Auvers Cafe, Darling Square, Sydney

Update Review, March 2023

Auvers Dining has been on my short list of places to visit again in Sydney for ages.  I had only been once before, just to get a pastry, a massive, downright incredible, ube cream filled croissant, and I've wanted to return for real ever since.  Brunch is really what Auvers is all about, and the menu for brunch is rather incredible (in my mind), but I still haven't been for brunch.  I did however get to go for dinner, when I picked it as a casual option for a work group.

I made a booking in advance for my group of 6.  We were seated inside.  Service was ... well, basically nonexistent.  And pretty slow.  The wait for our cocktails was so long I had actually forgotten we ordered them.  And when they came out, 5 of us got our drinks, but the 6th did not.  Getting a server to take our order took effort.  Etc.  

That said, the venue worked well for us.  It was a nice atmosphere, and although we were indoors, there was no wall to the outside, so it was still open air, and quite pleasant.  It was mildly lively, but not loud, and since this was a work dinner, we were able to chat and hear each other quite easily, which can be a struggle in a louder restaurant.  So, I think it was a reasonable, mid-priced, pick.

And the food?  It was actually quite good.  Very unique, innovative fusion dishes, beautiful plating, and, actually seemed backed by a kitchen that could pull it off.  I enjoyed my meal, and the others seemed to as well.  I'd like to return for brunch sometime.

Place Setting.

Places were set with menu books, which each contained several different pamphlets, in addition to the regular menu.  One was a cocktail lineup, another was specials of the month.  

The water glasses were perched on an angle, which looked cool, but, once you filled them, they needed to sit normally upright anyway.  We were offered house sparkling or still, both of which had a charge.

I had scoped out in advance, and knew it was full of things I was interested in.  The starters (entrees) included tempting items like bone marrow with shiso garlic butter and brioche, but alas, no one wanted to share something like that.  I was also drawn in by the XO seared scallops, with coral bread, but ... no one wanted starters, only mains.  I decided to still order an entree, but have it as my main course, along with a side.  

Side choices are the only basic part of the menu: bread & butter (granted, it is shiso garlic butter), a salad, chips, and fried brussels sprouts.  Mains are kinda all over the place, ranging from a simple sounding chicken sandwich to fairly high end wagyu steak, with signature dishes like the XO Mulluscs Spaghetti and Wagyu noodles along the way.  I really wanted someone to get either of those dishes, as I wanted to try them, but alas, my group went pretty simple.

I appreciated that the menu also included the dessert lineup, so I could plan accordingly, and I most definitely planned for dessert.

Hidden Dragon. $21.

"Fenjiu Red, pear liqueur, fig balsamic, pear nectar, biters."

Auvers has an extensive cocktail (and mocktail) menu, but in the month of February, they had an additional Chinese Fenjiu special menu, with 3 cocktails, plus two flavors of alcoholic ice cream, all featuring Fenjiu. I decided to try one of the cocktails, mostly just for novelty.

It was ... fine?  A bit hard to describe, but mostly that is because it all seemed pretty muddled together.  I did not taste any clear alcohol, nor pear flavors, and definitely not the balsamic.  Just ... a cocktail.  Not too sweet.  Not too fruity.  But pretty generic.  The dried piece of pear was too chewy, as in, I tried to bite it, and couldn't.

Definitely not a particularly compelling drink, nor worth $21.  The only disapointing part of the meal for me.

Entree: Sparrow Baby Octopus. $18.

"Baby Octopus • Squid Ink Crackers • Mayonnaise • Tobiko • Aioli Slaw • Bonito Flakes."

Rather than a main dish, I opted for an entree as my main, knowing it was a portion meant for sharing as a starter, and that I was on jetlag time, and my body wasn't particularly calling for more food yet.

The plating was a bit funny with the extensive negative space, and it was a bit hard to eat, but I actually did quite like it.

The squid ink crackers were crispy, and although difficult to pick up with a fork, made for great finger food, and I gleefully topped them with the other element, and just ate them that way, nacho-style.  A nice base, once I figured out how to best navigate them.

The slaw and thin slices of pear (apple? were they pickled?) added lightness and freshness, and a bit of acidity.  The slaw also brought in a creamy component as it was heavily aioli based, as did the additional mayo.  Tobiko added pops of texture, saltiness, and a bit of ocean flavor, as did the bonito flakes.  All very nice accompniments.

And finally, the baby octopus, five whole babies (each with a slice of fruit to pair with).  Very nicely cooked, not rubbery in any way, tender, succulent.  Light char on it.

