The Tea Room at Gunners’ Barracks, 3 May 2009

After driving down the short and slightly winding Suakin Drive, we found ourselves perched atop Georges Heights looking out across expansive views of Sydney Harbour. It is Mistress’ birthday and she has requested our presence for a bit of glamour and romance at The Tea Room Gunners’ Barracks. After frequenting The Tea Room at Queen Victoria Building for quite a few years and loving everything about their very English-style afternoon teas, I now understood why Gunners’ Barracks was also such a popular choice for weddings.

We are seated at our reserved table in the beautifully wallpapered (I have since read that they are Florence Broadhurst) and chandeliered dining room, after having foregone a reservation on the covered terrace for fear of cold weather. It is autumn in Sydney after all, and it can get bitterly windy near the harbour. Water is brought to our table along with the menus and we pore over the contents, even though I long-knew before arriving that I’d be having the afternoon tea! I’m quite taken by the design of the menu cover with its engraved pattern, as it is different from what I had previously seen at The Tea Room Queen Victoria Building.

Mistress and I both order a sparkling afternoon tea each, whereas Batman decides on a lunch option. While waiting for our orders we’re presented with an amuse bouche of parmesan crisps with semi-dried tomato, anchovy and basil which are salty and pungent.

Batman has her meal brought out first which, from memory (apologies for lack of photos), is grilled lamb loin with braised faggots on kumara purée topped with celeriac chips and drizzled with a jus. We had all had a bit of a giggle at the menu description and were intrigued by what food a faggot could be! The lamb is a medium pink in the middle but there is no sign of anything on the plate that we could not identify and deduce as being a faggot. The purée is smooth and the celeriac chips well-drained and crispy. Unfortunately our non-foodie friend Batman leaves the latter two untouched and a gentleman, who we assume to be the maître d', comes over to enquire if there are any problems with the meal upon spotting half the dish untouched. I’m impressed by this as I’m always appreciative of attentive service which, in the end, is what sways my decision in how much to tip.

Mistress and I are brought our glasses of sparkling white wine prior to our afternoon tea which arrives on a classic, silver, three-tiered tray along with jam and cream. We ooh and ahh over the cute bite-sized, colourful morsels before clinking our glasses together in a mini-celebratory toast.

We start off with the warm items first – there are spinach pasties as well as tomato and fetta tartlets cupped by multiple layers of filo casing – before moving onto the classic, crustless finger sandwiches of creamy egg salad topped with cress, and smoked salmon with capers. Then it’s onto the sweet stuff! There are fruit tartlets, passionfruit shortbread sandwiches, raspberry mousse cake-bites, mini-almond cakes, mini-gâteaux opera (Mistress’ favourite) and – the pièce de résistance – scones with jam and cream. The scones are beautifully crumbly and the little cakes all pack a flavour punch despite their diminutive stature.

Before we make it through all the cakes, a staff member approaches us to ask what teas we would like to finish off our meal. I opt for the Assam tea while Mistress chooses English Breakfast. If mashed potato is the comfort food of choice for most, then tea would have to be the comfort drink of choice for me. And with our respective pots of tea we continue with our conversation of the past ten years that is ever-changing in topic, ever-evolving but never-ending.

The Tea Room at Gunners’ Barracks

End of Suakin Drive, Georges Heights NSW

Tel: (02) 8962 5900

Opening Hours:  7 days  11am-5pm (lunch menu 12pm-3pm only)

happy eating!

Maisy’s, March-May 2009

At one stage Monsieur Poisson and I could be found almost every Sunday in the early afternoon at Maisy’s enjoying a rather delayed brunch. We are lazy creatures on weekends and enjoy a sleep-in, yet still crave the delights of a cooked breakfast – most preferably prepared by someone else. The beauty of Maisy’s is that not only does it serve breakfast all day, it also happens to be open every hour of every day of almost every day of the year. Oh, not to mention that the coffee is pretty good too.

