Category: Brunch

Bórn by Tapavino

It’s been more than 2 years since I last wrote about my experience dining… around the first time the pandemic hit this world 🙁

We are slowly moving back to the new normal and started to eat out again with friends and families… even coming to the office on a more regular basis.

For this edition, I went to Born by Tapavino, for a company lunch. Born by Tapavino is located in Barangaroo, Sydney.

The Menu at Born by Tapavino

Their lunch set menu is priced at $65 pp with an option to add Jamon Croqueta for $6 pp.

They provided a shared-plate set menu that consisted of 1 snack, 4 tapas, and 1 substantial with a side. There was also the dessert of the day: Pavlova 🙂

They also have the a la carte menu available if you’re not really with a big group of people.

Jamon Serrano with Sourdough bread

For the group, they actually served a very generous amount of Jamon Serrano!

The sourdough bread was the one that stole the show for us. They were so very warm and delicious that we actually had to order some extra!

Manchego Churros, Tomato Jam

I believe the churros were the fastest dish devoured by the group on that day!

They were very nice and perfect bite size… it’s a shame we couldn’t have some more extras like the bread 🙂

Galician Octopus, Kipfler Potatoes

I love how they cooked the octopus, Galician style with generous sprinkles of paprika!

They also put substantial amount of potatoes on the plate… which made us struggle towards the end to finish the set menu… good struggle tho 🙂

Gambas al Ajillo, Garlic Prawns

This dish doesn’t need an introduction. Pretty much a staple in most if not all Spanish Tapas.

Did we say we order extra bread? To dip into the garlic sauce!

Char-grilled Chicken + Patatas, Chilli Salt and Sherry Mayo

More potatoes… different kinds but equally good!

The chicken was super juicy with very tasty salsa sauce!

Dessert del Dia – Pavlova

I couldn’t really enjoy this to the fullest because I had to go to another meeting. However, the one scoop I had was very good!

The Final Verdict for Born By Tapavino

It was a very good lunch set menu at Born By Tapavino.

Do you think I should go?

If you do it on a weekday, you might want to clear out the rest of the day for meetings. The set menu was super filling and it might take a while to go through them all.

Rating:

Una’s Darlinghurst

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $65 Lunch Set Menu

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

9A 23 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo NSW 2000, Sydney

+61 2 8072 7387

https://www.borntapavino.com.au/

Sep 29, 2022
Kylon Eatery

If you live around Hurlstone Park train station, you must have noticed this corner cafe just opposite the station. Kylon Eatery is a pretty spacious cafe with interesting menu items.

We’ll go through the three that we ordered at the restaurant in this week’s edition.

Poke Bowl – $20 – Cured Salmon, brown rice, edamame beans, pickled onion, cucumber, slaw, avocado, sesame & ponzu dressing

I think almost every cafe in Sydney serves poke bowl these days. I like how the bowl was presented at Kylon Eatery. It looked very lively and colourful.

Eggs Benedict – $18 – Poached eggs, apple cider hollandaise, wilted spinach on fermented crumpet with salmon, mushroom or ham hock

If I see eggs benedict on the menu, I would almost certainly pick it. In addition to the sure pick, I was also interested that they used a fermented crumpet for the base. I liked the sauce and the rest was nicely assembled.

Chicken Haloumi Roll – $16 – Grilled chicken, haloumi, spinach, tomato, aioli, on long milk roll & hand cut chips

We originally ordered this dish for sharing amongst the little ones. However, the eldest was more interested in the poke bowl. I ended up having half of the roll which was pretty tasty and filling.

Latte – $4

One of the coffee beans used at Kylon was called Ardi. It’s an Ethiopian origin with a nice taste to it.

The final verdict for Kylon Eatery

I think the food at Kylon Eatery was one of the better ones in the area.

Do you think I should go?

They can be quite busy on the weekend… but that’s pretty much describing a nice brunch place in Sydney these days!

Rating:

Kylon Eatery

7.5 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $11 – $20 per dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

25 Floss Street, Hurlstone Park 2193

+61 2 9559 8205

Kylon Eatery on facebook

Dec 3, 2019
Koku Culture Cafe

Koku Culture Cafe is located at the far end of the Ashfield shopping strip towards the junction to Croydon. This little Japanese cafe is always very busy… and I think we know why!

