So sorry it's been such a long time since my last post. Here's a few places I've been to recently.
Element 6 in Ryde:
Very cute and cozy cafe with lots of whimsical elements. Seating is a little small, 2 outdoor tables and chairs. If you go through the back, theres a verandah type area where you can find the toilets, I think there may be seating there too. Place is easy to get to from Ryde station.
I ordered the baked eggs, quite a standard order for me. This one was pretty average in terms of flavour, predominantly tomato but wished it tasted more moroccan. One egg and one piece of haloumi bulked it up a bit as did the chickpeas, it didn't taste too rich, which made it differ a bit from some of the other baked eggs I've had. The tomato mixture was also a little liquidy. I wished the poached egg was a little runnier, appreciated the herbs and nuts, which really lifted it. All in all, a fairly average dish that lacked a little in flavour.
The naan bread it came with was house made, it was delicious - very soft and perfectly dense. Really liked it especially to mop up the liquid after.
Friend had the pulled pork burger, said it was very tender and flavoursome.
Cute cafe, with more menu items on the blackboard as seen in picture below, near entrance.
The best meal of the week has to be at the Glenmore at the Rocks. It was for our work xmas party.
No bookings so we got there a little earlier to get a seat at the rooftop. It wasn't too busy at 11:40 when we got there on a Wednesday but quickly filled by 1. Excellent location with views of the bridge.
We ordered a few sides: salt and pepper squat, hot wings, wedges and fish cakes, all excellent. The salt and pepper squid was delicious. Very well cooked, not at all rubbery, still very juicy, very light batter and perfectly seasoned, incredibly addictive! The fish cakes were also great, not at all oily, great flavours, inside isn't as dense as some that I've had but actually preferred it that way.
I got the salmon. Probably the best salmon I've ever ordered and I normally order salmon. This one was just perfectly cooked, very juicy and still slightly pink on the inside. Very tender. The skin was crispy, a little hard to cut into and most of the saltiness came from that. The quinoa salad was nice, a little plain and lotus root chips were good too but the salmon was the star.
On a more disappointing note, I went to Vrindivan Indian at Pyrmont. It was quite expensive and a little quite for my liking inside, a lot of seats though.
One friend got a rose lassi, it was my first taste of lassi. It tasted like a thick yogurt, mildly sweet and a little like cheese. I didn't mind it but it seemed a little rich to have too much of in one go.
We ordered a naan basket, the naan was very soft and perfectly dense. The basket included a cheese naan, garlic and buttered naan. We also got some free roti which tasted healthier - it was thinner, drier and didn't have as soft or chewy a flavour. We also ordered a side of white rice to go with the curries, of the 3, we preferred the naan to heap our curries onto.
I actually enjoyed this dish, it was eggplants and tomato with indian spices. The vegetables were soft, a little oily but not overly so and worked with the naan and rice and you could taste the spices.
I also chose this goan fish curry, a traditional dish from Goa I believe. It wasn't as coconut-ty as I'd liked but menu did say it was made with coconut extract and not coconut milk so that may have contributed. The fish was soft, around 6-8 bite sized pieces. We were surprised by the serving dishes, relatively small but still very filling. I don't really like the taste of butter at all and this tasted like butter chicken but the fish version so I wasn't overwhelmed by it.
3 williams has also been on my list of places to visit, after popping up on numerous blogs and instagrams this year.
Easy place to get to, located a few minutes walk from Redfern and Central station. However, it's hard to find. You need to look for 3 dots and a w placed underneath the dots on the side of the entrance. We went at 11 on Saturday and there was a 20 minute line.
I ordered the apple, carrot and ginger juice, which I liked. It has a strong hit of ginger and the sweetness from the fruits counterbalanced it perfectly. It was blended well and a little frothy. A bit expensive from memory though, I think $7.
I ordered the chicken salad. I didn't care much for it to be honest. I liked the chicken which was tender and the red pepper which was soft and sweet but the ratio of them to the abundance of kale was a little disappointing. There were also 2 big pieces of pumpkin, which wasn't really a nice pumpkin, quite watery and I would've preferred smaller pieces. The dressing was a garlic yogurt one, it was ok and worked with the chicken but didn't love it. The kale was exactly that. The brown bits in the picture are sourdough croutons, they added a crunch to the dish but all in all, sadly, quite average.
I'm pretty sure they are known for their brioche french toast and my friend enjoyed this one with bananas and chocolate.
My other mate got this mushroom dish with ricotta and sourdough and added a poached egg.
