Cre Asion: A new macaron mecca

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White miso…plum wine…avocado…strawberry milk…

I still love Zumbo’s macarons…I really do. But I don’t want to wait in a queue halfway down Darling Street for my fix. For very long, anyway. Which is why I was so happy to arrive at new macaron purveyor and tea house, Cre Asion, to find only one other customer there and a whole counter of colourful macarons that hadn’t already been pillaged by half of Sydney.

Set in a modern industrial style glass cube with Japanese influences, Cre Asion is tucked down a non-descript alleyway behind the city’s Liverpool Street, bordering Surry Hills. The macaron maestro behind the new venture is Yu Sasaki, formerly of Christine Mansfield’s Universal. His macarons are a textural delight and exciting to taste, from the full flavoured chocolate to the zesty, on-trend yuzu. Also tried – a delicious blood orange, and my overall favourite, a rich caramel.

Caramel, yuzu and chocolate macarons

These are definite contenders for the title of Sydney’s best macarons…it’s a shame the crowds will no doubt soon follow!

Cre Asion, 21 Alberta Street, Sydney, open Mon-Fri 7.30am-4pm, Sat 8.30am-4pm
 
 

Cafe Cre Asion on Urbanspoon

Brunch at Kazbah, Balmain

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Chickpea fritters and pork belly shish kebab

The destination:
Kazbah, for a midday middle eastern flavour fix in the heart of buzzing Balmain

The vibe:
A big, brash, buzzing brunch crowd of all ages, queuing out the door for a coveted big table

The eats:
– Breakfast tajine (lamb mince, sucuk, spinach, roast capsicum, roast tomato, caramelised onion, feta, eggs, turkish toast and lebanese bread)
– Chickpea fritters with a pork belly shish kebab, labne, baby spinach, roast tomato, poached eggs and capsicum sauce
– Moroccan mint tea, fresh watermelon juice and Turkish coffee

The verdict:
Big ticks for the hearty, huge servings, perfectly poached eggs and beautifully spiced Moroccan tea; the kid-friendly factor and vibrant atmosphere. I just wish the Turkish coffee was a little stronger and sludgier, the chickpea fritters spicier… or maybe it’s just me, always wanting flavours that pack a punch!

Kazbah, 379 Darling Street, Balmain, tel: 02 9555 7067

Kazbah on Urbanspoon

Isaan food at House

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Part of the courtyard at House

The flavours of Isaan (in northeastern Thailand) are, in a nutshell, fishy, sour and spicy. There’s an absence of coconut milk, and the hot, dry, inland location of Isaan province means a reliance on fermented, pickled and preserved ingredients, like fermented fish and pickled bamboo. The fermented fish part may not sound too enticing (after tasting prahok – fermented fish paste – in Cambodia, I wasn’t too sure about it), but when balanced with sour and spicy ingredients it enhances each dish with a richness and depth of flavour.

Need further convincing?! Head to House, a contemporary ode to the flavours of Isaan, with tasty larbs, soups, papaya salads, grilled meats and more served up in clean, modern surrounds. Tucked behind Triple Ace Hotel, you can head through an adjoining door to the pub to purchase drinks to bring back to your table. There’s a buzzing open kitchen, and really polite and helpful Thai staff (aaaaah, Thai customer service!). As for the all important food factor, the dishes are cheap (for Sydney) at around $8-14 each, come to your table ridiculously quickly, and are packed full of flavour.
Spicy bamboo salad


Devoured:
Nua Daed Deaw ($8) – Sun dried beef strips with Jim Jaew dipping sauce
Spicy Bamboo Salad ($12) – Steamed long bamboo with yanang leaf extract water, eschallots, Vietnamese coriander and ground roasted rice
Mok Gai Hua Plee ($12) – Steamed curry chicken with banana flower, eschallots, lemongrass, galangal and chilli
Sundried beef
The beef is like a perfect drinking snack – savoury and moreish, the steamed chicken curry comforting and warming, kind of like a chicken version of Cambodia’s fish amok, and the bamboo salad a flavour explosion and my overall favourite dish. House offers a refreshing change from Sydney’s stock standard pad thai and green curry joints with its foray into regional cuisine, and I can’t wait to go back.
House, 202 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills, tel: 02 9280 0364

House on Urbanspoon

Lakemba lovin’ at Jasmin’s

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Lebanese perfection, plated!

