With an optimistic approach, I didn’t think The Grounds of the City would be that busy as it was brunch time on a weekday but as we turned the corner at The Galeries, TimmyC and I were faced with a large crowd. Luckily most of them were waiting for coffee and takeaways and the line for a table was relatively short. We placed our name and number for a table of two on the list and was advised that there’d be a 20-30 minute wait, 18 minutes later we received an SMS that our table was ready.
Walking inside the restaurant was like teleporting back to an era where men would wear hats with suits and would read the newspaper instead of staring at their phones. There were so many things to look at, I didn’t know which way to turn my head until my gaze was distracted by the cake trolley. Yes, you read that right, you can request the cake trolley to be wheeled to you. I feel it would pair perfectly with a bottomless cup of tea (which is also on the menu).
Flat white ($4.00). TimmyC really enjoyed his coffee, I now understand why there was a huge queue outside waiting for takeaway.
Black truffle omelette with mushrooms and goats curd ($28.00) plus a side of bacon ($5.00). TimmyC at first had chosen eggs benedict for breakfast which was quickly vetoed by me as I heard about the specials. This choice was so popular, it was sold out soon after we had placed our order. When the server placed the plate on the table, I found the smell of truffles intoxicating. The omelette was perfectly cooked and I really enjoyed the addition of the subtle sourness that the creamy goats curd provided. I loved how ordering a side of bacon meant a plate of bacon rather than just a single rasher- WIN!
The Bakery Basket The Grounds continental selection of freshly baked pastries with house-made preserves, cultured butter and whipped mascarpone ($16.00). I thought the delicious flaky buttery pastries didn’t need anything more, so not to waste the delicious condiments, we ordered a slice of sour dough toast ($4.00). I loved everything about this (I even started to just eat the mascarpone when I ran out of things to spread it on) and thinking about it again makes me salivate. The cherry on top was that they warmed the pain au chocolat perfectly to give a molten chocolate centre.
So delicious and melty on the inside while being crispy and flaky on the outside.
When eating in Sydney CBD, I can tell you where to get ramen, congee, thai stir fries, dumplings and baos, but if you wanted a good brunch spot, I’d be lost for words. The Grounds of the City fills that void and then some. I cannot wait to go back to try more from all parts of their menu and might even stick around for a bottomless cup of tea.
Venue: Grounds of the City
Address: Shop RG 12, 500 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 9699 2235
Website: http://thegroundscity.com.au/
Classic vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream rich, buttery, old-fashioned cake with a light crumb. Our most popular cupcake! ($3.50). I was a bit skeptical that this would be too sweet because Americans have a notorious sweet tooth and there was a generous swirl of icing on top, but it was perfect. The cupcake was light without being dry and the icing provided the right amount of sweetness. All in all, the perfect cupcake. It made me want to start baking again!
It really did have a ‘light crumb’, this had the perfect cake and icing texture.
Classic vanilla cupcake with chocolate buttercream rich, buttery, old-fashioned cake with a light crumb. Our most popular cupcake! ($3.50). TimmyC preferred the chocolate buttercream but I preferred vanilla. I guess it comes down to personal preference, but you should eat both too to find out what you like. 😉
Magnolia Bakery’s famous banana pudding layers of OREO® wafers, fresh bananas, creamy chocolate pudding, and chocolate shavings ($6.50). For something that sounded like it would be ridiculously sweet and OTT, it was actually really delicious and not overwhelming. Another side note is that my friend and I aren’t particularly big fans of banana but we both really enjoyed this. It was very light and reminded me of the texture of mousse.
Honeydew melon cooler honeydew puree, honey dew juice, lime soda ($7.00). This was fantastic, it tasted more like honeydew more than some actual melons that I’ve tasted. It was a perfect sweet refreshing beverage.
The staff was very efficient and friendly. It is definitely worth sitting in the cafe to enjoy the service and air conditioning, while enjoying the delicious delights. I wish I was hungry enough to try more cupcake flavours.
When I walked in I was a little shocked to see that most of the cabinet was empty. Were they all sold out? 😦 Thank goodness I quickly spotted a sign saying that their doughnuts are made fresh to order.
Flavours and prices at Leonard’s bakery.
After a short wait, we were handed a pink bag with our goodies.
Malasadas – Portuguese doughnuts ($1.10 each excl tax)
Malsada puffs – malasadas with filling ($1.50 each excl tax)
Malasadas are definitely worth trying if you’re visiting Hawaii. I love how there is a Leonard’s food truck near the outlet centre, it is the perfect sugar hit you need before you do more shopping.
Waikele Shopping Center 94 Lumiaina Street, Waipahu, HI 9679
Michelle from 
Pancite Palabok rice noodle with prawns, tofu, smoked fish and chicharon in a garlic-annatto sauce ($10.00). I was surprised about the heavy seafood flavour in this dish, it turns out that the sauce/thick soup’s stock is made from prawn heads boiled away for 8 hours. This dish will not be for everyone because of its strong seafood flavours; I didn’t mind it but I much preferred the rice.
