Sammy's Cafe

Sammy's Cafe is a pretty nondescript cafe in San Francisco.  There is nothing about the name, location, signage, or menu that makes it stand out.  It is a basic cafe, offering breakfast sandwiches, bagels, and pastries, and lunchtime salads and sandwiches.  They once had a location on Van Ness, but are now located on Bush Street. 

What does stand out is the service.  I've visited several times, and always been greeted kindly.  I've mostly ordered in advance online, but even with that, they took the time to be friendly.  I once called to ask a question, and they were happy to answer, not seeing annoyed in any way (was asking what kind of baked goods they had that day).  Service matters, and in this case, is the thing I remember most about Sammy's.

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Setting

Storefront.

Sammy's is located on Bush St, between more hip Polk St and busy Van Ness.  The signage out front certainly shows it is there, but, it isn't flashy nor unique.  There is no real reason to notice Sammy's, if you aren't looking.

Coffee in the Sun!

Outside they have two mini tables, each with two chairs.  Not exactly the nicest street to sit on, but it does get morning sun, and sometimes, that is all that matters.  I enjoyed sitting there for a few minutes.

Seating.

Inside, seating runs the length of the restaurant, small tables, both regular height and some small two-tops.

Cute Entryway.

Additional seating is in the entryway, window seats around a low table.

Massive Bathroom.

I don't normally review or include photos of bathrooms, but, this one was notable.  It was huge.  Seriously huge.  On the right when you walk in is even an entryway table with flowers.  And next to the sink is ... a table and chair?  I have no idea what they expect people to be doing in this bathroom, but looks like a lovely place to hang out.

Drinks

For coffee, I'm pretty sure they use Peerless.  I don't see it on menus anywhere, nor are there Peerless signs, but I saw the bags of beans.  Places usually boast about their beans when they use somewhere like Peerless, so I was a bit surprised for that detail to be under the radar.

Teas!

Under the pastry display is the loose leaf tea selection, really extensive.  I'm not really a tea drinker, but if I were, I'd probably be very excited about this.

Coffee Station.

The coffee condiment station was more interesting than most.

Standard sugar packets, Splenda packets, and honey weren't all that interesting, but they also had a shaker with brown sugar, and one with cinnamon (why only brown sugar in a shaker?  I imagine white sugar is the most popular, wouldn't it be more economical to buy that in bulk?).

The creamer selections were the interesting part.  First, standard half and half.  But then, rather than offer a light option like skim milk, or an alternative dairy like soy, they had pumps with super concentrated flavored Coffee Mate, vanilla and hazelnut.  I love mixing in some flavor, so this was exciting to me.  Note however, it says concentrated, and it means it.  It looked like just a little trickle that I added, but I wound up with far more creamer than I intended.  Whoops.  I of course forgot this the next time I visited, and did it again.  Seriously, beware!  A little goes a LONG way!

Iced Decaf Coffee, Small. $2.

On a hot day, I ordered a decaf iced coffee.

The person making my drink scooped tons of ice into a cup, and asked if that was enough ice or too much.  It looked like way too much ice to me, particularly if I was getting pre-brewed iced coffee, so I said it was a bit much.  Turns out, she had a good amount, I just didn't know it.

To make the iced coffee, she actually just brewed a fresh shot of decaf espresso, so it melted most of the ice almost immediately.  She did top it off with a little water (I think?), but it was super strong, and, super melted.  Whoops.  After I took a few sips, I asked her to add more ice, which she did with no problem, not making me feel bad that I had rejected the earlier amount of ice.

It wasn't really a great flavor, but I jazzed it up with the hazelnut and vanilla creamers, and it was totally transformed.  I also added sugar.  It was basically like a Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee at this point, ridiculously creamy, sweet, and the two flavors I always got at Dukin' Donuts, so I was nostalgic and happy. 

$2 for a big cup like this was a great price.  ***.

Decaf Iced Coffee, Small. $2.

Another hot day, another decent iced coffee (er, Americano, really).  Nothing spectacular, but good.

Again, I added some of the creamers, and basically turned it into Dunkin' Donuts.  Very enjoyable for a hot day. ***.

Decaf Coffee. $2.

Another day, it was colder, so I opted for a hot coffee.  If I wanted regular, they have two choices of pre-brewed coffee, "Dark House Coffee" or "French Dark Roast Coffee".  But I wanted decaf, so a decaf Americano was made for me, fresh and on the spot, instead, for the same price.

It was fine.  Decent enough for decaf.  Piping hot.  And I again loved adding hazelnut creamer, but I need to remember NOT to put other sweetener in first, since the flavored creamers are already plenty sweet!

***.

Baked Goods 

Pastry Display.

Ordering is done at a register when you enter.  Near the register is the pastry display, not an extensive selection, but decent enough.  You know that baked goods always call out to me!

The first thing I noticed was impressive looking croissants ... impressive in their size, not necessarily the quality.  They are massive, likely great for making the breakfast sandwiches, but they didn't look flaky or like croissants I'd really want.  Only plain croissants are available.

The scones looked decent.  Blueberry, raspberry, iced pumpkin, and cranberry orange were on display this day, nicely labelled.

Muffins.

Next, muffins.  They looked fairly generic, but were available in a number of varieties: blueberry, chocolate, lemon, poppy almond, and banana nut (I'm guessing the flavors, since, they weren't labelled).

No real dessert options, except for some rather dry looking slices of pound cake (banana, chocolate, lemon, or pumpkin).

Finally, massive chunks of coffee cake.

No prices listed in the display, nor on signage around the storefront, so you kinda had to just trust the prices weren't crazy.

Coffee Cake.  $2.95.

I'm not generally one for coffee cake, but this kept catching my eye.  I don't like cake really, any kind of cake.  I eat cake of course, but usually just as an excuse to eat frosting.  Why would I order coffee cake?  I have no idea.  I blame the streusel.  Seriously, look at that streusel!

The cake was about what I expected.  It was pretty dry, flavorless, uninteresting.

But the streusel.  I wish I had a better shot, but, I think you can see, there was actually MORE streusel than cake.  Yes, the streusel layer was even thicker than the cake layer.  The streusel was tasty, lots of cinnamon, sweet, crunchy.  It did pair nicely with coffee, as it should.

On top was what I think was powdered sugar.  I didn't like it, as it seemed kinda chalky.  I'd say it was flour, but that doesn't seem right either.  Not sure why it was there.

So, overall, this was ... coffee cake.  Again, not really my thing, but I really enjoyed my streusel, and that is what I wanted anyway.

$2.95 price was higher than that of scones or muffins, which I don't really understand, but it was a massive chunk.

***.

Read More...

Tibits, London

I went to a buffet.  A vegetarian buffet.  A largely vegan buffet at that.  In London of all places (obviously, pre-COVID).

And I recommend you do the same.  Seriously.  Ok, but with caveats of course.