The lightest, fluffiest garlic sauce, the crunchiest falafels with the softest insides, the tastiest tabouli, the smokiest chicken, the most mountainous pile of Lebanese bread you’ve ever been served, the pickle-iest pickles, you get the idea? Sounds like heaven on a plate, and indeed it is. Order a mixed plate for $15 (we had the chicken shawarma) and share it with a friend or two. The original Jasmin’s restaurant in multi-culti Lakemba is definitely worth the hop, skip and jump southwest. Simply, wow.

Jasmin’s, 30b Haldon St, Lakemba, tel: 02 9740 3589


Jasmins Lebanese Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Expat life: the aftermath

Liz / / 6 Comments

The colour and chaos of the markets (photo taken in Kratie, Cambodia)

Moving back to Australia was never going to be easy or without its issues after almost half a decade living in southeast Asia. The weird thing is, it’s actually taken about 6 months of settling back into our ‘old’ life before I’ve had the headspace to reflect and remember (and over-analyse) our time in Asia.

The grass is always greener….

When we first moved home we barely had time to look backwards with all the setting up home and re-establishing life kind of stuff going on. We even joked that our time in Asia seemed like some kind of dream – did it really happen? But slowly, little reminders crept up on us and before too long life became a full-blown comparison fest of Saigon vs Sydney, Asia vs Australia. The winner has yet to be determined. It’s the age old grass is always greener dilemma where we look back and remember the best bits of expat life in Asia and pine for it all, while conveniently forgetting the random power cuts, the incessant noise, the neverending battles with dodgy tuk tuk and taxi drivers, the meltdowns, the frustrations.

The differences…

Life at home is smoother, simpler, easier, and much more private. You go about your daily business here without a staring brigade and a barrage of questions from the neighbours and random passers-by about where you’re going and how much you just paid for your bag of fruit. No-one cares. Strangers pass each other by here with barely a cursory glance. At first I liked it, now I kind of miss my inane conversations with my friend Yen about how much each and every item of clothing we were wearing that day cost us (I don’t think she could believe her luck when she learnt of my penchant for bargains. Despite the vast socio-economic difference between us we could actually be shopping buddies and buy matching 40,000 dong tops. Which we did.)

Another difference has been the customer service in Australia compared to most other places in Asia. Sometimes, back in Sydney, we’ve sat in a cafe for a while before realising we were supposed to order at the counter. Same at bars. Of course we should know better but we’ve become so used to table service the whole help yourself mentality here has been a little strange to adjust to. And if we needed a taxi it would find us. Here, we have to book ahead… the list goes on. We were definitely spoilt in Asia, in so many ways. I don’t miss the hovering at restaurants though. Or the frequent ordering mix-ups (as one friend said – order what you want, eat what you’re given!).

What I miss…

I miss the creativity and aesthetics of so many aspects of southeast Asian life, from colourful temples and gorgeously decked out cafes, to the way fruit would be stacked so beautifully at a market – order amongst the chaos. I miss the random smiles from strangers and the well-meaning questions, the overly generous hospitality of strangers, the tropical heat, the smell of incense and grilling meat in the air, the smiley kids, the colours, the food, the plants… And the holidays. An hour or two on a plane and we could be at a tropical Asian beach, a heritage listed colonial era town, another thriving Asian metropolis.

Life in Sydney seems less global, less mobile, calmer, quieter. It’s a more grounded life with family and old friends and our own place. I still can’t decide if this is preferable to transience and the new friends and new experiences that accompany it. When I figure it out, I’ll let you know. I would be interested to hear your thoughts if you’ve lived away from home then moved back again – what did you miss? How did you cope?

Links to devour

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The gorgeous Rice – I want to go! Image via Bright Bazaar

The inspiring story of how LUXE City Guides came to be

These five inventive coffees would be good to try

Cool store tour of London’s Rice via the equally colour crazy Bright Bazaar blog

Anthony Bourdain talks life, writing and food at the Sydney Writer’s Festival (if you have a spare hour to listen!) – fascinating how his life has changed so much in the last 10 years

Weekend wanderings in the inner east

Liz / / 2 Comments

Kawa on Crown Street

I can’t seem to get enough of Surry Hills and surrounds since moving back to Sydney – it’s always been a favourite, but there’s something about the energy, architecture, cafe culture and non-stop crop of cool new bars and restaurants that makes it the place I want to be right now.

