Brother Baba Budan, Melbourne

Coffee. We all know it and we all love it. With so many different types and combinations everyone has a favourite. Everyone loves coffee just ask them. If they don't... shoot them, they are clearly zombies and have lost all cognitive ability.  Drinking coffee is one of the more pleasant life experiences one can partake in as we  did at Brother Baba Budan in the beautiful city of Melbourne, synonymous with all things good. Especially coffee. 

There is nothing better than having the time to sit back and enjoy a cup of freshly made hot coffee, maybe even a bit of a sweet pastry. I'm a firm believer that coffee time should never be rushed. With nothing but time on our hands whilst on holiday mode and meandering through  Melbourne town we thought that a visit to Brother Baba Budan was warranted to get off to a good start to the day. Having been told that it was the place to have the best coffee in Melbourne we thought that it would be a crime not to visit. Didn't really need to twist my arm really but it had a cool name. 

Located in what can be described as adventure wear alley (because of the large amount of mountain climbing/trekking clothing stores around), Brother Baba Budan is quietly tucked away next to a lane way with walls covered in awesome graffiti. Blink and you will miss it. A small and cosy space with jars of cookies on display and where chairs adorn the ceiling. Pretty cool is what I say. Being a work day we were able to get a space and order our coffee staple, the piccolo latte. I owe this coffee selection to a close friend of mine who introduced me to it back in the days of university and have been drinking it since. Small enough to be served nice and hot and with enough milk to still deliver that caffeine punch. One of the favourites to drink when wanting to take in the surroundings. No cappuccinos here at the Empty Fridge, take your chocolate milk elsewhere. 

Brother Baba Budan is the sister cafe to Seven Seeds and is the name of the monk who smuggled the said 'Seven Seeds' to bring coffee to the world. Luckily he did because i'm sure the majority of the world would barely be able to function without. The coffee we had admittedly was very very good, one of my all time favourites. I don't profess to be a coffee snob but it was hard to find any fault. Not overly bitter, strong and flavoursome and made by a barista that clearly knows how to make coffee. With the team behind Seven Seeds running a cafe, roasting, research and tasting centre it's no surprise that the coffee at Brother Baba Budan is so good. 

Taste Baguette, Westfield Sydney CBD

The young professionals powerlunch.

Thats how you'd describe the couple next to us..tapping away on their blackberry's, syncing their calendars and skulling their short blacks in all black corporate wear. Totally not us...

Its been a whirlwind couple of weeks and Im sure I have mentioned this in a previous post - I have recently started working right in the heart of Sydney CBD. Yes, I know what you are all thinking..so much food to conquer - every lunch break, every day. Its a very different lunch scene from my Paddington days (where I really frequented that one place) for sure! So friends of the fridgers, expect more CBD express lunch posts on this blog - might make it an ongoing series as im sure we all want to to spend our lunch-money and time wisely!

The second best thing about my move into the CBD is that I can have a cheeky lunch date with Demos since we are both in the vicinity! Im still getting used to being able to catch up with my lovely other half in the middle of my workday but i'm sure the novelty will wear off! So what is the first best thing then? Well the award goes to Taste Baguette of course! While the power couple next to use was busy solving America's debt issues, we were content in falling into a baguette coma.

This particular branch of Taste Baguette is Located in Level 2 of the new Westfield Sydney, close to the basement entrance to the David Jones food hall. This cafe tends to be overlooked in favour of the gazillion options on the Level 5 food playground, and although it still is busy during the lunch hour you can still score a seat or wait a short while to take away a freshly baked baguette from their tempting counter. They serve a mean cup of Campo's coffee here but out eye was on the prize this time - we are here for the legendary baguettes!

Roast Pork Belly and Brie Baguette..and yes that is crackling peeking through that distracting lettuce.

How could you not say no to this bad boy? The pork on this roll is perfectly cooked with the kind of crackling that has you craving for more. I am a fien for this crispy crackling..salty and crunchy, rubbed with fennel seeds which is a perfect contrast to the creamy brie cheese. Each baguette is made fresh on the premises and oui oui they are good - the bread is baked every 15 minutes too!

As much as Demos wanted a pork belly baguette of his own, rules of food blogging dictate that we cannot order the same thing, duh! He has the 'baguette du jour' (fancy way of saying sandwich roll of the day) Today it was a wagyu roast beef, slice of Jarlsberg cheese, tomato and more of that distracting green stuff called lettuce.

Both baguettes were $9.50 and from what I am starting to gather, its quite a challenge to get a meal under $10 for lunch anywhere in the CBD. This seems that this is the going rate for CBD sandwiches - but i'd rather this than having a subway footlong or another hastily prepared roll elsewhere. Taste Baguette has quality fillings and damn that freshly baked bread is good!! They did ask us if we wanted a white or wholemeal baguette - but I figured since we were going all out with the pork crackling and brie, would I really worry about complex carbohydrates?

