And it was a good idea at the time.

Verdict: so-so, unfortunately. I loved the ice cream - well infused (some may say 'heavy') cinnamon flavour that went well with all the other elements. Unfortunately, it was already melting when it was served... uh oh.
Cherry gel was quite tarty, and went well with most of the other elements - especially if it was the last element you taste on each spoonful.
Pistachio sesame crumble was GREAT! Unfortunately, it's not the key aspect of this plate - I can sit there and keep nibbling away at those crumbs...

Key element was the creme brulee was let this dish down, in my opinion - acted more like a mousse than anything. The caramelised coat wasn't bad... but overall it just didn't have that 'wow' factor that the Hazelnut Dome had for me.


Lastly, and a practical favourite of mine - macarons. Unfortunately, my friend gave up on my part-way through the desserts... so I got to finish the lot :)

Except the macarons... still sitting merrily on their plate... *sigh*
So we took them home, and had them later.

Verdict: it's not a Zumbaron. We did expect a little more from a $3 macaron. Make what you will out of this =P
Closing remarks:

This place is DEFINITELY worth coming back to. Desserts are fine - some better than others, of course... and you simply can't judge a place properly on your first time there, with only a small sample of their menu.
Ambience was great - scoot in either early or late to get seats, or be willing to wait your turn.

Service - now this has been a contentious bone amongst all the blogs I've come across. We'd say that we got a fair bit of attention - the waiters and waitress kept an eye out for us and approached us quickly when we needed them. And they can handle a camera rather well too (my SLR, and my friend's cute little Polaroid). So I would have to disagree about the lack of service others have said. Or perhaps it was even more hectic when they went. Make your own judgement on this - perhaps come in without the highest expectation?

Cheeky Chocolate
11 George St
North Strathfield, 2137

Directions: look up "Bakehouse Quarter" and follow directions. It's on the western side of the train line (Concord Road, then find the overpass; or Parramatta Road and the underpass), then turn into George St. Parking available in the council area - free after 7pm.

Open: Tues - Sun,11am - 11pm.

Cost: $3 macarons, Display delights $7-15, Menu items: $18+
Sweet comment: sugary, without being extremely sweet.
Cheeky Chocolate on Urbanspoon

Café Sopra at Fratelli Fresh, Bridge St, CBD North (Wynyard)

We had planned this outing a week in advance, my friend and I - exploring the arts around Sydney, then dining out and ticking a place of her (endless) list of places to go - or as it seems to me.

(Aside: hopefully she's not ticked off by that when she reads this... :P)

Exploring Sydney's Biennale (18th Biennale of Sydney) was wonderful - art exhibits everywhere! Unfortunately the weather turned on us, making a sunny day out on Cockatoo Island into a "sunny but windy and freezing" day out. We cut our losses though - went through most of the Cockatoo Island exhibits, before heading back to the Museum of Contemporary Art and exploring the renovated buildings.

Simply. Stunning.








To more important things - dinner!

So after a day of savouring the arts, we were cold, tired and hungry. It was a windy day, we'd been walking everywhere, and chose to skip lunch. Our plan had us ending up at The Rocks (MCA), so it's a short walk down George St and turning just onto Bridge St in Wynyard north, down to Fratelli Fresh.

Cafe Sopra is the dining aspect of Fratelli Fresh open for dinner from 6pm - which gave us a little bit of time to grab the car, get caught up in traffic for a little bit, then finding metered street parking for an hour or two. I'm not going to rant here about parking in Sydney, just simply "it's a nightmare at times".


We headed in at 6.10pm, joining the short queue at the door - oops, the place was already packed on a Friday night... I should have known. The maitre d' found us places within a few moments, though - right in front of the dessert chef! She couldn't have found us a better place to sit!! =)




Even though I love Italian food, choosing the right thing to eat isn't easy - being a Muslim and foods with sausages, proscuitto and other such delicacies don't mix =( Eventually we settled on our selection, then sat back to chatter, unwind and savouring the atmosphere.

Overall, it IS a Friday night - allowances need to be made. The place was full - and rather too noisy for my liking, but mainly as everyone else is there to unwind after a long week and enjoy a drink and a bite to eat. So either the Cafe is understaffed or (as I suspect), there were simply too many demands on the waitresses' attention.

Our selections:

Zucchini flower... this was an interesting experience. And cheesy too - zucchini with five assorted cheeses, some as topping, some inside! Worth a try... though too cheesy for my liking =P

Roasted Chicken Penne: this one I loved - succulent roasted chicken pieces, balanced nicely in the tomato sauce! I could go on and on about this... or I could by the same roasted Chicken from . Which means I need to learn to cook.

For a simple dish, this was good.

The lamb ragu was a let down for me - I was hoping for something more. What I received was (and I'm over-simplifying and not doing it any justice) stewed lamb in tomato sauce. The flavour, the texture... was all rather average - nothing about it made me go 'wow'. In fact, I much preferred her selection of the Roasted Chicken.

Desserts... they do look tantalising, especially sitting in front of the dessert chef. Unforunately for them (and us too, I guess), I had plans elsewhere that night - Cheeky Chocolate! (Link to that visit is here)

Well, that's it from me here.
Overall opinion - isn't too high, to be honest. I've had better meals elsewhere. Throw in the noise and the crowd, so I wouldn't be coming back 'soon'. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt though - picking two pasta dishes doesn't do the rest of the menu any justice.

Café Sopra @ Fratelli Fresh, Bridge St
11 Bridge St

Location: on the southern/Town Hall side of Bridge St, just off George St. Plenty of street parking with timed meters, else look for a decent carpark after 7pm - Wilson Parking Australia Square, etc. Or, public transport (Train/Bus/Ferry even).

Hours:
Monday to Friday:
Breakfast from 7:30am - 11am -- Cafe only

Cafe, Bar, Pizzeria and Mozzarella Bar:
Monday to Friday:
Lunch from 12pm to 3pm
Dinner from 6pm to 10pm
Saturday:
Dinner only from 6pm, bookings ok.
Café Sopra at Fratelli Fresh on Urbanspoon