Parking is not usually an issue around Maisy’s but the place itself does get quite busy Friday and Saturday nights, and into the wee hours as groups of people come and go in droves for before/after clubbing/drinking sustenance. This is despite the fact that there is seating upstairs, downstairs and just outside the front of the café. The service is usually quite efficient and there are a few staff members who always manage to remember drinks and food orders for tables of four or more without the need to note any of it down. This is an admirable feat by my standards and puts my amateur waitress days to absolute shame!

The standard of coffee here is fairly consistent and I am happy that it is never too weak or milky. Raw sugar is available on every table from a glass dispenser. Apart from the coffee, a particular favourite of mine is the mixed berry smoothie. It’s thick, creamy, restorative (extra virtuous if you have it made with yoghurt as opposed to my usual choice of ice-cream), full of berry goodness and is served in all its pastel lavender glory sitting tall and pretty in a retro-style milkshake glass (sorry, no photo!).

The ‘Mega Breakfast’ is your usual fry-up with a sausage, bacon, baked beans, mushrooms, potato hash, grilled tomato, toasted pide and eggs cooked to your liking. It’s nothing special, especially when compared to the ‘Eggs Benedict’ (sorry, again, no photo) which has a couple of poached eggs resting on ham atop toasted pide (yes, there seems to be an unusual fixation with pide here) all beneath a blanket of thick, creamy, lemon-yellow hollandaise. There is always way too much sauce to be comfortably consumed so I sometimes greedily order a side of fries for dipping.

Maisy’s don’t have any pizzas on their menu so when I feel in need of something greasy and cheesy I go for the chicken quesadillas. They are lightly crisp on the outside and packed with chicken, cheese and sweet onion jam on the inside. There is a small salad as well as generous dollops of sour cream, tomato salsa and guacamole on the side.

The Caesar Salad with grilled chicken unfortunately is not to my liking. Its dressing is creamy but lacks that garlic and anchovy kick, and the croutons don’t taste of much. Overall the components of the salad seem separate to each other and fail to meld together to become one cohesive dish.

The hot chocolate cake with hot chocolate sauce is pretty much a permanent fixture on Maisy’s dessert menu and is about as close to a pudding as I get. The two massive chunks of moist chocolate cake are a proud sight surrounded by a moat of chocolate sauce. The ice-cream on the side, although not of the best quality, offers a contrast in temperature and textures along with the strawberry.

Maisy’s charges a 10% surcharge after midnight until a certain time in the morning and, I believe, also all day on Sundays. I suppose it’s a small price to pay for non-fast food in the middle of the night.

Maisy’s

Shop 1, 164 Military Rd, Neutral Bay NSW

Tel: (02) 9908 4030

Opening Hours:  24 hours/day

happy eating!

Macchiato, 1 May 2009

Macchiato is one of those places I’ve been frequenting for a few years because the coffee and wood-fired pizza keep drawing me back. I’ve seen it through two interior fit-outs, most probably more than that in management changes and multiple versions of their menu. Where there are now bauble-type lights along the Liverpool Street side of Macchiato, used to be a raised seating section with space for a guitarist who would perform certain evenings.

Back to the present, Macchiato still does good coffee and excellent pizza. Upon stepping into the place, you are enveloped by the aromas of garlic and pizza bases emanating from the wood-fire oven in the middle of the restaurant. It is warming and inviting, if a little stuffy at times. The menu has become much more elaborate in recent times, however the service can be mediocre unfortunately and especially when it’s busy.

Monsieur Poisson and I find ourselves here for dinner after a day of wandering around the city. I feel like food that I can pick at so we share a garlic and cheese pizza as well as a mezze platter for one. The pizza arrives first on a thick wooden board and is beautifully crisp and thin. It is very, very garlicky with just enough cheese and a sprinkling of fine parsley.

