Coffee Warehouse Cafe & Deli @ Homebush

My brother loves pizza, probably one of his favourite food. So, for his birthday he organised a dinner at Coffee Warehouse Cafe and Deli. Coffee Warehouse Cafe & Deli is located along the busy Paramatta road amongst a bunch of car manufacturers. The name of the restaurant is quite a handful, and I am not sure if I can really refer to it as a restaurant. By day it works as a place for coffee and cafe style food, and at night as a pizzeria. The warehouse element of the 'restaurant' is that they sell a range of coffee machines, coffee beans and other interesting European biscuits and sauces. (Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of the interior).

Meatlovers

Ham, cabanossi, pepperoni, bacon, bbq sauce

Mexicana

Pepperoni, onion, capsicum, olives, chilli, jalapenos

Ham & Pineapple

Smoked ham, pineapple

Polenta Chips

Homemade polenta chips with rich napoletana sauce and parmesan

Roasted rosemary tomatoes

Rocket and parmesan salad

Caoricciosa

Smoked ham, mushrooms, olives

Prosciutto

Prosciutto, mascarpone, olives, rocket, extra virgin olive oil 

PATATE

Pizza Bianca - sliced potato, prosciutto, rocket

Digging in! 

All the food was exceptional! Despite some of the photos making the pizzas looks oily, they aren't that greasy. The pizzas aren't overcrowded with too many toppings, which allows all the individual elements to come through. The dough itself allows for a crisp crust and base. I definitely recommend ordering sides helped break through all the pizza goodness. Possibly the best Italian Pizzeria I have been to! 

On top of my brother loving pizza, he loves cakes with mousse in it. So I went to Cavallaros in Liverpool to purchase one of their popular cakes - Nocciola. It is composed of hazelnut daquoise, milk chocolate mousse with praline, and there are also little circle crisps through out the mousse.

Happy Birthday!!

The dinner was for 12 people, and in between us we ordered 8 pizzas (I think) and a whole bunch of sides to share amongst the entire table. We were all completely stuffed by the end of the meal. It is a great place to celebrate a birthday. However, they do charge a cake fee of $2.50 per person. 

Good food, good times!

Excelsior Jones @ Ashfield

A friend of mine has been telling me to try Excelsior Jones for months, and when they won Best Cafe in Time Out Food Award 2013, I figured it was about time I went. I personally, would have never thought such a cafe would exist in the suburb known for their dumplings. Therefore, as a brunch date, we headed to Ashfield to check out Excelsior Jones.

Excelsior Jones is located on quite a strange intersection, where apart from the cafe itself, there are homes and a few mechanics. But, never judge a book by its cover right? Upon walking in, there was a great smell of coffee and pancakes! The pancake smell was extremely deceiving considering there wasn't a pancake item on the menu.

Pretty Mocha

Berry almond tart

After smelling the pancakes, and not seeing them in sight I thought we would need a sweet hit. I went to the cabinet, and from the several pastries such as friands and cupcakes I chose the deliciously looking berry almond tart. My partner ordered a cappuccino while I ordered a mocha for myself, and accompanied with the tart was a great way to start the day.

Poached eggs with toast, relish, feta and sauteed mushrooms

We both ordered the same dish of poached eggs with toast, however chose different sides. Excelsior Jones allows you to choose from a range of sides such as; bacon, relish, mushrooms, feta, relish, avocado. I ended up with the relish, feta and mushrooms and my partner chose a nice and simple side of avocado. The relish was amazing and when added with the feta, a great balance of sweet, salty and tangy flavours. There is not any other way of having mushrooms for breakfast than with a lovely butter based sauce. Of course, the best part of a breakfast are perfectly poached eggs!

Overall, Excelsior Jones was a great place for breakfast. The staff are friendly, where a staff member saw my partners film camera and had an in-depth talk about photography and cameras for a good 10 minutes. I definitely want to go again and try their lunch menu.

Good food, good times!

Metro St James @ St James

A day out with a friend, always calls for a good meal to be involved. We then decided to hit up Metro St James. Metro St James has been open since March this year, and has been getting a great level of business. There most recent enterprise was pay with a kiss. The idea is to pay with a kiss, meaning you get your coffee for free if you are at the counter and kiss your partner. I didn't part take in this, however a lot of people did and it had a lot of buzz on radio and other social media websites.

Big Healthy Breakfast

Poached free range eggs, hot salmon, avocado, roasted tomatoes & ricotta on soy quinoa toast

A lovely big hearty and healthy plate of food. All the colours that you want to see when eating breakfast, with fresh flavours. A great start for anyone's day!

House made baked beans, poached eggs and feta w/ side of toast

My choice for breakfast. I wanted to try the baked beans, to see how they compared to The Grounds of Alexandria. They are more tomatoey than the grounds, but just as good. The addition of the feta adds a lovely saltiness to the dish. Eating baked beans on toast was a very fulfilling breakfast.

Metro St James is a great place to start your day in the big city. 

Good food, good times!

Manly Eats: Hemingway's and Adriano Zumbo

My friends love book cafes, and one has a goal to go to all the Sydney book cafes. Therefore, as a group we went to Hemingway's for lunch. Heminway's is located on the main road along the Beach. It has a bar, and an upstairs for more people to dine and enjoy some nice drinks.

Gin...I mean water

All the table water is served in Hendrick's Gin bottles! 

Kids these days won't know what an encyclopaedia is.

Creaming Soda

vodka, chambord, lemonade, cherry bitters, wild berry foam

Fried chicken with corn bread, potato salad and tomato sauce

The fried chicken was cooked through, but isn't the type of fried chicken I was expecting. There was a strong dill taste in the potato salad, even when combined with other components. The tomato sauce was a load of tomatoey goodness, but I feel that it didn't work well with the chicken. It went great with the corn bread, and when I see corn bread I always think of the movie The Green Mile. 

 Home made gnocchi with king prawns, garlic, chilli and prawn emulsion

This was a lovely dish, just not enough of it. The use of garlic and chilli added the extra hit, without being overpowering. 

Roast pumpkin salad with rocket, goats curd, seeds and grains

This was the most simple of the dishes, and the tastiest. A pumpkin based salad is always a hit, and this definitely was. The goats curd was soft like yoghurt, which added that extra bit of freshness.

Now, a visit to Manly means dessert at Adriano Zumbo. So we grabbed some treats and headed to the bay to sit and enjoy our delights!

Zumbarons!

Berry Brioche

lip # smack ! whack
cream cheese mousse, biscuit cuillere, olive oil mousse, mixed berry compote, cheesecake base, white chocolate, seasonal berries

Hemingway's was a bit of a hit and miss with our dishes. It was also quite a trek for people from South West Sydney. However, their current breakfast and dinner menu sound delicious. Adriano Zumbo, never disappoints.

Good food, good times!