Cafe Cre Asion, Surry Hills

hello! hello!

I’ve taken a break from food blogging just so I can erm.. spend more time eating and taking photos of food! hah.. partially true. I’ve spent a few weeks in China accompanying dad on his business trip/visiting family during uni mid-sem holidays… so I HAVE been busy eating lots over there! have not gone through my photos from China.. may consider blogging some (though don’t have hopes too high.. I didn’t lug my camera around much, damn fear of getting mugged bleh )

Been having such a great time overseas that I forgot to wish EatMyShots.com a… *shameful*

on July 10th!

A year has gone past so quickly, and have ate lots of yummy food! I shall hope for a more committed relationship with my food blog in the coming year.. aaaand won’t gain 50kgs by then . Thank you all for keeping up with my food journeys until now

So in return, I shall make this post extra pretty by {effortlessly hah} posting  macarons!….

So it seems like there are new macaron masterchefs in town!.. move over Zumba! hello Cafe Cre Asion! This lil cafe, just on 21 Alberta St, Surry Hills (a small lane, just behind Travelodge!), is opened by Japanese owner, Yu and two of his mates. Read up what flavours were available, and the Asian flavours caught my eye!

One Saturday afternoon, the boyfriend and I managed to make our way to the cafe, just 10mins before their closing time! (4pm).. I had kept my hopes low .. that maybe there would only be a few flavours left at the end of the day… but I was wrong.

The above image only captured half of their display cabinet!

I’m pretty sure there were 10+ flavours available, but I had to control myself from asking 2 of each flavour please’, so instead I asked Yu to pick out their favourites/best sellers.. plus a few flavours I was curious to try ;D

The macarons are usually about $2.70 each, but there are packages available.. for box of 8 or 16. We went for the pack of 16 as it was the better deal .. for $36. The price went up the last time I visited again though $40 for a box of 16???

I call this a box of joy!

Flavours note: Dear Chris is actually Hazelnut + chocolate flavour

From the above selection, my faves had to be Blood Orange, Dear Chris and Lemonade.. flavours were pure awesomeness

They also had these extras in store – lemon pistachio balls -$2.50, they also had choc salty balls I’m guessing they are like truffles??

Slightly pricey, but the description sounded too good to resist.. I have to say I love this one (over the choc salty balls), love the slight ‘tang’ amongst the sweet melting moments of the chocolate consider this a lil treat to yourself if you ever visit!

And then… just 2 weeks later, my girlfriends wanted to try Cre Asion, so we made a trip there! I picked up a few macs for the boyfriend’s ‘after-uni-snack’ (hehe)

I have to say I loved Yuzu, Cassis and Chai flavours!.. Didn’t like strawberries & milk because it had that artificial strawberry milk taste which I don’t like :/ as in, anything ‘artificial strawberry testing’, so excuse me for being slightly bias @.@

Anyway, yuzu is a Japanese citrus so a slight sourness was expected.. the moment you start savouring it.. mm!

I’m not sure if theres much difference between Cassis berries and Blackcurrants..since that’s what it tasted like, but I liked it ;D

As for Chai.. I’ve never tried a Chai macaron, so this was my first.. and best one by far! Recommended

I drove to Uni to meet him after class while I waited for my class to start.. and we had macarons together.. in my Mazda

Chai! Chai! Chai!

Reason why Yuzu was missing from my steering wheel shot.. is because it was half gone already lol.

Overall.. the flavours of Cre Asion macarons are pretty gooodd.. i think they are more pleasant yet ‘awesome’ flavours compared to that of Zumbo’s .. atleast I didn’t have 2nd thoughts before biting into a macaron! (e.g. Ahh pigs blood jelly macaron!).

Texture wise, it lacks the light crunch that Le Renaissance macarons which I lovee.

Size-wise, it’s somewhat small.. about the same size of Zumbo’s macarons but pricier @ $2.70 (Zumbo is only about $2.30), you’d have to buy  in bulk for it to be sliiightly cheaper!

Anyways, I’d gladly visit Cre Asion for my next macaron fix.. 1, because their flavours are awesome, and 2, parking in the area is fairly convenient (better than trying to find parking in The Rocks and Rozelle ! )

Check it out

Cafe Ish, Surry Hills

Hello from a 22 year old!

Homemade RED Macarons with Coffee ganache from my sister <3

So I’ve just turned double two’s two days ago; and had a very sweeeeet one at that! check the personal blog

The girlfriends got me this year’s Entertainment Book – so I’m bound to dine more now this year, I suppose! ;D

Anyway, I organised a lunch out with the group for my birthday… at Cafe Ish in Surry Hills! Since my first visit there, the food had left a good impression on my mind.. I love the Australian + Japanese fusion!… and since my friends had never tried/heard of it.. I thought it would be a good birthday lunch location. (more on this later)

I didn’t take photos during my birthday lunch unfortunately, so these were from my first visit to Cafe Ish…

The first thing you will think of when entering the cafe is, ‘wow super cosy’, as in rather small cafe… so it’s perfect for small groups or twos.

and my ‘two’ would be no other than the lovely boyfriend who’s always filled with glee when the food approaches him..

(sorry boyfriend)

… and so we indulged into their ‘Brekkie-ish’ menu…

I recommended him to try one of the popular dishes, ‘Croc in the Rock’ – $8.50

It’s basically a chunky piece of toast with a hole in the middle which is filled with a mix of crocodile sausage, eggs and fetta. Definitely an interesting combination, the best bit is of course the middle… the egg/mixture is so smoooooth. And don’t forget to lightly dip into the sweet-ish tomato rel-ish!  *okay I won’t start with the ish-ing*

I’ve had crocodile before (i think.. on a pizza), nothing fancy it just pretty much tastes like CHICKEN??