The mezze platter was ordered because I couldn’t find the antipasto platter that I had ordered in the past – from memory, it had tzatziki, hummus, taramosalata, grilled haloumi, grilled octopus, grilled lamb, grilled flatbread and salad. The mezze platter is a variation of this memory with grilled octopus, salt and pepper calamari, lamb souvlaki, chicken schnitzel, fries, pitta bead, tzatziki and Greek salad adorned by a slab of feta.

The octopus is smokily charred and tender. The calamari is encased in a light and powdery batter and is tender within. The lamb is the standout for me in this mezze platter – it is meaty, juicy and tastes of being well-marinated with spices. The schnitzel seems an unusual inclusion and, unfortunately, looks like it has been pre-deep-fried then reheated. The fries are nice and make this dish very filling, so the tzatziki with pitta and salad provide cool and light relief.

As does the still night air when we step outside after our meal and realise that we both smell of pizza!

Macchiato

Cnr Pitt St & Liverpool St, Sydney NSW

Tel: (02) 9262 9525

Opening Hours:  7 days  7am-late

happy eating!

Bitton, 30 April 2009

 

After sharing details of our meal at Two Good Eggs, a friend recommended that I give Bitton a try. I had heard of the name but only as a gourmet food brand, having seen their gorgeously red-labelled jars and bottles at David Jones. What wasn’t known to me is that Bitton has a store at Alexandria which combines a gourmet grocer and café into one, with a French-influenced menu. Better still, it serves all-day breakfast featuring organic eggs.

Monsieur Poisson and I front up on a rainy autumn’s afternoon and manage to conveniently park almost in front of the store. We are seated in the middle of the store between two shelf displays and adjacent to a refrigeration unit. We are literally in the middle of the store, however we are not disturbed by any shoppers as enough space has been allowed for them to comfortably browse the products without invading our personal space. Once we have ordered, I have a nosey about at what’s on offer as well – Bitton not only stocks their own products, but also other brands as well as fresh organic produce.

But, I am beckoned back to our table when our drinks arrive. My Earl Grey tea is served in a plunger which I always find makes me a little impatient about drinking it. I don’t know why this is, as I normally let tea sit for bit to develop after it’s placed in front of me anyway. Monsieur Poisson is happy with the flavour of his caffe latte but laments that it has a little too much milk froth.

My ‘Oeufs en Croustade’ arrives, consisting of two poached eggs on a bed of spinach sitting on smoked salmon all in a neat pile atop a slice of sourdough toast. The serving doesn’t look very large but is seriously satisfying due to the explosion of flavours owing, in part, to the fact that the whole dish is covered in a thin coating of fine, buttery breadcrumbs.

Monsieur Poisson has ordered the ‘Truffled Herb Omelette’ which is a new experience in pungency for the both of us. That distinctive scent of black truffles with lots of stretchy gruyere encased in fluffy egginess – oh! On the side is Bitton’s own ‘Spicy Tomato Sauce’ (sweet and tomato-ey with a kick at the end), sourdough toast and butter. This dish is a symphony for the senses.

We leave full and happy and promise ourselves we will return to try things from the lunch menu… or maybe more from the all-day breakfast menu.

Bitton

36 Copeland St, Alexandria NSW

Tel: (02) 9519 5111

Opening Hours:  Mon & Tues  7am-5pm

                        Wed-Fri  7am-9pm

Sat & Sun  7am-5pm

Sun  CLOSED

happy eating!

Two Good Eggs, 27 April 2009

I’ve been to Two Good Eggs a few times now and it has yet to disappoint me. It’s an intimate place that serves Campos coffee (an increasing favourite of mine) and organic eggs at standard café prices. The interior is decorated in monochromes highlighted with splashes of red, with clean lines giving an air of Swedish design. In keeping with the name of the place, I especially like the cream-hued, egg-shaped light shades.

It is inner city so parking can be a bit restrictive time-wise, however it is usually easy to find parking spaces around the perimeter of the nearby park.

