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!

GIGINO @ Fairfield West

Italian food, we all love it, but a lot of the time it can be overpriced or just not what you want. I have a solution...GIGINO. GIGINO is located in Fairfield (considered as Sydney's west) along a main road known as Hamilton road. It has only been open for a year, and now going into their second year with great success (GIGINO facebook page). I went on a Sunday evening with my family, and by 8 o'clock it was a packed house. It is a small restaurant that holds roughly 30-40 people inside (including window seats), and 10 outside. Therefore, for large groups (5-10) I strongly advise to make a reservation to secure a table. Throughout the week they have their weekly specials, serve lunch and have BRUNCH SUNDAYS!

Arancini balls ($11) and lasagne special ($17)

The above dishes were the specials of the night. Arancini balls are one of the greatest things ever created. As my sister in law said 'cooked rice, cheese and deep fried' nothing can go wrong when you combine those 3 things in a ball of crunchy goodness. Some of them had a bit of a cold centre (as in a few grains of rice) but wasn't really noticed when you eat it with the hot outside. The lasagne was one of the best restaurant lasagnes we have tried. So many layers of pasta and meat. It was great, if it had a bit more cheese on the top it would be even more perfect!!!!

Mozzarella salad ($10) and mixed salad ($5)

To break through all the goodness we thought we would balance it all with some salads. Both salads were simple in nature where the mozzarella salad contained chunks of mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, and the other with tomatoes, lettuce and onions. The salads come undressed, but balsamic vinegar and oil are provided on the table so the salads can be dressed to your liking.

The condiments

I loved how the table had a fresh basil, and that the chilli oil came in a tuna can! Simple touches that make the difference

Capricciosa ($18) and Salsiccia ($19)

A great thing about GIGINO's pizzas are the simple nature of them. It isn't all about how many things are on the pizza, but how they taste together. These are your traditional Italian pizzas, so you won't see your Hawaiin, or meat lovers pizza on the menu. Capricciosa was a tomato based pizza with mozzarella, artichokes, anchovies, olives, capers and oregano. There was a lot of strong natural flavours on the pizza from the anchovies, olives and capers. But the pizza was not over crowded with all the tasty ingredients which allowed all their individual characteristics to explode in your mouth.

Salsiccia was another tomato based pizza with mozzarella, pork sausage and mushrooms. This pizza is ideal for the mushrooms lovers out there. The pork sausage wasn't done in slices, it was more minced which allowed it to be easily consumed, however the true taste of the pork was hard to depict. It was still a great pizza with all the mushroomy goodness!

DESSERTS! The best way to end a meal.

Gelato (3 scoops $7.50) and pannacotta ($8.50)

The gelato flavours chosen were chocolate and snickers. The snickers ice cream was the BEST snickers ice cream I have ever tried. A combination of caramel, nut pieces and chocolate worked perfectly without loosing the nature of the ice cream. It tasted EXACTLY like a snickers bar, it was delectable! The pannacotta had a raspberry jelly base, and the pannacotta itself was quite gelatinous compared to what I am used to. A great tasting dessert.

Mango & passionfruit tiramisu ($9.00) and affogato ($6.50)

If you want a lighter dessert option I advise the tiramisu. The fruity nature of the dessert allows a light yet delicious end to a meal. The layers of sponge, cream, passionfruit and mango cannot go wrong. The affogato was as traditional as it gets with an expresso shot and vanilla ice-cream, nothing could and did go wrong! All the desserts were demolished, which means they were all enjoyed, which can often be rare at restaurants.

The overall experience at GIGINO was fantastic! The end bill between 4 people with all that food was roughly $28 each which I think is great for entrée  main and dessert. The staff are friendly and are always willing to provide feedback. They are very welcoming of new customers and ask how you found out about GIGINO to see if they are in the local eye or to see how far you travel. I have never had such great service at an Italian restaurant.

Good food, good times!

Bacco: Wine, Bar & Pasticcecia @ Chifley Plaza

Bacco: Wine, Bar & Pasticcecia (2 Chifley Plaza, Sydney)
http://www.bacco.com.au/

Continuing on with the birthday festivities we went to Bacco: Wine, Bar & Pasticcecia @ Chifley Plaza. Bacco is an Italian restaurant located on the lower ground. As soon as you walk into Chilfley Plaza and look around all you see are people dressed up in suits on their lunch breaks or having meetings.  There was some confusion in the beginning with who was our waiter, and where we were being seated. There is no one that welcomes you into the restaurant as you walk in, but once you get settled its is a great experience. You know when an Italian restaurant is good when the actual waiters speak Italian.The atmosphere is classy, sophisticated and a great place for a fine dining experience. 

We were given complementary bread whilst deciding what to dig into. The menu has a wide variety with various cheese and meat platters, as well as pastas and other main meals. There is a lot to choose from with each item on the menu sounding delectable. The fun part is trying to name the dishes with an Italian accent (definitely best to leave it to the experts).

The mains were absolutely beautiful. We tried a little bit of each others meals. I somewhat regret getting a main meal that wasn't very Italian (the veal). I will definitely go for something more Italian next time. All their pastas are made fresh on the premises on a daily basis and you can definitely taste the difference. Nothing beats freshly made pasta! (even though it is something that I wouldn't do at home). Overall the mains were great with little to no criticism whatsoever. 

 DENTICE IN GUAZZETTO

Cripsy Snapper filet in a cherry tomato, capers, ligurian olives and saffron potato $31

FETTUCCINE AI CARCIOF

Home made fettuccine with artichoke pecorino and mint $29

LINGUINE CON MARRON

Linguine pasta with marron, cherry tomato and broccoli $34

COSTOLETTA DI VITELLO

Wood fired grain fed veal cutlet with Mediterranean vegetable stack and basil $32

There is nothing like ending the day with some lovely desserts. The Bacco patisserie/cafe is right next to the restaurant on the lower ground. You are able to order any desserts displayed at the patisserie which are then served to you at the restaurant. The options are limited to the time of day you go. We were eating dessert at 3.00pm meaning that a lot of the desserts were sold out, but giving the options we were still very pleased. Each dessert only cost $7 which I found extremely cheap considering the standard. They each melted in your mouth with everyone clearing their plates, not leaving a crumb.

Strawberry mousse or cheesecake

TRIO CIOCOLATO

 Three layers of Belgium coverture. Milk, Whilte and 70% Excellence on an almond sponge

Pannacotta

There was a bit of confusion with the strawberry based dessert as one waiter said it was a cheesecake and another said it was a mousse. In my opinion it tasted like a mousse because it was light and fluffy and not as heavy tasting as a cheese cake. The dessert I ordered (TRIO CIOCLATO) was definitely my favourite. Even with three layers of chocolate it was light and absolutely delicious!!

I hope everyone at the birthday enjoyed their meal and again a HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MINH DANG!

Good food, good times!