This was a dish full of interesting components, components that all went well together, and was fun to eat.  I enjoyed it, and would get it again.  ****.

Side: Fried Brussels Sprouts. $12.

"Brussel Sprout • Almond Flakes • Balsamic Dressing."

Side dish options are a simple salad, bread, chips (fries), or fried brussels sprouts. I ordered the later for the group, as I wanted a vegetable, and really do like brussels sprouts.

They were a different style than I was expecting, fried whole, with their leaves kinda sticking out.  Reasonably crispy, not too greasy, but ... not particularly interesting.  Good salt level.  The drizzle of balsamic was fine.  I didn't see, nor taste, any almond flakes as described on the menu.

This was a fine, but rather boring dish, and the only one that also looked kinda "meh".  ***.

Main: Truffle Mushroom Risotto. $30.

"with runny Onsen Egg • Tempura Enoki • Cocktail Onion • Truffle Oil."

My two vegetarian companions both opted for the risotto, which was a showstopper with tempura fried enoki, big juicy grilled mushrooms, and a lovely gooey egg.  I'm not sure where the cocktail onions were that were listed on the menu, and the tomatoes seemed a bit random, but both seemed to enjoy their dishes.

One other diner got the well regarded chicken sandwich, and he enjoyed.  Another got the pork roulade, I wish I had gotten a photo, as it was another show stopper.  The final member got the burger, which looked slightly underwhelming compared to the other dishes.

Overall though, everyone seemed pretty happy with their food.

Dessert: Tropical Bread and Butter Pudding. $18.

"Coconut Bread and Butter Pudding •Lychee Sorbet • Mango Anglaise."

I love bread pudding.  I love warm bread pudding with a frozen component (usually ice cream).  But I'm also super particular about my bread pudding, as I like a certain style (crispy exterior, distinct hunks of bread, really custard-y, etc), so I was hopeful, but also a bit fearful, of this dessert.

I did not need to be worried.  I really enjoyed this.  The bread pudding was exactly the style I like - super moist, super custardy, but not a thick dense homogenous blob.  I didn't really taste the coconut, but I did not mind that.  A large portion, definitely good to share with someone else.  

At the base was mango anglaise, which added a fruity component and also additional custard/cream, along with popping boba and whole lychee.  Sweet, fruity, tropical, all fun elements, and all went together well.  The shards of ... something sweet, maybe coconut brittle? added some crunch and additional sweetness.

On top, a generous size scoop of lychee sorbet.  While I'm not generally one to pick sorbet over ice cream or gelato, this fruity component worked, and since there was so much cream in the anglaise and custard base, I didn't actually need more.  I liked having the cool component alongside the warm bread pudding.

So overall, definitely a success. The right style of bread pudding for me, unique elements, and definitely in harmony.  Good textures, good flavors, just, well, good.  I'd get it again, and would love to try more desserts here.  ****.

Dessert: Auvers Pancake. $25.

"Matcha pancakes with red bean paste • premium Matcha glaze & raspberry sorbet."

My companions got the signature Auvers's pancake, an item that is available at all times of day, brunch, lunch dinner.  It was a substantial dessert, a stack of 3 full size pancakes, with lots of extra bits around it.  Like many of the dishes, beautiful plating and vibrant colors.

Since it was clearly quite matcha heavy, with matcha glaze and matcha in the pancakes, I skipped it, as I avoid caffeine at night.  We weren't entirely sure what the orange cake was, I think maybe a mango sponge?  There was also fresh berries, edible flowers, and the red bean paste and raspberry sorbet.

Original Review, March 2020

Auvers is a French village.  It is also the name of a popular cafe in Rhodes.  And now in Darling Square.  In Sydney, one of my favorite cities on earth.

It is also the home of one of the most delicious things I've ever consumed.

Oh yes.

But let's back up.  The philosophy at Auvers is simple, the 3 pronged focus is on coffee (to have the best), food (quality ingredients, farmer sourced), and atmosphere (what's good food if the place isn't nice?)  They are open daily, serving brunch until late afternoon (yes!  daily!), dinner, and also quick grab cafe offerings like pastries and coffee.

Darling Square Location.

I can't comment much on the atmosphere as I didn't dine in, but they have both indoor and outdoor seating and it looked quite inviting.

I've been eyeing all areas of the menu, from the beautiful taro coconut sago brunch dish, to the taro lattes, to the flaky beef rendang pithivier, to even the side of cassava fries.  The menu is unique, seems loaded with flavors and interesting twists, and, well, I've wanted to visit forever.

