Cafe Morso, Pyrmont

Cafe Morso 



Cafe Morso is tucked away in the middle of Jones Bay Wharf in Pyrmont, just a few shops away from Flying Fish restaurant.

It has been here for a few years now and I wonder why it took me so long to come here, considering it is pretty much next door from where I live.

The great thing about Cafe Morso is that they take bookings for breakfast/brunch on the weekends, which is a rarity and causing big headache when you try to find a place for a big group.

Karmee Coffees $3.80
soy latte, skim cappuccino, latte and cappuccino



The coffees here were excellent, a few of us ordered second rounds of caffeine because of that.

"Tea Craft" Earl Grey Tea  $4.00

 

Outside Dining Areas

 

Frappes  $6.50
mango and orange ; pineapple, mint and blueberry ; raspberry, strawberry and lime



A few of us opted for something more "healthy", glasses of refreshing frappe to cool us down in the morning summer heat (it was still summer when we went there :P backlog...backlog....).

I had the pineapple, mint and blueberry frappe and it was delicious !

Inside Dining Area

The foods didn't take too long to arrive eventhough we were in a big group and the cafe was packed that morning.

Didn't get to taste all of them, so please just enjoy the pictures ^_^



Roasted Field Mushroom w/ Avocado, Ricotta and Poached Free Range Eggs on Toasted Crusty Bread   $15.50



Soft Scrambled Eggs w/ Gruyere Cheese on Toast w/ Roasted Tomatoes & Spinach  $15.50
plus a side of Chorizo Sausages  $3.50 

Took a bite of my friend's scrambled egg dish that looks more like a soft set omelette. The egg was silky smooth with a punch of cheesy flavour from the Gruyere.

Bacon & Egg Gnocchi w/ Baby Herbs and Truffle Oil  $14.50

The sound of bacon and egg gnocchi is just too good to pass when I saw it on the menu. It has now made it to my list of favourite breakfast or brunch dish.

The logs of gnocchi were basically mashed potato mixed with bacon, shaped into logs and shallow pan fried. crispy on the outside but creamy, fluffy with bacon bits on the inside.

Oozing Poached Egg's Yolk

To top off the already amazing gnocchi was a perfectly poached egg and plenty of crispy bacon bits !!



The Cafe Morso Breakfast  $18.00
plus a side of Baked Beans w/ Onion & Relish  $2.50



A few weeks later, we went back for a return visit, this time just the 4 of us and was lucky to score a table without a booking *phew*.

Someone happen to call in and cancel their reservation as we arrived, hehehehehe...

Iced Chocolate  $5.00

Large vs Regular

Sautéed Wild Mushroom, Truffled Scrambled Eggs & Sonoma Sourdough $16.00

Ham Hock Consommé w/ Spinach Wrapped Pork Parcel & Soft Poached Free Range Egg $16.50

Compared to the other dishes in the breakfast menu, the portion is smaller. It just didn't look substantial enough to satisfy hungry stomach :)

Nonetheless, the consomme was delicious and not to mention what's inside the sphere of spinach :

Pork Parcel



Salmon Gravlax Carpaccio w/ Wilted Spinach, Avocado Salsa & Poached Free Range Eggs  $16.50



Wasn't up for anything heavy that morning, so I opted for something more light, salmon gravlax with spinach, poached eggs and avocado salsa topped with micro herbs. Also ordered a side of toast to help balanced out the richness of the dish.

It was close to lunch time when we finished our meals, and spotted the waiter carrying out someone's lunch order - a stack of rectangular beef fillets that looked delicious - must make a return visit for lunch soon !!

Old rail tracks on Jones Bay Wharf

Pieno, Surry Hills

Pieno Special Menu Board

I've walked pass this little cafe few times now, everytime telling myself that I should pay a visit one day.

When a friend called me out for a late brunch - in her vocabulary "late brunch = I want breakfast at 3.30pm".

It's definitely not easy to find a cafe that is still open that late on a Sunday -___-;

A quick search on the net and off to Pieno we go  !