I discovered Tibits on my way to Borough Market, it caught my eye as I walked by.  I poked my head in and was ... intrigued.  It was mid-day, and the place seemed to be a coffee shop, with a large menu of coffee and tea drinks, plus fresh juices and smoothies, and assorted baked goods along a counter.  But ... it was also a huge buffet.  A nice buffet.  Hot items, cold items, desserts.

Further examination just left me more interested.  A cocktail list.  Hot buttered rum.  What was this place?  I wanted to know more, and try it out, but, I was on the way to a food mecca, so, I took note, grabbed a business card, and went on my way.

I looked it up online later though.

The answer is: a higher end buffet (known as their "Food Boat"), entirely vegetarian (80% vegan actually), serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Available to dine-in, or takeway.

"Every day you can choose from a selection of 40 vegetarian and vegan salads, hot dishes and desserts on our food boat. Everything is freshly homemade, several times a day. We cook with the season, using the best of the season’s produce. "

This is no ordinary buffet.  It is ... a boat, as they say.   Everything from the Boat is pay-by-weight. They also offer made to order items, baked goods, and drinks appropriate for the time of your visit.  Tuesdays are entirely vegan.  They use majority organic, local, seasonal produce.  Most stuff is pretty healthy.  Everything is clearly labelled with dish names, ingredients, and if it is Vegan/Lacto/Ovo, or if it has common allergens (gluten, nuts, soy, even onions or garlic), if it is spicy, and if it has much sugar.  If you have any food restrictions, this place is likely a dream come true.

It turned out to be for me too, even though I'm not vegetarian, and eat far, far, far more butter, cream, and cheese than the average person.  And I loved it ... the first day.  I liked it the second.  I did go back, literally, two days in a row, which is saying something, right?

Tibits has (er, had, sadly, they were a victim of COVID closures) two locations in London, the Bankside location I walked by that day, and a location right near Piccadilly that I later visited (twice).  And a bunch of locations in Switzerland and Germany, which *do* remain open.  Even more interesting!

The Setup

The concept is a buffet, known as the "Boat".

You fill your plate, get it weighed, pay.  The price is cheaper for takeway than dine-in, cheaper for lunch than dinner (although the same menu?).

The boat is double layered, with cold dishes on bottom, and hot dishes on top.  The hot dishes change out daily, the cold dishes are more fixed and seasonal.

You can return as many times as you wish, but, you must do separate transactions each time, no way to have a tab open for a table, which was a bit annoying if dining there.  The wisdom I read was to take a sample round of tiny portions, then go back for what you really wanted.  And to wait to have dessert, er, pudding, separate, so you could have the warm desserts warm.

I visited twice, once on the weekend for lunch, once during the week for dinner.  The sign at the entrance instructed me to wait to be seated, but, once I asked someone for a seat, they told me to seat myself ... at least, my first visit.  My second visit was at dinner when it was more crowded, and I was seated by the host.

Upstairs Seating.

The host seated us upstairs, the same floor as the bar and buffet.  Nearly everyone was seated in this area.

Seating.

But downstairs was a lovely oasis,  mostly vacant, comfortable bench seating.  It also had a kids play area, so I'm sure it doesn't stay an oasis, but on my second visit, I had the space to myself at first, and was only joined by a few other solo diners later on.

My second visit this area was also totally empty, but the host didn't offer it to us, but I sat there anyway.

Baked Goods.

Most of the cuisine is pay-by-weight from the buffet, but they do have an assortment of baked goods near the registers to order a la carte (including a vegan sausage roll ...).  I tried the mango coconut cake, and it was fairly dry and boring, although it had good mango flavor.

Chips, olives, and nuts were also available a la carte.

Drinks.

The drink lineup is huge, ranging from fresh juices and smoothies, to homemade soft drinks, to hot espresso and tea drinks (including more novel items like turmeric lattes and rooibos cappuccino), to beer, wine, and cocktails (alcoholic and not).

Really, something for everyone, no matter the time of day.  Drinks are ordered at the register when you weigh your food (or separately, but then, yet another transaction).

Hot Buttered Rum. 8.50.

"Havana club, spices, orange juice, & butter."

My second visit was a blustery cold night, and I really wanted a warming beverage.  I could have easily selected from the large range of tea drinks, but, the hot cocktails caught my eye.  I gleefully ordered a hot buttered rum.

And then things went downhill.  I ordered when I paid for my main meal, which was mostly hot food this time around.  And then I waited.  And waited.  The person who handled my payment told me to wait there while it was being made (rather than to take a seat and have it delivered, as I had seen done the previous day).

I waited.  And waited more.  My dining companion was slower than me at working the buffet, but he finally filled his plate, ordered a cappuccino, got his cappuccino, and went to sit without me.

My food was getting cold.  And colder.  And I was waiting.  And waiting.

During this time, the person making my drink was looking around confused.  He clearly had no idea how to make the drink.  He asked someone else, who said they didn't know either, and pulled out a recipe card.  Oooph.

So he started following the instructions.  Added one ingredient, walked back across the bar to the recipe card.  Walked back, added the next thing.  Again and again.  I wished I could cancel it.  My food was stone cold by this point.

And still I waited.  Eventually, after an excruciating long wait, my drink was handed over.

It. Was. Awful.

It tasted like water.  I didn't taste rum.  I didn't taste spices.  I didn't taste butter.  I did taste orange.  Basically, warm orange water, with a huge cinnamon stick poking out of it.

I stirred it.  I tried again.  Still just mildly warm, mildly orange, water.

Not good at all.  And, my food suffered greatly as a result.

Buffet

And now, for the buffet.

My visits were two days apart, Sunday lunch and Monday dinner, but most of the hot foods were entirely different between the two days.

Cold Items

Cold items were the bottom row of the buffet, on ice.  The cold items were unchanged for the most part between the days.

The first day, I went for mostly cold items.  They were certainly the stars.

Salad base & Dressing.

The buffet starts out fairly simple, with basic salad making ingredients, lettuce and rocket, assorted dressings, cottage cheese, tofu, seasonings.  Also on top here was crispy fried onions (yum) and teriyaki spiced seed mix (super tasty).

More Cold Salads.

More basics came next (shredded carrot, cucumbers), before moving into some grains and composed salads (Indian spiced dal, barley salad, Za'atar hummus, Kale-Swede Salad, and Beetroot Salad.  All the composed salads had descriptions, dressings and seasonings, and interesting ingredients.

More Cold Salads.

A few more cold composed salads were next,  both with walnuts (Persimmon or Dried Beans), and then a vegetable based tartar.

I really liked both the persimmon and dried beans salad, but not the vegetable tartar.

 More Cold Salads, Dips, Chutneys, Bread.

Rounding the corner was curried quinoa salad, pumpkin salad, wakame and glass noodle salad, asian slaw, and panzanella, along with dips and chutneys.  I tried most of this.

On top was a bread assortment, with gluten-free options in a separate location.

Antipasti.