I start off with a nice, strong flat-white which is then followed by Two Good Eggs’ big breakfast with poached eggs. It has sausages, bacon, rather tasty mushrooms, tomato wedges that come herbed and pre-peppered, sourdough toast and, interestingly, a small side of green salad. The organic egg yolks are golden and runny whilst encased in their silken whites. The big breakfast lacks the potato hash and/or baked beans that some others have, but it’s still plenty of food and great quality to boot.

Monsieur Poisson has the potato, spinach and mushroom frittata which is accompanied by a slice of grain bread, side salad and a wedge of the abovementioned tomato. The frittata is herby, firm and moist and contains a middle layer of lightly mashed sweet pumpkin. It’s quite light in comparison with the potato ones that usually involve a fair bit of cream.

I finish my coffee and check for any herb bits stuck in Monsieur Poisson’s teeth. Then it’s off into the autumn sunshine for us – our parking is up.

Two Good Eggs

Shop 2, 148 Goulburn St (cnr Brisbane St), Surry Hills NSW

Tel: (02) 9283 9694

Opening Hours:  Mon-Fri  7am-4pm

Sat  8am-3pm

Sun  CLOSED

happy eating!

Makoto Chatswood, 25 April 2009

Monsieur Poisson and I can often be found eating sushi, as Japanese food features high on Monsieur Poisson’s favourites list. Conveyor sushi is quick and efficient and is a cool dining option during warmer weather. Having said that, the weather is not much of a deciding factor for us – we just eat it because we like it!

Over the years the range of sushi I consume has dramatically widened. I still remember the first California rolls and cucumber hosomaki bought from Japanese department stores during my early teens. It was many years later before I tried anything with raw components. The same basic rules apply to sushi as with trying any different foods for the first time: look at it, smell it and at least try one mouthful of it before passing judgement. More often than not the precluding factor is an impression of the food rather than the flavour or texture of the food itself.

Makoto Chatswood is part of the greater Masuya Group and is the sister sushi bar of Makoto City. It has distinctive walls decorated in cardboard cylinders akin to the centre spools of rolls of clingfilm or aluminium foil. It often has an interesting selection of background music playing – from Michael Jackson to Abba to dance beats.

Monsieur Poisson starts off with a scampi nigiri, one of his many sushi loves, which is not available at all sushi bars. I order a tofu-steak nigiri – it’s not something found on the rotating conveyor, nor does it feature on the laminated menu but I vaguely remember it being on a ‘vegetarian selections’ card some time ago.

I particularly like the salmon and seaweed salad rolls as the textural and flavour contrasts are wonderful. You have the sweet, squishiness of the salmon versus the mild sesame fragrance of the crunchy seaweed salad and the saltiness of the black caviar. And, for completely unrefined reasons, I have the ebi-fry nigiri because I like the combination of crumbed seafood with a creamy sauce; in this case, the topping of egg salad.

Makoto Chatswood usually has spider roll circulating about, which consists of deep-fried soft-shell crab rolled with crab stick, cucumber and an outer coating of black caviar. Oh, and don’t forget the lashings of mayonnaise over the top! And because we have a soft-shell crab craving to fill, we also order a plate of soft-shell crab karaage. The dish comes with two small crabs deep-fried in a very thin, light and crisp coating with sauce for dipping.

The scallop nigiri is a bit smaller than we’ve seen at other places but still good nonetheless. The beef tataki nigiri is tender without being too fatty and comes with generous blobs of grated ginger.

The California roll at Makoto Chatswood is unusual in that it has egg omelette in it and, on this particular occasion, flying fish roe mixed with mayonnaise through the middle as well. The aburi salmon nigiri is a little disappointing as it’s not as smoky as we’d like but is a bargain as it’s been swapped to the lowest priced plate towards end-of-service for the evening.

As all remaining plates of sushi are being reduced in price, I give the daily special – a seafood pie – a try. It’s definitely not Japanese in origin and consists of two prawns and scallops topped with a Mornay-style sauce in a vol-au-vent. It’s not bad but I expect it would have been better when still hot. We finish off with crab stick nigiri and are happy after yet another sushi fix.

