Muracci's Japanese Cuisine

Muracci's is a super casual Japanese restaurant in the Financial district.  Open only during the week, for lunch and early evening only, so not somewhere I've had many opportunities to visit.  They have a very small seating area, basically just a couple stools up against the front window, but nearly everyone takes the food to go.

The space is kinda funny, a long narrow hallway basically, where everyone lines up, leading to the register deep inside the space.  The line always spills out onto the sidewalk at lunchtime.  Once you order, and get your food, then you have to squeeze back through everyone.  I'm not sure how they could do better though, the space just isn't very big.

The menu is mostly Japanese-style curries with rice, although they also have noodle soups, a small sushi menu, and some side dishes.  I'm not one for curries, so I opted for sushi and sides, none of which were very good, but, the curry really is what they are known for.  Oh, they also have packaged mochi, which I did enjoy, but somehow didn't get a photo of.  I'm losing my edge.

Potato Salad.  $3.75.

This is certainly the most unusual potato salad I've ever had.  Perhaps this is normal for Japanese potato salad?  It had ... broccoli and corn.  Uh, what?

The potato itself was also strange, it was .. almost mushy?  Like chunky mashed potatoes, not distinct pieces of potato.  I can't say this was a bad thing exactly, just, very different.

However, there wasn't much flavor.  It was certainly not overdressed, which is probably my most common complaint with potato salad, but I still am not sure there even was a dressing in this.  It really might have just been potato, corn, and broccoli.

I'm glad I experienced this as a totally different form of potato salad, but I wouldn't get it again.  $3.75 price was fine for a container of potato salad.

Inari.  $3.95.

Muracci's has a small sushi menu, consisting of 3 types of rolls (cucumber, avocado, or California) and inari.  All are prepared in advance, ready to grab-n-go.  I was really craving sushi, and while I didn't expect Muracci's to have anything all that high quality, inari is usually a pretty safe bet.

It was ... fine. The inari skin was slightly sweetened, it was well wrapped.  But, I didn't care for the rice inside and each piece was very generously stuffed.  It was white rice, but tasted somewhat like brown rice.  I think possibly due to the sesame seeds that were also in there?  The rice was slightly sticky, but didn't seem seasoned, besides the sesame seeds.

The portion of 5 huge inari was great for $3.95, but I'd prefer an option to get fewer, although I wouldn't get this again anyway.

California Roll. $3.75.

Well, this was not very good.

The rice was mushy.  The nori wrapper was completely soggy, actually hard to chew through since it was so soggy.  The sushi clearly was constructed much earlier in the morning, although the cucumber was crunchy and the avocado not too brown.  The crab was crab stick, fishy tasting.

Wasabi, ginger, and a soy sauce packet were included in the box.  Oh, and a fake sprig of grass.

I don't think this was even worth the $3.75 price.

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Bourke Street Bakery, Sydney

Several years ago, I lived in Sydney for 3 months, in Surry Hills.  I loved the location for many reasons, but one compelling reason was the fact that the apartment I found to rent was located on Bourke Street, just down the street from Bourke Street Bakery, now quite the Sydney institution.

I probably discovered Bourke Street Bakery on my first visit to Sydney, years ago now.  Sydney locals, knowing my love of baked goods, recommended it to me for one of their most unique treats, the ginger brûlée tart, and to Ojan for the sausage rolls.

I was totally overwhelmed the first time I visited that original Surry Hills location.  The lines were crazy long.  It was hard to see what amazing treats they had to offer through the crowds.  It was frantic when you finally made it to the counter to order.  There were perhaps 2 tables outside, but no other seating.  But ... it quickly became a favorite for Ojan and I.  We'd swing by to pick up treats to bring on our weekend excursions, or to grab a chocolate milk, our amazing discovery.  I know it sounds crazy to go to a bakery and get the chocolate milk, but it is seriously the best I've ever had.

Anyway, fast forward to now.  Bourke Street Bakery has expanded and flourished.  They have 8(!) locations in the greater Sydney area.  On this visit, we decided to seek out a different location, the one in Pott's Point (another area I stayed in during a previous Sydney trip).  I was curious to see what the larger location would be like.  We invited another friend along, who had just landed in Sydney a few hours prior.

I am glad we visited, and was glad to see that some items still lived up to my memories!

The Space

Street Level Entrance.

We recognized the signature Bourke Street Bakery logo instantly, but the classic sign that you had reached Bourke Street Bakery was absent: the crazy line!  Here, there was no line down the sidewalk.  It looked ... calm.

Outdoor Seating.

And unlike the Surry Hills location with only a couple tiny tables outside and no indoor seating, the Pott's Point location has seating options.

A few small tables are located on the sidewalk.  It was a bit chilly though, so we headed inside, where numerous other seating options were available.  This is a major distinguishing factor of this location.  Seating!  OMG.

Small Tables Inside.

Along one wall is small tables for two.  The bench seating wasn't very comfortable, since the back was too low to sit against.  The stools didn't look very comfortable.

Large Back Seating Area.

The main seating area is in the back, with side tables along the wall, arranged for groups of two or four.

Communal Table + Kitchen.

In the center of the back room is a long communal table with more of the little stools.

Overall, the interior wasn't great, not very comfortable, and I'm just not sure what ambiance they are going for.  Still, it was nice to actually have a place to sit, unlike the Surry Hills location.

A kitchen is also located back in that area, semi-open, but I didn't see any cooking going on.

Bread menu, breakfast menu, pie and sausage roll menu.

The first thing you see when you walk in is the fresh baked sourdough breads.

The bread menu, a breakfast menu, and the pie and sausage roll menus are displayed above the breads.

The sausage rolls at Bourke Street are known to be among the best in Sydney.  They are available in many varieties, including pork and fennel, lamb, harissa and almond, chicken pumpkin tarragon, or even vegetarian.  One of our friends got a sausage roll on this visit, and said it was quite good.  Ojan used to get them regularly.

Another Australian thing is of course meat pies, available here as classic beef, beef brisket with red wine and mushrooms, chicken, or the daily special of beef bacon pie with cheesy mash on top.  I remember getting one years ago, but I don't recall anything more about it (I was probably just trying to eat something with protein before diving into my pastries).  Our friend got the brisket pie this time, and again, said it was quite good.  He was happy with his savory choices.