The rest of the cold area was sorta antipasti style: marinated olives, marinated artichoke hearts, tofu and avocado salad, orecchiette salad, and edamame salad.

This merged into the final section, fruit and desserts, starting with pineapple, grapes, and figs.  Keep reading to find out more about the "real" desserts.

Dips!

I was thrilled to see all the sauces and dips at the end.  I'm all about sauces.

This section had sweet chili sauce, lingonberry chutney, tomato ketchup, and caramelized onion chutney.  I tried them all.

Sauces.

More sauces, only 3 were labelled though: tzatziki, sambal, cocktail sauce.  I tried all these too.

Hot Foods

Hot foods formed the upper level, under heat lamps to stay warm.

These changed almost entirely between my two visits.  I think less than half the items were the same, although they had a similar format.  I focused on this section more on my second visit, just to mix it up.

The hot foods were mostly, well, what you'd expect from a buffet.  Salads do better in buffets than hot foods, but, one signature item is the onion rings, and those were glorious both times.

Vegetable moussaka, Onoe Alla Arrabbiata.

Day one, the hot foods started with feta based veggie moussaka, and slightly spicy pasta with tomato sauce, neither of which I tried.

Kale-Persimmon Bake, Saffron Spaghetti.

In their slots the next day, a hot persimmon dish, and a different pasta, both of which I tried.

Savoy cabbage, Thai-tofu-curry.

Next on day one was veggies (savoy cabbage) and tofu curry, both of which I skipped.

Brussels Sprouts, Pumpkin.

The next day, the green veggie of the day was brussels sprouts, and next was mashed pumpkin, which I did try.

Brown Rice, Roast Beetroot.

And then basic grains and more veggies (beets), which both showed up the next day too.

Spinach-kale falafel, Beer battered onion rings.

The segue between the healthy veggie warm dishes and the decedent began with falafel, which made way for their signature beer battered onion rings.

These all came with the recommendation to try the chutneys with them.  Like I needed that advice!

These were both on the menu both days, and the onion rings were the hit of the buffet both days.

Breaded Mushrooms, Sour Cream Stuffed Jalapeños.

More fried, battered goodies came next, breaded mushrooms and cream stuffed jalapeños the first day.

I went for the mushrooms.

Okra Tempura, Sour Cream Stuffed Jalapeños.

Rounding the corner the second day was fried food again, this time, okra tempura and the same fried sour cream filled jalapeños.

I went for okra, and somehow never managed to grab a jalapeño.  I'm not sure why.

Mashed potatoes, Sicilian Focaccia, Boston Baked Beans.

And finally, the hot foods were rounded off by mashed potatoes, focaccia based pizza, and baked beans the first day.  I tried just the mash.

Carrot-ginger Quiche, Brown Basmati Rice, Swedish Kottbullar, Mashed Potatoes.

The second day a quiche with puff pastry crust replaced the pizza, the brown rice and mashed potatoes were there again just in different order, and some Swedish Kottbullar ("Meatballs") were introduced.  I tried the later.

The Food

So, I took the advice I read, and made a sampler platter to start, both times.  I felt a bit silly taking a bite or two of all the best looking stuff, but, this approach made sense.  I returned to get more of what I liked, and try a few new things.  Then, I went for desserts.

The first day, I wanted all the desserts.  Seriously.  You know what a dessert person I am in general, but these also were just awesome selections.  So I packed up the cold ones to go, and had the hot ones as dine in, along with a drink.  

So, one meal, three separate transactions, a bit annoying.  I still recommend this approach though.  I saw families doing annoying individual transactions too, like one parent getting a platter for themselves while the other sat with child, and then swapping, each needing to separately wait in payment line, weight, and pay.  I wish they allowed per table tabs!

By the second visit, I had tried many of the items already, so, I was able to consolidate down into only two transactions: sampler round, and then final savory + desserts in one.

Sampler Platter, Day 1, Round 1.

I know my sampler plate looked silly. I assume they see this sort of thing all the time though, and stopped judging people long ago?

I had all the dips and sauces.  Yes, every single one.  All the fried things.  Several salads.  Some of the salad toppings.

And?  I mostly really liked it.

The breaded fried mushroom was the least successful, just a slimy wet mushroom inside the crispy shell.  The onion rings were glorious, and I was glad I took a pile on my first round.  They somehow were crispy, even though in a buffet.

Of course, I loved dunking the fried items into sauces and dips.  The sambal was a bit spicy, the tomato ketchup and sweet-chili sauce pretty standard.  The cocktail sauce "Tibits secret recipe" was probably my favorite, a creamy blend of ... something.  The lingonberry chutney was sweet and fruity and unique.  I liked the flavors in the caramelized onion chutney, but I didn't really have a use for it.

The only other hot item I tried this round was a bit of mashed potato, fine, but not particularly interesting.

The panzanella was a letdown, some pieces of the bread way too soggy, others way too hard, and the tomatoes not very ripe nor flavorful.

Asian slaw was a bit boring, it had carrot, daikon, cabbage, ginger, and sesame but was fairly flavorless.

The pumpkin salad was similarly kinda bland, although healthy tasting, with white balsamic vinegar, walnut oil, and roasted sesame seeds.

The wakame salad was the surprise hit, mixed with glass noodles, and really great flavors and textures.  My favorite savory item, by far.

The vegetable tartar was super boring. Just red mush.  It said it had pickled gherkin, carrot, parsnip, and capers, but, it was pretty bland.

I tried the kale and swede salad because I wasn't familiar with swede.  Or so I thought.  Turns out, it is rutabega.  This one was very bitter, and the bitter walnuts didn't help.  The only thing I didn't finish.

The persimmon salad was great, super ripe large chunks of persimmion with sambal and more walnuts.  I was shocked by the number of dishes with walnuts or walnut oil.  Beware if you have a walnut allergy.

Finally, I liked the the crispy fried onions and the teriyaki seed mix, both of which were tasty things to nibble on.  I'd totally buy that seed mix as a snack.

I went back for much more of the wakame salad, tons more fried things and sauces, and persimmon salad.  I also tried the dried bean salad with walnuts + coriander dressing, and really liked it.  The green beans were soft and seemed roasted, but perhaps they really were just dried?  There was a lot of flavor to it, and I really enjoyed it.

The first day, I was thrilled with my choices.

Sampler Platter, Day 2, Round 1.

The second day, I got the wakame and glass noodle salad again, as I had liked it before.  It was fine, but I liked it less this time.  There seemed to be more glass noodles?

I also got the persimmon salad again, and again really liked it, and went back for more.  Ripe, fresh, crisp persimmon.  Very tasty.  Same with the teriyaki seeds and fried shallots, yummy tasty little nibbles.  Everything else, besides the dips, that I tried was hot this time.

For hot items, I went right for the fascinating hot kale-persimmon bake with cap mushrooms, but, discovered I don't really care for cooked persimmon.  The crisp sweet freshness is apparently part of the appeal to me.

