berry woodfired sourdough bakery @ prince alfred st., berry

Is it odd to sit there with a loaf of fresh bread and keep eating and eating it until it's gone? And what about thinking about all the condiments that you can have with fresh bread whilst you're eating it - a generous slap of fresh butter, a generous dip of olive oil, freshly made jams, a lathering of peanut butter or even a slight smear of vegemite and butter is occasionally something that the heart desires. I really do love eating bread.

Woodfired sourdough served with olive oil and salt at the Berry Woodfired Sourdough Bakey.

It's a busy little place here, waited about 15 minutes to be seated at a table.

A somewhat lighter lunch than usual - a duck leg salad.

A slightly more filling Poached Chicken Salad.

Oh - a third course of dessert at lunch is often something I think about too. Who says you can only have dessert after dinner? 

A must visit in Berry!

After the Berry Tea Shop, this is my second favourite place in Berry. It's a great place to rest your legs for the afternoon in the comfort of delicious food. You can also get baked goods on the go but note they sell out earlier so get in there quick if you can!

st. malo's bakery @ willoughby rd., crows nest

Places that serve up all day breakfast, by default, are places that I always go back to. During the week, I'm usually on the run and breakfast is a rather odd assortment of foods, sometimes just a coffee, other times cereal, if I'm lucky maybe a bit of toast so when it comes to the weekend (when I have all the time in the world to sleep in and catch up on myself), a late brekkie is certainly most welcome.

A couple of weeks back, we enjoyed a late brekkie over lunch time with friends that we hadn't seen in a while. They'd recently come back from a trip and we had much to chat and talk about as a good deal has happened over the last couple of months. St. Malo's Bakery was a place that they'd heard about and were keen to try; no questions there as when you're outside the shop, the sight of pastries and baked goods will naturally draw you in.

Coffees and hot chocolates for the table.

Both boys opted for the Breakfast of the Kings (aka big breakfast) and happily ate their way through the plate - there were certainly no complaints there about the quantity or quality of the meal.

Char's choice of Mushroom on Toast.

My choice of Croque Monsieur with a side of Sweet Potato Chips. If you're not all that hungry, this dish could easily serve two.

There was plenty else on the menu that I was keen to try. What got my attention were some gigantic muffins (I have a soft spot for muffins - as simple as they are, I actually prefer muffins to other heavily decorated and assembled cakes) but probably one for next time to share with a friend over coffee. Service here was very friendly - we started late, chatted away and before we know it they were starting to close off sections for the day but they were not pushy at all for us to get out.  We finally did leave though with very satisfied stomachs and a walk through the local markets and shops nearby was a great way to spend a weekend afternoon. Thanks for the company Char & Rookie!

the cupcake bakery @ qvb, sydney

For a recent family together, my cousin A bought cupcakes from The Cupcake Bakery in QVB (it's near T2 - another of my favourite shops!) You can hardly miss the shop - the sight of cupcakes screams out at you and if not, you'll probably see the crowds of people at the counter; some still picking their wares, others balancing their bags and boxes of cupcakes or eating them straight out of the bag. I've been to both the QVB shop and the one on George Street and slowly, I'm eating my way through their flavours.

A's order of 16 assorted cupcakes (2 boxes) came with a rather pretty cupcake bag. Unfortunately, my aunt was the first to say how pretty it was otherwise I was tempted to keep it for myself.

My favourite flavours out this batch - Tiramisu, Carrot & Walnut + Profiterole (note that the profiteroles are unfilled but there's a heavy dosing of custard filling under the tower of profiteroles on the cupcake!)

I'm pretty sure there were 16 of us on the day (if not more) but we struggled to get through them all. We finished about 8 and every family had 2-3 cupcakes to take home. And it wasn't just me that was taking photos! The pretty sight of cupcakes got everyone's cameras and phones out!

