The Lab , Rozelle

Had a terrible case of jet lag upon returning from the work trip to Denmark last week, I didn't realized I have snoozed my alarm clock TWICE ! >__<

Needless to say it was already 10am when my friend message me to check where the hell am I.

So with much embarrassment I had to call work and just took a day off :P

Now that I have nothing to do the rest of the day, I dragged my friend to pay a visit to Adriano Zumbo's cafe that has just reopened at its new location in Rozelle.

I believe this location in Rozelle has always been the pastry kitchen that has been churning out amazing goodies to supply the patisserie and the cafe. It is now being renovated and expanded to fit in a cafe.

Cafe Menu

There wasn't much options for the savouries, a couple of sandwiches, a couple of pies and a few sausage rolls. The cafe has just opened for a few days so I'm hoping there will be more options on the menu in the near future.

Ordering at the counter ; Hmmmm Coookiiieeee......

Conical Water Flasks ; Wall covered with graffitis 

The walls are covered with black and white graffitis which is kinda cool, not to mention there is a huge cookie monster one ! Cookieee !!!

At the moment there isn't much seating space available in the cafe. About 10 stools on the bench tops surrounding the kitchen and a few more bench tops on the other side for those who doesn't mind standing on their feet to eat :)

I asked the girl at the counter and she said there will be lounges at the back and upstairs where the new kitchen for future baking classes will also be located. 

Not quite sure when the lounges and kitchen will be open, perhaps in a few weeks or so.

Latte & Cappucinno

The coffees were okay, it was perhaps a little too weak and watery for me.

Beef & Vegetable Pie

My friend had the beef & vegetable pie which tasted oddly like curry according to her. I thought perhaps they have given her the red chicken curry pie that was also on the menu, but it was definitely beef.

The pastry looked delicious, golden brown and flaky. It was also of a decent size, high and tall full of goodies in gravy :)

Roast Beef w/ Onion Jam, Brie, Sauteed Mushrooms Roll & Salad

Although the roll looked delicious, it is lacking something on the side don't you think ? It wasn't until I finished it off that I realized it should have come with a side of salad according to the menu. My salad has gone AWOL !

Beside that, the roll was indeed delicious ! The roll was toasted crunchy on the outside and inside was pillowy soft bread with a classic combination of fillings of roast beef and its buddies. There was plenty generous slices of brie as well...mmmmmmm.......

For $7.00 I think it is such a great value, the sandwich was quite big and did fill me up just right !

Peering into the open kitchen
(and cookie monster showing up everywhere LOL)

The new cafe is aptly named "The Lab" as you can see into the kitchen where all the magic happens if you sit around the benches.

While munching our lunches we saw trays and trays of macaron shells being filled. She still have a full racks of cooling shells on Silpat to fill @___@ As fun as it is making them, it must be quite repetitive if you have to fill hundreds of macarons !

See that machine behind her ? My guess is that is a macaron shell piping machine as I saw them cleaning the nozzles, could be wrong though :)

That would have saved them lots of time piping and try to get them all of the same size.

Cakes & Macarons Display

There wasn't much cakes on display, just a few tea cakes and tartlets, didn't see any of the individual creations like in the patisserie in Balmain. 

Hoping to see the individual cakes available here too in the cafe :)

Bread shelves ; Pretty in pink raspberry, rose & lychee tea cake ; Sticky date tea cake ; Pastries

There were of course a rack full of pastries and a shelves of freshly baked breads to purchase as well.

Brownies & Macarons

The brownies looked so sinful but good, shall remember to get that on the next visit. The macarons were placed in white cake boxes, which was a pity as they would have been much prettier displayed in clear boxed.

Mine ; Pandan & Coconut Macarons

Couldn't leave a Zumbo place without some macarons now can we ?

My friend got a pandan & coconut while I picked 4 of the interesting sounding ones.

From T to B : Oatmeal Ylang Ylang , Salted Peanut Caramel, Strawberry Balsamic and Blackened Vanilla.

Cross sections 

The oatmeal ylang ylang was interesting, slightly floral and you can taste the oats. Like eating oat porridge with flower hehehehee.

Salted peanut caramel tasted like peanut butter macaron, nothing too fancy. 

I like the blackened vanilla with rounded vanilla flavour and slight smokiness from the vanilla bean husks grounded into it.

Last but not least...the most interesting one out of the four, at first bite the balsamic vinegar taste hits you up front ! BANG !!!

Then you get to the strawberry gelee, then eat them together they are sooo gooood !!!  

If you like balsamic vinegar than you have to try this , the sweet version :)

Looking forward to visit the cafe again once the lounges are open and would loooove to attend one of the baking classes too ^_^ Can't wait !!

Chef's Gallery & Azuma Patisserie, Sydney CBD

When I was visiting my friends at their Lumiere apartment last week, I noticed that a new dumpling restaurant has opened up where the short lived Malay Italian fusion roti restaurant, Bonta Vita used to be over a year ago.