The pasta this time was saffron spaghetti with kelp, capers, and white wine, in a creamy sauce.  It looked, and sounded pretty good, but, alas, it was basically just, uh, buffet food.  Kinda mushy.

For a veggie, I went for the mashed pumpkin with sweet paprika sauce and terriyaki seeds.  It was ... fine?  The toppings were interesting at least.

For protein, a Swedish Kottbullar, which I paired with the lingonberry chutney.  I knew I would find a good use for that chutney!  I have no idea what the meatball was made from, clearly soy protein or something like that, but I didn't like it.  The cream sauce was fine.

And finally, the fried okra was better than the mushroom as it wasn't as slimy, but I didn't actually love it.  The onion rings on the other hand though ... I again *loved* those!  When I returned for seconds, they were the first thing I went for.  I did like the cocktail sauce better this time too.

Overall, I was less enamored this time around.  I think the salads were certainly better than the hot foods, but also, I think my expectations were likely higher this time.

Desserts / Puddings

And finally ... desserts galore.  So many desserts.  Sorry, puddings.  All the puddings.  Hot and cold.  Healthy and ... not.

These items were about half the same between my visits.

Puddings, Day 1.

The hot items were a fruit crisp and their signature sticky toffee pudding.

Down below was the aforementioned fruit, vegan gummy bears, chai-chocolate cream pudding, raspberry cream pudding, creme caramel, tiramisu, vegan cream, and fruity bircher muesli.

Something for everyone, right?

Cold Puddings: Day Two.

The second day the chai-chocolate cream was replaced by mocha cream, and the flan by cheesecake.  The fruit and raspberry cream remained the same.

More Cold, Day 2.

The gummy bears, tiramisu, berry bircher muesli, and vegan cream remained the second day, but ... real double cream was added!  Where was this the day before??!!

Hot Puddings Day 2.

For the hot puddings, the fruit crisp turned into Orange-Ginger bake, and the signature sticky toffee pudding remained.

Coffee and Dessert, Day 1.

The first day, I got ... everything.  Ok, everything but the grapes and pineapple.  Literally.

I also ordered a decaf Americano to go with it, which was made to order.

I intended to eat the hot items there, and bring the cold ones takeaway, so I boxed up the cold ones, and put the warm ones on a plate.  But I couldn't resist trying a bite of each, and, well, nearly finished the whole thing there.  Ooops.

The coffee was actually quite good, not decaf funky, not acidic, not bitter.  Best coffee of my trip actually.

The hot puddings were a berry crumble and their famous sticky toffee pudding.  I plated these with vegan cream on the side.

The crumble was the only dessert I didn't like.  The fruit was decent, but the base was total mush, not quite sure what it was, but I hated the flavor and texture.  The crumble on top was crispy, but again, I didn't care for the flavor at all.

But its friend, the sticky toffee pudding ... swoon.  This was good.  Very good.  Moist.  Rich.  Great toffee sauce.  Studded with bits of dates and walnuts.  A bit of ginger for spice.  Warm.  It was everything I was looking for in a sticky toffee pudding.  It beat the pants off the supposed "Best" sticky toffee pudding in London that I had at Hawksmoor Seven Dials a couple nights prior.  It was vegan even.  It didn't even *need* clotted cream topping, which is good, as the vegan cream was ... lackluster.  Hands down, best of the puddings.

The creme caramel was no slouch though, pretty classic, smooth eggy rich custard, plenty of very sweet sauce.  The tiramisu too was good, the ladyfingers soaked in plenty of espresso base, so very moist, and the cream on top was thick and rich.

The raspberry cream was ... ok.  Very fruity, with real raspberries inside.  The chai-chocolate cream was similar, a bit bitter, but a really nice fluffy consistency.  I didn't really taste chai.  It was vegan though, so, impressive.

The figs were fine, a good healthy option.  I did skip the grapes and pineapple, and bircher muesli, as in, the real healthy options.

The gummy bears were more like jellies, I guess since vegetarian they didn't use gelatin, and thus were a different texture than I'm used to.

I was thrilled with my coffee and sticky toffee pudding, and loved that I could make up a dessert platter like this.

Traditional Cheesecake with Walnuts.

The second time I visited, I tried the cheesecake, hoping it would be as good as the creme caramel.  It wasn't.  Neither I nor my dining companion finished our portions.

The crust was similar to the mush under the crumble that I disliked, and the cheesecake wasn't rich, it wasn't cream cheesy, and I was really surprised this was actually traditional cheesecake.  It tasted like a vegan gluten-free item, if you know what I mean. Like tofu, with strange texture to the cheesecake, and mushy horrible crust.

Worst of the desserts by far.

Sticky Toffee Pudding: Day 2.

As I was standing around the dessert bar making my selections, the sad looking portion of sticky toffee pudding was whisked away. It had 2-3 quasi chunks left in it, and clearly had been there a while.  But I still wanted sticky toffee pudding, as it was *so* good the first day.  I asked, "are you bringing a fresh one?", intending to grab the remnants if they weren't.  Luckily, they were, and I was rewarded with a full fresh batch.

Except ... it wasn't great.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't nearly as magical as the day before.  Warm-ish, but not very flavorful, not nearly as much sticky toffee sauce.

Vegan Cream & Double Cream.

The real double cream was better, but still, this was just ... ok.  Maybe I was sick of sticky toffee pudding 3 days in a row?

I also tried the bircher muesli, but it was just soggy mushy cold oatmeal, with berries, nuts, coconut, and apple in it.  Meh.

Orange Ginger Bake.

The orange ginger bake was not great, just a dry cake, more like a quick bread, with orange and ginger flavors, powdered sugar on top.  Still, better than the crisp.

Read More...

Many Brunches at Cuckoo Callay, Sydney

Update Review, Brunch, Surry Hills, November 2018

In 2017, I made an incredible discover, Cuckoo Callay in Newtown.  It was incredible.  The souffle pancakes were mind blowing, the bacon mac and cheese phenomenal.  I dubbed it a "Top Julie Pick" in my overall Sydney dining guide.

I was very eager to check out the newer, larger Surry Hills location.

Surry Hills Location.

My guest and I arrived at 11am on a Saturday and were able to be seated immediately, although only outside, and it was rather chilly.

The meal was comical ... representative of so many things. 

Like the quality of service one gets in a Sydney cafe most of the time, and of the brunch scene in general (so many "precious" components).  Examples: they charged us for random items, the menu had things listed that didn't exist, the servers took away our silverware even when we said we were still eating, and so much more.

Quasi Successful Brunch.

The timing of the meal was a bit hard.  It was 11am, which was lunch time kinda, given my jetlag, except that I had feasted on a 4 course breakfast from 7-8:30, and I just wasn't that hungry yet.  But my dining companion was smarter and didn't do that, so she was more hungry.

Most of the menu is rather large, decadent dishes, so we opted to share 1 main and 2 sides, which seemed right for one normal hungry person, and myself.