The breakfast menu included quiches of the day, some savory croissants (ham and cheese, tomato and cheese), and basic toasts and croissants.

All of these items will all be heated up for you, and delivered to your table when warm.

Daily Menu and Drink Menu.

Along the wall behind the main counter is a chalkboard menu with the daily offerings for sandwiches and pizzas, since those change daily.

Beside that was the hot drink menu, all standard coffee bar offerings.

Breakfast Specials.

The other Bourke Street Bakery locations are just bakeries.  They feature all the items listed above, plus tons of baked goods, but no real entrees.  The Pott's Point location is unique in that it has more extensive food offerings, with clipboards listing out a full breakfast menu.

I was very tempted by many of the items.  Bircher muesli I adore, and it comes topped with roasted almonds and poached seasonal fruit.  Or the porridge with honey and banana.  These may sound boring, but they really do these dishes well in Sydney, totally different from what you get in the US with a bowl of simple oatmeal.  And of course, it was hard to resist the brioche french toast with mint, strawberries, and maple syrup cream.

But, we already had a huge breakfast feast at our hotel buffet earlier that morning, so, just a light meal was in order.  Plus, it was nearly 2pm, not exactly the time of day that I'd like breakfast.

Meat pies, cheese turnovers, quiche.

So, getting into the baked goods, the real reason to visit a bakery, right?  Right in the entrance, past the breads, is the expansive front counter, with all the baked goods laid out on display.

First was some savories, meat pie specials and quiches.

Croissants and danishes.

Next up were croissants (plain, chocolate, or almond praline), danishes (rhubarb), and pain au raisin.  They looked flaky and delicious.  I really wanted to try the almond praline croissant!

Cakes, cookies, donuts.

Next up were slices of cake (Pear & Raspberry Butter Cake, Flourless Chocolate), cookies (oatmeal, chocolate and sour cherry), and Belgian chocolate stuffed donuts.

I almost got a donut.  How do you not?

Muffins and tarts.

Continuing on, we were reaching the really good stuff.  You know how much I love my baked goods.

Three types of muffins were available: mixed berry, chocolate raspberry, and pear rhubarb.  The muffins change with the seasons.  I remember getting many muffins during previous trips to Sydney.  We'd often get them to take the beach or on walks.  I always loved them, and was very tempted to get one this time too.

For tarts, there was chocolate or almond rhubarb.  I know we got the chocolate tart once before, years ago.

Cake, pies, tarts, savories.

And continuing ...  now the REALLY good stuff!

In the back were slices of pizza and savory filled croissants.  The savory croissants are actually just the plain croissants, sliced open and filled with cheese and other fillings, then warmed up when served (rather than baked in, a slightly different approach than normal).  I very strongly advocated to get one for our savory offering, since it would be an excuse to try the croissants, but, Ojan wasn't interested and we were splitting.

In front were slices of carrot walnut cake and ricotta cake, and a slew of tarts: white chocolate passionfruit meringue, lemon curd, and the aforementioned ginger brûlée.  I loved the looks of the meringue!

Case of cold drinks.

The other side of the entrance area has a cold drink case, self serve.  All orders are taken from a register behind the main counter.

You wouldn't expect a bakery to make excellent cold drinks, but Bourke Street Bakery does.  Like the amazing chocolate milk.  OMG.

They also offer iced coffee and iced chai plus lemonade and pear & vanilla iced tea.

Savory

Chorizo, Mushroom & Chilli "Pizza". $7.50.

We wanted one savory item, and Ojan decided that given the heavy food we'd been eating throughout the trip, a meat pie or sausage roll were not in order.  And he vetoed my savory croissant pick.  Thus, we got a pizza.  I didn't really care what type, so I let him select, and he went for the chorizo.

It wasn't really what I think of as pizza, as, well, it had crust on two sides.  But it was also not a calzone, as the fillings weren't baked in, and the dough didn't wrap around.  This form factor was actually pretty nice, basically a pizza sandwich, portable and easy to just pick up and eat.  The crust was thin and light, nicely crispy.

Inside the "pizza".

Inside was melted cheese, chunks of slightly spicy chorizo, bits of mushrooms, and chilies.

It was heated up, but, not sufficiently.  It was only lukewarm, and certainly needed to be much hotter.  I wish we'd asked for it to be heated more once we realized how barely heated it was.

Overall, it just wasn't very good, but I thought it was interesting, and a nice easy option, a decent value for $7.50.

Drinks 

To go along with the savories, we also opted for some cold drinks.

One of our friends ordered the iced tea and said it was quite good, refreshing.

Ojan opted for a lemonade ($3.50).  I tried a sip and thought it was way too tart, but Ojan really liked it.  When I said it was too tart, his comeback was "That's what makes it good!  It actually tastes like lemon.  If I wanted to drink sugar water, I'd just drink some simple syrup".  Well, good enough point I guess, and I'm glad he liked it.

After our savory food, it was time to move on to desserts, the real reason we (or at least, I) were there.  We started with drinks.

Hot Chocolate. $4.

Ojan opted for the hot chocolate that he fondly remembered (I always loved the cold chocolate milk, while he preferred the hot chocolate).  To be honest, this hot chocolate was pretty much the reason Ojan was there.

And ... he absolutely loved it.  Over and over he said how much he liked it, and how it actually lived up to his memory.  His accolades were so great that our friend dining with us eventually got up to order one himself, and he also enjoyed his.

I wasn't very into it, but I don't generally want hot chocolate.  It was dark, rich, and chocolately, with a beautiful foam layer on top, sprinkled with additional cocoa powder.  $4 price was good for a real hot chocolate.

Decaf Long Black. $4.

I opted for just a simple long black, since I love something bitter alongside my sweets.

It was good, particularly for decaf.  Sooo strong.  Very dark brew.  No sweetener nor milk was needed here, and it did indeed pair perfectly.

Iced Chocolate. $4.

As I said earlier, the iced chocolate was my fondest memory of Bourke Street.  While I don't go for the hot chocolate, this iced chocolate, aka, chocolate milk, was always amazing.  I got one to go, and looked forward to drinking it the next morning after my workout.  Chocolate milk is one of my favorite recovery drinks!  Who needs protein shakes?

