Breakfast of Champions

After a little hibernation over the past month, I owe this blog some much needed attention. Lucky I have some post ideas and photos banked up so time permitting I hope to get my blog on more regularly from now on.

As my weekend breakfasts with Junior are amongst my most favourite things, it seemed fitting to return to the world of blogging with what could potentially be our new favourite local breakfast joint. I had been meaning to give Forbes & Burton a whirl for quite some time now and I am glad I did.

 For us double macchiato drinkers, the quality of the coffee is a crucial element to our brekkie reviews and the fine barista at Forbes & Burton did a fantastic job with the first coffee, however the second had a bit too much milk going on but at least made for a great pic!

Our food arrived very promptly even though the place was full which was a welcomed surprise as one becomes accustomed to having at least 2 coffees and read a whole section of the SMH for weekend brekkie at popular places. Another big tick.

As you can see the servings are generous and I can attest not at the expense of the quality. My scrambled eggs were perfectly cooked as was the wilte spinach and the Sonoma sourdough was divine (mmmmm... sourdough). The bacon was ever so slightly undercooked for my liking as I like it cooked just short of crunchy. Having said that, I managed to get MAJOR food envy when Junior's arrived.

How good can poached eggs with roasted mushrooms, bacon and sourdough toast be, I hear you ask. Damn good when the egg is cooked like this...

Verdict: I am on a mission to get all Eastside City dwellers to try this place at least once. It is definitely my new favourite. May well see you there this weekend. Lunch menu also looks divine so look forward to checking it out!

Forbes & Burton

252 Forbes Street (corner Burton Street)

Darlinghurst NSW 2010

Phone: (02) 9356 8788

www.forbesandburton.com.au

Eatability gets it right again

For what it's worth, I think www.eatability.com.au is a very reliable source of dining info and would highly recommend it to all lovers of food out there. Stuck for an idea as to where to have breakfast on Saturday morning, Junior and I decided to consult eatability and it led us on an adventure to Strangers With Candy.


Strangers With Candy is a quirky little cafe off the beaten track in East Redfern which got consistently great reviews for their food so I just had to give it a try. Admittedly, Junior was more trepidatious about the move but let's just say it was all worth it in the end.


Both of us started with the obligatory double macchiatos. They use Neoma Coffee which I have not had previously. It was well made and very drinkable but I found the actual roast was not strong enough for my personal taste.


The breakfast menu is very small compared to the broadsheet sized options you can get in many cafes these days however they obviously stick to what they know and do it damn well.


It was a difficult decision between the Bruschetta with San Marino Proscuitto and Beetroot Relish or the Smoked Salmon with Horseradish Cream and Eggplant Caviar but the latter won in the end.

Junior enjoyed the scrambled eggs with chorizo sausage and mushrooms on the side.

I would highly recommend the bruschetta option as it offers a nice alternative to the usual eggs and toast combos. I suspect that my salmon may have been wild salmon as opposed to farmed as it was really flavoursome and the texture was nice and firm. The horseradish cream had just the right amount of zing and the dish was balanced nicely with the rocket, capers and a lovely eggplant caviar. Altogether a very satisfying combination and the portion was generous enough to feel full but not overly full. Will definitely order that again but next time I definitely want to try one of the other bruschetta options.

Junior enjoyed his breakfast with the highlight being the baby button mushrooms which were left whole and sauteed with distinct rosemary and thyme (isn't there a song somewhere in that?!)- extremely more-ish indeed. His chorizo sausage was also fantastic but he found the scrambled eggs to be ever so slightly overcooked and not as fluffy as others he has previously tried. The toast options available were white, multi-grain or Turkish and whilst you may think I am biased towards sourdough (mmm sourdough), even Junior would've preferred it to the options available.

Verdict: All in all, the high quality produce and no fuss plating plus friendly service, lets good food do all the talking. Also worth checking out their lunch/dinner options.

Strangers With Candy
96 Kepos Street
East Redfern NSW 2016
(02)9698 6000
www.strangerswithcandy.com.au

Speaking of eggs

Whilst waiting for my double macchiato this morning, I spotted the cover of today's Good Living in the SMH which said How To Pick A Good Egg. Further proof that this is indeed a topical blog and that Junior is onto something with his weekend egg binges. Perhaps I can make "Junior's Thoughts on Eggs" as a regular blog topic. Sydney cafes be warned. We are coming to check out your eggs.

Junior will be pleased to see that I used a brown egg in the picture because he has a strange phobia about white eggs. If you see a weirdo in the egg aisle of your local supermarket, re-arranging cartons of eggs, it me making sure our dozen is all brown.

A panel of experts got together to wax lyrical about eggs and rate them out of 100. I won't go into all the detail but suffice to say there are many factors that make a "good egg". One thing to note in particular is the viscosity of the white because I love that word viscosity.

I was particularly chuffed that Jared Ingersoll of Danks Street Depot was on the egg judging panel as I am a big fan of not only his food but his passion for produce and bringing sustainable practices to the forefront of his industry. And quote "Ingersoll was particularly excited when he picked up a ''lovely herbaceous or green taste in the white and the yolk''. How can you not like the guy? I really look forward to when he is on Ready Steady Cook. I could rabbit on about that show forever so I shall save it for another post. The producers of Ready Steady Cook did the right thing by putting Peter Everett at the helm to host the show as without him it would not be half as entertaining. So many accidental double entendres!