Makoto Chatswood

336 Victoria Ave, Chatswood NSW

Tel: (02) 9411 1838

Opening Hours:  Mon-Fri  11:30am-3pm (lunch)

 5pm-9:30pm (dinner)

Sat  11:30am-3:30pm (lunch)

       5pm-9:30pm (dinner)

Sun  11:30am-3:30pm (lunch)

        5pm-9pm (dinner)

happy eating!

Hello! Kyochon, 24 April 2009

Monsieur Poisson tells me that where this Korean restaurant now stands, used to be a pancake place that stayed open until late. I unfortunately did not have a chance to sample their wares before they disappeared and, for ages, I thought this Korean place only did takeaway. The shop is narrow with a front window resembling that of a takeaway pizza joint or a kebab shop.

However, Mistress tells me she has heard of people dining in there so we decide to give it a try on a Friday evening. We wander in and are ushered through the store, past the kitchen, into an alfresco-style back courtyard. It is covered and nicely lit, with a flat-screen television playing in the background. There is a flower arch devoid of flowers and a few (real?) potted trees for decoration. It’s comfortable, although I am occasionally bothered by cigarette smoke drifting over from patrons smoking in a side laneway separated by a wooden gate.

We are handed menus where half the offerings seem to appear only in Korean. Not knowing Korean ourselves, this feels a little unfair – who knows what yummy delights we could be missing out on? – but in a way also vouches for the authenticity of the place. It is also reassuring to see that the bulk of customers already seated are Korean themselves.

As usual with Korean eateries, water in reusable plastic bottles is in abundance so we forego any other drinks. A young waiter takes our order in broken English and we settle into some girly banter. We have decided to skip the well-known fried chicken as neither of us wants fried fare on this occasion.

Our ‘Spicy Marinated Cheesy Chicken’ arrives on a hotplate sitting in plenty of chilli sauce and covered in lots of melty, stretchy cheese. There are also several Korean rice cakes buried within. It screams comfort-food but there is no rice to go with it. We inquire with the aforementioned young waiter who seems a little baffled by us, and approaches a secondary staff member before returning with some rice in the requisite stainless steel containers.

We dig in and find the dish is quite rich with its strong flavours. The sauce is sweet with ample bite and the melted cheese lends a creaminess to it. As we are eating we notice we haven’t received the usual barrage of side dishes seen at Korean establishments. We are embarrassed to once again have to bother the poor waiter and it does take us a while to establish communication channels, however after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing a light bulb illuminates above his head and he returns with a shallow dish of kimchi as well as creamy pasta salad.

With the spicy chicken as well as the side of kimchi, we are pleased when the seafood pancake is placed on our small, white plastic table. Made with a flour and egg batter and I suspect sometimes along with rice flour, Korean pancakes are thin and stretchy rather than fluffy like American pancakes. This one features a light golden ‘crust’ and contains plenty of seafood but unfortunately does not come pre-cut. Luckily Mistress and I are accustomed to the practice of sharing!

We are thoroughly full and are not able to finish the spicy chicken dish, but we sneak off to cool our palates with some ice-cream instead.

Hello! Kyochon

76a Archer St, Chatswood NSW

Tel: (02) 9411 8766

Opening Hours:  I think it’s open 7 days…?

*EDIT*: As of mid-2011, Hello! Kyochon has been replaced by Gallus Gallus in the same shop space serving a similar menu.

happy eating!

Zenya, 18 April 2009

There are so many places to eat at Eastwood and I am familiar with hardly any of them. We were visiting Kiki and Dr King for the evening and, seeing as this is their local area, we entrust them to take us somewhere inspiring. We land ourselves at Zenya; a dark, narrow Japanese restaurant with a small doorway. It’s a Saturday evening and there’s a short wait with us being second in the queue.

