Carre Noir, Chatswood

When it first opened, I wasn't sure what to make of Carre Noir. It appeared to be a cafe. With al fresco dining. And a chocolate fountain. Which serves fancy dinners. So it's a chocolate cafe in the daytime and a formal restaurant at night? And so of course I sampled neither of those facets and went there for brunch.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Turkish spiced chorizo ($12.00) + prosciutto ($4.00)

Conclusion? Breakfast's not bad. Worth it if you're a student/ Entertainment card holder.

El Loco at Slip Inn, Sydney CBD

I was ecstatic to hear that there's an El Loco around Wynyard, as the one in Surry Hills is too far for post-work catch-ups. The downside? Food at Slip Inn is a tad pricier than at its Surry Hills counterpart.

It was a Friday night and I was worried we'd have a hard time finding a table - which was true to a certain extent. The interior was about 75% full, so our group of 5 could still locate a table that would accommodate us comfortably. Venture outside to the courtyard below, however, and it's absolutely swarming with people.

In protest of the higher prices, my companions refused to order the $6 tacos. Instead, they went with a torta each and shared a plate of ribs. As a self-professed germaphobe, I don't share food unless there are serving utensils. Since there were no such contraptions, I only split food with the boy, which was a highly offensive act apparently. "Our saliva isn't good enough for you?!" they cried indignantly.

There was an interesting selection of cocktails, which my eyes kept gravitating to. Eventually I requested a passionfruit batida, consisting of tequila, apple and lime juice, dollops of passionfruit and Agave syrup. To be honest, I was really keen to try something with Agave syrup, but I couldn't taste anything distinctly different. Upon its receipt, I felt a little let down by the fact it was served in a small plastic cup, though the generous amount of liquor inside made up for it (a little bit). It was fruity, sweet, refreshing and I just wish there was a tad more...

Passionfruit Batida ($14.50)

 Despite its humble appearance, the pork torta (a Mexican/ Spanish sandwich) was really satisfying. The pork filling tasted like it had been mixed in Vietnamese lemongrass marinade, while the bun was so so soft (bread snobs stay away - it's white bread, after all). The vegetable you see there is cabbage with mayo and pico de gallo (salsa). Considering I tend towards the diet of the carnivorous, they were pretty tolerable, but made it necessary to consume the bun swiftly before it turned sloppy.

Pork torta ($12.00)

 Not a frankfurter fan, but the quantity of cheese shaved on top of the hotdog added a fluffy texture. Other than that, it was pretty ordinary.

El loco hotdog ($10.00)

The chipotle mayo and jalapenos were what made the quesadillas so outstanding. That sauce was so good I spread the excess on my hotdog. It was a little spicy, so it took a lot of restraint pacing myself.

Chorizo quesadilla ($7.00)

For those curious about the lamb, here it is:

Rack of lamb ($26.00?)

It seemed to be hard to eat - using fingers was a messy task but knives and forks were cumbersome. Nevertheless, my friends felt pretty positive about it overall.

Coco Cubano, Crows Nest

A few weeks ago we went to the Crows Nest branch of Coco Cubano. As the name suggests, the theme is Cuban - they play Cuban music, sell Cuban cigars and make Cuban club sandwiches. The range of food on offer, however, is... well... distinctly pub-like. The ordering system is pretty pub-like too, as patrons are required to seat themselves and order/ pay at the counter. In the process, we nearly tripped over a gas canister that they just left between the counter and near the doorway (there were no more indoor tables so we sat outside).

It was our first time at the franchise, but I had fairly high hopes. Popular businesses are turned into franchises, yes? In turn, popular restaurants are popular because the food is good... right?

In this case, I think they're better known for their drinks and $9 tapas specials on weekdays. We were there on a Sunday, which meant that that particular special didn't kick in. When we saw how miserly the tapas portions are, we felt a little ticked off.

The size of the sangria jug somewhat made up for this shortcoming. Low in alcohol and full of oranges and lemonade, it was sweet and easy to down - even though there were only two of us.

Red sangria jug ($19 on Sundays)

First to be sampled was the calamari. It was a little tough, so we ended up popping each ball of calamari into our mouths rather than sawing them up into smaller pieces. The roasted garlic sauce added a little pop of zest - though it tasted more like tartar sauce.

