Adriano Zumbo Cafe Chocolat

My mission: Pastry hunt. First stop: Adriano Zumbo, the best patisserie in Inner West of Sydney. (Gourmet Traveller review)

Adriano Zumbo Cafe has sure expanded. Not in size, but in the additional chocolate display that wasn't here the last time I visited. As a result, the tables have to be shifted outside. But they sure have alot more chocolates now. As a side note, Adriano's macarons are so cute. They are heart-shape, left-overs from Valentine day no doubt. So cute! and big too.

I had cappuccino. Beautiful heart, but not so good coffee. I was surprised at their coffee. I didn't expect it to be so mediocre. Bitter cappuccino, not good. Right is the !Yeop! open toast. It is bread stuffed with cheese, chili, capers, toasted and topped with avocado and tomato. These three slices of sandwich took more than half an hour to arrive at our table... I found it a little too peppery. I'm not a pepper person so I might be biased. Yeop! is kind of normal, unlike what its name suggests.



Sticky date danish. I haven't tried, but sure looks good. It is still sitting in my fridge.

Choux pastry with a sable top. Inside is filled with a delicious pistachio cream and fresh raspberries, with an injection of dijion mustard creme anglaise in the center. This would be a seriously good pastry if not for the mustard cream. Too over the top weird for me. We dug out all the mustard cream and ate the rest.

Passionfruit tart, my all time favourite. Simple tart base, filled with smooth passionfruit custard. Yumm. Beautiful colours too.

Adriano Zumbo Café Chocolat

308 Darling St. (inside Balmain Mall),

Balmain, Sydney

End.

Off to Balmain

While in Sydney, during my two weeks of preparation in coming back to Singapore, I visited Balmain, my favourite-st place in Sydney.

This time it was to try out Adriano Zumbo's cafe. It was opened for the longest time and I have yet to try it. So together with Ja, Stella and Seok, we strolled down Darling Street to find the famous Adriano Zumbo.

As it turns out, the talked-about cafe was tucked in the most unassuming place- behind a pet store, hidden by the going-ons of the busy street. Yet when you enter the cafe area, it is calming, quiet and relaxing. How nice.

The modest collection of chocolates. (we didn't try any of them though..)

Ja, Heidi (which is me) and Seok.

Our lunch- part 1: Vegetarian sandwich with boconccini cheese and a mediterranean sandwich with salami. They were good, especially the vegetarian one. I like the pesto in it.

Lunch- part 2: Deconstructed Miss Marple. This name keep popping up again and again in every aussie food blog that I read so I guess it must be good. Well, it is really good. All of us liked it. The marscapone cheese wrapped in the freshly made thin crepes is a good combination. Topped with hot, buttery anglaise-like sauce and maple syrup, fresh strawberries and orange sorbet-sort-of-thing, this Miss Marple rocks.

Lunch- part 2 con't: It is NOT a hamburger!!! I know, it has a very expressive name. Giant chocolate macaroon with dulce du leche gelato, rice pudding and bitter chocolate sauce. An interesting dish which only selected taste buds would truly like. The macaroon is strangely salty, coupled by the peanut-butter-tasting gelato isn't a bad mix. Perhaps they should rewrite the description so that we won't be so confused.

After all the munching, we have decided to make the long hike down Darling Street, all the way to the habour at the end. This walk proved to be a pretty exciting one. We found a two hundred years old church, fully intact without any renovation, with a slightly younger pipe organ in it. We were invited inside by the one of the members of the church. Inside, we found one very old grand piano and surprisingly, several flags of different nationalities. There were the Japanese, British, Vietnam and others which I couldn't identify. This was something amazing. A church that is colour-blind, racial-indifferent, accommodating and freely embracing. How nice would it be if churches all over the world could be like this. How less troublesome things would be.

Sights.

On polaroid.

End.