I will have to say my favourite suburb for cafes will be Surry Hills. Here we go!
Alexandria:
1. The Grounds of Alexandria
The Grounds
Full marks for the ambience but the food is simply average. It felt like I was trying to convince myself that the food is underrated, probably because of the fame, the tremendously long wait and the intricate concept of a playground for foodies.
HUGE Nutella
Cheese Wedges in Salt Meats Cheese
Homemade Cake Slices in Salt Meats Cheese
Buys from Salt Meats Cheese
Sir Kevin Bacon
ATM-Disguised Telephone Post
The Yard
Cakes and Confectionary
Rainbow Roses
In-house Florist
A mini-barn with farm animals, locally-made produce and health foods grocer, an open cafe and patio within its tea-garden, ATM-disguised antique telephone post, you name it. All these make it worth the wait and a must-go.
Avocado, Tomato and Feta on Sourdough
House Cured Ocean Trout
The first time I went I felt the ocean trout tasted -just ok-, or even awful. Scrambled eggs, fennel and herb salad, toasted sourdough and dill creme fraiche comes into the making. I am unsure if its merely personal taste that the dill creme fraiche is horrid since it is a first for me. Avocado, tomato and feta on sourdough was decent. I can't even remember what were ordered the 2nd time I went, but what I can remember is the food did not look delectable enough to qualify for a picture.
http://thegrounds.com.au/
Opening hours: Mon - Fri 7am - 4pm, Sat 7.30am - 4.00pm, Sun 7.00am - 4.30pm
Building 7A/2 Huntley Street,
Alexandria NSW 2015, Australia
Surry Hills:
2. Devon Cafe
Portuguese Chicken Sandwich
Breakfast with the Sakuma's
Undoubtedly, Devon cafe is my all-time favourite! It was the first cafe I tried and I still remember how impressed I was upon taking the first bite. This is what Breakfast with the Sakuma's is - miso grilled king salmon, smoked eel croquette, 63' egg, radish petit salad and kewpi mayonnaise. The salmon was SO smooth. It simply left me yearning to return again for this amazing fusion dish.
Wagyu 6+ Striploin
Pig Ear Katsu with Bulldog Sauce
Matcha Green Tea Fondant with Houji-Cha Ice Cream
Not long later, Devon cafe created a night menu, branding itself Devon by Night. Again, the dishes were spectacular, and the dessert was commendable - Green Tea Fondant! Bad picture of the fondant but trust me, its heavenly. Well, I'm not going to say anything about the wagyu as I have recently tasted a tremendously brillant wagyu throwing this dish away by leaps and bounds. I had Pig Ear Katsu with Bulldog Sauce, which gives a twist to the conventional pork katsu. First time having pig ears and of course, they are thin and crunchy. What's best is their menu changes for us to savour disparate delectable dishes. I personally recommend this cafe, fine dining at an affordable price.
http://www.devoncafe.com.au/
Opening hours: Mon - Fri 7am - 4.30pm, Sat - Sun 8am - 3.30pm
Devon by Night
Opening hours: Wed - Sat 6pm
76 Devonshire Street,
Surry Hills NSW 2010, Australia
3. Rustic Pearl
Sucuk Bruschetta
Yum Yeshil
My first experience at Rustic Pearl was great, the second was so-so. Possibly not doing enough research on the cafe before ordering from the menu. The sucuk bruschetta was satisfying. Chargrilled sucuk with melted buffalo mozzarella, fresh tomato, basil, rocket, pomegranate molasses and poached egg. I think Yum Yeshil is off the menu now but it is definitely one of the most delicious health drinks I tasted. Blended fruit juices with spirulina, topped with chia seeds, goji berries and bee pollen.
Eggs Royale
Avocado Smoothie
The avocado smoothie was absolutely tasteless and an utter disappointment. We requested for Eggs Royale, which was good, but not exceptional. Regret not ordering the Bosphorus Benedict with Bay Lobster, which I avoided upon knowing its spicy from the description. One huge con about this cafe is the wait after ordering is excruciatingly long, even if you are the only table waiting on your order. It mentions no pre-cooking but we waited more than an hour for the eggs royale.
Rustic Pearl
Opening hours: Mon - Thur 8am - 5pm, Fri - Sat 8am - 10pm, Sun 8am - 5pm
415 Crown Street,
Surry Hills NSW 2010, Australia
4. Mad Spuds Cafe
Boxty (top left) and Eggs Benedict (bottom right)
Their spuds are great! I am so grateful I made that order instead of the good old egg benedict (which my friend did..), and I never knew they could taste so delicious and fluffy! Australians can transform healthy vegetarian eating into such bliss for the palates. It is also how I started introducing salads to my diet ever since that first salad takeaway my friend ordered from the Stock Market salad store in UNSW.