There is a note near the entrance advising that they are only able to accommodate a certain numbers of customers only, which was a little bit odd but then we figured out why later during the dinner.

"Aquarium" Kitchen

Like Din Tai Fung and other dumpling eateries, the kitchen is like an aquarium where you can see all the actions in the kitchen. There is non stop actions of la mian (literally translated : pulled noodle) & dumplings making throughout the night.

La Mian Making

Handmade Noodles in Double Boiled Chicken Soup

We usually don't order noodles when dining in a dumpling restaurant as it just unnecessarily take up the stomach space that is better used to store something else.

But we just couldn't resist ordering a bowl this time after seeing all the la mian actions in the kitchen.

The noodles was really good, silky smooth with a slight bite to it. The soup was even better, full of flavours and just perfect for cold windy night. 

There are of course other soup noodles option that comes with various toppings and one even with some carrot based soup ! But I think I would order it as it is, just noodle and the chicken soup - yumm....

Chef's Own Golden Snowflake Chicken
Lightly crumbed chicken fillet, very crispy, tender and moist

With name like "Snowflake Chicken", we were expecting something fancy. Instead we got a quite sad looking piece of deep fried chicken. The chicken fillet was thin, very salty, oily and it tasted a little rancid. 

I'm actually quite surprised that the oil they used to deep fry the fillet would be rancid, considering they have only been opened for 2 weeks. 

Din Tai Fung's fried chicken beats this version hands down, no doubt about that !

Zheng Jiao Zi
Steamed Pork Dumplings

Thankfully the dumplings made up for the disappointing chicken :)

The skin was perfect, not too thin and not too thick. The pork filling was seasoned well and juicy. 

Beside pork filling, you do have a choice of chicken or vegetables as well. We originally wanted to have the vegetable but was told that the vegetable option is not available to our surprise.

Luckily we are carnivores, so that's not a problem.

Jian Bao Zi
Lightly Pan Fried Pork Buns

What a plate of pretty looking buns....smooth, white and perfectly rounded.

I couldn't help feeling how smooth they were  V^_^V

The buns are equally delicious like the dumplings. Soft with a slight sweetness in it, the pork filling was juicy as well although some of us found the filling a little too soft, not much bite to it. 

The pan fried buns will take about 20minutes to come out (we were already told in advance when we placed the orders), if we had known that they will taste so good we would have ordered more ! Next time :D

Nicely furnished and decorated dining area

After we finished our savoury dishes, we had to wait a good half hour for our Piggy Face Buns dessert. We counted at least 10 waiter + waitresses checking up our docket and then checking with the kitchen what is taking them so long !!! Yes...we were wondering about that ourselves....

But we were kept entertained by the staff who were flustered and keep checking the status of the piggies on their headsets. 

The conversation went like this almost throughout our dinner "Where is the jian bao zi (earlier in the evening) and then piggy face buns (later on) for table 53 ? Roger roger !"

I couldn't help feeling like in those HK cops movies, "Roger, Sir "!!  ROFL !

Beside the buns taking so long to come out, they delivered the wrong order to our table ... 3 TIMES !!

We said amongst ourselves, if there is a 4th wrong dish arrived at our table, we are keeping it !

Steamed Sesame "Piggy Face" Buns

Oinks !!! Aren't they sooo cute !!! >_<

We squealed when the lid of the steamer was lifted up ahahahahaha....Perhaps it is taking so long to come out because they have to make the ribbon for the girl piggy ? LOL

I don't know if it's coincidental or on purpose, but the girl piggy is bigger than the boy, just like in real life !

Girl vs Boy

Closer look at the piggies - arrghhhh  !! Too cute....the perfect snout, ears and ribbons.....

Inside the Piggy Face Buns

Inside...nothing too special, it was just sesame paste bun :P Perhaps we have left it too long before we eat it (photos photos photos) as the buns were quite chewy although the sesame paste has the right level of sweetness.

The table next to ours ordered some pumpkin dessert that has been beautifully crafted into a mini pumpkin. They seems to put a lot of effort into their desserts as they all looked so beautiful.

Oinks !

Chef's Gallery seems promising, the noodles, dumplings and buns we tried were delicious. 

The service needs major ironing out, friendly but too many confusions going around. 

Wrong orders being delivered and there are times when the staffs are arguing right next to us.

Staff A : "I double ordered the dumplings for Table 20 !" - shoving the extra basket of dumplings to Staff B.

Staff B : "Why are you giving it to me ? What am I gonna do with it?!?"