Pork and mushroom adobo with garlic rice and petite atchara salad ($12.00). I really enjoyed this dish; the pork was tender and the sauce went really well with the rice. I’ve never eaten a non-chicken wing adobo but this reminded me of delicious tamarind pork belly that my Mum makes. I like the addition of the salad, because it breaks up the heavy rice/pork combination. My handy tip: try to avoid crunching on the peppercorns.
“Filo” style chicken BBQ with garlic rice and petite atchara salad ($12.00). Stop what you’re doing and eat this immediately if not sooner. I was surprised that I found this my favourite dish as I did have my heart set on adobo. The chicken is so succulent and full of flavour, it made me make my ‘eyes widen with a big grin’ face because it was so tasty yet unexpected.
Classic ice scramble Filopino streetside treat made with creamy blended ice topped with powdered milk and chocolate sauce ($6.00). I’d be the first to admit that this sounds like a crazy combination, but that was why I was here, to experience another culture through their food. As soon as I took my first spoonful I knew exactly what everything reminded me of. The pink thick creamy blended ice tasted like musk sticks, the texture of the powdered milk reminded me of undissolved blobs of milo in milk and even though I don’t like musk sticks, I was strangely addicted to the texture of the powdered milk with blended ice. Yes, definitely hard and weird to explain without you trying it, so if you’re game, definitely order it.
Ube cake slice ($7.00). This sold out just before midday. I ate mouthfuls of cake between eating our brunch, which would have put many people off but I liked having a bite of sweetness between my mouthfuls of garlic rice. It was like a soft sponge cake with delicious butter cream frosting.
Classic ensaymada ($20.00 per box of 9 or $3.00 a piece). This sold out by 10:30am which is ridiculous considering Lolo and Lola only opened their doors at 9:00am. The combination sounds strange but it works as a ‘sweet’. Think of a sweet bun (like Bread Top type of bread) that has been proofed for 8-12 hours, which then turns into a fluffy bread texture, topped with butter cream and cheese (yes you read that right). Michelle gave me a tip to warm them up a little before consuming and I am loving it.
I’m a huge fan of cross section photos and this is what the ensaymada looks like on the inside.
The menu may change daily so I’m not sure what they will serve today but their ‘cake’ will be classic sans rival. If you see mango sans rival on the sign, msg me and I will drop what I’m doing and head straight there.
It was very popular opening morning and so there was a small wait after ordering to get the food, worth it though.
I was trying to concentrate on what I wanted for breakfast but it was a bit hard when their display cabinet had the most beautiful and enticing pastries and sweets. I believe this is the very definition of food porn! Wow, it was really amazing to see. One of the biggest food regrets that I have is that we didn’t order that blueberry danish pastry.
Our meals arrived pretty promptly which was good because we were getting hungry.
Scrambled chilli eggs with spring onion, coriander, bacon, shaved pecorino and sourdough ($16.50). Once I eventually dragged myself away from the counter and sat myself down to look at the menu, I knew exactly what I wanted within 5 seconds (which never happens). This had everything that I would want in a savoury breakfast and it was delicious! I personally would have upped the chilli just a little.
Eggs anyway on sourdough ($9.00) potato hash ($3.00).
Lobster eggs benedict lobster, apple, green salad, poached eggs, hollandaise and a brioche bun ($22.00). I believe this is when my sister would say “that’s what rich people eat”. Lobster for breakfast, why not? I particularly liked the sweetness and crisp texture of the apple and sweet salad.
We finished everything but the brioche bun, it was too filling so we only ate half of it.
Cronut salted caramel? ($6.50). Now I don’t remember the exact flavour of the cronut but it doesn’t matter because it was hands down the best one I have ever eaten. It was so buttery and sweet but what was perfection was the texture. As you bite down you could feel all the pastry layers break, I’m drooling just thinking about it again.
Ispahan Croissant twice baked, rose, lychee, almond, raspberry ($6.50). I know this croissant is why we came to this bakery but in comparison to the cronut, it wasn’t as good. It had nice rose and raspberry flavour through it, although I couldn’t detect any lychee flavours.
I seriously wish I grabbed a sour dough under my arm on the way out so I had something to munch on at the airport. I really want to come back here and eat more!
Lots of space inside and out; a really nice atmosphere.
Eggs Benedict two soft poached eggs on toast with hollandaise sauce and bacon ($18.00). TimmyC said he really enjoyed his eggs benedict even though it wasn’t the best he has ever had.
Coffee TimmyC said he has never had a bad coffee here and they are pretty consistent.
House-made potato rosti stack with herb roasted mushroom, gruyere cheese, hollandaise topped with crispy poached egg ($18.00). I don’t know why but I’m a sucker for crispy potato so I ordered this for my brunch. I must admit, I don’t think I read much beyond ‘rosti’ so I was surprised it was served on mushrooms and topped with an unusual crispy poached egg. I really enjoyed the big juicy mushrooms but I found I had to add some salt to the dish as a whole because there wasn’t a salty aspect; a stronger sharper cheese might have helped.
Two huge juicy mushrooms made this dish rather quite filling.
