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

Do you Wagyu?

I certainly do so last night we had a little crew head over to Rockpool Bar & Grill to see if their Wagyu Beef Burger really is the best burger in town. Simon Thomsen of SMH and I don't see eye to eye all the time but if Heston Blumenthal is a fan then that's good enough for me.

Rockpool Bar & Grill is in a beautiful art deco building with the restaurant featuring high ceilings and grand marble columns. The adjoining bar was all dark wood and glass with candles on the table to create a very nice ambience indeed. Pity the blasts of wind coming through the door were so cold.

So there we were with a great table with a view of the bar which has a gravity defying and rather impractical application of glass hangers.

We ordered a bottle of 2006 Bress Shiraz which was divine. Bress is a winery in Heathcote, Victoria which has received a coveted five star rating from James Halliday's 2010 Wine Companion. Surprisingly Bress also make their own cider which I would be very interested in trying. The 2006 shiraz has a delightful nose and I found to be very well rounded on the palate. It is packed with berry flavours and a hint of oak and spice. Yum!

I did note a tone of disdain as the waitress put down our 'tap' water. Not cool.

So Random Pear and her pal Grinder (it was the quickest nickname I could find!), Junior and I all ordered the Wagyu Beef Burgers and Taxman decided on the Steak Sandwich. Luckily Random Pear asked if they came with chips or we would've been chip-less without the two bowls of chips on the side. Taxman did suggest a third bowl to which I was all for when Random Pear exercised a rare show of restraint and stuck to the two. Drats!

Much food talk ensued including debating the merits of gelato vs ice cream, smooth vs crunchy peanut butter and Grinder's upcoming one on one cooking session with Matt Moran. We also did decide that we need to do Friday lunch at Marque and Chef's Table at Aria very soon.

We were also lucky enough to see Neil Perry walk the floor a few times. I have eaten at a number of his restaurants over the years and have only seen him in the restaurant one other time.

Then they arrived...

And I had to giggle at the waitresses suggestion it was accompanied by a salad. This started a debate as to what constitutes a side salad... You be the judge.

The wagyu beef patty was topped with Gruyere cheese, bacon, tomato, pickles and chilli relish all on a brioche bun made on the premises with a sheen on top that gave it a familiar fast-food feel to it. It was indeed delicious. The Blackmore wagyu beef was the rightful star of the show and there was a distinct lack of conversation whilst we feasted.

Taxman's steak sandwich looked great. The steak cooked perfectly with salad on a sourdough baguette (mmm sourdough). Not normally a fan of chunky chips, these chips were deliciously crispy and golden and rather more-ish.

A good time was had by all and coffees were enjoyed with the Haigh's chocolate hearts I brought along as a special treat.

Here is another shot of the 'glass' bar taken by Junior complete with mood lighting.

Verdict: Definitely the best burger I have had thus far and would recommend you go try one for yourself. At $22 it's an affordable way to enjoy the ambience of this beautiful restaurant. I do think there though the pompous switch should be dimmed with the waitstaff in the bar. And for the record, tap water is highly acceptable.

Rockpool Bar & Grill
66 Hunter Street
Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 8078 1900
http://www.rockpool.com.au/sydney/bar-and-grill/

Who doesn't love a baked good?

This week's Good Living in SMH has proven to be a really good read  As much as I enjoy 'hatted' restaurant dining, I also appreciate the simple things in life... like a good sausage roll. There are some things that just make life better by being in it and puff pastry is one of them. Anything is improved if it's enveloped in golden, flaky, buttery puff pastry.

The Top 3 places to find the best sausage rolls as follows:

BERRY SOURDOUGH

Like me you may be fooled into assuming the list would be Sydney metropolitan centric but when Berry Sourdough was at the top of the list, it took me a second to realise we weren't talking blue, black or even straw but the actual town of Berry, about 2 hours drive south west of Sydney.

I can't very well miss out on an almost perfect sausage roll and fabulous sourdough (mmm sourdough) combo. 

Check out their ratings at eatability: http://www.eatability.com.au/au/sydney/berry_woodfired_sourdough_bakery/

SUMMER HILL VILLAGE PATISSERIE

Much closer to the city lights is the Summer Hill Village Patisserie. There is a pastry chef called Juan, you just know there's going to be no skimping on the buttery goodness of the puff.

Junior will undoubtedly be able to find a tasty sweet morsel to follow the sausage rolls.

BOURKE STREET BAKERY

Now the Marrickville operation is the centre piece of the sausage roll showcase. With classic options on offer, there is also Lamb & Harissa or Beef, Veal & Olive, to tempt the sausage roll lovers who want try more gourmet interpretations.

A local opportunity for a top quality sausage roll and sourdough (mmm sourdough) combo.
You can read the whole article here:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/good-living/hot-sausage-rolls/2009/08/25/1251001894941.html

Verdict: Looks like Junior and I are going on a road trip.

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/