Coffee By Single O

While you wait, you might want to order the coffee that they are serving.

Ice cream and honey on toast – $8

This is a big hit for the kids. The bread was a thick cut Japanese milk bread from Azuki Bakery in Enmore. If you add a scoop of ice cream, a sprinkle of 100s and 1000s and a dash of honey, you get an instant favourite.

Torched Confit Alpine King Salmon Fillet – $19 – with Koku miso dressing & green tea noodle salad.

I love the fact that they put an effort into making the skin crispy. The salmon itself was perfectly cooked.

They were giving you an option to add a 63-degree egg for an extra $2. This is almost a no-brainer… you just had to add the egg.

Crispy Rice Burger with Chips – $15 – Cheese Burger with Koku Secret Sauce

I love rice burger ever since I tasted one a few years ago in Sydney. They are always super crunchy!

The shoestring fries at Koku Culture Cafe made this dish a crunch fest!

Extra Corn Fritter – $5

The corn fritter wasn’t actually part of our original plan. We ordered it upon seeing one passing our table. We knew we just had to order it.

The final verdict for Koku Culture Cafe

Koku Culture Cafe serves us quality food with amazing hospitality.

Do you think I should go?

You are almost likely needing to wait for your table at the restaurant. However, the food there is sure worth the wait!

Rating:

Silvester’s

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $10 – $23 per person

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

1/355 Liverpool Road, Ashfield 2131

+61 402 697 475

https://www.kokuculture.com.au/

Nov 14, 2019
FCBA x Butcher and The Farmer Meadowbank

We came to the Butcher and The Farmer Meadowbank to celebrate the fourth birthday of FCBA community. It also coincided with the 2-month anniversary of the restaurant!

Butcher and The Farmer Meadowbank

Butcher and The Farmer Meadowbank has a pretty different concept than the one in Tramshed. Instead of the upmarket style, this one is geared more towards the casual dining with predominantly Italian influence.

Antipasto

The first course that they presented at this event was antipasto.

They had the antipasto platter and a few dipping sauces. Bread and olives were always the staples in any Italian restaurant.

Pizza

At the event, Chef Fabio presented his winning pizza from an event where he came up as a runner up. While the pizza itself hasn’t made it to the menu, he made it for us on this occasion.

They also presented a few of the mainstays in the restaurant, including the quickly-devoured prosciutto with glazed pineapple pizza.

Pasta

The second act in Italian dining is always pasta… yes, right after pizza!

They had three different pasta on display, including the zucchini fettuccini and lamb ragu.

Chicken

They were saving the best for last. It was one of the best rotisserie chicken I have ever had.

The chicken was very juicy and the marinade worked really well with the garlic sauce.

Desserts

Sponsor at the FCBA x Butcher and The Farmer Meadowbank Event

This event was made more awesome by our following sponsors:

Butcher and The Farmer

Million Wines

Prost Beer

Spirits Platform

Milk Flower

Everdure

Cakes by Emily

MWave

Dr Krunch

Butcher and The Farmer

Details:

10 Rothesay Avenue, Meadowbank 2112

+61 2 8629 8828

https://butcherandthefarmer.com/au/

Oct 4, 2019
Kafeine Balmain

Kafeine Balmain review:

It was a pretty uneventful Sunday and we just happened to be in Balmain. We decided to try a cafe called Kafeine. The cafe itself was quite busy but we managed to get a seat there.

I was actually quite surprised when I browsed through the menu. The menu consists of a few Asian ingredients here and there. When I checked with the people at Kafeine, they mentioned that they were all from Indonesia. Some of the combination was quite interesting and we decided to give it a go.

Kafeine Balmain – Menu

Breakfast Tasting Plate – $22.90 – Corn fritters, eggs benedict, smoked salmon& black sticky rice porridge

This is the one plate-fits-all approach at Kafeine. You basically don’t need to order anything else. You pretty much get entree, main and dessert in one plate. It is also the fastest way to try a lot of the menu in the store.

I would like to mention that the black sticky rice porridge is actually pretty heavy. Make sure you save some space for that dessert.