It was everything I wanted it to be.  The top layer was basically chocolate cream.  Yes, really.  They use full cream milk obviously, but I think they must put something more in there.  The top, the lid, the sides of the bottle, are filled with a thick cream, like a pudding, chocolate flavored.  This is my favorite part, and I always grab a little spoon and eat it like pudding.  Sooo good.  Yes, you can just shake the bottle and mix it in but ... I love it this way, savoring the cream.

The milk itself is rich, chocolately, and well just delicious.  You do want to shake it at some point since tons of chocolate sauce settles on the bottom.

I adore this milk, and will gladly pay $4 for it anytime.  My protip: if you ever visit Bourke Street Bakery, get one of these to go at least.  You'll thank yourself, and me, when you find it in your fridge later.

Sweets

Oatmeal Cookie. $3.50.

Ojan also got something for the road: a cookie.  It was a thin, crispy cookie, although quite large in diameter.  I'm not a cookie fan, but I obviously tried a bite.

It was very oaty, but, uh, not in a healthy tasting way.  It was very buttery, and sugary, almost caramelized.  Ojan thought that this might be the rare cookie that I actually liked, since it was so decadent.  He was right, except that I'd want to crumble it up, and use it on ice cream, pudding, or some other dish, as a component.  Just a cookie is never interesting enough for me.

The $3.50 price was fine for a large cookie, perhaps a bit high?

Ginger Brûlée Tart. $5.

I selected the ginger brûlée tart, one of their signature items.

It is an interesting creation, basically a ginger infused crème brûlée, topped with a few pistachios, but baked into a tart shell.

Like the "pizza", the theme here seems to be easy portability, which certainly makes sense given that their other locations have no where to sit.  Being able to eat all the treats with your hands is a big plus.

Inside the tart.

I cut it open to show you the glory better.

The custard was fairly standard custard, nice enough.  The ginger infusion is interesting, but honestly, I'd prefer it without.  Not that I don't like ginger, but, I dunno, I just don't love it in crème brûlée .  The top is a standard brûléed top, slightly crisp, great thickness, nice bitterness.  It is not brûléed to order obviously, so you miss out on the nice temperature contrast you get with fresh crème brûlée though.

The tart shell was crispy and hard to cut, but, you aren't really meant to cut it anyway.  It wasn't particularly good nor bad.

Overall, that is how I felt about the whole thing.  It wasn't good nor bad.  It was fine, I liked it well enough, but I have no desire to get another.  I used to love these though.

The $5 price was fine, although it is a small item.

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Brunch Takeaway from Pinbone, Sydney

On my trip to Sydney in February, there was one place that stood out in my mind as my top restaurant choice: Pinbone.  You read about my fantastic dinner there  It was so good that I returned for brunch the next day, which I deemed one of the best brunches of my life.

On my recent trip in May, I wanted to return to Pinbone again, and, I wanted to go for both brunch and dinner ... at least once each!  But, brunch is only available on Sundays, and although I was in town for two Sundays, I had plans with one couple on the second Sunday who didn't want to go to Pinbone (crazy folks), and the first Sunday was Mother's Day, which would bound to be crazy.  Since Pinbone doesn't take reservations for brunch, the waits might be extreme.  And we had huge dinner plans that night, so an epic brunch wasn't really in order.  I made my booking for dinner (which was excellent, as expected), and started scheming about how to solve my brunch dilemma.

Undeterred, I figured out a solution.  Sure, I couldn't do a full on decadent dining event at Pinbone for brunch, but I could still swing by to pick up a few of the items I eyed on my previous trip.  Remember how I said if I lived in Sydney I'd totally stop by Pinbone just to grab a muffin, donut, or dessert for takeaway on a Sunday?  This was my chance!

I proposed my plan to Ojan, saying we could get a salad or something light for a savory dish, plus a few treats, and go sit in nearby Centennial park to eat.  In my head, we'd have a cute little picnic and it would be sunny and warm. Sydney didn't quite co-operate, and it turned out to be a bit cold, windy, and totally cloudy.  Doh.  It was also my third day in Sydney, and somehow my jetlag hit way harder than the previous days.  I was exhausted, but absolutely could not sleep the night before.  I didn't feel well, and was pretty grumpy.  Ojan warned me that my mood was so foul, I wasn't going to like anything.

We still went ahead with the plan, and arrived at Pinbone right around noon.  As expected there was a wait on the sidewalk.  We entered and peeked at the treats behind the counter display.  How on earth were we supposed to pick just a few items?  Everything looked fantastic, from the muffins (orange & white chocolate or pear & ricotta), to the donuts (stuffed with chocolate, baked cheesecake & blueberry, or malted custard & rhubarb), to the assorted cakes and tarts (carrot cake, chocolate, macadamia & whiskey tarts, and of course, banoffee!).

Many moments, (ok, minutes), of indecision later we settled on one salad (to have some vegetables to justify our indulgences), one donut (because, really, how could we not?), and a mini banoffee pie (because, well, duh, banoffee).  I really wanted a muffin too as they looked so amazing, and the sound of the chocolate/macadamia/whiskey tart was almost too much to resist, but ... we did it.

Our food was packaged up within just a few minutes, and handed over in a plastic bag, complete with silverware for our picnic.

As before, the staff were very friendly and accommodating, and multiple staff members applauded our use of takeout as a great idea for the day.  Still being able to have the food but avoiding the craze of Mother's Day?  Genius!

Sadly, I didn't love anything we got.  It was all good, but not as nearly magical as my first visit.  That said ... I was tired, exhausted, and very, very grumpy.  Ojan really loved the donut, and has since compared every donut he has encountered to it.  Next time I'm in Sydney, I'd obviously still like to go back for brunch, but even if I can't squeeze in a full brunch, I'd certainly go get some treats togo again.

Bacon, maple, pumpkin tart. $12. 

We unpacked our bag to find a bonus goodie on top, wrapped up in foil.  Berri, the front of house manager, had snuck a little something extra into our bag!  A warm slice of their signature savory tart, an item from the regular brunch menu.