We are soon seated towards the back of the restaurant where each table has its own exhaust fan. We check the menu and don’t notice any yakiniku on offer, so we can only assume they belong to the previous incarnation of this shop-space. We settle ourselves into some rather green-hued green tea before we’re presented with our beef tataki. Monsieur Poisson is a particular fan but finds that the dressing is a little lacking in flavour – it needs to be tart and it needs to be slightly oily in order to coat the rare beef. However the fillet is nicely charred on the outside with a hint of smokiness.

The deep-fried soft-shell crab comes with salad and is encased in a crisp, golden batter. It is also interestingly dressed in a sweet sesame sauce and generously sprinkled with sesame seeds.

This is followed by a ton-toro bento with a rather large side-serve of ramen, which makes for excellent value. The ton-toro is thinly-sliced and is sweet and tender (thanks to the fattiness, no doubt). Otherwise the bento itself is a bit bare-looking with only a few slices of salmon sashimi, salad, a small serve of seaweed salad and a couple of deep-fried gyoza (I prefer the pan-fried variety) with a mayonnaisey dressing. But along with rice and the side of ramen, we are most definitely full.

We pay the bill at the counter and Kiki passes us some mint lollies from near the cash register. She then inserts two into her upper gums and gives us her best walrus impression!

Zenya

217 Rowe St, Eastwood NSW

Tel: (02) 9569 8588

Opening Hours:  Mon  CLOSED

Sun-Sat  11:30am-3pm (lunch)

Sun-Thurs  6pm-9:30pm (dinner)

Fri & Sat  6pm-10pm (dinner)

happy eating!

Bite Me Burger Co., 13 March 2009

I was asked to choose a place for a quick Friday night dinner and had the following criteria to take into consideration:

• central location to multiple workplaces
• convenient parking
• quick food and service (a friend had to get to the airport afterwards)
• a place with food that all friends would eat

That last criterion is always a bit contentious as not everyone I know happens to be a foodie; some of them far from it actually. Monsieur Poisson suggests Bite Me Burger Co. at Star City Casino, having eaten there recently himself, and everyone eats burgers… right?

Monsieur Poisson tells me he particularly liked the bread at Bite Me Burger Co., as well as the fries that come in cute, miniature supermarket trolleys. I immediately consult their website which details their use of bread rolls from Sonoma Bakery and a variety of cheeses with some from King Island Dairy. Mmmm… cheese! The menu, with its quirky names and inclusion of a wagyu burger, is a big drawcard for me. What I didn’t know, is that this burger joint started off its life in Paddington and was involved in a bit of controversy. How exactly it ended up at Star City Casino, I really don’t know.

On the evening we end up with several ‘Oh My Dog!’ footlong hotdogs across the table, in their soft rolls with slightly chewy crusts (the type that doesn’t stick to the roof of your mouth) and squiggles of sauce.

These are soon followed by the arrival of a ‘Wagyu Me’ which a friend assures me is very juicy. I tuck into my trolley serve of onion rings, which are presented strangely without said trolley. Monsieur Poisson enquires on my behalf and we are informed there are no more trolleys available for the evening. Considering that we are only one of three tables at 6:30pm, I suspect the mini-trolleys are staging a revolt in the kitchen. To make matters more confusing, we spot several trolleys for sale near the cashier.

 

However, the onion rings themselves do not disappoint. Not oily in the least and, best of all, are actual rings of onion – not mashed onion that has been reshaped into rings, battered and fried. They’re accompanied by a thin, seeded honey mustard for dipping.

 

Monsieur Poisson and myself are excited when our order is placed in front of us: a serve of four ‘Mini Bites’. Mini anything always means a greater sample of tastes and textures. We’ve chosen a mini ‘Oh My Dog!’, mini ‘Jack Daniels’, mini ‘Lambtastic’ and a mini ‘Pluck Me’.

The ‘Jack Daniels’ is spicy and sweet with its Jack Daniels-spiked barbeque sauce and Monterey Jack cheese. The ‘Lambtastic’ tastes very Mediterranean with its mint, cucumber, haloumi and yoghurt (It’s also meant to come on a Turkish roll but doesn’t look any different to us). The ‘Pluck Me’ is quite tender and, of course, I am very taken by the melted brie on top!