Coffees

The cafe is located inside the courtyard where The Winery by Gazebo and Thomas Dux Grocery is on Crown Street, Surry Hills. There are plenty of outdoor and indoor seating areas, we picked a spot on the long bench inside :)



Inside seating - long bench by the wall



Big Breakfast $16.50

Staying true to her plan, my friend ordered a big breakfast @ 4.00pm - which is a big plate of 2 free range eggs (cooked to your liking), sausages, bacon , roasted tomato, potato rosti , tomato chutney and a slice of toast.

Blueberry Griddle Cakes  $14.00

While me, being the normal person, ordered something sweet for my afternoon tea hehehehehe...

Fluffy

The griddle cakes were this stack of not one, not two, but THREE stacks of fluffy blueberry pancakes !!

They were delicious ! Too much for afternoon tea though, for once I cannot finish my plate of sweets O_O



The foods here were delicious and so were the coffee, would have to make a return visit for a proper brekkie or lunch , at proper hours of the day LOL

Pyrama, Pyrmont

Pyrama Brekkie Menu

Pyrama has always been my stop on the way home after church mass on Sunday mornings, well...that was when I was very diligent in attending mass *shame*.

Now, I'm just struggling to wake up for the early 8am mass even though the church is only 5 minutes stroll from home *double shame*.

Anywho....putting my sins aside, I'd usually grab an Allpress skim capp to go plus Grumpy Baker's wholemeal toast with Hank's Triple Berry Jam and don't forget the butter !

I was there without fail almost every Sunday that Linda ( the owner/front house, her husband Jim is the chef and her sister in law, Karen, is an amazing barista!), knows exactly what I'll have when I just stepped in and said good morning LOL

Allpress Fair Trade Cappuccinos  $3.70

Now that my cousin is living with me since July last year, whenever we can drag ourselves out of bed, we'd go to church again.

So, here we are one early Sunday morning having brekkie at Pyrama ^_^ Her first time dining here though she has lived in Pyrmont for almost 8 months !!

View into the inside seating areas

Scrambled Certified Organic Free Range Eggs on Buttered (Wholemeal) Toast   $9.00  

My cousin opted for something light, eggs cooked to your liking (scrambled, poached or fried) served on buttered toast (wholemeal, sourdough or turkish).

The scrambled eggs looked creamy and delicious !

Housemade Crispy Potato Hash w/ Fried Eggs, Grilled Bacon & Tomato Jam  $16.00

I chose something more hearty and one that I'd usually order at Pyrama when I feel like a more substantial breakfast / brunch.

Crispy Potato Hash 

Love the potato hash here that goes so well with the sweet caramelized tomato jam. Can never go wrong with bacon and perfectly fried eggs ^_^

Grumpy Baker's Wholemeal Toasts w/ Hanks Triple Berry Jam  $5.00

I just can't resist ordering the wholemeal toasts with berry jam and butter (on my defense, I only had one slice and my cousin had the other - justified ? Perhaps not :P).

They may just be simple toast, butter and jam but these Grumpy Baker's wholemeal toast just hit at the right spot. Thickly sliced, crunchy crust and really soft and spongy centre. A generous lathering of butter and berry jam just sealed the deal for me.

Back in November (yep, another super backdated post), had a lunch meet up with a fellow food blogger, Laura, who I later discovered lives just across ! Talk about small world ey ? ^_^

Had a wonderful lunch sitting under the sun in the outside area, despite the headaches I got afterwards from pro-longed exposure to sunlight (can't stand sunlight, ugh).

Iced Lemon Tea  $4.20

A cool refreshing iced lemon tea was a must have on a hot summer day :)

Gnocchi w/ Burnt Butter & Sage $17.00

The gnocchi was delicious, slightly chewy balls of potato dough simply tossed in classic combination of burnt butter and sage, then topped with sharp parmesan shards and cherry tomatoes.

Pyrama is also open for dinner on Wed - Sat and they have special dinner deals : 1 course for $29, 2 courses $40 or an excellent deal with 3 course for only $52. 

Bacco QVB , Sydney CBD

Bacco QVB Menu

Usually when my parents are here visiting we usually end up having lots of Japanese foods. I'm partly to blame for that since I'm the one who decide where we eat at :P

I think this is the first time that my dad requested for some Italian - his reasoning was that my mom wanted to try an authentic Italian foods - my mom replied by rolling her eyes LOL

That's the thing with my dad, if he wants something, he'd say its my mom who wanted it - whatever you say dad (we know the truth anyways).