Pinbone has a number of signature dishes, and on the brunch menu, the creamed corn and fregola that we enjoyed last time is one of them, but this tart is the other.  A savory tart, with a base of puff pastry, a thin layer of pumpkin mash, and topped with bacon, plenty of bacon.  I'd seen plenty of great reviews of this, and really, there was nothing not to love here, so I gladly dug into our bonus treat.

The puff pastry base was very moist, not flaky and crispy as I'd expect.  It was heavy and buttery, not light and airy.  I think I would have liked something drier and crisper more, so you could actually pick it up.  That would also add a little crunch in the base?  It is also possible that when served in the restaurant the puff pastry was crispier, and it got a bit softer here since we took it to go.

The pumpkin layer was just a mash, but it was really creamy, and expertly seasoned.

The bacon slices were overlapping, so the edges that were exposed on top were crispy, but the pieces tucked under others were soft.  I really only like crispy bacon, so I liked the edges, but not the rest, as it was fairly fatty and just flabby to me.  But, this is just me; if you like bacon that isn't crispy, the tart certainly delivered.  There was sooooo much bacon.  Ojan really liked the maple flavor in the bacon.

Overall this was good, and Ojan devoured the maple bacon, but it wasn't really my sort of dish.  I did appreciate the seasoning in the pumpkin, and the fact that I got to try it though.  Thank you Berri!

Roasted carrot & beetroot salad with ricotta & baby spinach. $16.

Next we went for a salad, because I felt like we needed something savory, and we have a habit of literally eating no vegetables when we are in Australia.  We couldn't just order sweets and baked goods, right?

Salad choices were a cabbage/pecorino/walnut/pear salad, or this one with spinach, roasted carrots, beets, and ricotta.  This was a no brainer.  On our previous dinner at Pinbone I really enjoyed the roasted, caramelized carrots from one of the vegetarian dishes, so the roasted carrots immediately called out to me.  Plus ricotta?  Sold!

The salad was ok, but not remarkable.  The spinach greens were fresh and crisp.  The carrots were baby carrots, nicely roasted, still with bits of the greens attached.  Beets were lightly cooked, and chunks of both purple and yellow beets added pops of color.  Globs of creamy ricotta finished the dish.

I can't actually fault anything with the salad, but I just didn't really care for it.  There was no complexity to it, no wow factor.  The dressing seemed a bit too acidic, too tangy.  Then again ... when do I ever really like a salad?  I only ordered this attempting to be responsible.  I think my mom would have loved it though, I know she really likes beets, spinach, and ricotta.  Since it was Mother's Day, let's say I had it in her honor?

Baked cheesecake & blueberry donut. $5.

Moving on to the good stuff, a donut!

The donuts were just too hard to resist.  Huge stuffed donuts rolled in sugar.  How do you not try one?

We took a long time deciding which flavor to get.  Both the malted custard & rhubarb and the baked cheesecake & blueberry sounded like winners.  A creamy rich component and a fruit component?  Um, yes?  In the end, I let Ojan pick, since I was dictating everything else, and, really, I would be happy with either.  He picked the cheesecake and blueberry.

The donut was a big puffy donut, almost more like a sweet roll, given how large and doughy it was.  It didn't taste too fried, which is the one downfall that some donuts can have.  No gross, old oil flavors here.  It was absolutely coated in sugar.  Both Ojan and I loved the sugar coating.  It made it even more of a guilty pleasure.

The cheesecake filling was creamy and a bit sweet, perhaps a bit cheesy, but I'm not sure I would have called it "cheesecake" necessarily.  Ojan did point out that it clearly wasn't just a sweet pastry cream, and had some cheesiness to it, which, was true.  The blueberry compote on top was sweet and  a nice balance, although I would have preferred raspberry or strawberry.  Not that I don't love blueberries, and in general, I'd pick blueberries over raspberries or strawberries, but I also totally adore classic sugar coated jelly donuts, and this reminded me of a jelly donut, so I wanted a more standard flavor to match the donut.

My final criticism is that I wished there was more filling, as the donut was just split down the center and partially filled, and many bites went without filling.  I mentioned that I was grumpy and ridiculously picky, right?

Ojan really liked it though, saying he really liked how it was somewhat of a cross between a donut and a roll.  And every donut he had after this over the next few months he has compared to this one.  So, it was a success, and I'd try another of their donuts for sure.

Mini banoffee pie. $8.

And finally ... the banoffee pie.

Pinbone sells full size banoffee pies, or, mini tart style pies, as we opted for.

Now, to pack up for a minute, let's talk about banoffee.  I discovered banoffee on my first visit to Sydney.  It is not a pie that we have in the US.  I'm not sure why.  We are clearly missing out.

The first banoffee pie I had was from Cafe Sopra, in Pott's Point.  Sopra is famous for their banoffee pie, and it became a staple of my diet while in Sydney.  On every single visit to town, I make a point of going at least once to get a decadent slice of banoffee pie.  Even once I had a vandetta against Cafe Sopra and I vowed never to return to the restaurant for a meal (long story), I still made an exception to swing in for just a piece of banoffee, or, more often, picked up a slice to takeaway.  I had a vandetta, yes, but ... banoffee.  So good.

Over the years I've tried to find banoffee other places, and have even asked a few pastry chefs to make it for me, but none have ever come close to the Sopra version.  As much as I am grumpy at that place, well, they make great banoffee.

So let's just say that I was quite excited to try Pinbone's version, since, well, I clearly love banoffee, and I was eager to find somewhere else that made a version I liked.  Plus, I've loved so many other items from Pinbone, I could only imagine what they might do with banoffee.

Sadly, I didn't love it.  The tart shell was a hard, basic tart shell.  It didn't have the buttery richness of the Sopra version.  I think it was just a regular tart shell, not made with digestive biscuits.  The crust was a bit too thick, making it too dominant of a component, and it was hard to cut into.

The next layer was the toffee, sweet, creamy, a generous amount, but ... it just wasn't anything special.  I think the Sopra version uses a layer of chocolate between the shell and the toffee too?

On top of that was fresh slices of ripe banana, good enough.