Anyway, back to the eggs. And the winners are:

1. Farmer Browns Pastured $8.95


2. Glenrose Biodynamic $11.95
3. Cornucopia $9.50
4. Coles Free Range $4.49
5. Woolworths Select Caged $3.99
6. Woolworths Select Barn $4.69
7. Pace Farm Cage $4.62
8. Pace Farm Free Range $5
9. Clarendon Farms Organic Free Range $7.50
10. Coles Barn Laid $4.79


I am surprised to see caged eggs feature prominently and was also surprised to learn that without packaging guidance, sample tasters could not distinguish between a free-range, barn-laid or cage eggs. ''There were no significant differences in the overall liking of the three different types of eggs,'' it says. ''However, overall, the cage egg was directionally more preferred".

You can read the whole article here and learn many more fun facts about our little yolky friends:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/good-living/how-to-pick-a-good-egg/2009/08/24/1251001848564.html

Verdict: Eggs are where it's at. And as an aside, visit Jared at his restaurant and sample his ever changing menu. Don't be put off by the giant Hillsong centre diagonally across the road! If you are lucky enough to get the Spaghetti with Breadcrumbs, Capers, Anchovies and Chilli as an option- do yourself a favour and order it. Delicious.

Danks Street Depot
1/2 Danks Street
Waterloo NSW 2017
http://www.danksstreetdepot.com.au/

6 eggs a week might seem like a lot- PART TWO

Well as if Toby's on Saturday enough, I decided it was high time I took Simon Thomsen's word for it and check out Cafe Giulia. Junior and I zipped across to Chippendale in the beep beep Barina to see what all the fuss was about on Sunday. We arrived around 11am and the place was heaving with diners and people waiting for take-away. Ever the hawk-eye opportunist, I spotted a seat in the courtyard and left a trail of dust for Junior to find behind me as he looked away from the huge chalkboard menu behind the counter.

It was a glorious day so the outside table was a must! Junior once again had more scrambled eggs, this time with Turkish toast, tomatoes and a side of sausages. Typically you get charged about $5 in any other cafe for a side of snags and in return you get a couple of crusty chipolatas in a side plate but the folks at Cafe Giulia do not believe in small portions... or even regular portions for that matter. Their portions have been automatically upsized whether you like it or not. Anyway Junior got two huge sausages (all sniggering can stop now) which tasted like proper butchers sausages- meaty, full of flavour and not too greasy. Hurrah!

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to take photos (sorry!) as I was too busy tucking into my Chorizo and Parmesan Omelette. And speaking of eggs...

The eggs were delightfully fluffy but also had a nice caramelised crust with big chunks of chorizo through it. There was lashings of shaved parmagiana and just in case I was still hungry 2 slices of sourdough toast (mmmm sourdough) and a lovely leaf salad to finish off the representation of all five food groups.

I LOVE FOOD and whilst I have a very healthy appetite, I struggled to get through it. Junior finished off his glut of eggs with his usual aplomb and I managed half my omelette, one slice of sourdough (all together now- mmmm sourdough) and made a point of finishing the salad to counter balance the protein and carb injection.

I am all for man-sized portions if they can be finished but does anyone else hate wasting food? Someone should consider half portions as an option or I would recommend sharing with a friend. Unless your friend was Junior cos ain't no fool gonna git their dirty mitts on his eggs y'all.

Will definitely be back to sample more of the HUGE menu. There were great looking lunch dishes too and I was freely coveting other people's food as it arrived on the tables around us, much to Junior's dismay.

Verdict: I think Simon Thomsen loves man-sized portions.

Check it out:
Cafe Giulia
92 Abercrombie Street
Chippendale New South Wales 2008
(02) 9698 4424
www.cafegiulia.com

6 eggs a week might seem like a lot- PART ONE

But the National Heart Foundation has raised the recommended the maximum number of eggs consumed per person is 6 per week. FYI- I think Junior's weekend breakfasts combined went over that by a lot. Anyway, apparently the cholesterol count in eggs is not to blame for contributing to coronary heart disease, it's those wretched trans and saturated fats.

Now that the educational part is out of the way, we can focus on our mutual lustful, wanton yearning for food in its purest forms.

Breakfast- the most important meal of the weekend (let's face it- no one really has the time or the energy mid week to indulge)

Saturday we had brekkie at Toby's Estate in Woolloomooloo- a favourite of ours. Coffee always great and good simple food to get you going for the day. I must say though that their scrambled eggs is GIGANTIC. I always forget to ask exactly how many eggs they use but if I was a betting lass, I'd say 5 regular chook eggs or 1 emu egg.



 
With roast tomato, 2 rashers of bacon and delicious sourdough toast (mmmm... sourdough) and all for $11 it is a bargain! I went with the bacon and egg roll with hollandaise which I am usually very pleased with (what can hollandaise NOT make better?!) but on Saturday my sauce was somewhat lacking so it wasn't worth photographing. I shall give it one more chance though as they are usually delectable.
 
Junior and I did have a bet to see if he could finish it and well you can see my wallet started the weekend on a minus.

Verdict: Always a pleasure, never a chore. See you guys again next week. Do yourself a favour and go and visit the super chirpy waiters ASAP!

Toby's Estate Espresso Bar & Espresso School
129 Cathedral Street
Woolloomooloo NSW 2011
(02) 9358 1196
http://www.tobysestate.com.au/