Review: Shenkin

I finally made it to Shenkin! Funny thing is that I don’t live in the area anymore, but I still go close enough once a week most weeks.

The cafe is located in a quiet corner on Erskineville road and offers standard cafe fare plus Israeli specialties. The specials blackboard announced the apparently popular house wraps (which are massive, by the way) but I spotted something more interesting in the menu: the shakshuka: 2 eggs poached in a rich tomato, capsicum, garlic & onion sauce served w/ fresh home-made pita bread. The standard shakshuka costs $16 and there are a few other versions with add-ons.

I chose the chorizo shakshuka, which didn’t take long to arrive. It was served in a clay pot that sat on a wooden board, along with two freshly made bread rolls. They were chubbier than regular pita bread and looked great, but I skipped them. Instead, I grabbed the provided spoon and happily ate my flavourful and spicy meal. The sauce was thick and rich, with bits of whites from the perfectly poached eggs, and a generous amount of sliced chorizo. The heat of the chillies was right for me, not too mild but not tongue-numbing.

Chorizo shakshuka ($19.00)

I also had a short black to keep me awake for the rest of the day. Great tasting coffee, strong and robust.

Short black ($3.00)

Because I was on my own I couldn’t sample more dishes, so I guess that entitles me to go back again and again until I get the menu pretty much covered.

Shenkin
53 Erskineville Road
Erskineville NSW 2043
(02) 9550 5511

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Review: The Kick Inside

When people ask me what’s my favourite restaurant or cafe my answer is “none”. I hardly go back to an eatery on purpose, only when the people I’m dining with choose a particular place over and over again (Thai Pothong and Thai La Ong are popular venues within my circle). My personal aim is to try as many places as I can in the limited eating out opportunities I have. In the past I used to think the reason behind was to know good places to revisit, but in reality I just recommend them when someone asks for a good <insert cuisine> restaurant.

Last week was The Kick Inside’s turn. I had read a review of the place in this cool blog written from a barista perspective and it sounded like a great place for Sunday lunch. Neil, Andrey and I grabbed a table in the tiny cafe filled with an eclectic selection of art on the walls and perused the menu as quickly as we could to satiate our hungry stomachs. Unfortunately, food took a while to be prepared in a tiny countertop stove and served.

Our drinks arrived first, a cappuccino for Andrey and a macchiato for me. We were both pleased with our beverages, although in hindsight I think it was a bad idea to add caffeine and that tiny amount of dairy to the previous day’s nutritional wreck. My left knee and respiratory system are still suffering the consequences.

Regular cappuccino ($3.00)

Macchiato ($2.50)

Andrey wanted a customised item but couldn’t get it because, as he was told, most food is pre-cooked (like the chubby bacon and egg rolls sitting in the display).

Sweets, rolls, drinks

That being said, there are few add-ins that are mentioned in the menu, so he chose to have the free range poached eggs served with tomato relish and toasted sourdough with extra ham off the bone and avocado.

Poached eggs with ham off the bone and avocado ($16.00)

There was no salad that particular day, only a soup that included potatoes, one of my worst inflammatory enemies, so I passed and chose the salmon, dill & ricotta omelette from the specials board (aka “omelette of the week”, made with 3 free range eggs). I asked for no bread, but it came with toasted sourdough anyway, which I happily shared with my friends. The omelette was average, a little dry but the taste was alright. It was served with tomato relish on the side, which was good on its own but not a great complement for the omelette. A simple side salad would have been really welcomed, instead I had to rely on eating the three parsley leaves that were used as decoration.

Salmon, dill & ricotta omelette ($14.00)

Neil had the spinach omelette, which was very similar to mine, only with spinach instead of the salmon and dill.

Spinach omelette ($14.00)

It was good to finally give this place a go but I doubt I’ll be going back by choice.

The Kick Inside
43 Erskineville Road
Erskineville NSW 2043
(02) 9517 2255

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Review: Pizza Piatsa Cafe

Lazy Sundays. That’s how I like to call them but they’re actually quite busy. The only lazy bit is lunchtime, when usually my friends and I go somewhere (ok, 50% of the times it’s Thai La Ong) for a relaxing meal after meditation.

Last Sunday we needed to look for an eatery that offered alfresco seating space for our special guest: Rubi. We went to Sofia but dogs weren’t allowed in the courtyard due to sanitary restrictions, so we walked back to Pizza Piatsa Cafe, which has a lovely outdoor area.

In case you think that this place is all about pizzas and pastas, you’re wrong. They also do cafe stuff and they do it right. Service is extra friendly and they take care in getting the orders right.