A couple of us order dessert when we notice that they have ice-cream sandwiches! Partly for the nostalgic factor, as ice-cream sandwiches don’t seem to be as popular as years gone-by, and partly because they’re made by Pat and Stick’s. I first encountered these at the Paddington Markets, but they’re also available at several retail outlets. This is the double chocolate one I ordered, which came conveniently cut in half and saved me from having to do so, as I was sharing with a friend.

Nothing like chocolatey ice-creamness to end a meal!

Bite Me Burger Co.
Shop R4 Harbourwalk, Star City Casino, Pyrmont NSW

Tel: (02) 9518 6477

Opening Hours:  Tues-Fri  12pm-3pm (lunch)

                                      5pm-late (dinner)

                        Sat-Sun  12pm-late

*EDIT*: Bite Me Burger Co. is no longer located at Star City, following major rennovations and re-opening in September 2011.

happy eating!

The Bathers’ Pavilion Café, 22 & 26 March 2009

One sunny March day Monsieur Poisson decided to take me to The Bathers’ Pavilion Café for lunch. We originally intended on having brunch but had enjoyed a bit too much of a sleep-in, so we settled for lunch instead. The more embarrassing part was that after years of collecting recipes, playing around with home-cooking, dining out at various establishments and indulging my love of cafés, I had yet to ever eat here.

The café is the companion of the Sydney Morning Herald one-hatted Bathers’ Pavilion Restaurant, and both are housed in the historic Bathers’ Pavilion at Balmoral Beach. It’s a beautiful part of Sydney with winding, hilly roads and majestic houses. With its proximity to the beach, parking can be a bit trying, especially when the weather’s sunny and warm.

 

We wait roughly 20 minutes for a table as it is a typically busy Sunday afternoon and the café doesn’t take reservations. We are shown to a table by the window at the back part of the café, which has a much richer colour scheme than the rest of the place.

We enjoy our drinks and complimentary bread rolls, which are placed on a separate side table, while we await our ordered food. First to arrive is the sardine and chorizo pizza on its crisp and thin yet doughy crust, with paprika on the side for sprinkling. It’s Italian surf ‘n turf and tastes like summer with its sweet tomato sauce base, cherry tomatoes and basil leaves.

 

Our Caesar salad with grilled chicken is not presented as nicely as those we see on other tables, and looks like it’s tumbled onto its side on its way to us from the kitchen. However, the cos lettuce leaves served whole are young and crisp and dressed in a light, lemony dressing. The croûtes are toasted golden and garlicky, but unfortunately there’s nothing spectacular about the chicken – I would recommend ordering the standard Caesar salad instead.

A few days later we return to try the breakfast menu and my attention is, expectedly, directed towards the pancetta and asparagus tart with poached egg and hollandaise. It arrives garnished with a massive sprig of watercress and is a beautiful medley of flavours sitting within a crisp tart pastry but is a bit small in its serving size than I would expect for its price.

 

The chorizo with onion, bush tomato relish and fried egg on sourdough that Monsieur Poisson orders is much more substantial. It packs a serious flavour punch but you need that sweet yet tart tomato relish to help cut through the saltiness of the chorizo as well as its oiliness along with the egg.

 

I finish off with a pot of Earl Grey tea, which is presented in a suitably nautical colour-themed teapot, cup and milk jug set. I also need a bit of a sweet fix and order a serve of their biscotti. Four long slices arrive laden with nuts (an absolute bargain when we check the bill and discover it cost only $2!) and, as I can only get through two of them, I take the remaining two home wrapped in a serviette to enjoy later.

The Bathers’ Pavilion Café

4 The Esplanade, Balmoral Beach NSW

Tel: (02) 9969 5050

Opening Hours:  daily from 7am (breakfast, lunch & dinner)

happy eating!