Melted cheese, oozing egg yolk and dripping hollandaise, it looked like a very sexy breakfast.
EQ juice orange, apple and passionfruit. I really enjoyed this juice combination and it is apparently a popular juice choice.
I couldn’t help but grab something from the EQ bakehouse as a takeaway.
Do you want a juice to go? EQ Bakehouse has you covered!
So many options!
I really liked the creme brulee tart ($6.00) even when the top wasn’t hard.
Home-made sausage rolls ($5.00). I was drawn to the size of their sausage rolls but I have to say that didn’t enjoy this sausage roll at all. The smell was rather potent of lamb(?) and it just had a really odd taste that I couldn’t put my finger on. Has anyone else tried it?
I could not believe how attentive and fast the service was, it really impressed me. I also really liked how they have a sit down and enjoy type of menu at the cafe and an ‘on the go’ type of food from the bakehouse side and both sides had loads of variety. Now I know I have another option to get not OTT (in price and sugar) cakes and tarts in the south side.
Venue: EQ Cafe and Lounge
It was a busy morning but we were greeted with smiling faces at the counter. When I asked who ‘Chris’ was, a young polite handsome man smiled and put up his hand, it appears to be a family business where they assured me that all the bread, pastries, tarts, cakes etc were all made in-house.
They also have pastries and muffins.
And a selection of quiches and croissants with fillings.
I was a bit hazy with the prices, not everything was labelled and I was too busy choosing something to eat but the thick shake, pie, croissant and large coffee came to $17.00.
Cheese and bacon pie ($5.00). A meaty pie with a little bit more bacon than your average cheese and bacon pie, but nothing particularly exciting.
Croissant. It has a lovely pastry network inside but it wasn’t buttery and flaky. It felt more like a squishy bread roll.
Large flat white. TimmyC said it was mediocre coffee.
Vanilla creme brulee ($5.90). I felt that I didn’t try enough of their menu so I told TimmyC to go choose another sweet from the cabinet, he got the creme brulee which I thought was odd to have in a bakery (it is served in a ramekin so I presume you can only have it when dining in?). They pre-prepare the base and store it in the cabinet and sugar is caramelized on top before serving. The toffee ‘hat’ broke beautifully under the knock of my spoon which revealed a velvety smooth custard. I didn’t understand that since there was a toffee layer, how there were still some granules underneath the sugar top that didn’t caramelize, it didn’t do anything to the taste it just took away from the smooth custard texture.
I didn’t have an overall amazing bakery/patisserie experience here but I’m not convinced it is a bad bakery, maybe I just didn’t choose their specialty items, which the website suggests is their cakes and bread. I don’t know how much their bread costs but I thought the large tarts and cakes had a hefty price tag (tarts $29.00 cakes $50.00) but I’m determined to try one soon, maybe not this week though.
Venue: Chris’s patisserie and bakehouse
Some people enjoying the lovely sun and some tasty bakery treats.
This is the beautiful cake that they had on display at the One Fine Day Wedding Night
Hmm what to choose?
Croissant ($3.00). This was a super buttery and flakey croissant not dry and bready like most bakeries. As Tim was eating it in front of me I was getting shards of pastry raining all over me and we both had to dust ourselves off before getting in the car.
Macaroons ($3.00 each). We were sceptical about their macarons because their sign is labelled macaroons… If you don’t know what it is, that can’t be a good start but despite our initial hesitancy we order one anyway. The texture was okay but I wouldn’t have guessed the flavour, it tasted slightly alcoholic from their rum soaked raisins and I would have guessed tiramisu or something.
Chicken and leek gourmet pie ($7.50). The pie filling was super thick and so when you bite into it nothing really leaked out which was handy. I’m more of a beef pie girl but I let TimmyC decide the pie flavour, it must mean that I have to go back to try their beef pie.
Choux pastry ($5 ish based on change?). A nice choux pastry filled with subtle sweet custard enrobed with a sticky hard toffee. It is clever that they put two together because one is never enough. 
Everything is made on site from their pastries to their chocolate and their elaborate wedding cakes.
The boy of the group suggested we only needed three sweets between the four of us, but unfortunately majority rules and he was out voted by the other three women.
Cake cabinet~ All sweets were about $5.00 – 6.00 from memory.
Choc orange ricotta I know this combination isn’t for everyone but all the flavours work perfectly together.
Pumpkin and maple Ever since my American friend introduced me to pumpkin pies, I must say I’m a big fan! This might have contributed to the fact that this was my pick of the bunch!
Lemon meringue a humble classic! The lemon component could have been more tart but still executed well.
Yes we almost ordered one of everything…
Oh good, I wasn’t too late to get one, there were still plenty there and they have more flavours than I’m used to.
The bread rolls looked nice and fresh (at bargain prices!) while in contrast all the iced cookies and meringues in the cabinet looked like they were weeks old and they were dry and cracking. Without being too greedy this time, I stayed on course and only got what I came for. One cronut. This time we got a salted caramel flavour.
TALES OF A CONFECTIONIST 