My Dish! – Karaage Soft Shell Crab Omelete; with avocado, shallot, garlic, chilli and soy/lime dressing – $24

It’s a damn pricey dish compared to the Croc in the Rock, if anything there is a slightly smaller, cheaper serving for lunch special that comes with miso and rice – $16

Anyway, don’t underestimate the size of this though, it’s actually fills you up!

It was a burst of flavour in between the omelete; imagine crunchy soft shell crab, then the soft avocado, the occasional spice (from the sweet chilli) thenn theres the lemons! I love it!

….and here’s a fancy pepper grinder

I visited Cafe Ish on a week day, so it wasn’t as busy and service was good..

Then, my birthday lunch came, 11 of us. I called them in advance (even I knew they didn’t take bookings), they told me they will be able to cater for us 11… slightly relieved; we got there on Sunday and hoping we’ll get to sit together… ended up the boys had to sit upstairs while the girls sat downstairs..which we were prepared to do. We were served by the Japanese lady, I’m guessing the owner? She wasn’t very accommodating Wouldn’t let us sit down even if we were just waiting for 1 person!

They also charge $6/pp for cakeage, talk about mega rip off!! — we didn’t end up cutting my cake there of course

But anyway, I think the worst part was when she tried to shoo away the boys from the table just when they finished eating. Something along the lines of “Since you guys are done, there are people waiting outside for your table”, (roughly what the boyfriend told me). It wasn’t… a very nice way to tell your customers to leave don’t you think?? I felt so bad for the boys having to face that!

Otherwiseee… it was nice of Josh (owner/chef) to come out looking for the Birthday Girl (me) and we had a toast of Sake! Not much of a drinker unfortunately, so a little sip was all I had :{

Overall, I wouldn’t go there on a weekend with a group of more than 6 (IF the 11 of us were to sit together, we had to submit our orders in two sets), otherwise would be okay for a week day.. I have yet to try the rest of their -crazy- menu.. so I will be back on a Weekday and hope to not be served by the Japanese lady

/ends rant

You’d prolly not experience what I experienced though, so I do recommend you to check it out! Conveniently close to Central station!

Cafe Ish
82 Campbell Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010

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Notice a little difference?

New layout, new look!

Likey, no likey?

Hope you guys will get used to it

*editing still in progress*

Emmilou Spanish Tapas, Surry Hills

I loveee getting a bargain when it comes to dining out, especially if its extra discounted! (I  mean, who doesn’t?!)

I religiously check www.spreets.com.au and www.scoopon.com.au for the best deals on dining out and activities! So just about a month ago this deal came up! $20 for $40 worth of Spanish tapas at Emmilou, Surry Hills. Is that a steal or what? literally 50% off!

So we made reservation for Saturday lunch on that same week. Dad was in town so it was a good chance to get together with the rest of the family. I love tapas, small share dishes and yes, you get to try lots of different things!

We arrived at Surry Hills, at 12PM it was pretty quite and we were the only ones there. Its a really nice location, we had the terrace to ourselves, overlooking the hustle bustle of Bourke st. Love it!

I had thought this place serves the usual tapas, you know; garlic prawns, chorizos etc. but I was wrong. They didn’t have the ‘usual’ tapas in the menu, instead the dishes had its own modern flare! Read on -

bytheway; there were 5 of us, and we ordered 7 dishes (with 2 of them repeated, so 9 plates all up), They recommended 1.5-2dishes per person.

Dad starting lunch of with a bottle of James Boag

JAMON; Sliced Serano Ham, Sourdough and Extra Virgin Oil

OSTRAS; 6 Freshly Shucked Sydney Rock Oysters with Gazpacho Dressing

BACALAO; Crisp and Shaved Salt Cod with Squid Ink Ailioli

This is one of my faves! We actually ordered it again, i love the squid ink with the cod, yum!

GAMBAS; Seared Prawns with Onion Jam Salsa and Grated Almonds

We also ordered this dish again; at first I was disappointed that they didn’t have the usual garlic prawns, but when I tasted this, I totally didn’t mind it! The salsa is absolutely yum!

MEJILLONES; Boston Bay Mussels with Calamari and a Rich Tomato Saffron Broth

Loved the dressing with the mussels.

CERDO; Twice Cooked Pork Belly, Chickpea, Potato and Chorizo ‘Cocido’

Also really nice, the sweetness of the beetroot sauce goes nicely with the Pork belly

Stuffed Zucchini Flowers; Goats Cheese, Pumpkin Seeds and Truffle Honey

This dish was alright, interesting actually. I guess if you’re not a fan of goats cheese, you’ll find the taste a bit strong, but accompanied with the truffle honey tones down the goats cheese.

Overall, it was enjoyable, the location, the atmosphere, and yes the dishes were indeed interesting We had about $200 value to spend and at the end only had to pay an extra $19 on top, so i ended up costing around $24/pp instead of $43, so, not bad! It was a pity though that around 3-4 dishes they didn’t have that day, which I really wanted to try! I’ve got 1 $20 (for $40 value) voucher worth left still, so I guess it calls for a 2nd time!

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413 Bourke St, Surry Hills

Tel: +61 (02) 9360 6991

Lunch: Fridays & Saturdays from 12PM
Dinner: Monday-Saturday 5PM-1AM

http://www.emmilou.com.au/