One of my favourite activities in Sydney has to be cafe hopping, simply because the cafes here are extremely gorgeous yet they serve great coffee and freshly made food. I wish I had more time to explore more cafes. Apart from cafes, we also visited local restaurants and pastry shops. All are listed below together with our honest verdicts.
The Grounds of the City
Address: 500 George Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000.
Opening hours: Varying timing. Please refer to the website.
It can be easily slotted into your itinerary so long as you are in the CBD area. My post dedicated to its sister cafe, the Grounds of Alxandria, can be found here. Unlike the lush greenery featured in Alexandria, the Grounds of City adopted charming and classy Parisian-bistro-inspired interior designs. Again, similar to many other eateries in Sydney, reservation can be made through Open Table. The wait can be crazy if you do not make a reservation. Better not to take your chance.
It offers a vast array of food, drink and dessert options. We were hoping to try the lunch/dinner menu with more food choices but our time wouldn't allow. While we enjoyed the food very much, the bustle and hustle of the cafe could be disturbing after a while. The staff were also too busy to attend to your requests (e.g. taking orders or refilling water) in time.
Bubble Nini Tea
Address: Shop 180/8 Central Park Avenue, Chippendale.
Opening hours: 12pm to 10.30pm daily
When your craving for bubble tea couldn't stop despite being overseas, you look for a legit bubble tea shop. But hey, how can a bubble tea shop look so gorgeous? Another floral-themed place that grabbed my attention immediately. The bubble tea was priced slightly higher than Singapore's at ~$7 per cup. Taste wise, the Sun and Moon (Sun Moon Lake black tea imported from Taiwan and homemade brown sugar pearls) did not differ much compared to Singapore/Malaysia's version.
Cafe
The Grounds of the City
Address: 500 George Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000.
Opening hours: Varying timing. Please refer to the website.
It can be easily slotted into your itinerary so long as you are in the CBD area. My post dedicated to its sister cafe, the Grounds of Alxandria, can be found here. Unlike the lush greenery featured in Alexandria, the Grounds of City adopted charming and classy Parisian-bistro-inspired interior designs. Again, similar to many other eateries in Sydney, reservation can be made through Open Table. The wait can be crazy if you do not make a reservation. Better not to take your chance.
It offers a vast array of food, drink and dessert options. We were hoping to try the lunch/dinner menu with more food choices but our time wouldn't allow. While we enjoyed the food very much, the bustle and hustle of the cafe could be disturbing after a while. The staff were also too busy to attend to your requests (e.g. taking orders or refilling water) in time.
In my opinion, it's easier to take nice photos in the takeaway region in view of better lighting.
Steak & Eggs (AUD26). The steak was nicely seared and the crispy hash brown was da bomb! However, the portion was rather small for its price tag.
Deconstructed mocha. It's so much fun to assemble them back!
Social Hideout (Waterloo branch)
Address: Shop 4&5/25-33 Allen Street, Waterloo, NSW, 2017.
Opening hours: Mon to Sun: 7am to 3pm; Sat and Sun: 8am to 3pm
Social Hideout truly lives up to its name as a highly Instagrammable place, but we found the food and coffee were slightly below par, compared to all other cafes we visited during the trip. I have to give credits to the beautiful floral decorations in the cafe, along with the interesting neon signs and classy white furniture. Full marks for the ambiance and food presentation. Please skip if you are simply looking for great food.
Taro Hotcakes.
Restaurant
Address: Multiple branches available.
I would say Pancakes on the Rock is a family-friendly restaurant that offers an eclectic range of food options at affordable prices. As the name of restaurant suggests, you should not leave the place without trying the pancakes. All of them looked fantastic on the menu and I had a difficult time picking one. We ordered a pizza (I just needed something savoury) and a dessert pancake. The food portion was so big that we failed to finish everything, again.
Eggplant pizza (AUD15.95). Not a common flavour seen in Malaysia/Singapore. I quite like it.
Cinnamon Swirl (AUD14.95). Pancakes here are made for those who enjoy fluffy version. Don't be deceived by its humble look. Very yummy indeed.