Calamari ($12.90)

The serving of grilled chorizo with olives was the most disappointing for the boy. Firstly, it wasn't spicy. Secondly, there wasn't much of it. I ended up leaving most of it to him and eating the olives. One day I'll have to bring over a few packs of chorizos to kill off the craving for good (it's been festering for months now!!).

Grilled chorizo ($9.90)

Looking at the menu now, the mini beef tacos should have been served with salsa and guacamole. Where are my salsa and guacamole? :( They definitely needed some, as they were charred and dry.

Mini beef tacos ($10.90)

The potted prawns weren't bad, though I'm pretty sure potted prawns are meant to be served with a pudding-like, buttery spread. Here, they were slathered in romesco sauce (a pasty Spanish sauce consisting of almond and red capsicum).

Potted prawns ($13.90)

 Since 4 dishes weren't enough, we ordered a chorizo pizza. It was thin-crust with a whole heap of cheese and about one chunk of chorizo per slice. Not fantastic, but it killed off the hunger.

Chorizo pizza ($16.90)

Looking at the main meals that other patrons received, there's probably more bang for your buck (and tastebuds) there. Needless to say, I shan't return for tapas.

The Moody Chef, St Leonards

I was introduced to the Moody Chef cafe by various family members, and I've always been pleased by its fresh ingredients and comforting breakfast/ brunch menu items. More recently, I took a friend there for a long-awaited catchup, and, once again, we weren't disappointed.

It was a little hard to catch the attention of the waitstaff, but once we did, service was friendly and without problems.

Menus

I decided to pass on a coffee and have a fruit drink with my breakfast - their breakfast menu is happily available all day on Saturdays.

The "fruit-o-licious" is a little on the pricey side, but is indeed packed with fruit. If not for the crushed ice, it would probably have been too thick to drink! Think of nudie juice, frappe-style, with hints of banana and honey - it was hard to pick out what else was inside that amalgamation of sucrose!

Fruit-o-licious ($7.00)

I took the opportunity of ordering a breakfast item that was on special - the crab cakes. As you can see from the background, my friend copied me and did the same =.=

Each plate contained 3 crab cakes with 2 poached eggs on top, accompanied by a spiced, herby tomato salsa. The poached eggs were runny in the centre, so it was fun bursting the albumen and spreading the yolk all over the crab cakes. The lightly crumbed crab cakes weren't too fishy, even though there was plenty of meat to be had. When accompanied by the salsa, it made for a light, mouthwatering meal. And although they looked deceptively small on the plate, I was quite comfortably full towards the end.

Crab cakes ($17.90)

Ozeki Sushi, Chatswood

When Ozeki Sushi first opened, I thought it was another one of those over-priced sushi trains (like a certain one on Victoria Avenue that I won't name). And thus, it was only when I obtained a 25% Entertainment Book voucher earlier this year that I decided to pay a lunch visit one weekend. All the prices below are pre-voucher. I can't remember how many plates we ended up getting, but I think the two of us ordered around 12 plates together (we ordered a few repeats of the sashimi and scallops). This sounds like a pretty pathetic effort, but the portions were bigger than expected :/

Once seated, I spotted the grilled scallops come by and snatched a plate. Initially, I thought $5.50 was incredibly steep, considering Sagunja charges $2.80 a plate (and is holding a $2.50 special at the moment!), but Sagunja plates contain only 2 scallops while Ozeki Sushi uses 4 (and yes, I know I sound incredibly calculative haha). But how's the quality, you ask? The scallops were fresh and cooked just the way I like it - so they had a smokey flavour and had a great level of firmness.  Needless to say I pigged out on these...

Half-grilled scallops ($5.50)

One of my sushi pet peeves is dry rice, and thankfully there was none of that during our visit.

Shark's fin and jellyfish sushi ($3.20)

Avocado, crab meat, egg sushi ($3.50)

Seaweed sushi ($2.80)

Possibly crab. ($4.50)

Oyster sushi ($5.50)

This was my first time having sushi filled with salmon roe. It was enjoyable because it was so moist and I liked the feeling of the little eggs bursting in my mouth (kind of like those fruity pearl toppings that go with frozen yoghurt).

Salmon roe + salmon sushi ($5.50)

It was also my first time having sea urchin. I don't think it's my thing because it was pretty fishy (and a quick Google search suggests that a lot of people find it offensive - acquired taste I guess).

