We entered Carre Noir via the Victoria Avenue entrance instead of the Concourse side, and were greeted by no one until we went up the flight of stairs to the Concourse level. I'm not sure if it's intentional to situate the patrons in this upper section of the cafe, but they should probably put a sign up on the bottom level to direct people there - we nearly gave this place a miss because we weren't sure if it was actually open, and a considerable amount of pedestrian traffic flows along Victoria Avenue.
Service was jovial, but the food was a little slow to arrive.
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| Clipboard menus like all mainstream hipster cafes ;) |
When it first opened, my parents had a poor impression of Carre Noir as it displayed a sign boasting the best coffee in Chatswood. Telling said parents that the sign, like advertising in general, was mere puffery has done little to assuage their irritation upon their discovery it didn't live up to my mum's expectations... Nevertheless, as coffees go, it was neither fantastic nor repulsive. My flat white was served in one of those dainty ceramic mugs that cafes are so fond of these days.
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| Flat white |
I had decided on the breakfast board, which was more filling than I thought it would be. The board consisted of a slab of avocado, a pesto spread, halloumi cheese, proschiutto, a couple of poached eggs, toasted sourdough and heirloom tomatoes.
Verdict? Egg yokes oozed out, heirloom tomatoes were sweet and juicy (first time I enjoyed eating tomatoes on their own), and the halloumi slices were grilled til they bore a lovely crisp exterior and a chewy interior. It made great comfort food.
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| Breakfast board ($15.00) |
Brunch partner ordered braised chorizo with a side of prosciutto. It contained borlotti beans, dukkah (mixture of herbs and nuts), labne, spinach, fried eggs (Turkish apparently, though I'm not sure what part of the egg was Turkish), and sourdough.
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| Turkish spiced chorizo ($12.00) + prosciutto ($4.00) |
Conclusion? Breakfast's not bad. Worth it if you're a student/ Entertainment card holder.
What's the advantages of being a student here?
ReplyDeleteAdvertising as puffery is acceptable but the claim of "best" is unacceptable if it actually isn't backed up by being the best!
Glad to hear you ate some tomato-tasting-tomatoes, because I can barely remember what a proper tomato tastes like now...oh and as for the 'Turkish' eggs, I would guess that they're either cooked Turkish style (fried...a lot) + sprinkle of herbs/seeds!? No idea!
-Spidey
Students get a discount - at least 10% (their list of discounts was displayed on a counter sign).
DeleteI didn't know Turkish food is predominantly fried :S Asians do fried eggs that way too - though maybe it IS the flavour/ adding herbs like you said.