Baffi and Mo, Redfern

I could end this post right now after that photo right?

Here at The Empty Fridge, you should really believe that we don't do things in halves, especially with breakfast. We really do mean business when it comes to the morning meal - or noon depending on the prior evenings' shennanigans.

Demos, Myself and this post's honorary fridgemagnet - the Safa were in serious recovery mode one morning and  in search for a breakfast that would repair us. We found ourselves at Baffi and Mo, a cafe in Redfern renowned for kickstarting the broken with their hearty breakfast offerings. Below is how we roll..

The Hardware Societe, Melbourne

Sleep-ins. They are not supposed to exist in the Empty Fridge holiday schedule. Not even when your flight arrives Melbourne at 10pm and your roam the streets until you find a wine bar than make friends with a bottle of red until 4 in the morning.Why are sleep-ins the enemy? Because in most cases they make you miss the breakfast menu.

I love sleep more than anything but when in a different city where there are streets to roam, I feel a bit guilty for not being out and about. This shits Demos to tears and this is the reason why we have never had a "relaxing" break. I try to fit in as many activities as humanly possible. 

After few late night cheeky drinks at our favorite Melby rooftop bar Siglo.. we stumbled back to our temporary hotel home and ready made bed. I already had my heart set for Breakfast at Hardware Societe.

And then the unthinkable happened. We didnt forget to deactivate our alarms. There were no noisy hotel neighbours. The curtains blocked out sunlight. The pillows were ridiculously comfortable. We slept in, and I missed my Hardware Societe breakfast menu. 

After a short stroll to Hardware Lane, we found that 11:59 am was close enough to midday so ordering some of their sweet homemade ciders were totally acceptable. A glass of pear and another glass of apple - these ciders were so refreshing. We were able to miss the early breakfast crowd and perch ourselves on the barstools by the busy kitchen.

As this was a weekday, Breakfast was on from 7:30 am to 11:30 and then its lunch all the way to 3pm. Now try and say no to an empanada on a chilly morning.

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.

Kazbah, Top Ryde - The Breakfast Feast to end all Breakfast Feasts.

I timed my drive to Top Ryde that morning, it literally took me 7.5 minutes, and that includes driving through a speed camera so it's not like I was driving like a hoon. The traffic gods were smilling down on me and my Yaris as we Tokyo drifted it into a perfect parking spot in the relatively new Top Ryde Shopping Center. The traffic gods knew - there was food to be had, and there was an unimaginable amount of it. It was a breezy Sunday morning and thanks to all the co-ordination efforts by my friend the Boss Lady, we got together a group of 6 fabulously fierce and hungry females (the FFHF for short).

Roll Call (yes, my nickname is indeed 'Token Asian')

Now I have herd nothing but great things about Kazbah's breakfast degustation banquet - for $25 a head, you get stuffed silly with their Middle Eastern breakfast dishes - which is exactly what happened this day. There was some confusion when we booked - at the time the website stated the minimum persons for the banquet was 6, but when we called and booked for 7 they informed us that the minimum has changed to 8 people. We argued that the info on the website was different so they accommodated us. On the day, our 7th friend could not make it and they informed us that they would be charging us for a 7th person since it we didn't inform them of the cancellation - so guys, be wary of this when booking large groups. Pick committed eaters! Okay, so now lets begin. There is eating to be had!!

Our jaws drop when they place the first 3 dishes onto the table. I don't think any of us were prepared for the portions. Three bowls, probably of an 8inch diameter of breakfast sweets to start us of. The first photo (above left) is the Banana porridge with a date compote . Beautifully presented condiments to add to these dishes also arrive - small glasses of warm and cold milk, blueberry compote and some brown sugar. Colourful tableware also fills our table, everything tying into the Middle Eastern theme.

Sweet couscous, mix nuts, dried fruits, stewed rhubarb

Warm rice pudding, saffron poached pear, crushed hazelnuts

Macadamia Sylvanas & A Big Christmas Brunch.

It's has taken me a while to fully embrace the holiday season - but there is nothing like a busy day of cooking christmas treats to get into the spirit. For this month's Kulinarya theme - we were asked to share a recipe for something you could give as a present or include in the "Noche Buena" tradition. This is the Christmas tradition that many Filipinos, including my family participate in. It involves stuffing yourself silly until 12 mindnight on Christmas eve - need I say more? 

I made a sweet dessert that is not very well known, but super delicious - Macadamia Sylvanas. It is pretty much buttercream with Macadamia nuts, sandwiched in between 2 super chewy meringue discs made with crushed macadamias and egg whites. It's a macadamia overload. Traditionally, they are made with cashews but of course I had to change it up. These sandwiches are frozen and served very very cold.

The sides are then rolled in more toasted crushed macadamia pieces, but you can't really tell with the photos. I think the macadamias give it a but of contrast from the sugary biscuit and buttercream filling. I used a cookie cutter to get the disks and froze the sylvanas as they are best served rock solid. I have included the reicpe I used at the end of the post. 