My tip for eating cupcakes is to cut them up into 4. That way you can try up to 4 flavours yet you've only eaten the one cupcake. These cupcakes from The Cupcake Bakery are quite big and do make a decent meal. My max. is probably 1 cupcake at a time. I wonder if they'll do what Cupcakes on Pitt did and downsize their cupcakes sometime soon?

fundamental fish + adriano zumbo @ darling st., balmain

Very fortunately, I found myself in Balmain the day after Adriano Zumbo launched their new cake collection (well it was either that or the Rocks Aroma Coffee Festival which well, when you put them together, doesn't make for a very hard choice). I think J was laughing on the inside because for the entire week, I'd been urging him to go to the coffee festival but when it came down the to Sunday, I opted for the trip to Balmain so we didn't have to drive as far (and yes, petrol is expensive these days!).

First up was lunch (J claimed he was hungry) but to be honest, whenever Zumbo is in sight, I could easily pass on lunch and get straight to dessert. Anyhow, I generally don't complain about food so lunch was fine (and well, our choice of lunch was close enough for my liking - just a short walk away from the doors of Zumbo).

We were looking for a place that looked nice and Fundamental Fish just happened to suit that description and to our luck also, they were in the Entertainment Book with a 25% discount. Yay! I had the salmon steak served Japanese style with soy sauce and wasabi.One of the specials on Sunday - Sword Fish Steak served over a bed of risotto.Wedges with (too little) Sweet Chilli Sauce & Sour Cream but otherwise yum.Lovely lovely macaroons - an exotic selection of flavours; Lime & Basil, Earl Grey and Rice Pudding. Each equally as nice and tasty as the other.
The selection of cakes that day - Cherry Cherry, Open Sesame, Petit St. Honore and Storm Cloud (Miss Marple is still my favourite but gone in the interim and replaced by a Miss Marple Tart which didn't look anywhere near as nice.) Boo!

Again, J had to pull me out of the store as I could've stayed there all day gushing over the cakes. I think the boy behind the counter thought I was a little crazy because a) it took me ages to decide, b) when he asked me what type of cake I liked e.g. nuts, chocolate, fruity flavoured, I responded with chocolate but then when I picked out my cakes, none of them had chocolate in them, and c) Even to the point when I was paying, I still looked like I wanted to get more cakes and wouldn't leave the store.

On the window, I saw the notice that they were looking for full time staff, I pointed and J just looked at me and shook his head and asked, 'What would you do if you worked there?.... Eat cake?' What's wrong with eating cake?

balmain eating house + adriano zumbo @ darling st., balmain

Back to being slow with my posts and this one probably dates over a month back (but nonetheless one worth blogging about!! Adriano Zumbo!! woo hoo!!) So...

It was at my insistence that J drove us out to Balmain to visit the infamous Adriano Zumbo (who I have read about, drooled about and longed for a very long time to visit his shop to try out his selection of cakes - highly commended and posted by fellow food bloggers.

Reluctantly, I listened to J and did the sensible thing of having some lunch before visiting the shop. We flicked through our new Entertainment Book and found a voucher for 'Balmain Eating House' which happened to be on the way to Adriano Zumbo's. And can I add, it was a rather good choice!

J with his steak sandwich that had a rather exquisite drizzle of hollandaise sauce on top.Garlic Mushrooms on wood-fired toast with the freshest side of green salad. This was so delish but did leave me a little hungry an hour later when all the food had digested.A side of herb bread.

It didn't take long for the bill to come and for me to be out the door and hurtling down the street with a sense of purpose. Perhaps I did get a little too excited cause as soon as the Adriano Zumbo store front came into sight, I almost ran across the street without checking traffic (fortunately J was next to me and grabbed my hand before I could get run over by a car). Reminder to self - don't kill yourself over cake.

In the shop, I asked the girl at the counter if I could take a photo to which she replied 'Of Course!' (I don't think I'm the first one to ask)

I could not believe my eyes! Each piece of cake was so beautifully and cleverly crafted and then so carefully and exquisitly arranged in the class cabinets - how could one not ask for a piece of everything!

It wasn't an easy choice but I finally pulled myself out of the store with my boxful of cakes. Even the box itself was so pretty! You should've seen me make faces at J as he drove home - every bump, every corner - I would squeal with the box of cakes in my lap.

Ta da!! My favourite is the one in the middle titled Miss Marple (custard encased in a sweet crepe drizzled with maple syrup and topped with strawberries and toffee - I didn't eat the toffee though).