Bonnie ordered the hot chicken salad with some customisations, as usual. Out of the tenderloin chicken fillets, lettuce, rocket, pickles, olive oil, grated parmesan cheese she asked to skip the pickles and cheese. The waitress came back from the kitchen to advise they had no rocket and asked Bonnie what would she like instead. She took the waitress’ suggestion of spinach. The salad was big and had a generous amount of chicken, a bargain for $12.

Hot chicken salad ($12.00)

Neil was the only one who ordered something Italian: fettuccine alla matriciana (bacon, onion, chilli, garlic and fresh tomato). The serving was generous and he said the pasta was really good. The chilli kick warmed him up (he was wearing a short sleeve polo shirt).

Fettuccine alla matriciana ($13.00)

Taeko was torn between the fish and chips and the chicken schnitzel, although she had previously said “take me where I can eat a burger”. Guess she was just craving simple pub food that day. She finally opted for the schnitzel which came with chips and salad (a basic garden salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber and capsicum) and had a nice brown crumble that didn’t look oily at all.

Chicken schnitzel ($16.00)

Andrey had the chicken mushroom, a chicken breast fillet in a mushroom, white wine, garlic & cream sauce that also came with chips and garden salad. He said the chicken was tasty but the chips were not great.

Chicken mushroom ($19.00)

I was starving. I took advantage of my lack of appetite that day and fasted through boxing, yoga and meditation, but at 2 pm I couldn’t bear it any more. I chose the T-bone steak hoping for a Flintstones-sized chunk of animal protein, and asked the waitress to skip the chips and add peppercorn sauce to my order (the other sauce options where diane and mushroom). She came back from the kitchen asking for my desired meat doneness, I said medium but got it slightly overcooked. Nothing major, really, the steak was nice, the salad was average (would be better with ripe tomatoes) and the sauce was tasty (more BBQey than peppery) although I tried not to overdip my steak in it to avoid the extra sugar.

T-bone steak ($17.00)

Pizza Piatsa Cafe
65 Erskineville Road
Erskineville NSW 2043
(02) 9517 3755
www.pizzapiatsacafe.com

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Review: Erskineville Hotel (2)

Oh, the Erko again. There was a time when I didn’t mind going to the Erko (and I still don’t mind going for drinks) but I don’t really like eating in the same place several times unless the food is remarkably good. And here, to me, it isn’t.

But what can you do when you’re having dinner with friends and the criteria to choose the place include a) steak, b) cheap, c) close to the corner of Erskineville Rd and Linthorpe St? Yeah, right, let’s go to the Erko.

I hate the Erko’s chips. I’ve said it before. Twice. Most people don’t really care about the chips as much as they care about the steak or whatever piece of protein lies on their plate, but I do because I like them a lot. I know they’re poison to me (they’re full of omega-6 fat acids, acrylamides and potentially trans fats, plus the potatoes themselves promote inflammation) so I try not to eat them frequently and when I do, I want them to be damn good. Knowing that this wouldn’t be possible, my options were reduced to those that didn’t involve the infamous fried spuds. My first thought was to order pasta but then I switched to Chicken Erko, which I hadn’t even seen before. I asked about the sides and thankfully the chips and salad could be swapped by mash and veggies.

The Chicken Erko is basically a grilled chicken breast fillet topped with avocado, cheese and bernaise sauce. It was very tasty, and without the mash it would make a perfectly healthy everyday meal. The mash was alright, not the best mash I’ve ever eaten (for that, Peruvian yellow potatoes are required) but it wasn’t as bland as others.

Chicken Erko with avocado, cheese, bernaise sauce, mash and steamed vegetables ($16)

As usual, I washed down my meal with a schooner of James Squire Amber Ale.

Alvaro ordered bangers and mash with onion gravy and peas. I had a few bites and it was good. The serving was much smaller than the one in Coopers, but the price was smaller, too.

Bangers and mash with onion gravy & peas ($12)

I didn’t take pics of the others’ meals because I think my friends pretty much hate me by now. I’ll let them breathe for a week or two and then start shooting their food again.

Andrey had been cycling all morning with Max, so he ordered a second dish to share: beef nachos. I ate some out of gluttony but they really weren’t very good. The nachos had been reheated (some of them actually had burnt edges). Just because we were eating nachos, I had a Corona ($5 on Saturdays).

As a food blogger and an obsessive person who likes to eat a different meal (if eating out, in a different place) every day I wouldn’t go to the Erko again. But I know I will. I just have to remember to stay away from the chips, the fried seafood and the nachos.

Alvaro and I went for a walk before going home, in the hopes to aid digestion. I’m not sure it worked.

Erskineville Hotel
102 Erskineville Road
Erskineville NSW 2043
(02) 9565 1608

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Review: Rose Of Australia

The Saturday morning routine: wake up, go to Sydney Park for sprint intervals, buy groceries at the Eveleigh market (if time allows and they’re open), meet with Bonnie (sometimes Neil, too) at the first house open for inspection, drive around Newtown/Erskineville/Camperdown/Enmore to see the rest of them. We end up sad and frustrated because we didn’t find “the perfect house” and resolve to have lunch at a pub with one or two beers to depress us further.