The problem?  Well, one dish we ordered, a side of their amazing bacon mac and cheese, which isn't actually listed on the menu as a side but is part of the Bacon MacDaddy that I had before, wasn't allowed.  But they didn't tell us this, and it certainly used to be available a la carte.  So we ordered it, along with our other dishes, intending it to be our decadent item, and a substantial portion of our meal.  And then, only the single dish and one side were brought out, no word given about the mac and cheese until a few minutes later, when another server mentioned that the chef wouldn't allow it.  Well thanks for telling us ...

This was also frustrating because I know they do allow it, I've gotten it before, and I had called to ask about it in advance, that morning, at this location.  Sigh.  I didn't feel like fighting though, so let it go.  

To add to the interesting service bits, we were brought our bowl of porridge with no little bowls or plates to share it, even though we had said we were sharing everything.  We had to ask for share plates.  When we still had a decent amount of food left in the dishes, a server came by to ask if we were done, we said no, my companion even said, "No, I'll finish that", pointing at the panna cotta, and the server still took her plate and fork, leaving her with nothing to eat with, and without her share plate.  She was able to just take the panna cotta plate at that point, and take a spoon from something else, but, uh, what?  Our bill had a random charge for bacon sausage.  The menu had "Bottomless sparkling water" for $3 on it, so I ordered sparkling water, and was confused when a tiny bottle of Peligrino showed up.  I asked if this was "bottomless", and the server was very confused.  Another server came back and I asked her. She too was confused.  Eventually they told me the menu had changed, they don't have bottomless sparkling water anymore.  They could take away my Peligrino, or I could pay per tiny bottle.  The list goes on and on.

So, fairly poor service, mediocre food.  Not sure I'd go back at this point, unless they bring back those souffle pancakes.

Menu.

The menu is adorned with the same signature Cuckoo Callay pink flamingo.  I can't say I understand it, but, they have an identity at least.

Decaf Long Black. $4 + $1(decaf).

 Well, this was ... different.  And very confusing.  My long black came with a tiny sparkling water.

Now, I did order "a decaf long black and sparkling water", but, I had also received the expected glass of sparkling water already.  When my server came back by, I asked what it was, and she just said, "sparkling water, long black comes with sparkling water".

Uh, ok?  I don't really understand, but, I am not going to complain about a bonus (thimble) full of sparkling water.

The long black was decent.  Very dark and strong, no decaf funk.  It wasn't a complex coffee, but, it was fine.

Table Sugar.

Tables are already set with the sugar offerings, brown or white, large crystals, in glass jars, with a wooden spoon to serve.  No sweetener.

 Every Little Thing Is Gonna Be Acai. $12

.

"Acai, orange, strawberry, rosewater and chia seeds."

My acai loving companion ordered an acai based smoothie.  It came cutely presented in a glass jar, with a slice of banana floating on top, and chia seeds sprinkled on that.  Oh so cute.

I didn't try it, but she thought it was ok, but lacked the promised rosewater flavor.

The $12 price seems a bit high for a small little smoothie.

Chargrilled Halloumi (Side). $5.

To round out our meal, we ordered a side of halloumi, for 3 reasons:

1. Sydney cafes do halloumi soooo well.
2. My dining companion had never had halloumi before.
3. Um, its halloumi.  Its delicious.

There wasn't anything particularly remarkable about the halloumi, but it was nicely prepared, grilled, slightly charred, served hot before it got squeaky.  Very salty, but in a good way.

Pretty standard Sydney cafe halloumi, which isn't a bad thing.

 Someone’s Been Eating My Porridge. $17.

"Pearl barley and quinoa pudding, rhubarb sorbet, macadamia crumble and kataifi."

Porridge may be a bit of an odd thing for me to order, but, I had three reasons for this order too.

1. I was pretty fascinated by the idea of a warm porridge with sorbet on top, and of the macadamia crumble and crispy kataifi.  It had all the elements of what I love in my desserts (warm base, cold ice cream, crunchy stuffs), but, for breakfast, in a form that actually did sound ... healthy?  
2. It was kinda chilly out, and the idea of a warm porridge sounded nice.
3. I never opt for porridge in the US, but, again, Sydney cafes just do some things well, and porridge can be one of them.  Bills in particular taught me to love porridge (and corn fritters, scrambled eggs, and of course, ricotta pancakes!).

The dish was beautiful.  You can't actually see the porridge, nor the sorbet here, but the base of the bowl was the porridge, topped with a generous layer of macadamia crumble, with a scoop of rhubarb sorbet in the middle, a crispy kataifi crown, and pretty little flowers on top.  I had seen photos in advance, so I knew what to expect visually, but, it didn't actually taste as I was expecting.

Digging in, the porridge was ok.  Not particularly hot, but, warm.  The large pearl barley was a bit crunchy, not in an undercooked way, just in a way that gave it some chew.  I wished it was creamier, and that it had some kind of flavor to it.  It was very savory.  It really just tasted ... healthy.

The sorbet was sweet and fruity, not too tart as I feared it might be (because, rhubarb).  The sweetness was needed to liven up the porridge.

The macadamia crumble on top was great, and I'm glad soooo much was provided. Great crunch, and I love macadamias.  My dining companion remarked several times how much she liked that crumble.  Even crunchier was the large disk of kataifi, which I just adored.  Crispy, crunchy, fried thing?  Yes!

Overall, this was an interesting dish.  I'm glad I tried it.  I liked it in concept.  But, for me, it was just too healthy, and really was missing something.  I wanted ... at least honey to drizzle over it.

Kid's fresh fruit with yoghurt panna cotta. $10.

The regular (adult) menu has an amazing sounding breakfast panna cotta dish, called the "Roll Over Granola".  It is a lovely honey panna cotta, with housemade raspberry granola all around, compressed and stewed rhubarb, and, um, a small maple syrup milkshake on the side.  That dish sounds pretty amazing, and it was our second choice to the porridge, but we didn't want to order both, as we had ordered the mac and cheese and halloumi as well.

Now ... if our server had *told us* that they weren't going to actually let us order the mac and cheese, we probably would have picked our other dishes differently, going for the granola panna cotta instead of the porridge, but, alas, we were not told until just the porridge and halloumi were brought to the table.  Sigh.  We needed to supplement with something more, so I ordered the kid's panna cotta, knowing it wouldn't be as amazing as the adult version, but, likely more appropriate portionwise. 

It was simple, but good.  Slight tang to the panna cotta base from the yogurt, fairly sweet from honey, well set with a good jiggle.  In the land of panna cotta, pretty textbook.   The simple fruit, strawberries and blueberries, wasn't really enough to make it an exciting dish though.  I think that with the granola and stewed fruit (and milkshake!) from the adult version, it would be pretty fabulous.

Luckily, we had macadamia crumble that we could add to this, and a bite with panna cotta, macadamia crumble, and a bit of sorbet or fruit was pretty nice.