The cream on top was fantastic.  I don't think it was just whipped cream.  It almost seemed like a whipped mascarpone perhaps?  I loved the thickness and flavor to it.

Finally, a sprinkling of chocolate.  It wasn't just dusted with cocoa powder, but instead was coated in little chunks of really flavorful, high quality, chocolate.

Overall, this was a mixed bag.  I really, really enjoyed the cream and the chocolate, but, the tart shell and caramel weren't awesome.  Ojan said he preferred the Sopra version, and noted that this needed a more chocolate to it.  I'm glad I tried it, and I had no problem finishing all the cream, but, sadly, it wasn't my favorite banoffee.  I guess I'll have to continue to return to Sopra.

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Cruffins @ Brewtown Newtown, Sydney

Cronuts, aka, croissant + donuts for those of you living under a rock, have taken the US by storm (for good reason).  When I was in Sydney, I kept hearing about their famous cronuts, from a place called Brewtown Newtown (although called "Brewnuts", because, trademarks).

Brewtown Newtown is actually mostly a coffee shop/cafe, not a bakery, so I was a bit skeptical, but so many food blogs raved about this place.  It is in Newtown however, further afield that our normal Sydney adventures take us, so I didn't think I'd really get in a visit.  That is, until we went for dim sum at Luly and Yum Yum, and I was left a bit unsatisfied by the lackluster dessert.  I always need dessert!  The group wanted to get coffee afterwards, and I knew Brewtown Newtown was just down the street.  They could get the coffee they wanted, and I could try a cronut.  Everyone would win.

So I lead us down the street to Brewtown Newtown, where we discovered just how popular it was.  At the front was a place you could order just drinks and baked goods to go (or, go drool over them in the display cases), and the rest of the space was for sit down dining with table service, absolutely packed.

The cafe actually sounds quite nice, serving breakfast and lunch, with seasonal menus focused around farm fresh, "paddock to plate" cuisine, free range, organic, yadda yadda.  Once we sat, I was able to see dishes delivered to tables around us, and it all looked good.  The most impressive is the Elvis Burger: "savory brewnut, canadian bacon, gruyere and mayo served with chips and relish".  Yes, that is a bacon and cheese topped burger, served with cronuts as buns.  OMG.  Many tables ordered this.  I actually laughed a bit, as there were many pairs of male + female together, and the males all ordered the crazy burger, and the females salads.  So ... stereotypical?  I didn't even see a female ask for a bite of one of these.  I totally would have!

Anyway, as for the coffee, they serve Single Origin roasters, one of my favorite beans in Sydney.  I tried a decaf long black ($3.50).  The coffee wasn't very good, harsh and acidic.  It had an oil slick floating on top, never a good sign.  It also had no crema whatsoever.  This is not representative of Single Origin's product, so I'm not sure what went wrong.  I asked to have it topped off with a bit more hot water to dilute it, and was brought a cute little pitcher of hot water so I could dilute it myself.  That was a nice touch.

Ojan opted for a hot chocolate ($4), which was unremarkable.

Interior.

The place was packed, and we had to wait for a table even though it was about 3pm.  The vibe was lively and hopping.  Music selection was a bit hilarious, obviously very hip, moving from 80s pop hits to classical numbers, and everything in between.

The space has brick walls and exposed beams, very industrial feeling.

Brewnuts.

Counters at the front display the baked goods in all their glory, starting with the Brewnuts of course.

The flavors of the day were: cinnamon, glazed, chocolate crumble, blood orange, lemon myrtle, fruit & nut, passion fruit curd, and salted caramel with macadamia.

Unlike some other cronuts, these do not have any filling, rather, they are just the croissant donut, with a hole in the center, and nothing between the layers.  The flavors are all in the toppings.  They did look quite stunning.

Cruffins.

But this is Sydney, and a hip place, so they have continued innovating.  In addition to cronuts they have ... cruffins!  You can probably guess what this is, a hybrid croissant-muffin.  But unlike the brewnuts, these ARE filled.  In my world, filling makes better, so even though I set out to get a cronut, I quickly changed my game plan and started drooling over the cruffins instead.

The cruffins available were lychee & rosewater, lemon meringue, dulce de leche, cinnamon, almond frangipane, and salted caramel with caramel corn.

Salted Caramel with Popcorn Cruffin.

We obviously had to go for a cruffin, even though the brewnuts are the item everyone raves about from Brewtown.  I couldn't resist having not only a croissant with awesome toppings, but filled too!

The lemon meringue looked awesome with the meringue on top, but neither Ojan nor I really like lemon desserts, so, we didn't go for that.  And I don't like rosewater.  Ojan ruled out almond. The cinnamon was too boring.  This left the sweet options of dulce de leche and salted caramel.  The salted caramel came topped with caramel corn, which just seemed a bit too awesome to resist, so, it became the winner.

The caramel corn was indeed quite tasty.  Did it belong perched on top of my cruffin?  Not really, but it was sweet, crunchy, and went perfectly with my coffee.  I'd gladly purchase just their caramel corn.

Inside!

I carefully cut it open to reveal the cream filling.  This was no easy task, as the cream came spilling out, and, croissants aren't exactly easy to cut with a butter knife.

The croissant dough was great.  It was crispy on the outside, buttery and flaky and perfectly laminated dough.  However ... I didn't like the cream.  I'm not sure what it was about it, but the flavor just didn't do it for me.  It was creamy and sweet, so I really should have.  Ojan loved it though, and said this treat made his day.  Of course, he added that he'd like to have some chocolate on top too.

So, this was a quasi-success.  The pastry was good, and that is the hard part to nail, so I have every reason to believe that I would have enjoyed another flavor.  Or, perhaps the Brewnut really is the item to get, as these aren't about the filling, more about the quality pastry.  I'm glad I tried it, and would return to try another item sometime.

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Dinner at Pinbone, Sydney, May 2015

You may recall that on my previous Sydney trip in February 2015, I came back absolutely raving about one place: Pinbone.  I went for dinner on my second to last night in town (and would have gone back the next night if they were open!) and returned for brunch the next day.  The dinner was amazing, the dessert stunning, and the brunch perhaps the best brunch I've ever had.  And I adored the ambiance.