Sea urchin (5.50)

Some sorta vegetarian thing ($3.20)

 

Salmon and kingfish sashimi ($6.50)

Overall, a positive experience. There was a wide selection and it's a little pricey, but the portions are fair and it's fresh - given the poor reviews about the freshness during dinner time, perhaps it all comes down to the time of your visit...

La Lupita, Circular Quay

Ever since my first visit to London last year, I've been on the hunt for a non-Tex-Mex restaurant in Sydney that is similar to the likes of Wahaca. La Lupita isn't quite up at that level, but with the right combination of dishes, makes for a satisfying meal. On a sidenote, I don't think 4 pound plates of 3 tacos ($7 - 8 AUD) will be the norm in Australia any time soon :(

La Lupita is situated in The Basement, a music club that mainly hosts Jazz musicians. For the Jazz-haters, not to worry! The dining area is quite separate from the live music - except it might be a disappointment for those who want a dinner/ show experience. Having said that, the salsa bar looked very makeshift, with salad bowls to contain each different salsa type - so perhaps this particular arrangement was just for the one night?

Ordering consists of the following steps:

1. You are provided with a slip of paper (see below) and a coloured pencil.
2. Using the pencil, circle the quantity of each menu item that you wish to order.
3. Hand the paper to either a waitress/ waiter or the bartender.

We asked for one of everything, except for the special taco. This turned out to be a fatal mistake because we ended up with two tortilla chip baskets - albeit with different toppings.

Tortilla chip basket 1: Troelotes

If I were to return, I would pick this tortilla basket over the other one. The spiced corn didn't taste very spiced but provided a bit more texture and juiciness that the other basket lacked. The lime was quite dry, so there wasn't much juice to squeeze over the top, but the cheese, salsa and crema mexicana (as well as the corn) made up for it in moisture.

Troelotes ($10.00)

Spit Roast Hot Wings - with spiced chipotle, lime and garlic crema

Once again, not spicy. They were still tasty though - the meat on the bones was moist and the combination of the sauce and the charred, smoky flavour provided a bit more complexity.

Spiced chicken wings ($10.00)

At $6.00 each, the tacos seem a little steep. They are a little bit bigger than some others I've seen, which somewhat made up for it. One was pork, one was beef and one was chicken. Aside from bearing their respectively different meaty textures, I couldn't distinguish between their accompanying marinades. Slathered with salsas and toppings of our choice, though, we were pretty happy.

Tacos ($6.00 each)

Tortilla basket 2: Frijoles with salsa roja, crema mexicana, chiltepin (chili pepper) , queso de oaxaca (Mexican cheese)

As much as I adore frijoles, there was a bit too much starch and not enough of a spicy kick. It's still worth a try if you're into your legumes - there just isn't that much to say about it :/

Would I return? One day, yes. Although the menu is limited, the food isn't bad, and I really ought to sample their drinks.

Kirribilli Markets

I'd been nagging some of my friends to visit Kirribilli markets for the past 6 months, but due to the General Markets only being available once a month, we had difficulties making ourselves all available for a visit. We used the Ennis Road exit of Milsons Pt Station and followed the signs. Greeted by the dismal selection of stalls in the tunnel, we muttered, "What, is that all?".

Gladly there's actually a lot more to the markets than the below picture - and my favourite stalls were actually to be found in that tunnel! There was a stall with multi-coloured hand-painted ceramics at excellent prices, one with cute toddler-sized knits, and others with pretty summery frocks and $2 earrings.

 Beyond the tunnel lay a number of food stalls, which greeted us with an array of poffertjes, banh mi, chorizos, potatoes-on-a-stick and freshly-squeezed-lemonade. The crooning musicians and warm, sunny weather, made for a lazy Saturday of selecting pretty trinkets and rifling through racks of vintage clothes. There was one arm of the markets selling fresh produce, which added to the community vibe.

 

Come lunch time, food was easily accessible:

Chorizo roll ($8)

The good ol' gaytime attracted me for its throwback to a favourite classic. Don't expect too much, and you'll be content enough with it. It was covered by a layer of tim tam and mixed with gaytime ice cream and crumbled cookie. 

Good Ol' Gaytime ($5)

Freshly squeezed lemonade (<$5)

Once we tired of navigating the markets, we made our way to the water, where we sat and talked until the sun went down.