Over 2 days, the cakes pictured above were consumed and I was seriously amazed by the range of flavours, colours, tastes and textures (and might I add, leave you hanging for more! In my case, I was addicted to the Miss Marple :P) Mum prefers the tarts (lemon and passionfruit) as they're not so sweet and we're both quite a big fan of the millefuille which is crispy as the pastry should be. I could pass on the chocolate dacquoise - usually I'm a big fan of chocolate but in this instance found the chocolate a little overpowering; especially as I was trying to taste all the different flavours in the other cakes and couldn't when I had the chocolate.

It was definitely a worthwhile trip and I'll be sure to be back! Apparently, every so often they launch a whole new range of cakes - which makes Adriano Zumbo that much more exciting!!

bourke st. bakery @ broadway

My office has moved!! (the new space is amazing!! bar area, funky lights, beanie chairs, you name it!) And to my delight, bourke st. bakery @ broadway is just on my way to work (and I got there even before I got to my new office :P)

First up on Monday: Rhubarb & Almond Tart with Coffee. Superb!

Day 'n' (let's say we've moved into our office for 2 weeks now): Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Muffin. My gosh! This one has so many chunks of dark chocolate pieces and raspberries in it (hehe...it's my favourite of the 3 muffins they have)
For home: A loaf of Plain Sourdough & a Carrot Cake (the cake was so tiny yet so cute!)

The shop on Broadway is actually quite small; as you walk in, you have a counter and coffee machine, there's about one table if you want to sit in and a bench for people to browse newspapers whilst waiting for their coffees. I imagine their Surry Hills shop is much bigger although I was doing some research and somewhere it was saying that most of the baking actually gets done at their shop on Broadway! Definitely hard to believe but really, everything I've tried has been so good that I'm not too fussed where the baking gets done :P

So yeah, they have pastries, danishes, muffins, croissants, sourdough loaves, panini, sausage rolls, pies, quiches, cookies, cakes; more or less anything that gets baked. I actually also had a sandwich from there yesterday and it was equally as good. Must admit though, it is on the pricey side and going there too often has its downsides (money being one but getting fat is the other - my manager has already had to warn me about this :P).

And hey, I think I should get commission for recommending people there. I went on our first day in the new office, told people about it, and now half the office is going there!

delicious cake shop @ lane cove

Those who know me well would know that my major weakness is cake. I love pretty cakes and moreso, I love eating pretty cakes. This weekend, my aunty took me to a cake shop she discovered whilst in the Lane Cove area. She gave me a week's notice that we were going, in which time I perused their website to check what cakes they had and to decide what cakes I would be getting (For those interested, visit http://www.icake4u.com/). Again, those who know me well would know that I'm highly indecisive. When it comes to cakes in particular, I end up getting a piece of everything all because I can't decide. So anyways, that's just a bit about me.

Back to the cake shop, called 'Delicious Cake Shop' claims to be Japanese. It's not really Japanese (as much as their cakes strive to look like those Japanese cakes), you'll find that the people working there are Chinese looking, and then when you look closely at the packaging, you'll discover that you're in a Taiwanese bakery. Honestly, I think the Taiwanese do an awesome job with their cakes (for e.g. Savoy is one of those places I constantly go back to) and definitely, this little place in Lane Cove will become another one of those ones which I'll visit when I can.

So it was with great difficulty that I settled on 7 slices of cake plus some cookies and friands. The cake slices included: Black Forest, White Forest, Chocolate Lover, German Cheesecake, Oreo Cheesecake, Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake, and Blueberry Pie. I'm a big cheesecake lover and settled for all their cheesecake slices. They actually have a wide selection of mousse cakes on offer if mousse is your cup of tea. As for my aunt, she bought a full chestnut cake and a coffee roll.

On the whole, expect some intense flavours. Can't say I'm 100% happy with all the cakes but they've definitely done a good job with the cheesecake slices! Presentation is superb and whilst not actually 'Japanese', they've still won me over in their own ways. Will go back soon to order their hamburger cake. Check it out on their website!!