It goes without saying that when I returned to Sydney in May, there was one and only one place that I knew I HAD to return to, and Pinbone was it.  I made a reservation for myself, Ojan, and two of our friends who are locals.  Since I've reviewed the atmosphere, menu concepts, and general elements of the restaurant before, I'll skip that this time around, and dive right in with the review of our meal.

Summary though?  The best chicken liver I've ever had.  The best sunchokes I've ever had.  Fascinating pickled peanuts.  A dish Ojan dubbed "toasted marshmallow salmon".  Overall, a entire meal of winning dishes, all fantastic preparations of familiar ingredients, combined in unexpected ways.  Still my favorite restaurant in Sydney.

To go along with my meal, I also wanted to sip on something alcoholic to truly relax.  The drink menu had two sakes, three beers, wine, and a couple classic cocktails.  Since no one else was drinking, I opted for a glass of wine, and, even though I knew I would mostly ordering seafood, I opted for red.  I was in a red sort of mood. I asked for a recommendation on the lightest option, since I was pairing with seafood. The suggestion was a Jean-Paul Daumen grenach, syrah, merlot, and cab sav blend, which I went for. It was a light, easy drinking wine.  I appreciated that they recommended the least expensive wine on the list, clearly not trying to upsell, and offering up the best one to go with my meal.  The others all enjoyed the house sparkling water, again left on the table in a carafe for us to serve as we pleased.

Individual Snacks

The menu again started with "Individual Snacks", small bites all priced individually.  There were more options this time, but the classics of the "fairy bread", "smoky, cheesy, potato thing" and lamb ribs remained, as did the gougère, although this time filled with corn and bacon, rather than corn and miso as we had before.  All the snack bites were again priced $4-5 each.

Since the snacks are priced individually, each person can order whichever selections they want.  And somehow, everyone in our group wanted slightly different things.  I only tried a few snacks, since I had my eyes on basically ALL the sharing plates that were coming up next.

Assorted snacks, $4-5 each.

We wound up with a hodgepodge of items, but somehow, the kitchen managed to deliver them all at once, very soon after ordering.  As before, I was impressed with the speed at which they pump out the snacks.  The meal throughout had a good pace.

We skipped only three of the "snack" options: the "oyster, beef carpaccio, dill pickle", the "mussel, pickled daikon, chilli", and the chicken popper.

From top left, clockwise:

• Fairy Bread: This is one of Pinbone's signature dishes, a play on the Australian childhood favorite of white bread topped with butter and hundreds and thousands (yes, this is a thing, look it up).  I wanted to try it last time, so I'm glad I was able to this time.  The base was toasted bread (brioche, way more exciting than simple white bread!), and it was spread with creamy mascarpone (I love butter, but mascarpone is even better!), and then, assorted roe and chives.  It was really a fun bite, and I loved how the roe popped in my mouth as I ate it.  The inspiration from fairy bread was obvious, but it actually reminded me a bit more of something American: a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon.  It had the same bread base, creamy spread, and slightly smoky fishy flavor.  In any case, fun, playful, and tasty. 
• Corn and Bacon Gougère: Since I had a gougère last time and didn't really care for it, I skipped it this time around, but the preparation was a bite different.  It had bits of bacon on top and oozed a redish filling, which I assume was a creamy corn with bacon.  Last time it was corn and miso.  I love miso, but, bacon always makes better!
• Smoky, Cheesy, Potato Thing: I also skipped these, since I had them previously.
• Crispy Chicken Skin, Bread Sauce, Anchovy:  Now this was kinda the definition of a perfect snack.  An indulgent snack.  It was crispy and super salty, just like you want any snack to be.  It had a slightly fishy aftertaste, clearly from the anchovy, but it wasn't bad fishy, just, fishy.  I really liked this, and think it would make an awesome canapé or appetizer for a party.
• Pork Crackling, Ricotta, Smoked Rockmelon: Ojan went for this, but, due to the rockmelon, I had to abstain, although I did want to try the crispy pork crackling.  Crispy, salty, creamy, sounded like another great bite.
• Lamb Rib: Another one I skipped, since I don't care for lamb.

All the "snacks" were met with success with the group, and we were off to a tasty, fun start.

Cold Sharing Plates 

Narrowing down our order of sharing plates was incredibly difficult.  I wanted so many of them.

As before, the menu was broken into sections, starting with five light seafood options, moving into six slightly heavier poultry and offal dishes, followed by four more substantial dishes, and finally the largest selection, six vegetarian dishes.

Since I love seafood, we opted for three from the first section, one from the second, and one vegetable dish, skipping the third section entirely.  The kitchen coursed this for us into two groupings, in a way that made the most sense, starting with the cold dishes, moving into the hot.

Chicken liver parfait, persimmon, toast. $18.

Our first course began with our one choice from the second section: chicken liver parfait.  I can't resist a good liver dish (although of course, I prefer it to be foie)!

The other dishes in this section were a rabbit tartare (skipped due to my history with rabbits as pets, I just can't bring myself to eat them), duck hearts (I'm not opposed to trying this, but, limited stomach space!), lamb sweetbreads (this would have been my next choice if we were getting one more dish), and quail (meh, poultry, meh, little birds.  Although honestly, I was interested to see what they could do with quail, since I never care for it, and the chefs here are magic).

When the chicken liver showed up, I was slightly surprised.  Pinbone has a way of taking a list of ingredients and presenting it entirely different than you imagine, and this was no exception, but in this case, it was due to the word "parfait" in the dish name.  I expected a layered dish, probably layers of chicken liver and a persimmon compote, with toast on the side to spread it on.  I was right about the toast, although it was more of a crostini even, super crispy.

The chicken liver was probably the best I've ever had.  It was incredibly smooth and creamy.  Expertly seasoned.  Really flavorful.  You could taste the liver, which I wanted of course, but it wasn't too livery.  I think even those scared of liver would like this.

The persimmon was soft, perfectly ripe, super sweet, excellent paired with the richness of the chicken liver.  Liver and fruit, always a great pairing.