Last Saturday was no exception. We saw 6 houses, with only 2 of them being somewhat close to our specs. Because the last inspection was in Erskineville, I suggested going to my “local” pub (the Union) but there was no parking nearby so we ended up in the Rose Of Australia, where we met people who had been house-hunting like us. The weather was great, so we sat in one of the tables outside.

The place has what I call an “enhanced” pub menu, meaning that the classics are there but also a few more refined options like pork belly, Thai beef salad, and fancy-named burgers. Prices are good, most of the dishes are between 12 and 15 dollars with some cheaper ones (of course the sides, but also spaghetti bolognese at $7) and some more expensive (if memory serves, $17 is the max).

There was a small printed paper attached to the menu with a few specials for the day. Strangely, the 1/2 rack of baby pork back ribs caught my eye and my week of healthy eating went to hell. Bonnie was torn between three (very dissimilar) options, one of which was the pumpkin, spinach and feta salad, so we decided getting both to share.

Thankfully, food didn’t take long to arrive (I hate to finish my first beer before it does) and we were surprised by the generous size of the 1/2 rack. The dish was ok for a $10 meal, but the meat was not quite tender (I guess the pig was not a baby anymore) and a bit dry. I wouldn’t have minded more BBQ sauce on them. The fries were other story: absolutely amazing. Not only thanks to the crunchiness achieved by beer-battering them, but also because the potato actually had flavour. For me, the Rose beats the Erko food-wise just because of the chips.

1/2 rack baby pork back ribs with grandpa’s barbeque sauce and beer battered fries ($10)

Pumpkin, spinach and feta salad with honey dressing and toasted sesame seeds ($11)

The salad was good: big enough for a main course, nice flavour, cheap price, no complains.

Rose Of Australia
1 Swanson St
Erskineville NSW 2043
(02) 9565 1441

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Review: Erskineville Hotel

What was left of us after the New Year’s Eve party (i.e., 9 hung-over, tired and sleepy human beings) got together for dinner on the first day of 2011. Nobody had any particular craving at the moment so we accepted Gary’s suggestion to have quality pub food at the Erskineville Hotel. I had been there a couple of times before, but only for drinks. The beer selection is varied and the prices are good (tip: they have $5 Coronas on Saturdays).

I knew what my body needed (salad and lots of water) but my preconceptions of “what a meal at a pub should be” won. I had a schooner of James Squire amber ale (which ended up being almost three…) and beer battered flathead fillets w/ salad and chips, which was the alternative given to me since they were out of the regular fish and chips ($2 less).

The dishes ordered at our table hold a remarkable resemblance, pretty much all of them had the same sides. And the side salad was the same as the one served as a dish. But don’t be fooled, the pub offers other dishes as well: a couple of pastas, vegetarian spring rolls, some tapas, and the whole array of pub grub: beef & vegetarian nachos, bangers and mash, etc.

The food was reasonably priced and the servings were generous. But I didn’t like the food. The fish was oily and lacked crunch, the chips were tasteless and not crispy. The tartar sauce that came on the plate was alright, and along with lots of tomato sauce, helped me finish my meal.

Beer battered flathead fillets w/ salad & chips ($15)

I ate a couple of calamari rings from Alvaro’s plate, the meat was soft (good) but the rings were a bit oily and not crispy, which suggests that the oil was not hot enough.

Crumbed calamari, salad & chips ($14)

As said before, the rest of the gang ordered similar-looking dishes, and they seemed to like them. They didn’t like me delaying their eating process by taking quick snaps of their food, but overall we had a nice time because good company is what matters most, right?

Scotch fillet ($16)

Steak burger & chips ($12)

Beef burger & chips ($12)

Garden salad ($8)

Grilled barramundi fillets ($16)

Black angus steak, salad & chips

Salt & pepper calamari & salad ($14)

Erskineville Hotel
102 Erskineville Road
Erskineville NSW 2043
(02) 9565 1608

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Review: Cafe Sofia (2)

Saturday afternoon, Erskineville Road. I had done hill sprints early in the morning, been grocery-shopping at the busy Flemington Markets after travelling more than one hour by train and bus thanks to track works, and gone to two house inspections with Bonnie, Andrey and Max (we only checked out one of the houses because the agent for the second one didn’t have the correct key). I was hot, tired and hungry. We needed to have lunch and were torn between Erko’s options; the boys wanted pub food (yes, they were after the beers), we wanted cafe food. We won (which was fair considering that we were the ones inspecting properties) and chose Cafe Sofia, a trusted spot for me after a great breakfast I had there months ago.