This weekend, we also had to endure a marathon cooking session for Sunday Christmas brunch. It is the last weekend before Christmas, and since Demos and I are going on holidays on Christmas night - it was nice to spend some time with family and friends. Yes, the excitement is kicking in - this time next week we will be eating our way around Hong Kong, and then travelling to Manila - my first time back since I moved to Australia nearly 12 years ago. So lucky for us the weather turned out beautifully, here is a photoroll of our boozy sunday brunch:

Moncur Terrace, Woollahra (Let's do Brunch - SIFF 2010)

Yes, its all about Back-to-Back Brunches here at The Empty Fridge, and on a beautiful sunny saturday morning in Sydney we headed for a yummy brekky feed at Moncur Terrace.


As we were walking through leafy Woollahra, we were practically melting! It honestly felt like the middle of summer at 11 am, and there were several sun-hungry people who had their beach bags in tow and walked past us heading towards Bondi. Although I would have loved to spend the morning laying at the beach, we were hungry for some Brunch - the sun will still be out the rest of the day, we thought.

Moncur Terrace is a very casual and relaxed Bistro at the Woollahara Hotel. As we sit down inside the now sun-filled outdoor garden area, we can't help but joke that it's the poor-man's Bistro Moncur.. especially as we are here on a mission to try their $25 'Let's do Brunch Special'. This makes choosing what to eat that much easier - and my $25 "meal" came with a glass of Brown Brothers Prosecco. Champagne or Sparkling wine Breakfasts are perfectly fine in my books. However, you can choose between a glass of Prosecco, a glass of Coopers light, bottle of  Aqua Panna still water or San Pellegrino Sparkling Mineral water if you prefer.

Demos's asks me: "I know it's not even midday yet - but they have Peroni on tap here". As I look around, our fellow brunch-ers are already hitting the vino and the beers - so let the man have his Peroni! Although I would have preferred a coffee with my meal, the Prosecco is a light and crisp prelude - I'm not a fan of Prosecco at the best of times (I have this weird aversion to anything overly carbonated, I don't drink cola at all!) but I enjoyed sipping my breakfast bubbles under the very very hot sun. Oh yes, we should re-name this blog to "Dezza and Gezza - the boozehounds" 

The dish that Bistro Moncur offer for the "Let's do Brunch" event are their Sweet Corn Fritters with Barossa Bacon, Poached egg, Avocado and caramelized onion on toasted sonoma bread. My main concern when having corn fritters is that some places might add a sneaky bit of coriander in the batter, and coriander is my kryptonite. So because of this silly food allergy of mine I always have to check and yay! I have the green light!

Look at that perfectly poached runny egg! Corn Fritters are my absolute favourite breakfast dish and the the Moncur Terrace version is absolutely delicious!  The fritters batter itself is sweet - like a hotcake - and not floury at all. The kernels of sweet corn are a welcome burst of flavour, and I smash up some avocado to go with it - creamy goodness! The caramelized onion were sweet and mushy, and spread like a thick butter on the bread. Bacon always adds that salty punch, and this is a very lean piece. I could have done with an extra rasher and a bigger piece of bread, but its all about quality here and not quantity so I cant be Ms. greedy guts. Besides, I need to practice my portion control  ;D

Wagyu Burger - $23.00

Demos decides to skip a traditional breakfast meal as soon as he see's Wagyu Beef Burger on the Menu - with a his beer in hand he has such a huge grin on his face as soon as this towering burger arrives. 

 This has to be one of the better Wagyu burgers we have had. At $23 dollars, it does not dissapoint with its melt in your mouth patty. The minced wagyu rump is absolutely delicious and juicy. It is perfectly seasoned and stacked with all the trimmings - pickles, beetroot, tomatoes...everything you can see in the cross section above was delicious down to the last crumb of the bun. Demos even cut me a little quarted and plonked it on my plate "There - that way you can't say I dont share." True love is sharing your Wagyu Burger, and not just the shoestring fries on the side.

Yes, my inner child cannot help it when there is a squeeze-y bottle of ketchup nearby

 Although Moncur Terrace offers just one yummy dish with minimal bells and whistles for the Brunch Special, the quality was top notch and I would visit again to try the other dishes they had on offer. By the time we finished our meal though, the storm clouds were hovering around us - which was very confusing as we were still a little sunburnt from sitting in the sunshine while enjoying our awesome meal. Lucky for us, the torrential downpour started as soon as we got into our cars. Our afternoon of sitting by the pool went up in smoke, but at least our tummies were satisfied. Win Win. 

Other Posts on "Let's to Brunch" - Sydney International Food Festival 2010

- Signorelli Gastronomia, Oct 2010

- Bitton Gourmet Cafe, Oct 2010

The Woollahra Hotel, 116 Queen St Woollahra 2025 02-93279777

http://www.woollahrahotel.com.au