Staff A : (grumbling to himself and return to the kitchen with the extra basket of dumplings)

We just listened and kept ourselves entertained that way throughout the night LOL

Now I know why the put up the notice near the entrance, as it seems that all hell will break loose if they open up the restaurant to full capacity at this stage :P

I'll definitely be back again, maybe after a month or so after they have settled down :)

Since we are already at Regents Place, might as well stopped by Azuma Patisserie for second round of dessert (and change of camera from compact to SLR hehehe...didn't feel right to whip up a big camera in the dumpling place earlier :P)
They had this special deal going at the moment, a slice of chiffon cake and a hot beverage for only $6.90 !!

My friend got her Houjicha Tea & Green Tea Chiffon Set....

Houjicha 

Green Tea Chiffon

While I opted for Matcha Latte & Earl Grey Chiffon Cake Set....

The Earl Grey chiffon was really good, the smell of the earl grey is distinct and the cake itself is really soft and fluffy.

Matcha Latte

Earl Grey Chiffon ; Thick slice of chiffon cake :D

La Banette , Glebe

For those of you that live in the NSW Northern Beaches, specifically Avalon, you would know this French patisserie and boulangerie :)

They have just opened up their second shop in Glebe late June. I went here a few weeks ago to get some cakes for a friend's birthday (scroll down to see what I got that time) and there wasn't much cakes out yet as it was very early in the morning - 7.30 AM :P

So today, I drag a few of my friends along because I just have to show them this place.

La Banette's main goodies counter

Isn't this place just so pretty ?!? Love how they have the freshly baked pastries and rolls in baskets. The walls, benches and cabinets are made from antique looking woods, I wouldn't be surprised if they turn out to be real antiques :) 

Tarte Success

The "Success" has to be the most striking cake they have in the cake cabinet - my brother's birthday is coming up, might just buy one instead of making one ( I'm one lazy sister :P).

After contemplating what to get, I end up with a few goodies for afternoon tea and perhaps for breakfast the next day.

Creme Caramel Tart

I know I HAVE to get it when I saw it in the display ! Wobbly creme caramel sitting on top of orange blossom frangipani tart - genius !!

The creme caramel was really good, not too rich yet still creamy. The frangipani tart itself is a buttery blend of almond meal with a hint of orange blossom encased in a crumbly tart shell.

Perfect to be eaten along with a cup of tea :)

Coffee Eclair

Didn't try this as it was my cousin's , but it does look delicious ! 

Tray of Mini Pastries $9.50

At La Banette, you can get trays of miniature versions of their pastries and cakes as well. Since we already got some sweets, so we just get the mini pastries tray instead. Let's see what we got here today....2 plain croissants, 1 almond croissant, 1 chocolate brioche, 1 pain au chocolat, 2 danish pastries   - cherry & apricot - all for $9.50 !!

I think it's a great idea, portion controlled (well..unless you ate the whole tray then it's not so controlled) and perfect for people who just can't decide what they want *raise hands*.

The pastries are as good as their cakes & tarts too, flaky and buttery - YUM ! 

Now these babies need some coffee to go with them....

As mentioned earlier, went here a few weeks back to get some cakes for a friend's birthday. 

It was very early so there wasn't much cakes available yet, but everyone enjoyed the two cakes I got very much !

Pretty Packagings

When the lady who was serving me (she's the owner) went to grab some strings to tie up the boxes, I thought she was just separating a few strands from the bunch of strings hanging on the back wall.

But nooo....she actually grabbed a handful of strings and tied the box together - wow !

Definitely loving their presentations :)

Because they have just opened this Glebe shop, they haven't got the chance to make a proper label for it yet, hence the sticker is still showing the Avalon's address.

White Chocolate Mousse Gateaux

I forgot the actual name of this cake, the cake consists of a chewy brownie based, a layer of raspberries and then white chocolate mousse.
Despite it's appearance, the cake was not overly sweet as I thought it would be. The brownie was slightly bitter so it does cut back the sweetness of the white chocolate.

Lemon Meringue Gateaux

This lemon meringue gateaux was very good ! Encased by the crisp and fluffy meringue casing were layers of lemon sponge sandwiched with lemon curd and a thin layer of crisp pastry as the base.

The proportions of the meringue to the rest of the cakes were just right , unlike the standard lemon meringue gateaux where there is a mountain of meringue and not enough lemon base .

Plain Croissants

As I was about to leave the store, the lady passed me a bag filled with not 1, but 2 !  fresh out of the oven croissants , "For breakfast :)" she said.

I was grinning like a Chesire Cat :D  

Nothing beats a warm buttery croissant in the morning....bliss.....

Visit La Banette early in the morning and you will be greeted with the wafting aroma of freshly baked  pastries. The bakery is located at the back of the store and you can take a peek of the actions from the store. 

There are more cakes and tarts to choose from if you go a bit later in the day, the pastries of course will still be there.

I'm so glad they decided to open up a shop in Glebe, otherwise I would have never had the chance to try their delicious and pretty cakes & pastries.