I wouldn't get this again, but I'd like to try the full version, as it sounds like something I'd really like.

Update Review: Brunch at Newtown Location, January 2019

After our lackluster brunch at the Surry Hills location in November, my dining companion from that trip and I headed back to the Newtown location 2 months later.  Newtown was the first Cuckoo Callay I had visited, so I had hope that it was just a location thing, and Newtown would be amazing again.  We gathered a group of 6 to give it another try.

The overall experience was much like all other visits.  The service was slightly better than in Surry Hills, but not great, particularly when it came to the end of our meal and we wanted to pay.  No splitting bills, even between two cards, was allowed.  The music was invasively loud, making it difficult to converse.

Brunch Feast.

Our visit was a mixed success.  Good drinks, a few good dishes, but I mostly left not particularly pleased.  Everything looked quite stunning though.

Beverages

Tap water was served immediately as we sat, before I could say "no thank you", but it was nice to have pitchers of water left on the table for those who wanted it.  I opted for sparkling, now just tiny bottles of Pelligrino for $4 each, rather than house sparkling.  Boo.

Everyone ordered an additional beverage, ranging from fresh juice, to smoothies, to coffee, to hot chocolate, to matcha lattes.  People were very pleased with the drinks, those drinking the espresso based drinks mentioned several times how good they were (and even ordered another round).

Orange Juice. $7.

The first drink to show up at our table was an orange juice.  I had to take a photo, just because I was stunned.  This came just from the fresh squeezed juices section of the menu, yet it looked considerably nicer than any simple orange juice I've seen before.  Which, given the $7 price, maybe it should?

But really, lovely presentation in a cute little bottle, garnished with slice of orange, and served with a pink paper straw.  I didn't try it, but, the person who ordered it seemed pleased enough.

I’m in Love with The Coco. $10.

"Pineapple, mango, banana, spinach and coconut milk."

I also didn't try the smoothie a fellow diner ordered, but it too came in a cute bottle with a pink paper straw, garnished with ... a spinach leaf.

Bon Bon real hot chocolate. $7.

Hot beverages started arriving next, including this ... hot chocolate!  The beverage itself was nicely done, topped with cocoa powder, but it came with a side pot of liquid chocolate, and a chocolate dipped marshmallow.

The presentation!

Decaf Long Black. $4 + $1(decaf).

My drink was far less interesting to look at, just a decaf long black, but it was actually quite good, a contrast to my previous visits.  No acidity, deep flavor notes of chocolate.  I quite liked it.  And no strange side of water with it this time.

Food

The last time I visited Cuckoo Callay with a big group, we shared everything.  This time, folks were less into sharing, but I did find one buddy to share with me, so we could go for both a savory, and sweet item.

The others had a range of items, including the "Tribute to The Greatest Reuben" that I've always thought sounded good, if I were to get a sandwich, and the stunning "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", literally in a crispy fried nest (I wished I got a photo!).  I think they mostly liked their meals?

For my sharing partner and I, we had one that I enjoyed, and one that I didn't, but I think she liked both.  So, mixed success.

Return of the MacDaddy. $20.

"Triple smoked bacon, bacon mac & cheese, tomato relish, 63° poached egg and fried shallots on a toasted croissant."

For our savory item, we had no choice but to get the Return of the MacDaddy.  I had loved it previously, and, we had been grumpy since our visit to the Surry Hills location when we tried to get a side of the mac and cheese and they didn't let us.  We needed it now.

It was nearly as good as I remembered.  Less decadent actually, less stuffed, which was sad, as the mac is the best part!

But the dish was good.  The croissant was large, buttery, nicely toasted.  A good croissant, although you really couldn't eat this as a croissant sandwich, even if you tried.  Just too messy.  I didn't find myself really wanting the croissant though.

The egg was perfectly poached, the yolk ran out easily, and infused extra richness into the dish.  I could do without the egg too, but it was done well.

The bacon was Australian style, so, flabbier and softer than I prefer, although I was able to get a crispy piece.  Plenty of bacon included.  Guess what?  Yeah, I could do without this too.

Now, finally, I'll tell you about the mac.  It was great.  Again, it doesn't look like anything particularly special, just generic mac and cheese, almost like from a box, unnatural orange color.  But it is good, the noodles not too soft nor hard, the sauce flavorful (in the same way that cheese powder is ...), reasonably creamy.  It is enjoyable to eat.

The tomato relish I had forgotten about, but I loved what it added, a complimentary flavor to the mac and cheese, I guess like a grown up version of putting ketchup on your mac and cheese (which I certainly did growing up), but it was also slightly sweet.  I really liked what it added.  The fried shallots were pops of savory flavor, saltiness, and crunch, and I liked them too.

So overall, everything was good, but for me, I really truly just wanted a big bowl of that mac and cheese, perhaps with a little tomato relish, and bonus points for fried shallots on top.

Why oh why won't they just sell it by the side?

We shared a few bites with others, and all but one said it was fabulous.  I was pleased to order this again, and would get it again.

I Speak Fluent French Toast. $22.

"French toast waffles, vanilla gelato, deep fried nutella, raspberry whipped ricotta, caramalised white chocolate, fresh berries and pistachio fairy floss."

For our sweet item, we went for one of the newest menu items: french toast waffles.  I had seen Instagram photos of this, so I knew what to expect.  Yes, it was a bit ridiculous.

I wish I could say it was good.  I didn't care for it much at all.

The waffles were the weakest element.  Two waffles, thin, gummy, not really hot, not crispy.  No idea what was "french toast" about them, I tasted nothing cinnamon, nothing like egg batter.  Just, really poor flabby waffles.

Stuffed inside the two waffles, and on top, was the raspberry whipped ricotta, which melted in quickly, and didn't taste of much, certainly no real raspberry flavor.  It was nice to have something cream-like, but this wasn't great.

The gelato was simple vanilla, fine I guess, but nothing special, not particularly creamy.  The fresh berries, also fine, but, just berries.

The deep fried Nutella seemed a bit like a novelty item, and given that I don't really care for Nutella in the first place, I didn't expect that I'd care about it, but, given how lackluster everything else was, I found myself going back to this, just because I wanted something to enjoy.  It was a bit too fried, the shell a bit burnt, and too thick, but the liquid Nutella inside was pleasant enough when combined with the gelato.

Speaking of novelty item, then there was the pistachio fairy floss on top.  That at least was fun, although, I didn't taste pistachio in it.  It was sweet, the texture was nice, and it was something to focus on while being disappointed by everything else.

My favorite part was the caramelized white chocolate crumbles all over the plate.

Overall, this was not a good dish, and although I had deep fried Nutella, gelato, and other toppings, I didn't particularly like it, and I certainly wouldn't get it again.