I decided to take them to Bacco QVB for lunch as I know they do tasty casual Italian food and the most important part , they make great cakes too ^_^

Breakfast - Cappuccino

We got there at 11.00 and the lunch menu is not available till 12.00pm, so rather than scrambling around to find somewhere else to have early lunch, we just decided we'll have the coffee and cakes first then lunch. Problems solved !

Pear Caramello

My favourite cake at Bacco, the pear caramello always satisfy my craving for sweets. Layers of milk chocolate and caramel mousse on top of chocolate nougatine layer - yummm...

Ciocollato

This layers of decadent chocolate mousse would hit the spot for chocolate lovers - a tad too rich and decadent for my taste, can't have too much of it.

Lunch Time ! - Sparkling Water

When the QVB clock chimes 12 times, I quickly grab the attention of the waiter who was probably already on standby observing me, fidgeting since 11.55am -___-;

Once again...I ordered way too much for just the 3 of us....wait...maybe more like 2.5 of us since my mom is not a big eater.

I picked a few items from the antipasti & spuntini menu, little bit of this, and a little bit of that.

Something light and not to heavy for early lunch :)

Of course if something more substantial is what you are after, they have a good selection of pastas and mains.

Caprese Bruschetta $18.00
wood fired sourdough bread with cherry tomato, bocconcini cheese, basil & oregano

The caprese bruschetta was perfect, the sourdough bread was nicely toasted, fresh and crisp. 

The topping of juicy cherry tomato, creamy bocconcini and fragrant basil and oregano was just what it needed, something simple and light.

Vegetariana Insalata $17.00
mixed leaf salad, roasted peppers, eggplant, zucchini & mozarella
w/ Bacco's basil pesto vinaigrette

The salad arrives in a generous portion, a mountain of mixed salad leaves with various roasted vegetables, we got peppers, eggplant and zucchini. 

I usually don't order vegetarian dishes (me is carnivore, for sure) but I actually loved this salad. The roasted vegetables were sweet and delicious, all their salads also comes with seeded sourdough bread slices.

Carpaccio di Manzo $18.00
beef carpaccio w/ pine nuts, mixed sautéed wild mushrooms, rocket & shaved parmesan

I was quite taken aback when I saw how rare the carpaccio looked - somehow it had a more rare appearance than the usual carpaccio I've had. My mom was pretty freaked out when she saw it LOL.
The carpaccio was actually slightly seared as the oil was hot so it would have cooked it slightly - hence the pinkish colour. ( Thanks to Tina who pointed it out ! ^_^)

Despite it's appearance, it was seriously good !! The beef carpaccio, though sliced slightly thicker than the standard carpaccio, was so tender that it melts in your mouth. 

The sauteed wild mushrooms had a fragrant garlic flavour, then you get the nutty crunch texture of the pine nuts, balanced out with fresh crisp rocket and sharp parmesan. The one down side to the dish was that there was too much olive oil, it was getting greasy towards the end.

In saying that, I would order this again :)

Arancini di Riso $16.00
crumbed & fried saffron and mozarella rice balls served with Italian tomato compote

The deep fried, crumbed balls of saffron rice stuffed with mozarella cheese never fails.

Thin crispy crust, creamy rice and of course the melting, stringy mozarella...mmmmmmmmm.

The Italian tomato compote was quite tangy and clean which balances out the rich arancini balls. 

Calamari Fritti $17.00
seasoned flour-dusted calamari, crisp fried & served with Agro dolce sauce

Another favourite dish of mine at Bacco, their calamiri fritti always deliver.

Very crispy, lightly battered and tender calamari , served with an agro dolce sauce, the Italian version of sweet and sour sauce.

2010 Christmas @ Queen Victoria Building

(It's embarassing how long it took me to write up this post  - christmas...my goodness... -____-;)

My parents were happy with the Italian fares that Bacco has delivered, they for sure was very satisfied and if not too full, thanks to their daughter's over ordering habit.

Bacco would be my place to go to if I'm craving for Italian food, the dishes are decently priced, tasted good and the atmosphere is casual and relaxed. 

Perfect place for catching up with friends over a quick meal or just for coffees and maybe something sweet too ^_^