The boys were disappointed with our choice. When prompted by the owner to check out the specials on the blackboard Bonnie told Andrey: “look, there’s sirloin steak!”, and he replied with a sad tone in his voice “what’s the point of having steak without beer”. They decided to have breakfast meals instead, eggs Benedict for both, with ham for Andrey and with smoked salmon for Max. Both came with a small serving of salad on the side (mixed leaves, sliced cucumber, red onion and dressing).

Eggs Benedict with ham ($13.50)

Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon ($13.50)

Andrey said he preferred the eggs Benedict at Vargabar.

Bonnie ordered bacon and eggs, which came with two slightly burnt slices of toasted bread, butter, sautéed mushrooms and roasted tomatoes.

Bacon and eggs ($10.50)

I had the biggest and less breakfasty meal: a marinated veg, tapenade and cheese Turkish melt from the specials and a garden salad. It arrived when everybody else was more than halfway done but my hunger made me finish not long after them. The veggies in the sandwich were roasted capsicum, eggplant and tomatoes (which I love but shouldn’t eat because they aggravate joint inflammation and gastritis). As expected, the flavours matched well with the tapenade. There was a small serving of salad on my dish, too. The big salad had the same ingredients plus irregular slices of tomato (as if they were cut by a kid or a person who didn’t care about food presentation) and roasted capsicum. I liked my lunch but didn’t find it as good as the breakfast I had in my first visit to the cafe.

Marinated veg, tapenade and cheese Turkish melt ($6)

Garden salad ($7)

Bonnie decided she needed something sweet to counteract the extreme saltiness in her dish. She went to the counter to get a coffee and came back with two slices of mulberry and blueberry “flan” (they called it that way but it was actually a clafoutis) to share, which we had spotted when ordering lunch. It covered the sweetness requirement but the dough was too dry and average tasting.

Mulberry and blueberry flan ($3.50)

When a waitress arrived with the iced coffee with soy milk Bonnie had ordered, she realised that it was not actually what she wanted (basically a soy latte with ice). The waitress offer to return the coffee and get the right one but Max saved her the hassle and took it, while Bonnie went back to the counter to place another order.

Iced coffee with soy milk ($5.50)

Iced coffee with soy milk and no ice cream

We asked the boys to leave us alone to discuss about the house we had inspected and I felt like I “needed” some coffee. With ice cream. And chocolate. I had just had a completely unacceptable meal (bread, nightshades and dessert) and rounded it off with caffeine, sugar and ice cream. Well, at least I know where my fat and aches come from.

Iced coffee ($5.50)

Cafe Sofia
7 Swanson St
Erskineville NSW 2043
(02) 9519 1565

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Review: Cafe Sofia

Last week our Peruvian friend Carina came all the way down from the Northern Territory for part of Lama Ole’s tour. She was in Sydney for a few days and left on Sunday. We had breakfast with her that morning in Cafe Sofia, a short stroll away from the Buddhist centre, where she was staying.

Someone had recommended me that cafe before, but because my breakfasts are small and short I don’t usually have them in cafes, as lots of Aussies do. In fact, I think last Sunday’s breakfast was my second cafe breakfast in the 10 months I’ve been living here. Anyway, Matt suggested going to Sofia because the food’s good and it’s a family-run business with great vibe and customer service.

It was almost 11 am and it was packed, one of the owners told us to wait and organised a couple of tables for us. In the meantime we ordered our meals. Alvaro had the French toast with bacon and banana plus a latte.

I had the homemade baked beans with poached egg and toasted sourdough, plus a soy cappuccino. I wouldn’t normally had ordered beans but I really wanted to compare well prepared baked beans to the canned stuff we got in the hotel in Canberra.

The beans were delicious, the poached egg perfect. The whole combination with sprigs of dill and the warm toasted sourdough with butter was amazing. I tasted Alvaro’s French toast with a bit of bacon, a bit of banana and a drizzle of syrup, it was tasty but my beans were tastier. Or maybe I just wanted a savoury breakkie/brunch that morning.

That was the end of that burst of mindless eating, that started with Lama Ole’s event. I know I could and I should restrict myself to eating sensibly always but for the sake of sanity I give myself a break once in a while. This particular one had an output of 1 extra kilo on the scale (of course that doesn’t mean too much in terms of fat/lean mass, but it’s one of the easiest things to keep track of), which I have already ripped off. That was fairly easy because I didn’t stop working out, that’s why I’ve decided to join my old gym as soon as I arrive in Lima and try to maintain my weight within reasonable limits, ie I hope to be able to fit in my office clothes as soon as I get back.

Cafe Sofia
7 Swanson St
Erskineville NSW 2043
(02) 9519 1565

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