Robo Cog Cafe, Surry Hills

Robots, Bikes and Brunchtime Burrito's - Oh My! These are a certain Empty Fridger's favourite things, in the one convenient location - Robo Cog in Surry Hills. The other Empty Fridger happily waddles along with the promise of Burrito's. Can you guess who that one that was? But that's it; shut the gates, the promise of toys and good food was enough to make any either of us happy so we decided that a visit was much needed to this super cool cafe on one of our weekend dates.

Chill Frappe - Mint, Rockmelon and Pear

Piccolo latte

Robo Cog is not your run of the mill cafe - for starters it is an unassuming white converted cottage. Hungry patrons spilling onto the sidewalk was the only indication we had found the cafe. We talk about toys we had as kids over a first and second piccolo latte. The coffee here is fantastic, with the Green Bean Coffee roasted on site. Inside there are pieces of cool art and robot motifs that adorn the walls. Littered about on shelves and invading almost all the spaces, the variety is amazing. They are just the coolest thing ever, and this made someone feel particularly regretful for neglecting Megazord all those years ago. 

The robot theme runs supreme and does the name of the cafe justice. The other part though involves that of the bicycle. The cog component of the cafe is in reference to the owners love of all things bicycle. On our visit the brick wall bicycle display was that of a yellow Cinelli fixie. A certain Empty Fridger is quite the bike enthusiast and tends to wax lyrical about frames, wheels and italian bike brands that sound like pastry names ("What are you eating?" "Oh this..it's a custard filled Cinelli..you should try the chocolate Pinarello"). Whist thinking about bike pastries, a certain opportunist also manages to swindle a fruit frappe whilst the other remained distracted by the colourful objects.

RoboCORN BACON BACON Brekkie

Speedos Cafe, North Bondi

Summer. It all seems like a distant memory now that many of us are getting last winters heaters, flanelette sheets and cozy jumpers out from their hiding places. A few weekends ago Demos and I caught one of the last beach days of the season and enjoyed a lovely brekky with one of my best girlfriends CJ at North Bondi.

Now my lovely CJ is every bit the baywatch bombshell that her nickname suggests and I affectionately refer to her as my other, other-half. We have been best friends since high school and more recently she has moved to the east. I believe this move was motivated so she could easily stalk a particular Bondi Vet. I've actually just realized that I haven't actually mentioned her in this blog before- but our eating escapades go way back. It's probably because when we are together inhaling pizzas most likely there is hardly any time to get snaps in between our lengthy gas bagging sessions.

And of course Demos is used to all this. CJ and I actually made his life hell when we all met in high school (D was in the boy school next door) and I do believe he hated our bitchy guts back then ;) 8 years later, we still give him hell - the poor bloke just cant have his breakfast in peace. Speaking of Breakfasts - which is what we are here for..

Speedo's is a very busy and crowded cafe tucked away off the main drag at North Bondi. With a name that pays homage to the budgie smuggler, it seems fitting that they are blessed with a great panoramic view of Bondi Beach. Its a very relaxed atmosphere and the staff are kept on their toes by the weekend customer traffic filling in. Our coffee's and CJ's fruit frappe understandably takes a while to arrive.

South African Boerwors Sausage on Turkish.

Uccello - Ivy Complex, CBD

Taking a joke to far. Thats the best explanation as to what happened one ordinary evening. The usual suspects - The Boss Lady, Wiki Mel, Demos and Myself assembled after work at Uccello. Now Demos, bless his little heart, has become used to the company of us three rambunctious (his words) females. Of course being the gentleman that he is - he arrives on time and patiently waits for us as we file into the restaurant. One by one we greet our favourite male companion "Happy Birthday" ever so loudly and apologise for being a tad late. 

Demos' birthday is in November and this dinner was during an outing in April, so of course the poor boy was confused. But hey, we needed something to get excited about and celebrate. We toasted to Demos' imaginary birthday - and because this was an after work dinner, I know I speak for my dining companions when I say the vino was much needed.

As we get comfortable in our lovely booths, we arrive quite early and it seemed like we were the only people there. Uccello is a elegant Italian restaurant located in the Ivy complex. During the day the sun just fills up the whole room and reflects so beautifully off the white marble tables and bright yellow accents. You have a wonderful view of the Ivy pool and bar on one side, a expansive wine collection on another, and an bustling kitchen on the other side.

 

Selection of Italian style cured meats with marinated olives $27

The last time us Empty Fridgers visited Uccello, it was back in the day where Massimo Bianchi was at the helm. Chef Fernando Riva has now taken the reigns at this establishment and we were all very curious to try his take on Italian fare. We start off with the Salumi platter and a bowl of mixed olives. The cured meat selection was top notch - Prosciutto San Danielle, Wagyu Bresciola, Spicy Salami but unfortunately it did not go too far with 4 hungry patrons who do love their antipasti.

 

Heirloom tomato, Ligurian olives, basil and caramelized Spanish onion $15

We find our other starters very tasty, however the portions didnt seem to be big enough to share. We did fight over the sweet chunky slices of tomatoes in the heirloom salad - it was a beauty to look at as well with Demos making the comment that he only wanted to eat the yellow pieces because yellow Lambourghini's go quicker then the red ones. I'm sure this was said to throw some random masculinity in the mix being the only male on the table.

Tuscan style calamari, baby spinach, chickpeas and spicy tomato sauce $24

The calamari was one of the favourite dishes of the night and WikiMel happily let us attack her plate and try it even thought he serving was quite small. The chickpeas cut the acidity brought by the spicy tomato sauce, but the winner definitely was the fresh and tangy calamari pieces. We all wanted more!

Spelt tagliolini, seared scallops, roast pumpkin, basil and pangrattato