Fran // The gorgeous Jen and I both travelled to Sydney independently on the weekend. In true style we played tag team and visited virtually the same cafes all weekend (separately!).
As usual, everything I ate was superb.
A visit to Sydney isn’t complete without a trip to The Grounds. An inner city oasis this place literally offers EVERYTHING you could ever want. There’s gardens, take away style burger bar, take away coffee cart, fresh bread and bakery treats, restaurant, bar, cafe, florist and of course, a pig and goats!
This raw vegan cafe in Bondi Junction has raw cakes to die for. I’ve never had a cake so velvety and smooth. Seriously. Salivating as I type. I also had an insanely scrumptious almond mylk chai.
I am incredibly lucky to have friends and family who love good food as much as me! One of my good friends Stu made me delicious baked salmon straight from the fish markets… If you’re in need of a seafood fix the Sydney Fish Markets is the place to go… I usually pack an esky so I can take some fresh seafood back to Canberra.
Recipe:
Rub salmon with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with dill and lemon juice. Wrap in baking paper and foil and cook in a 200 degree C oven for 15-25mins depending on your preference.
For something a little different I HIGHLY recommend this quaint Israel cafe owned by Max Brenner’s father. I will let my breakfast photo speak for itself…
Feat: Baked filled filo pastry stuffed with olives, mozzarella, cheddar and ricotta served with a poached egg, grated tomato, hummus, and spicy coriander. What a treat!
I should mention that this cafe has three locations I visited the Shenkin Kitchen which has a larger menu than the cafe.
Let us know your favourite Sydney eats in the comments below.
Hope you had a restful weekend.
Xx Fran
Jen // I had organised to meet my boyfriend in Sydney for his birthday months ago,and in true Jen style, had a whole long list of cafes and restaurants to go to in too little time! For those who don’t know, my boyfriend is still up in QLD finishing up his degree so this weekend has been something that we have both been looking forward to.
I wasn’t planning to do a full write up of my weekend, so I didn’t take too many photos! But can certainly recommend a few places…
Sleep >> Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney
I managed to get a fantastic deal for two nights at this luxurious hotel on wotif. For your next hotel stay, I would highly recommend booking with them if you don’t mind not knowing which hotel you’ve got until you hand over your cash… worth it, because I got an awesome hotel and ended up saving $180! On O’Connell St in the CBD, the hotel was perfectly located within walking distance of the Sydney Opera House and the Rocks precinct.
The hotel was within 100m walking distance to this superb three hatted restaurant by Neil Perry (a lucky coincidence!). Located in the historic City Mutual Building, the souring art deco ceilings and the magnificent marble pillars reminded me of an old bank. Matt, my boyfriend, thought the grand staircase leading up to the private dining balcony indicated that the building use to be a theatre. Turns out, my guess was closest – the building use to house a range of insurance and investment-type offices.
For starters, we had Freshly Shucked Oysters with Mignonette Sauce (Coffin Bay Pacific & Clyde River Sydney Rock). These were so succulent and bursting with flavour, we ordered another round! So good. We also had Charcoal Roast Squid and Pork Belly, but they couldn’t even compare to the oysters.
For mains, classic boy he is, Matt had the Shortcrust Beef and Guinness Pie with Mushy Peas. I had the Dry Aged Full Blood Wagyu Topside 240g. Rockpool’s beef is sourced directly from producers who don’t use growth hormones or antibiotic feeds and is dry aged on premises. You can definitely taste the quality…it just melted in my mouth.
For sides, we had Hand Cut Fat Chips (Matt’s choice haha…) and Wood Fire Grilled Creamed Corn with Chipotle Chilli Butter and Manchego (ohhmygood so creamy and spicy and smooth). Apologies for not taking more photos…you can spy a bit below underneath Matt’s cheesy grin.
Earth to Table
You saw Fran’s delicious raw cake above… now see mine and Matt’s breakfast below. I had the Berry Acai Bowl topped with their Grawnola (acai and blueberries mixed with sprouted buckwheat, pepitas, chia, sunflower seeds and shredded coconut). So so good! I’ve been inspired to make my own granola this weekend! Matt had the Swiss Brown Mushrooms and the Give Me Power Green Smoothie (kale, bok choy, spinach, cucumber, mint, parsley and orange). Just pure sustenance and wholesomeness.
Thought I’d also share their logo with you beautiful people…I think the key principles cleverly captured in it encompasses what we’re all about at lovennourish. My favourites: “healthy living is a conscious choice” , “nourish your mind, body and spirit” and “cherish friends and family”.
Bread and Circus Wholefoods Canteen
I was brought to this quaint little cafe in Alexandria by my gorgeous friends Alex and Grace. I absolutely loved the layout of this whole foods canteen. It was located in a fairly large warehouse type building housing not only the cafe in the back corner, but also a little bakery (complete with glass screen so you can spy the bakers working their magic) and a separate coffee and pastry-only area.
The cafe itself featured pretty pastels, whole some goodies that I drooled over (check out that beautifully packaged chocolate below) and a menu featuring a variety of dishes that satisfies both the health conscious and their hungry boyfriends who just want bacon and eggs. Also loved their use of biodynamic eggs.
If those photos weren’t enough to make you drool…wait til you see what we had… Parmesan Not So Scrambled Eggs {biodynamic eggs w truffle oil, shaved parmesan, avo, baby spinach, fresh herbs and sourdough} & Caramelised Lemony Banana Pancakes {banana, ricotta and biodynamic egg flour less pancake w maple syrup, lemon compound butter, caramelised banana and a strawberry basil salad}. Oh wow. I HAVE to go back to Sydney to get those pancakes again.
Kat’s Whiskers Cafe and Catering, Tumut
After mine and Matt’s beautiful weekend in Sydney, we went out to visit his sister and her husband on their farm just outside of Gundagai in NSW for two days. Matt’s other two sisters and their friend were also visiting. We seriously love it out there. This quote below was up at Kat’s Whiskers Cafe. I thought it was the perfect picture to finish this post filled with so much love, laughter and adventure with.
Have a lovely week and do share with us below what your favourite Sydney Eats are.
x Jen
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