Reuben Hills: Coffee roastry & café, Surry Hills (7 Feb 2012)

61 Albion Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010
Phone: (02) 9211 5556
http://reubenhills.com.au

There’s coffee in them Hills

If you thought Surry Hills had reached its capacity for coffee cafes think again. Inspired by glowing reviews by Gosstronomy I put Reuben Hills on my wish list. I liked the industrial vibe and openness apparently influenced by a Melbourne designer I believe — so Melbourne. The Salted caramel shake ($6.50) had a good balance of flavour although pity it's not filled to the top. The White chocolate & espresso shake ($6.50) was more espresso than noticeable white chocolate but still likeable and I wondered if some liberal sprinkling of white choc flakes on top would done the trick. Loved the look of the Ceviche of Ocean trout, roast corn, smoked sweet potato, chilli, lime & witlof ($16) when it arrived. Fresh flavours although I thought the trout flavour was overpowered by the citrus and bitterness of the witlof to fully appreciate and the corn could have probably done with more roasting as it didn’t really have that smokiness I was expecting.

Favourite of the day for me was the NOT reuben-wagyu salt Brisket, pickled slaw, melted manchego & horseradish cream ($15). A very tasty sandwich that was moist and juicy. The horseradish was quite dominate but welcomed if you’re a horseradish fan. Not sure about the side of radish, how about a juicy pickle instead? The Baleada of pulled Pimenton pork, chimal ($10) was good and thankfully easy enough to eat without being too messy unless you’re trying to share it. The Flat white ($3.50) was liked by my barista friend and my Mocha ($4) certainly had very roasty flavours which perhaps dominated over the chocolate more than most I’ve had. For the sweet tooth the Doggs breakfast ($9) of an ice cream sandwich with salted caramel had simple flavours that worked although I wondered if perhaps some honey roasted macadamias in the biscuit would have excited the palate even more adding some crunch and texture. The slightly warmed Brioche with marcapone & dulce de leche ($6) wasn’t a huge hit due to a very plain marcapone. I probably would have preferred with a good vanilla bean ice cream instead.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Fair amount of seating, Interesting decor, Friendly and efficient service, Interesting menu seems reasonably priced for quality

CONS: Some dishes missing that WOW factor for me but I'd return to try other dishes

MUST TRY: the NOT reuben-wagyu salt Brisket, pickled slaw, melted manchego & horseradish cream

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Table water, sugar and menu

Salted caramel shake ($6.50)

White chocolate & espresso shake ($6.50)

Ceviche - Ocean trout, roast corn, smoked sweet potato, chilli, lime & witlof ($16)

the NOT reuben-wagyu salt Brisket, pickled slaw, melted manchego & horseradish cream ($15)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Baleada of pulled Pimenton pork, chimal ($10)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Spoon time = Dessert time

Doggs breakfast - Ice Cream sandwich with salted caramel ($9)

Brioche with marcapone & dulce de leche ($6)

Flat white ($3.50) — nice patterning

Mocha ($4)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Bill $76.50 for three

Eat menu

Drinks menu

Menu $10 min on c/c & no split bills, weekly coffee cupping friday 10 am

Seating and decor — exposed brick seems to be making a come back

Coffee machine

Clover coffee machine — will try next time, looks cool!

Upstairs for cupping room and admin

Reuben Hills coffee beans

Cool flower decor — not sure what these are?

Back entrance

Front entrance


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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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