Alice met Charlie Dessert Factory, Randwick (29 Jan 2012)

51 Perouse Road, Randwick NSW 2031
http://www.alicemetcharlie.com.au

Sweet spot for desserts

It looks like the owners of Bondi Pizza are expanding their dessert empire and hitting The Spot hard with their pizzette desserts, swirls and homemade ice cream. The Alice's Chocolate Fondue ($13.90 single) comes with warm melted Belgian chocolate with fresh bananas, strawberries and marshmallows. All the classic ingredients that go so well with chocolate although Max Brenner includes banana bread and melted dark chocolate as well. The Apple Crumble Oven-Baked Dessert ($9.90) has nice flavour and a good home-made crumble making it my favourite. It goes so well with the ice cream and is probably small enough to finish by yourself if you're not a sharer. The Banana and Chocolate Oven Baked Dessert ($9.90) comes with fresh bananas, honey ricotta and chocolate hazelnut sauce although comes with powdered chocolate rather than chocolate shavings as seen in the menu picture and only 2 scoops of ice cream rather than three as shown. Unfortunately not as impressive looking as its promotional picture but still very nice.

The Reece's peanut butter swirls ($11.90, 6 pieces with 1 scoop of ice cream) had a chocolatey peanut flavour as hoped although I think an extra scoop of ice cream would have been appreciated to help balance the amount of scrolls. Don't bother getting extra Warm Belgian Chocolate ($2.90) as we did unless you're a chocolate fanatic, I found it rich enough. My Mocha ($3.40 regular) had a nice balance of flavour and came with a small Kit Kat — how cool! It's a nice surprise touch although sometimes they run out so best to ask them in case they do or have forgotten to give you. I'm not sure if other coffees also get them but it would be great if they did. For ice cream lovers check out the display counter. With 12 tempting homemade ice creams and sorbets to choose from you'll be stuck for choice. I had a taste sample of the Lemon Sorbet, Yoghurt Berry, Tiramisu, Passionfruit Sorbet, Chocolate, Hazelnut and Salted Caramel. They were all good so just choose your favourite.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Homemade ice creams made onsite, Seems reasonably priced for the taste and quality, Something a bit different from your usual desserts, Good location next to all the restaurants as an option for dessert or after a movie at The Ritz

CONS: Service counter area can get a bit squashy when busy, Outside tables are smallish and sometimes slope due to angle of path, Doesn't really seem to be table service and they're finding their feet

MUST TRY: Apple Crumble Oven-Baked Dessert, Ice cream and sorbet, The Mocha just for the Kit Kat alone

BABY ON BOARD: No change table available in the disabled toilet, Too squashed inside for a pram

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Where Alice in Wonderland mets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Alice's Chocolate Fondue: Warm melted Belgian chocolate with fresh bananas, strawberries and marshmallows ($13.90 single)

Apple Crumble Oven-Baked Dessert: Apple, cinnamon, raisin, honey ricotta & home-made crumble on a thin pastry base, served with vanilla ice cream ($9.90)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Banana and Chocolate Oven Baked Dessert: Fresh bananas, honey ricotta, chocolate hazelnut sauce on a thin pastry base, served with chocolate shavings and vanilla ice cream ($9.90)

Reece's peanut butter swirls: A light pastry base rolled into a scroll ($11.90, 6 pieces with 1 scoop of ice cream), Warm Belgian Chocolate ($2.90 extra) although not really required

WORTH TRYING :-)

Mocha ($3.40 regular) - comes with a Kit Kat if you're lucky, be sure to ask in case they've run out

12 ice creams and sorbets to choose from — apparently all made onsite

Menu board

Menu slideshow

Awkward trying to fit large wooden boards on a small round table

Would be even better if they add a parent baby change table in the disabled toilet — there's plenty of room to do so against the wall

Inside seating and decor — sort of more a nightclub than a dessert shop

Seating outside although the slanted footpath makes most of the tables unfortunately slant also


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The Big Banana: Bananas $4.50 per kg and a Banana Split sugar fix, Coffs Harbour (9 Oct 2011)

351 Pacific Hwy, Coffs Harbour NSW 2450

Open daily from 9 am – 4:30 pm

http://www.bigbanana.com

Cheaper than Sydney bananas

If you're heading up the coast and you're a keen banana eater like myself then you'll want to be stopping into the very touristy The Big Banana. I've been paying around $10-$12 for bananas at the moment when I feel like a splurge so I was pretty amazed to see quality bananas here for only $4.50/kg. I soon started thinking how many kilos I could stack in the car to bring back to Sydney and sell for a huge profit. The Banana smoothie ($5.50) was nicely flavoured and creamy and large enough to share if you want to fit in some Banana Split ($6.95) which comes with both vanilla and banana ice cream, cream, peanuts and of course banana — yummo. On the way back from my trip to Byron Bay I stopped in again but it had just closed so I missed out on trying the Chocolate coated bananas ($3.95 each) — hopefully next time. I noticed they now sell some local produce so you can stock up on more than just bananas.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Much cheaper bananas than Sydney at the moment, Good quality, Supporting local fruit growers, There's a candy store on site for extra sugar hit

CONS: 9 hours away from Sydney, Decor needs a bit of an overhaul, Limited menu

MUST TRY: Finding the cheapest good quality bananas in Sydney

WORTH TRYING: Banana smoothie, Banana Split

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$4.50 for bananas while Sydney still around the $8–12 mark. My two bananas cost 90 cents!

Banana smoothie ($5.50)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Banana split ($6.95) — comes with vanilla and banana ice cream

WORTH TRYING :-)

Dessert and drinks menu

Local fruit for sale

Specials of the day including local oysters

Service counter

Seating inside

Seating outside

Every tourist stop has a gift shop, that's for sure

Slightly scary banana dolls

No food or drink but pet monkeys are OK

Fun yet dated graphics

Get your photo in front of The Big Banana like millions have done before


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Brighton-Le-Sands Ice Creamery: 30 flavours on offer, Brighton-Le-Sands (17 July 2011)

80 The Grand Parade, Brighton-Le-Sands NSW 2216

Childhood flavours

The decor and seating is pretty simple but with 30 flavours on offer there should be something at this Ice Creamery that will tickle your fancy. Since childhood I've always been a big fan of the Peppermint Choc Chip ($4.90, 1 scoop) for some reason. The place is close to the beach for a leisurely stroll to get away from the unromantic florescent lighting. Prices aren't particularly cheap although the single sized scoop seems decently sized and comes in a waffle cone.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Lots of choices including low fat and gelato, All the childhood classics plus a few surprises, Close to the beach

CONS: Not particularly cheap, Bright lighting and cheap seating

MUST TRY: A new flavour each time

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Peppermint Choc Chip ($4.90, 1 scoop)

White chocolate and raspberry ice cream ($4.90, 1 scoop)

Baileys and Scorched Almonds ($4.90, 1 scoop)

Menu

Tubs of ice cream

Basic seating









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