I ordered the boxty, which apparently is traditional Irish potato pancake! This was something novel to me. Fried egg, avocado, bacon, sage and aioli is integrated with mustard, white pudding and apple puree on the side.
http://www.madspuds.com.au
Opening hours: 8am - 3pm
479 Crown Street,
Surry Hills NSW 2010, Australia
5. Lemon Twist Cafe
Haloumi Breakfast
Chicken Risotto
Not too playful with its flavours, it makes the traditional cafe for a decent brunch. We expected lemons to take some kind of form in our dishes- or so we thought, due to the gigantic lemon glazing the top of its storefront. I would describe this brunch as being enjoyable and nothing exceptionally fancy. My boyfriend liked the combinations of haloumi, sourdough, sauteed mushrooms and tomatoes from the haloumi breakfast that their staff recommended. The risotto had also thoroughly absorbed the chicken stock to give it a deep flavour.
Lemon Twist Cafe
Opening hours: Tue - Fri 8am - 4pm, Sat 8.30am - 3.30pm, Sun 8.30am - 3pm
393 Crown St
Surry Hills, New South Wales 2010, Australia
Redfern:
6. Three Williams
Spicy Smashed Beans with Avocado on Charred Toast
Grain Fed Beef Brisket Narnie and Beer-Battered Chips with House Aioli
Three Williams is known to be the iconic Sydney cafe for travelers. My friend recommended us to go, mentioning the beer-battered chips are a must-try. I am not a fan of wedge fries, but my boyfriend did agree and found a new favourite. The toast was not particularly special except for the smashed beans, and this dish seems to have now been taken off the menu. I went for its beef brisket narnie, which I heard narnies are the cafe's specialty. Narnies are defined in their terms as signature house made naan-style flat bread with fillings. Its taste does differ from Indian naans though, in the sense that the narnie is more 'tasteless'. The grain fed beef brisket accompanies house made slaw, gherkins and chipotle mayo.
http://threewilliamscafe.com/
Opening Hours: 7am - 4pm (L.O. 3pm)
613a Elizabeth Street,
Redfern NSW 2016, Australia
Newtown:
Graffiti around Newtown
7. Black Star Pastry
Strawberry Watermelon Cake with Rose-Scented Cream
The renowned strawberry watermelon cake is a must-try for every Sydneysider! This is undoubtedly the best cake I have tasted in my life, and really refreshing for the summer. Love the entire combination of the cut-fruits with whipped cream, pistachios, almond dacquoise and even, rose petals! A slight twitch to this cake will definitely make the best wedding cake ever.
http://blackstarpastry.com.au/
Opening hours: 7am - 5pm
277 Australia St,
Newtown NSW 2042, Australia
8. Newtown Brewtown
Elvis Burger
Wood smoked salmon with curried Israeli couscous, leg ham, poached egg, coriander and lime
There's all this hype about Newtown Brewtown so I included this cafe in the list, but it is definitely not my favourite. Perhaps it is famous for its coffee and cronuts, being a micro roastery, which I did not try sadly. Visited this cafe on my last day in Sydney with great expectations of being 'wowed', but yea. The Elvis burger was fine, made of ground beef, savory brewnut, canadian bacon, gruyere and mayo served with chips and relish. I had the wood smoked salmon with curried Israeli couscous, and it did taste awesome on the first bite. As it went along, I simply could not help but feel sick of the taste to leave the dish unfinished.
http://www.brewtownnewtown.com/
Opening hours: 8am - 4pm
6-8 O'Connell Street,
Newtown NSW 2042, Australia
Macquarie Park:
9. The Vogue Cafe
Macquarie Centre
Caramel Milkshake
Rainbow trinklets donning the brim of the milkshake, topped with candies and popcorn! Not only does it look ridiculously fun and pleasing, the taste- deserves an applause! Caramel is known to be really sweet, and that was what denoted my experience with caramel milkshakes. The hint of caramel and being not-too-sweet made the perfect caramel milkshake for me. How can this be? I was amazed. The creativity for its drinks are great, but (I heard the food does not taste too good there). At the time I was there, the kitchen was already closed except for its drink services. The store is located behind a bend, making it unbelievably hard to find. We literally spent half an hour simply looking for this milkshake bar.
http://www.voguecafe.com.au
Opening hours: Mon - Wed 9am - 5.30pm, Thur 9am - 9pm, Fri 9am - 5.30pm, Sat 9am - 5pm, Sun 10am - 4pm
109 Waterloo Road,
Macquarie Park NSW 2113, Australia
And not to forget to mention, I really hate the fact that these cafes take last orders at 3pm. A late waker like me misses the early worm, having arrived exactly at 3pm on several occasions to be turned away.
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