Original Review, Brunch, Newtown, July 217

One of my favorite things about Sydney is the cafe culture.  Cute cafes, with excellent food, are can be found all over the city.  Nearly everywhere serves breakfast (and weekend brunch) and puts serious energy into the menus, not just boring eggs and toast.  In particular, I'm always interested in the sweet items (ok, no surprise there), but they go so far beyond your standard pancakes/french toast/waffles, like the fantastic breakfast rice pudding at Pinbone or the unique breakfast tapioca pudding at Devon cafe.

I always try to plan at least one brunch adventure with co-workers when I visit, and usually I take it as an opportunity to venture further away from the city center, since we have the time on a weekend.

Last time, I dragged a group to Bread & Circus, and it turned out to be very lackluster.  The time before that we went all the way to Bondi, for the breakfast feasting platter at Trio, with both french toast AND pancakes (and bircher muesli, and 3 savory dishes ...), but it too wasn't actually very good.

This time, I picked a location in Newtown: Cuckoo Callay.  It is, uh, located at the train station.  And has a menu full dishes with names like "Magic Mushrooms", "Pretty in Pink", and "The Sideways Shuffle".  The egg dishes all feature 63° poached eggs, the fries come topped with bacon mac and cheese, and of course they have Nutella milkshakes.  It seemed likely that I was setting myself up for my third strike, trendy but wouldn't deliver, but, the menu was just far too tempting for me to pass up.

A feast!

My group of 4 met at 11am on a sunny Sunday morning.  We were able to get the last table inside, and the restaurant stayed packed the entire time we were there, although queues never built up.  We ordered 2 savory egg dishes, one sweet dish, and one side dish, which was plenty of food for four.

Service was typical Newtown cafe service, by which I mean, we were paid attention to to take our orders, but after that, we were never checked on, the food took quite a while, and we did have to flag someone down for the bill.  Basically, what I've come to expect.

And the food?  It was as ridiculous as I knew it would be, except, well, it was also delicious.  We had a wonderful feast, and I'd gladly return, particularly as I know Cuckoo Callay rotates the menu fairly often.

Setting

As I said, the location is at the train station.  Literally.

Outdoor Seating.

The majority of the seating is outdoors, under an awning, right up near the train platform.  A bit of a strange ambiance, but, I think the awning, umbrellas, and hanging plants in particular helps make it feel like you are not dining on a train platform?

Takeaway.

The outside area also features windows for takeout orders, for coffee, pastries, and a reduced menu, and, um, haircuts?

It was bustling, likely a great option for those actually taking the train.

Pastry Counter.

Inside was a pastry counter with incredible looking muffins (that I somehow didn't get in my photo) and gluten-free cakes.

Espresso Bar.

The espresso bar is also inside, serving both the seated customers inside and takeaway guests through the window.

The espresso bar rotates different single origin beans, and you can find the details of the day's offerings on the board.

Inside Seating.

The remainder of the seating is inside, which is where we were seated.  The inside is very small, but was a lot more quiet, so I'm glad we were able to get one of these spots.

Most seats are along the walls on blue benches, but our table was more central, so we had wooden chairs.  Tables were also wooden, as was the floor.  One wall was all mirrors.

Cutlery.

After we ordered, we were provided a can (from seriously old Campell's soup!) with cutlery and napkins for each of us, and tiny little share plates, as we indicated that we'd be sharing everything.

We were provided no extra utensils to serve, which did make cutting up and serving some of the dishes a bit difficult and thus we wound up with mac and cheese in our pancakes, but, alas, it was fine.  The little tiny share plates however really were too small, and it was impossible to try more than one dish at a time.  Still, I guess we give them credit for providing share plates?

Drinks

The drink menu is two pages long, one full page devoted to coffee beverages, beer, and wine, and the other to "exotic" juice blends, tea, milk shakes, and "cuckootails".

The milkshakes looked very tempting when I saw several go by, but they were huge, and we were planning to order sweet brunch items, so we choose to forgo the milkshakes (but the peanut butter & jelly, "matcha bliss", or even salted caramel really were calling my name!)

The "Cuckootails" include standard brunch favorites like bloody marys and mimosas, but also a drink dubed the "Frozé", a slushie drink made with rosé wine, strawberries, rose water, and, duh, watermleon.  If not for that watermelon, you know I would have ordered it.

Instead, we stuck mostly with coffee drinks.

When we were seated, chilled water glasses with ice cubes and a bottle of tap water were provided.  The chilled cups was a nice touch.

Decaf Long Black, Alchemy.  $3.50 + $0.50 (decaf).

Cuckoo Callay seems to take their coffee seriously.  They have several single origins, make cold drip, have a chemex ... but, the decaf?  Not good.

I tried one hot, and I tried one iced, and both were not good.  Very very strong, very very bitter.  No sweetener nor milk offered.

The Newzealander. $8.

"Kiwi, apple, basil and lime."

One of my companions went for one of the exotic juices, and although she offered me a sip, I declined because I knew the juice bar had watermelon.  Still, it was a looker.

Food

We were there for the food.  There was no question.  A menu of ridiculous names, and fascinating ingredients.  Narrowing in on just four dishes was extremely hard.

Cuckoo Callay's signature dish is the Bacon Mac Daddy: a croissant sandwich, with a poached egg, and ... bacon mac and cheese.  We knew we needed to at least try this famous, and very Instagram-friendly dish.  And everyone also wanted the chips (yes, fries, dear Americans), which were also topped with bacon mac and cheese.  Even though that meant we'd double up on the bacon mac and cheese, we decided quickly on these two items.

Next, I knew we needed at least one sweet dish.  I had my eye on the fondant pancakes from the first day they arrived on the summer menu, and it was pretty much non-negotiable that we were getting them.  Lucky for me, everyone else agreed.

Our fourth item was the hardest.  My second vote was for "the healthy granola dish", which is actually vanilla bean panna cotta with raspberry granola, pomegranate & raspberry coulis, and "textures of berries".  Um, panna cotta for breakfast?  Yes!  But the others were less excited about that.  There was also coconut pudding with rosewater and strawberry jelly, white chocolate ganache, and fresh kiwi and strawberries (again, pudding for breakfast!!) but I failed to get traction on that either.  My group wanted something savory, and we had plenty more choices, like the Mah-Sriracha with sriracha hollandaise, the Magic Mushrooms with a crumbed egg, The Sideways Shuffle with crab cakes, the Piggy Lilly with ham and cheese croquettes and green pea panna cotta ... so many options.  In the end, they wanted something with more vegetables, and I opted out of expressing opinions on the final item, since I knew it wasn't likely going to be what I wanted, and I was more than happy with the other three dishes anyway.

Decisions made, our order was quickly taken, share plates were brought out, and then we waited.  And waited.  And waited.  40 minutes from the time to order until our food arrived, which seemed quite long for a cafe.  We were completely ignored during that time, no refills of beverages offered.

Still, my grumpiness faded as soon as the food arrived.  It was worth it.  So worth it.

 M.A.C Cosme Chips. $14.

"Bacon mac’n’cheese chips - awesome!"