As our meal came to an end we were curious to see what the young professionals decided to order. There is a bigger selection of baguetter available and some sweet pastries and a pretty colourful selection of Macarons.

Unfortunately for them, the young professional power couple left after their small blacks..moral of the story? Don't be like them on your lunchbreak. Sit down, put the blackberry away and enjoy an awesome lunch with someone who will gladly order some crackling, creamy cheese and carbs! 

Taste Baguette, you definitely live up to your name!

Taste Baguette - http://www.tastebaguette.com (check out their other locations)



Also in Westfield Sydney:
Charlie and Co -CLICK for full post
Cloudy Bay Fish Co & Via del Corso - CLICK for full post

Restautant Balzac, Randwick

Restaurant Balzac hands down would have to be one of the most elusive restaurants we have had the pleasure of visiting. There isn't really any reason behind this other than the simple fact that we had always wanted to go yet never actually found the time to do so. It became a running joke with us because despite every intention we never went. Since the Taste of Sydney festival though it has been Gianna's mission to get us there. Emails, text messages; subliminal messages in my ipod were all ways to try entice the words "lets go to Balzac" come out of my mouth. Sure i'll take the blame for not going. Im sorry ok. But luckily one day when I was at my weakest (hungover); and all the stars and planets were in alignment, Gianna said lets go to lunch at Balzac. Who would've thought?  

Located at The Spot in Randwick I can say that making the trip is incredibly worthwhile. Stepping in past the thick sandstone blocks, you are taken to a very nice slice of the world. The surroundings are simple and elegant. Nothing over the top and exuberant, where you can appreciate and take in the characteristics and features of the heritage building you find yourself dining in. The setting is incredibly relaxed and once seated you can't think of anything better than looking forward to the food at hand. We were seated in the down stairs dining section in front of one of the sandstone foundation walls. As you can imagine I had to be told to sit on my hands as there was a nice pile of sandstone grit building up on my side of the table. Our lovely waitress could see the anticipation and brought out the menus to begin. 

  

The waitress was incredibly helpful and went through the menu for us. At Balzac the menu changes quite regularly based on the seasonality of produce. So what you eat one day may not be around the next. Having some helpful floor staff on hand makes picking and choosing the food a somewhat relaxed and enjoyable affair.

It was hard to decide on what to eat despite the helpfulness of our waitress. Gianna proceeded to order from the special lunch menu which is a 3 course selection for $39, which consists of and entree, main and dessert. I decided to order a main and some oysters for an entree a la carte. First cab off the rank was the Amuse Bouche - a creamy palate cleanser to get the ball rolling and some bread. 

For the life of me I can't remember what soup it was that Gianna had as the first course of her lunch special. All I can remember is that it was incredibly smooth and creamy, had hints of truffle and tasted amazing. With the ever changing menu it's hard to go back and check even in retrospect. You just have to take my word that it was brilliant. 

Freshly shucked oysters with red wine & shallot vinaigrette and pink verjuice granita $22 1/2 dozen came out along side the soup. Cold, incredibly fresh and tasting of the sea. One word, fantastic. 

Rolled saltbush lamb shoulder with butternut pumpkin & sage was the next course up for the lunch special and how very tasty it was. Pretty on the plate and tasting even better, it was a beautiful dish. Salty and soft juicy lamb, hard to go wrong. The colours were vibrant and you could tell how fresh produce makes a world of difference as the pumpkin would melt in your mouth and mix in with the lamb. 

Berkshire pork belly, black pudding, pomme boulangerie and jus charcuterie $38 was the other main ordered and wow is all I can say. Beautifully presented and well structured are two things I thought when I saw and the taste, just divine. Salty and incredibly crisp crackling, soft and juicy pork meat combined with black pudding and potatoes just all worked well together. The different flavours and textures when combined were amazing. 

In the simple and elegant surroundings the food really is the centrepiece and you can see how Matt Kemp's restaurant philosophy translates into the food. Fresh and seasonal produce combining gallic influence with British comfort food to create something for everyone making every visit worthwhile.

So after such an enjoyable lunch there was still another course to go, desert. A rhubarb tart with creme anglaise was brought out and shared between Gianna and myself. Not too sweet and cut with the nice tartness of the rhubarb it was a great way to finish lunch. 

No hard feelings Maison De Balzac. 

So sitting back and looking at our experience I can only kick myself as to why it took us so long to go to Balzac. The food was beautiful and amazing, the staff were friendly and the restaurant itself is in quite a pretty building. Im glad that the stars and planets were in alignment and all signs had pointed to yes because even though it all came together in the end and we had our lunch at Balzac, I know that it won't take too long in between visits. 