Salmon Paradiso – $22.90 – Grilled Atlantic crispy skin salmon, 65-degree Za’atar egg, pickled ginger, asparagus, currants, pecans & brown rice salad

This is another pretty substantial dish that was available at Kafeine. They gave us a bucket load of brown rice. The dish itself reminds me of Hawaiian poke bowl but with grilled salmon.

Volcano Dog – $18.90 – Fried egg, beef sausage, chili con carne, cheddar cheese on a croissant

Chili dog on a croissant? who doesn’t want to try! It was a little bit harder to hold when compared to a hot dog as the croissant is notoriously flaky.

Having said that, I actually quite like the combination. It was very filling but without the ‘stuffed’ feeling.

Ice Chendol Flavour Pancakes – $17.90 – Pandan coconut pancakes, fresh cut fruit, coconut flakes, coconut palm sugar sauce and vanilla ice cream

Ice Chendol is an Indonesian/Malaysian rice flour dessert that was usually served on glass with ice. They deconstructed this and made pancakes instead with vanilla ice cream and a few cuts of fruit. They keep the palm sugar sauce element intact.

Chia Pudding – $15.90 – Soaked chia seed in coconut & strawberry juice, mango puree, toasted coconut & fresh cut fruits

I love the chia seed pudding.

Latte – $3.80

The final verdict for Kafeine Balmain

We went to Kafeine in Balmain out of convenience. But we left the cafe already thinking about when we should go back!

Do you think I should go?

Definitely!

Rating:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $15 – $23 main dish

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

260 Darling Street, Balmain 2041

+61 2 9555 1140

http://www.kafeine.com.au/

May 19, 2019
COOH Alexandria

COOH Alexandria Review:

Alexandria, especially the area around The Grounds, has become some sort of hot spot for up-and-coming restaurants in Sydney. COOH Alexandria is situated just across the Grounds. They have a massive dining space with quite a lot of tables. It could get a bit too loud when the restaurant is full.

We went there for lunch. There were quite a lot of vegetarian options on the menu. One of my friends was looking for some kind of steak but the only beef on the menu was burger.

Chicken Burger – $16 / $20 with chips – Free range hormone free marinated chicken breast with free range nitrate free bacon, cheese, smashed avo, rocket & tzatziki served on an organic charcoal bun

There were quite a lot of fancy words in the menu for the chicken burger. The charcoal bun stole the spotlight for the burger.

Moroccan Lamb & Quinoa Salad – $26 – Chermoula marinated free range junne lamb rump served medium, sweet potato, coriander, currants, caramelised onion, cherry tomatoes & mint yoghurt

I have never seen a lamb dish that could look so healthy before. I admire how they could make it into something that looked quite delicate.

Grilled Salmon & Soba Noodle Salad – $28 – Grilled ora king salmon with soba noodles, pickled ginger, avocado, ponzu dressing, coriander & mint

I don’t know how to describe it, but this combination worked. I liked how the lightness of Japanese-style soba was paired up with the grilled salmon and a slice of avocado.

Seared Tuna Salad – $25 – Spice crusted tuna with spiralised salad, jalapeno salsa & avocado puree

Going along with COOH’s team of light and heavy dishes, the seared tuna salad did just that. On one side, you have a mixture of salad and on the other side you had avocado puree topped with seared tuna.

Desserts

Chocolate brownie & jasmine cream – $15 – Fudge macadamia brownie with jasmine infused ganache monte & plant-based peanut butter ice cream

I’m not a big fan of chocolate, but this one was a bit better than our second dish. They chose to pair the brownie with jasmine cream and peanut butter ice cream. The resulting dish was this semi sweet and savoury dessert.

Pineapple & coconut verrine – $15 – Almond cake, coconut-chia cream, poached pineapple & lime sorbet

Unfortunately the second dessert didn’t impress us like the first. It was super sweet.

The final verdict for COOH Alexandria

COOH Alexandria serves quite a balanced dish.

Do you think I should go?

I’ve been to the restaurant twice and both times the food wasn’t too bad. However, the service could probably be improved. In saying that, I couldn’t really blame them either as there was only a handful of them in that massive space.

Rating:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $20 – $28 main dish

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

90 – 96 Bourke Road, Alexandria 2015

+61 2 9002 1333

https://www.cooh.com.au/

May 6, 2019