Good ol' Sydney! (Aug/Sep 2006): Breakfasts (Part 1)

Breakfast at Cafe Nine On Ultimo

Fruit Jam Friand with "Skinny Latte. Love them both! Absolutely addictive!
Oh, Australia. Land of good coffee. For a coffee lover like me, I have reached "caffeine heaven"-haha.
Seriously, the coffee served in Sydney makes our "non-local" coffee pales in comparison. I am not talking about coffee served in fine-dining outlets but those served by typical cafe or deli-style eateries. Having said that, not all coffee are created equal. Ultimately the type of coffee bean used as well as the barista make a very important difference.
I was lucky that the cafe besides one of the hotels I stayed in served excellent coffee. Just thinking about it starts my craving for coffee, which neither NESCAFE or STARBUCKS could satisfy. Cafe Nine On Ultimo serves such good coffee that I ended up having most of my breakfasts there. Each time, I ended up having their A$5 daily breakfast set of 1 coffee and 1 muffin/bread/pastry/cookie.


Long Black and Toasted Raspberry & Pear Bread served with butter & jam. Looks black because it is toasted. Their Banana Bread was very good as well. I enjoyed it toasted.


Yummy Friand with Fruit Jam Filling



Giant Orange & Chocolate Chunk Cookie by Spotted Cow Cookies Co. If you like Jaffa, you will LOVE THIS! The barista is highly-talented and quite a "looker" too. *grin*

And the highlights were the coffees, of course!
They were as good as they look, if not better.

Skinny Latte, Skinny Cappucino, Long Black.

Good ol' Sydney! (Aug/Sep 2006): Breakfasts (Part 2) - Bills

Darn it! I have just finished typing a long post. When I clicked on "Publish Post", the darn system hang. Don't you just feel like 'pulling your hair out' when this happened?

Anyway, back to square one. I am too lazy to recall back what I typed and to re-type everything so this post would be a summarized version.

Breakfast at bills, which has become almost an institution for breakfast dining in Sydney. Even before reaching Sydney, I already planned to try their famed breakfast menu there. So although my 1st attempt failed (Swee and I went during dinner time expecting to have their "all-day" breakfast menu only to discover it wasn't "all-day" after all but till 4p.m. only), we were back again at the Surry Hills outlet a few days later. And although having been advised that we have to wait about 30 minutes for a table (small place and long waiting list), we bravely beared with our growling stomachs for the next half and hour, standing outside on the pavement on a warm, sunny morning (felt like summer).

By the time we sat down, we were pretty sure what we wanted. So what did we order? Whatever they are famous for of course....

Swee ordered: Sweet Corn Fritters with roast tomato, spinach and bacon.

Interesting dish. Somehow, it reminds me of our local 'vadai'. But the sweet corn provided a nice and juicy crunch. I love the roast tomato too!

I ordered: Ricotta Hotcakes with Honeycomb Butter and Banana

Similar to pancakes but made with ricotta cheese. Still tastes like the usual pancakes to me but of course, they were good. Fluffy and nice. What made the dish more interesting was the honeycomb butter - yum! It looks dry in the photo because when it came, the waitress forgot to bring the maple syrup until I asked.

Extra order: Creamy scrambled eggs

This dish was said to be 'the' dish that propelled bills to greatness. It was creamy and smooth for a 'generous' amount of cream went into this dish (which I tried not to think about while consuming it). However, it was slightly less than warm when it arrived at our table. In my opinion, all eggs should be served warm unless if it is hard-boiled and used in salads.

My morning must-have: A good strong cup of coffee. Love at first sip!


Overall, breakfast at bills was good, as expected but not 'mind-blowing' fantastic. Go if you want to try something new, go if you want to check out what the hype was all about, go if you have RM100 to spare for breakfast (yep, our total bill came to more than RM100 - hehe).

Good ol' Sydney! (Aug/Sep 2006): Dining @ The Apparentice

One of the best meals that I had in Sydney was at The Apparentice at the Sydney TAFE Campus in Ultimo.