Restaurant Balzac - www.restaurantbalzac.com.au

Gumshara Ramen, Chinatown & Ichi Ban Boshi, Galleries Victoria - A tale of two Sydney Ramen Houses

Ramen Cravings - once it hits you on a cold winters night, it is the hardest to shake off. I know that when the cold gets into my bones I most certainly become a slave to ramen hallucinations. Some of you may find this familiar.. your sitting at home, minding your own business and watching SVU - then you get a bit chilly. As you search around the home for a spare blanket in the ad break.. you notice a big steaming bowl casually following you and tip toeing around behind you. This is how the ramen cravings creep.  You think your safe...but in the blink of an eye that imaginary bowl of salty and eggy noodles has jumped behind you and has got you in a chokehold. There really is no escape now!

I have two game plans to help combat these very common hallucination and I am a firm believer that all cravings must be appeased, imaginary ramen wrestlers have quite the grip on the old chokehold. Gumshara Ramen at the Eating World Complex in Chinatown and Ichi Ban Boshi at the Galleries Victoria CBD are two distinct places where one can conceed to the cravings and get a ramen fix. They are very different from one another and many people are divided as to which they prefer. Admittedly, there will always be a faithful following at each venue. 

 Gumshara Ramen is traditionally speaking, the more authentic of the pair. This is where the hardcore ramen aficionado's flock to. Before I start waxing lyrical - I need to stop to acknowledge my ramen illiterate readers. Ramen is a Japanese noodle soup. No, it is not "just like fancy maggi two minuite noodles". Ramen is a delicious, salty, hearty, eggy, broth based noodle soup and studies have shown that is the lifeforce of human kind. 

 Gumshara's legendary tonkotsu broth is an intensive labour of love - pork bones are boiled for days to create the thick, collagen enriched miso base. This thick, cloudy and super rich soup coats each noodle strand and in a matter of seconds you slip into a delicious food trance. if you listen closely you can hear your belly thank you after every spoonful. I was lucky enough to order the pork spare rib with my tokotsu ramen ($14.50) there is a 10 serving limit each day. And of course, to add to the collagen richness I couldn't say no to a gooey soft boiled egg topping.

 Demos had his eyes on my pork rib slab but was content in the Tokotsu ramen toppeD with BBQ pork ($13) slices and load of chilli oil and flakes.

Longrain Restaurant & Bar, Surry Hills

I'd like to start this post by saying "Immmmm baaccckkk!".....  Yes after a long hiatus what can be more fitting than to sit and share with you yet another fabulous dining adventure with the ever so lovely Gianna. Yes that one girl whom we all love who happens to have an affinity for allergic reactions to coriander at the drop of a hat. I mean what could be better than tempting fate yet again by going to Longrain, a Thai restaurant which has defeated us once before.  Well just as it so happens tonight was a bit of a different story. 

So on the way to a friend's birthday party we were feeling a bit peckish and seeing as though we were in the area we thought why not stop past for a quick tipple and a bar snack before partying the night away. We had not been since Gianna's 2nd 22nd Birthday so why not.  Walking into Longrain brought back fond memories of betel leaves, egg nets and coriander infused dishes that I valiantly ate to stop Gianna from succumbing to asphyxiation. It was a truly Herculean task having to eat all that delicious food. We thought it would be a safe bet to start with only a few drinks but this thought didn't last long as we felt the need to put our names down for a table. Finding an inconspicuous corner we sat and enjoyed one of our favourite ciders (Rekorderlig) and a beer while we mused about the last time we had visited. 

A few things had changed since the last time we had visited. Mainly the fact that I couldn't remember the bar being downstairs. A very nice addition I might add. The bar has a very raw warehouse feel to it with a lot of block-work, concrete, steel, brass and worn out timber. The space is dim with cool looking lights,  a long bar and comfortable camouflaged seating for those wishing to stealthily sip away at their drinks and lapse into a state of chill. It's too easy to get lost in a sea of cocktails and spend your night drinking away in the bar especially because they do bar snacks. One could be content with this and opt to not go upstairs. Having ordered a small snack of betel leaves with prawns, peanuts, roasted coconut and ginger we were contemplating skipping out on staying for dinner but could not resist. 

Sipping away on my beer I thought to myself that this time we had to do things differently, we should both have the chance to enjoy a meal without the possibility of a night in intensive care. We didn't want a certain coriander allergy to come back with a vengeance. As these thoughts were swirling around my head I couldn't help but put it out there in the twitterverse. Then it hit me, the simplest of things to do that we have never done before because of someones 'hero' complex. Why not ask to 'hold' the coriander. No; such an outlandish idea, how can one do such a thing in a Thai restaurant. Well my friends, apparently not. Our lovely waiter for the evening said that they happen to take allergies quite seriously and would do their best to accommodate. Game on. 

Grilled Octopus with Crispy Pork Belly and Watermelon with Cuttlefish and Ginger