The surprise element of the dish was ... radicchio.  Not listed on the menu, and not what I'd expect to be served with chicken liver.  It really was just pieces of fresh, bitter radicchio.  But it worked.  Once I realized I wanted more liver, but didn't want to fill up on bread, I realized I could create lettuce wraps with the radicchio, stuffing it with a generous spoonful of liver and a chunk of persimmon, and it was awesome.

The perfect bite really was crispy toast, spread with a very generous smear of liver, and topped with a chunk of sweet ripe persimmon.  It had everything going on texture-wise and flavor-wise, crunchy and creamy, rich and sweet.

I really, really enjoyed this dish, as did the others.  I wanted to save room to try everything else, but I couldn't stop going back for more and more of it

My favorite dish of the night, and Ojan's as well, which was surprising, since he doesn't normally like liver, but said it grew on him.  The two of us easily polished this dish off.

Bonus! Peanut custard, pickled peanuts, edamame. $20.

Ok, I lied.  The astute reader will notice that I said there were 6 dishes listed in the second section, I just showed you one, and mentioned 4 that we didn't get.  Where was the 6th?

The 6th dish was a fascinating sounding peanut custard.  We actually discussed ordering it, since it sounded unique, and I do love both custards and peanuts, but, we had to cull our choices, so decided to skip it.

But ... the kitchen brought it out for us, complimentary.  Aww, thanks!  I was secretly thrilled, since I did want to try it from the start.

The base was a chilled creamy custard, which reminded me of soft tofu.  I didn't detect a lot of peanut flavor in it, but I'm not really sure what that would be like, as much as I love peanuts, it isn't like I'd want to eat a big block of peanut butter (ok, wait, nevermind, yes I would).

But that isn't to say that peanuts didn't show up here in a dramatic way.  It was covered in the pickled peanuts, which were just totally crazypants.  I had no idea you could pickle peanuts.  There was so much tartness in these.  I couldn't stop eating them, out of complete fascination.  Pickled peanuts!  Who knew?

The other toppings were edamame and fresh snow pea tendrils.  I loved the burst of freshness against the strong flavors of the pickled peanuts.

It was served in a light vinegar based broth, providing additional tartness.

This was my second to least favorite dish of the meal, but the pickled peanuts were just crazy fascinating, and I'm glad we got to try this dish.  It was in no one's top three.

I again loved the rustic charm of the assorted dishware that everything came on, specially crafted for Pinbone by local artisans.  This one was particularly stunning.

Pickled octopus, white beans, orange. $20.

The final dish that came in our first grouping was pickled octopus, from the first section of the menu.  We skipped the other cold selection from that section of bonito sashimi, which I'm sure was good, but, sounded the least interesting of all our choices.

The octopus was cooked, chilled, and sliced mostly into disks, although we had a few tentacles in the mix as well.  Everyone was skeptical about ordering this dish, since octopus can be so chewy and rubbery, but when done well, I really love it.  Sadly, this went the way everyone feared.  The slices of octopus were quite chewy.

Also in the mix were large white beans, nicely cooked, not mushy, not firm.  It was all sprinkled with a nori dust.

The broth was a citrus based broth, full of flavor, and pretty tasty.  Ojan loved this sauce, and once the octopus was gone, he took a spoon and tried to lap all of it up.  He stopped just short of picking up the dish and licking, but, if it had remained on the table much longer, he probably would have.

My least favorite dish of the evening, but Ojan at least loved the sauce.  Still, not in anyone's top three.

Hot Sharing Plates

Three cold dishes down, it was time to move into the hot dishes.   Our individual plates were exchanged out between the two rounds, which was appreciated, and a brief pause gave us time to contemplate and discuss the previous round.  Ojan couldn't stop talking about the chicken liver, and I don't blame him, it was still on my mind too.

Grilled salmon belly, charred shallot, mirin. $22.

We started with the dish I was most looking forward to, grilled salmon belly.

I wanted to order this on our previous visit, but it didn't make the cut then.  I was so jealous when I saw it walk by time and time again, so this time, we were getting it, no question.  Plus, I knew the Pinbone cooks did great things with the grill, since I loved the grilled kingfish wing so much last time.

The salmon belly was lightly cooked, with beautiful grill marks, served skin on.  It was fatty in a luxurious way.  I thought the char imparted on the fish was great, but Ojan took his first bite, and didn't like it.  "It tastes like burnt marshmallow", he declared.

I thought he was crazy.  It had the perfect char, what was he talking about?  But of course, I was doing my classic technique of trying each component individually first, before combining into a "perfect bite".  It was the puree on the plate that had the strong char flavor, not the fish itself, he just didn't realize this since he was eating it all together.  The puree was made from charred shallots.  It was crazy smoky.  Yes, a bit like a burnt marshmallow, like when you are toasting marshmallows and get impatient, and decide to just let it catch fire and seriously char.  But it wasn't a bad thing, and I loved the flavor of the char, and thought it cut the fattiness of the salmon nicely.  I was also just crazy impressed that they managed to get such an incredibly strong char flavor into that puree.

Once he went into it with his expectations adjusted, Ojan decided he liked it too.  "Toasted marshmallow salmon" he dubbed it, not intending it to be a negative comment, just reflective of what he tasted.  He deemed it the most interesting dish of the night

I also really liked the grilled spring onion that was served with it, and claimed the whole thing for myself.

Overall this was tasty and interesting, my third pick of the night, and second pick of another diner.

Leatherjacket & snowpeas. $22.

Our second hot dish was the leatherjacket.

The final hot dish from the first grouping on the menu was steamed pipis in garlic butter, which we also skipped, since we had pipis a few days prior at Gantry, and they just weren't a favorite.

I had seen photos of this dish, and knew it would be a nice, light offering, which I wanted, since I knew we had several rich dishes in our order, and were gearing up for an epic dessert feast.

The leatherjacket was indeed light, delicate, and somewhat refreshing after the heavier food.  I'm pretty sure this was my first time having leatherjacket.  It was nicely prepared, but not all that remarkable.

It was served over snowpeas, which were thinly sliced and chopped.  I think that was also a first for me, I don't think I've ever had them chopped up so small before.  They were cooked really nicely, not too cooked down, still a bit crispy.  I liked them quite a bit, again, a fascinating preparation of a familiar ingredient.