Granted, it is actually a training restaurant for its students, for other than the slightly nervous trainee serving staff (who were actually students at the college) you would hardly feel that you are in a "training" environment.

The environment was simple but modern. Table arrangement was pleasant.

At just A$20, you get a selection of 3-course plus a drink. I opted for their house white which was pleasant enough. Here's what my dining companion and I had:
(*Disclaimer: Due to time lapsed, I could no longer remember exact name of the dishes served so I would just have to make do with simple descriptions of them.)


Complimentary Bread Roll


Starter: Grilled Prawns on top of Chinese Bok Choy and Grilled Chinese Sausages ("Lap Cheong") - GOOD!


Starter: Murray Bug (similar to Balmain Bug) served with Roasted Vegetables and Toasts - GOOD!


Main: Mushroom Risotto. My friend seemed to enjoy it.


Main: Err, I think mine was a Salmon. It was quite a big portion and the fish was fresh enough. A bit dry though. And that was all I could remember about this dish.


Dessert: Strawberry Lychee Pudding or Panna Cotta served with ice-cream. Quite alright.


Dessert: Warm Chocolate Cake served with ice-cream. Can't go wrong with this dessert.


Dessert: At th end of the meal, we were served with complimentary Mini Chocolate Crepes. How nice!

Overall, I enjoyed my meal at The Apparentice very much. Catching up with an old friend whom I have not seen for a long time over a highly satisfying meal in a pleasant environment, it was one of my most memorable meals in Sydney. And what a steal at just A$20. If I have stayed on longer, I would surely make repeat trips back to the restaurant.

Good ol' Sydney! (Aug/Sep 2006): Dining @ bills

It was supposed to be Swee and I first attempt at trying their breakfast menu. I thought I read somewhere that their famous breakfast menu was served all-day. So we went during dinner time only to be told that their breakfast menu is served till 4p.m. daily. Ceh! And I thought we were being clever to go at dinner time to avoid the morning crowd.

So we looked at their dinner menu and decided to share some dishes.

Appetizer: Grilled Garlic Prawns in Lemon Herb Sauce served with Toasts.
Fresh and juicy prawns. I like this dish.


Main: Crispy Salmon served on Lentils
Rather good. It went along well with the greenish sauce. Couldn't remember what it was though.


Side: Broccolini with toasted Almonds
First time tasting broccolini which was a hybrid between Chinese Kale and Broccoli. Cool. Yum..., I love this! The broccolini was sweet and crunchy. My favourite dish of the night.


Dessert: Berries and Rhubarb Crumble
My first time tasting rhubarb. Not quite what I expected. Slightly sourish, it was quite ok - I supposed.

Despite the fact that only a few tables were occupied, service wasn't attentive enough. Swee and I had to wave our hands a few times before we were finally noticed whenever we needed anything. But I had good company so that didn't bother me much.

Good ol' Sydney! (Aug/Sep 2006): Dining @ Pier 26

Salt & Pepper Battered Squids on Toast with Avocado

Pier 26, Darling Harbour. Its website says "Cold Beer, Great Food, Hot Views!"
I can attest to the latter 2, can't say much about the first but I did have a very good, cool and crisp bubbly.

The weather was behaving, it was a clear and sunny day. Temperature was just nice to sit on the outside with good views of Darling Harbour.

Food was very good and reasonably priced. I enjoyed every dish.

Beer-battered Fish and Chips (one of the best I ever had)


Spicy Prawn Spaghetti with Spinach, Tomato and Parmesan


Warm Chocolate Fondant

Back from Sydney! (Aug/Sep 2006)

Finally back from a week-long business cum leisure trip to Sydney. Coincidentally, this trip was like a trip down memory lane. I used to study at UTS and that period of time was among the fondest memories in my life. Needless to say, I had a fabulous time there! I took many pictures, intending to put them up on my blog. Had some good and memorable meals too, including the famous Tetsuya. But will have to post them bit by bit. Till then, I will leave you with some of my favourite pictures taken there.