A sunny but slightly chilly Saturday called for a Surry-hurst exploration on foot. First stop was cute cafe Kawa, with its tiki and tribal accents, hanging tropical plants, bountiful fruit display awaiting the juicer and mismatched vintage vibe. After fuelling up on eggs benedict and coffees we headed off on an epic walk all over the inner east, from Darlinghurst and Surry Hills across to Kings Cross and Potts Point, and eventually back to the city.

Lunch was at the very Euro La Petit Creme (french onion soup and merguez and harissa sandwich). The cafe has an old school, antiquey look and a busy, bustling vibe, an open fast paced kitchen and cool French and Spanish accented patrons.

Double happiness – rosewater, mandarin & honey; salted caramel and white choc chip
plus chocolate fondante and rasberry. Who cares that it’s winter!

Next stop was Gelato Messina, renowned for their innovative gelato flavours and often hailed as Sydney’s best gelato – now I see why. The rosewater, mandarin and honey combination was a middle eastern inspired taste trip and my overall favourite. Also devoured – the salted caramel and white choc chip, the chocolate fondante and raspberry, which were all amazingly rich and full of flavour.

We also visited The Artery, a not-for-profit gallery featuring contemporary aboriginal art. The art is actually affordable (well, by art’s standards!) and really appeals to my love of colour and pattern. I fell in love with so many stunning pieces and am seriously thinking of buying something!

Water Dreaming by Rex Winston Walford (image courtesy The Artery)

Bush Yam Dreaming by Jeannie Mills Pwerle (image courtesy The Artery)

After a wander across to Potts Point’s shops and art galleries we headed back to the city to Grandma’s, a fairly recent addition to Sydney’s small bar scene. A subterranean room is decked out in mismatched retro furniture and fittings and the cocktail list is long and enticing. Tiki and rum flavoured cocktails dominate, with a nod to prohibition era concoctions. There are a few beers like Tiger (umm, no thanks – after nearly five years in Asia I don’t want to see another Tiger for a long time, or Beer Chang, or Angkor, or 333….!). We stuck to wine and had a great Printhie Shiraz from Orange that the barman suggested (tip – the pour here is VERY generous!). Like hanging out in someone’s loungeroom, Grandma’s is a comfortable, casual and cosy affair. There was even an actual grandma having drinks there – she must have been at least 75! The clientele was a really diverse mix – definitely a welcoming and unpretentious place for a drink. Loved it!

The kitsch-fest stairwell down to Grandma’s

Kawa, 346-350 Crown St, Surry Hills, tel: 02 9331 6811
La Petit Creme, 118 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst, tel: 02 9361 4738
Gelato Messina, Shop 1/241 Victoria St, Darlinghurst, tel: 02 8354 1223
The Artery, Shop 2 The Westbury, 221 Darlinhurst Rd, Darlinghurst, tel: 02 9380 8234
Grandma’s, basement of 275 Clarence St, Sydney, tel: 02 9264 3004

Campsie Food Festival

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Taste of Senegal, beef arepa, Korean bbq, fataya

Last weekend we ventured southwest to Campsie (think Sydney’s Koreatown in the burbs) for its annual food festival, along with 20,000 other hungry souls. Giving the kim chi eating competition a miss we headed to Campsie’s main drag, Beamish Street, where several blocks were cordoned off and lined with food stalls.

Korean barbecue was a prominent player (mmm, meat on sticks) along with a whole range of diverse cuisines featuring the usual suspects (gozleme, where do you not pop up?!) and some not so typical. Along with Malaysian, Korean and Chinese snacks we had a Colombian arepa and some Senegalese lamb stew and fatayas, a type of fish pastry similar to a samosa.

Colourful Campsie, Vietnamese fruit carvings

As for the more standard fare, the char kway teow from the Albee’s Kitchen stand was tasty enough to require a return trip to Campsie to eat at their restaurant, with further enticement from Not Quite Nigella’s review (though I’m not sure about the Marmite chicken?!). Korean is definitely on the agenda too… next time, Campsie!

Chinese bbq restaurant doing a brisk trade in egg tarts and snacks