But I never had a chance.  And then one evening, after dinner, after a very big dinner, full of fried fish and many other things, I set out to take a walk in the area, to find something light for dessert.  Light.  Just a little something to finish my night, as it had been full of decadence.  I was not hungry, but I just wanted one more last thing.

And then I remembered it was Wednesday.  And when I had stopped by at Auvers earlier in the week to browse the pastry case, and almost even purchased a ridiculous looking black sesame cream filled massive croissant, the staff mentioned that on Wednesdays, they usually had a taro version too.  I figured I could just walk by and at least see it ...

Pastry Case.

Um, yeah.  The pasty case was filled with housemade goodies, including the epic croissants.  Including the taro one.  Given my love of baked goods, and of taro in particular, it seems pretty likely that you can guess where this story is going.

Side note: the staff here are amazing.  Really, really amazing.  Both times I stopped by they were extremely friendly, personable, and actually seemed interesting in chatting.  I loved the place just because of them!

Massive Croissant.

Now, I said these were massive croissants.  They looked insane in the display case.  But it was even more dramatic when the barista attempted to box it up to go for me.  This box was not a tiny pastry box. This is a full size entree box.  She knew there was no way it would close, so so added a little tape to it so it would at least stay together somewhat.  

Uh, yeah.  Proceed with caution.

I did mention that I was looking for just a little treat, had a huge dinner, and was alone right?  Yes.  Danger, danger.

Taro Croissant.

Ok, so, yeah.  This croissant.

A massive croissant, stuffed with taro cream (more on this soon), and topped with hard taro white chocolate.

I'll be honest, I was excited for the taro, but kinda expected it to just have a little taro cream inside, expected the purple topping to just be kinda sweet white chocolate with barely any taro flavor, just really about looks, and, since they aren't actually a bakery primarily (but do make these in house daily) I had no hopes for the croissant itself, particularly given that it was late in the day.  I thought I'd likely try a few bites, scrape out the cream if it was tasty, and move on.  Light bite acquired.

But .... my expectations were all wrong.  This thing was good.  Very, very, very good.  Every element to it.

The croissant itself was well made, nicely laminated.  Not the flakiest I've ever had, but honestly that was nice, as it didn't make a mess in that way.  The ends were pleasantly crispy, the inside moist.  It was not dried out nor stale, even with the late hour.  It was a very rich croissant, clearly made with plenty of quality butter.  A very good croissant, actually.

Then, the topping.  This was an extremely generous topper of taro white chocolate.  It tasted strongly of taro, although yes, it was sweet.  It was solid, so a bit odd on top of the croissant in such quantity, I couldn't cut through it, but I could break it off, and then eat it later (which I did with glee).  A very tasty element, but, a bit hard to navigate on the croissant.

And then, um, the filling.  Somehow, it wasn't obvious quite what lay within, until I cut into it.

Taro Cream Filling.

Um, zomg.

I've already told you how ridiculously large the croissant itself is, and I know the barista told me it was "stuffed with tons of cream", but nothing prepared me for the quantity that was inside.  Seriously.  Several cups of taro cream. 

The taro flavor was so ridiculously strong.  I couldn't get over how intensely taro flavored it was.  And also quite sweet.  And fluffy.  And rich.  So. Much. Cream.

The cream was fantastic.  Honestly, you could, and I did, eat it just by the spoonful, like a very sweet, very rich, taro pudding.  You could also dunk pieces of the croissant into it.  You could alternate bites with plain croissant to tamper the sweetness overload.  I did all of these things.  I enjoyed them all.

In my initial sitting, I devoured about 75% of this thing.  I kinda couldn't believe it.  How had I, full, just wanting a light treat, just done that?  I had no idea.  I walked back to my hotel fairly weighed down and feeling a bit worse for the wear.

And then I walked into my hotel room, and polished the rest off.  I wanted "just one more bite", after all.  I can't explain it.  Besides that it was just way, way too good not to finish on the spot.  Sure, I had visions of waking up to a small chunk of croissant, or maybe using the rest of the cream on some kind of creation, but alas, there was nothing left.  Nothing.  Every. Last. Bite.

Now, I don't actually recommend devouring one of these alone after a huge meal.  But I do recommend going to get one.  And if taro isn't your thing, they make matcha, black sesame, and chocolate versions too ... or you can get them as part of a brunch desk, the Eggs Benedict comes inside a toasted croissant rather than English Muffin (and, um, has ponzu hollandaise, pulled pork, and pork floss ...), and the crab omelette comes with one too ...