There were also some tart onions in the mix, which I thought overwhelmed the other more subtle flavors of the dish.

This was my forth, middle-of-the-road pick for me, but a strong favorite of another diner.  He said it was hands down his favorite.  I was amused in this meal how we all picked totally different dishes as our favorites.  I'm used to some slight differences of opinions, but in this meal, reviews were all over the place, although everyone was happy.

As I mentioned, we skipped the third section of the menu, the more substantial dishes of kingfish wings (delicious, but we had this last time, although I was tempted to get it again, as I loved it!), chicken breast (meh, chicken), rump cap (meh, rump), and pork (meh, pork).

Jerusalem artichoke, parnsip, barley. $14.

Our final hot dish was a vegetable selection.  This selection of the menu had the most options, six different choices, all of which were listed just simply as a list of vegetable ingredients, like "fennel, enoki, nori" or "mushrooms, yolk, sake".  We had to ask for clarification on what these dishes might be.

In the end, we took our server's recommendation for her favorite.  Ojan raised some red flags right away, saying "Julie, you don't like artichokes!"  I reminded him that "Jerusalem artichokes" are what we know as "sunchokes", and he immediately took back his statement, knowing how much I love sunchokes.

I came into this expecting to love it, because sunchokes, but wow, even with high expectations, and love of sunchokes, it blew me away.  I've had a lot of sunchoke dishes that I've loved in the past few years, but this was honestly the best sunchoke I've ever had.

Let me break the dish down.

The base was a creamy parsnip puree, smooth, well blended.  It was sprinkled with barley, which I think might have been toasted, as it was a bit crisp, and added a great crunch.  On the side was a grilled lemon, to squeeze and drizzle over.

Those elements were all good, fine, but it was the sunchokes that stole the show.  I have no idea how these were cooked, but they were insanely creamy inside, entirely unexpected  Deeply caramelized on the outside.  So incredibly good.

A perfect bite could easily be composed with creamy and crunchy elements, something I always like.  The second favorite for myself and one other diner, and number one pick for the other.

Dessert

After our feast, we were pretty satisfied, but you know me, I always need dessert.  The Pinbone dessert menu is small, only 4 choices.  You'd think this would make things easy, but we struggled between ordering three or all four.  There were only four of us, and we were pretty full.  I knew from past experience that Pinbone desserts are HUGE, but, three of the four did sounded amazing.  In the end, we ruled out the daily tart and the lemon curd dish since neither Ojan nor I tend to like lemon desserts, although it sounded really fascinating (more on that soon).

Ready for dessert!

Desserts at Pinbone, like the rest of the meal, are designed to be shared, so dessert bowls were soon brought out.  I was stuffed, but waiting in eager anticipation.

Decaf Long Black. $4.

I also ordered a decaf long black to go along with my dessert, as I always do.

I had it the last time I went to dinner at Pinbone, and at brunch the week before (stay tuned for that review), so I was going to leave it out of this review, except there is a funny story.

I ordered my decaf long black, and was told by the server that they didn't have decaf.  I hesitated, because, well, I knew they had it the weekend before.  "Are you sure?", I asked, telling him I had it just a few days prior.  He went to check and came back able to confirm that yes, they did have decaf.  Lols.

I'm glad I checked, since, as always, I loved having my bitter black coffee alongside my sweet desserts and it was the perfect pairing.

Neopolitan. $14.

We started with the "Neopolitan", which we knew that in true Pinbone style wouldn't just be some vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream.

And indeed, it wasn't.

The top layer was actually a vanilla ice, the least interesting.

Next came strawberry tapioca, with an incredibly intense strawberry flavor.  Like the charred scallion puree, I again wondered how they managed to get so much flavor into it.

And finally, chocolate mousse, coated in chocolate crumbles.  Creamy, rich, chocolatey.  Hands down my favorite of the layers.

This was my favorite of the desserts, mostly due to the chocolate mousse layer, but I also liked the strawberry and chocolate combination.  Ojan's favorite as well.

Toasted sorghum ice-cream, buttermilk granita, brittle. $14.

This is the one I was intrigued by, and, since I loved the ridiculous ice cream sundae last time, so I assumed it would be equally elaborate.

The ice cream was creamy, but I didn't detect a very specific flavor to it.  I'm only familiar with sorghum in its usage to make molasses, or toasted and popped for cereal, so it isn't a flavor I know much about, but, this just tasted like sweet, creamy ice cream to me.  Fine, but nondescript.

There was also a fluffy mousse (meringue?), I believe buttermilk flavored, that I didn't care for.  The texture was off for me.

But on top was brittle.  Crispy, sweet brittle, studded with bits of popcorn.  OMG.

I probably don't talk about it often, but I love brittle, and have it several days a week with my morning coffee.  And popcorn is one of my favorite snack foods, savory or sweet.  Caramel corn is always high on my list of munchies.  So, popcorn brittle is right up my alley.  I loved it, and stole most of it to crunch on with my coffee.  Simple, but delicious.

Overall, I didn't care for this dessert much, besides the brittle of course, making it my third pick.  But that brittle was a winner.

Lemon curd, burnt milk, custard, black olive. $14.

Wait, didn't I say I only ordered two!  Yes, yes I did.  We settled on two, but, the lovely staff threw in a bonus dessert for us as well.  I love Pinbone for the food and the atmosphere already, but the staff?  They are what set it even further apart!

As I mentioned, we ruled this out because Ojan and I don't tend to care for lemon desserts.  But it sounded so interesting, with burnt milk and black olives?!

It was also unexpectedly a warm dish, which made it super comforting.

While I didn't like the lemon curd, the creamy custard was lovely, as was whatever the crispy topping was (presumably the black olive was hiding in here, along with the burnt milk?)

I really enjoyed the experience of eating this one, crispy, warm, comforting.  A great end to the meal, my second favorite of the desserts.

While I ranked my preferences of the desserts neopolitan, then lemon, then sorghum, that was the ordering for the dishes in their entirety.  Each one had one component that really stood out, that I really enjoyed.  Ranking just those individually, my list is: peanut brittle, chocolate mousse, crumble topping.  One dinner refused to pick a favorite, saying she enjoyed all three desserts quite a bit.

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