Address: Multiple branches available.
Extremely popular spot among tourists and a reservation is essential. Even with reservation, be prepared to wait further to be seated. The branch we visited was located in Darling Harbour. It's especially busy on a Saturday night as the restaurant offers superior views for weekly fireworks. It used to be the best dining place in Sydney but the food quality seems to drop over years based on online reviews as the restaurant becomes more popular. It's our first time here and the food didn't quite meet our expectation, particularly the steak which was rather dry. The food was cold when they were served to us, which was kinda unacceptable for the price we paid.
Nonetheless, the view at Darling Harbour was stunning.
Steak and Ribs (AUD55). Good for sharing.
Rocket Pear and Blue Cheese Salad to complement the meat dishes.
Address: Bank Street Locked Bag 247, Pyrmont NSW 2009.
Opening hours: 7am to 4pm daily
Not sure how to classify this place and I shall leave it in the restaurant section. This is a paradise for all the seafood lovers, with a huge variety of fresh and cooked seafood options to choose from. Come early before 10pm to avoid tourist crowds for a more comfortable dining experience. Good food - yes; cheap prices - maybe not so as the place becomes more and more touristy.
We had assorted sashimi, oysters, cheese-baked scallops and interesting sushi donut.
Sushi donut made from sashimi, avocado and fragrant sushi rice.
Drinks
Bubble Nini Tea
Address: Shop 180/8 Central Park Avenue, Chippendale.
Opening hours: 12pm to 10.30pm daily
When your craving for bubble tea couldn't stop despite being overseas, you look for a legit bubble tea shop. But hey, how can a bubble tea shop look so gorgeous? Another floral-themed place that grabbed my attention immediately. The bubble tea was priced slightly higher than Singapore's at ~$7 per cup. Taste wise, the Sun and Moon (Sun Moon Lake black tea imported from Taiwan and homemade brown sugar pearls) did not differ much compared to Singapore/Malaysia's version.
The Instagram-worthy wall. We waited for half an hour for our turn! 😱
Address: Multiple branches available.
The coffee in Aussie is addictive. We had this at the airport before leaving this lovely country. We had previously heard about campos coffee being the best coffee in Aussie, and were delighted to find a branch at airport though the choices here appeared to be limited. The filter coffee recommended by the barista was rich in flavours, in fact, too strong for my liking. But I think it would work for intense coffee lovers.
Pastry/Desserts
Address: Multiple branches available.
We almost gave it a miss as there wasn't a branch close to our Airbnb. Probably the best decision to stop by Barangaroo for food hunt on the day when we ended our itinerary ahead of time. It's not an exaggeration that Bourke Bakery serves the best pastry in Sydney, highly recommend it!
Ginger brulee tart - my personal favourite. The ginger taste was not too overpowering and the sweetness was just right.
Beef Brisket Pie was tasty as well.
Address: Multiple branches available.
There are multiple outlets around the city and the one we visited is conveniently located in the CBD, hidden within Kinokuniya book store. Our first visit in the late afternoon was a great disappointment as the single slices of watermelon cake were sold out. We were advised to purchase a bigger cake that was good for 4 slices. After much consideration, we decided not to proceed as it would challenging for two of us to finish everything. We went to the same store on the next morning and we managed to get our hands on a slice, yay!
We concluded that the signature Strawberry Watermelon Cake from Blackstar Pastry is too good to be missed for anyone who visits Sydney! It's very light and refreshing. While we didn't have the opportunity to taste the Lychee Cake, it is highly recommended by other food bloggers as well.
Address: Two branches available, namely Barangaroo and Darlinghurst.
Our second gelato shop in Sydney after Messina. It's ironic that we enjoyed gelato so much on another cold day. This one melted pretty quickly before I could take a proper photo. Alice was claimed to the most popular flavour from Rivareno but it didn't really leave us in awe. On the other hand, the dark chocolate flavour was a blast :) Would love to try pistachio flavour during our next visit as my friends kept praising how rich the taste was!
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