The first dish we all dug into was the M.A.C. Cosme Chips, because it was the only one where sharing actually made sense.  I think we were all intimidated by cutting the others into 4 portions, plus, how do you not just dive into this?

The base was chips, standard fries, not thick nor thin.  They were fine, but just fries.

The fries were smothered in mac and cheese, and the mac and cheese turned out to be amazing, even though, I'll admit, it didn't look like much.  It looked like Kraft dinner.

The pasta was straight, standard macaroni.  No fun shapes, nothing out of the ordinary.  It didn't look particularly creamy nor cheesy.  It wasn't crazy decadent.

But it was good.  Very good.  The cheese sorta tasted like cheese wiz, which I don't mean in a bad way.  There was something immensely comforting and satisfying about this mac and cheese.  I couldn't get enough of it.

The bacon I could have easily done without, as it was Australian style, flabby bacon, and I only like really crispy bacon.  On top was lots of green onion, which added some color, but was quickly lost among the fries and mac.

Overall, I could care less about the fries and bacon, but that mac and cheese was just really damn good.  We all really enjoyed the mac, and agreed that it was shockingly good, in ways we couldn't really pinpoint.  The others mentioned appreciating that it didn't feel too heavy, and not quite as guilty as some mac and cheese can be.

The mac was my favorite savory dish, and made me not care that the $14 price was a bit high for a bowl of fries with a scoop of mac and cheese on top.

Bacon Mac Daddy.  $18.

"Double smoked bacon, bacon mac ‘n’ cheese, 63° poached egg, tomato relish & fried shallots in a croissant."

The mac and cheese was featured again in the signature Bacon Mac Daddy, a dish that turned out to be fairly hard to split, but I'm still glad we ordered it.  It was served open faced, but I believe you were supposed to turn it into a croissant sandwich, and somehow eat it that way.  Most of my group ate it open faced, but I managed to make a mini croissant sandwich.

The base was a huge croissant, grilled.  It was crispy, and a decent croissant.

On top of that, bacon mac and cheese, just like the chips.  It was again amazing, creamy, cheesy, comforting, and awesome.

On top of that was more bacon, large slices of flabby Australian bacon, that none of us were really into, and we left unfinished (actually, literally, the only thing we didn't finish out of all our dishes).

The egg was nicely poached, and once we cut into it, the oozy yolk added an additional layer of richness and creaminess (as if the dish really needed it!), and of course, great egg porn.

It was loaded up with crispy shallots, which were also amazing.  I loved the crunch they added, and the flavor pop.

The menu said there was tomato relish, but we never found it.

Overall, this was ridiculous, but good.  Does it make sense to eat a huge croissant stuffed with mac and cheese?  Carbs in carbs!  Bacon two ways?  Fried shallots?  No, no it does not.  But that doesn't mean it wasn't great.  The croissant wasn't necessarily anything special, and I'd leave off the bacon, but that mac and cheese, particularly with the shallots, was just too amazing.

One diner declared this his favorite dish, and I gladly literally scraped up every last bit of cheese from the plate, just like another did with the fries.  These dishes were winners.

 Gorgeous George. $19.

"Smashed avocado and roasted truss tomatoes on sourdough served with shanklish, house-made basil pesto, yuzu sesame and a 63° poached egg."

For a healthier dish with vegetables, the group went for the Gorgeous George.  The base was sourdough toast, which I don't like, and the primary component was avocado, which I'm allergic to, so, it wasn't exactly hard for me to pass this one up.

The others said that it was a very good version of avocado toast, and praised the pesto in particular.

I was interested in exactly one thing on the plate: the shanklish.  Cuckoo Callay managed to find an ingredient I was unfamiliar with!  Shanklish is a type of cheese, and I was able to grab a bite from the corner of the plate.  It was soft, salty, and very herby, although maybe that was pesto mixed in?

Anyway, not the dish for me, but one diner said it was her favorite.

Summer Lovin'. $20.

"Lemon & white chocolate fondant pancake, vanilla crème fraiche, blackcurrant ice cream swirl, macadamia crumble and sour cherry sauce."

And finally, the dish I was waiting for, the fondant pancake.  It was stunning.  In looks, and in taste.

All our dishes arrived at once, and I think we were all a bit intimidated by this one.  Cutting up the Bacon Mac Daddy was a ridiculous feat, but, breaking into this was something else entirely.  Plus, shouldn't we eat the savory first?  Except this was hot, and the ice cream would melt ...  I wished we had asked them to course our meal a bit better, starting with the chips, then the two egg dishes, and then this.  Anyway.

Did I mention, stunning dish?  It turned out to be fairly easy to portion into four sections, which I quickly set about doing once coming up for air after a pile of mac and cheese.

On the plate was the pancake, 4 dots of vanilla crème fraiche (perfect, one for each of us!), a small scoop of ice cream perched on macadamia crumble, more crumble, lots of fresh strawberries, edible flours (yup, 4 of those too), and a little pitcher of sour cherry sauce.

Fondant Pancake: Inside!!!

I cut into the pancake to portion it into four chunks, and my heart skipped a beat.  The center was molten, and liquid white chocolate came spilling out everywhere.  Much like the yolk from the poached eggs, except, um, white chocolate.

Oh, yes.

The pancake was a thing of wonder.  The outside was like a baked cake, but inside was a thick liquid core.  Liquid white chocolate.  Crazy sweet.  Crazy rich.  Crazy delicious.

The macadamia crumble, much like the fried shallots from the mac, added a great crunch and textural element.  I appreciated how much crumble was provided, both under the ice cream and on top of the pancake itself.  We used it all.

Speaking of ice cream, the blackcurrant ice cream was fine, although not particularly memorable.  I do always like ice cream with my hot desserts though, and I appreciated the cold element here.

The vanilla crème fraiche I expected to really care about, since I love that sort of thing, but alongside the fondant and ice cream, it somehow disappeared.

And finally, the little beaker of sour cherry sauce.  It was tart, and good to have something to cut the sweet, but we all agreed we still didn't really taste it much.  After we finished everything else though, one diner decided to finish off the sour cherry sauce (and, it wasn't me!), and discovered it had cardamom in it.  The rest of us didn't really believe her, so we all took a spoonful of the sauce on its own, and, yup, it had cardamom.  No question.  It was quite strong actually.  But none of us tasted it when all combined together.

Overall, this dish was great.  Lots of textures, lots of flavors, multiple temperatures, but very sweet.  The entire concept of the fondant pancake was new to us, and I think we were all fascinated by it.  That said, I think it needs some refinement.  It was a bit sad that several elements were entirely lost in the dish, simply over powered.  Still, highly recommended, and I'm curious to see them evolve this dish.  I kept following Cuckoo Callay on Instagram long after I left Sydney, just to play along from home.

My favorite dish, one other diner's favorite dish, and the other two both said it was just too hard to rate on the same scale as the savory dishes, but, if they could order only one thing, they'd go savory.

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