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

Fat Noodle, Star City Pyrmont

There’s no better day to be blogging about a nice hot bowl of laksa/pho than today… it is fuh-reaking cold these last few days!

I believe it is Soup Noodle Season! I just crave noodles for lunch eeverryday in this weather!

Since my first visit to Fat Noodle in Star City Pyrmont, I can’t quite get the taste of those juicy fat pho/laksa noodles out of my mind….

I’ve noticed the hype over Fat Noodles in other food blogs lately, so it’s been on my To-Dine-At list for some time.

The first-ever-time we went there at midnight, we were let down…. got to Star City, entered the gaming room.. to find Fat Noodle has ‘closed’, because the restaurant had experienced a blackout and unable to perform business. Tummy was upset! We ended up buying instant bowls of noodle from a nearby 7/11 …. but anyways..

Finally got to have Fat Noodles for lunch one Friday..

It’s weird how Fat Noodle is located inside Star City, inside the gaming room… so thats the atmosphere you get… gambling, and you amongst fellow diners are mostly gamblers too.. and they occasional business people…

The Fat Pho Noodles was on the must-try list; I little expensive at $18  a bowl… I tried to compromise by thinking… we are paying for the Angus Sirloin… and um Luke Nguyen’s signature beef broth…

Love the little details in the restaurant.. this ancient looking tea pot with a dragonfly on it The tea that they serve was also quite nice!

Lemon Ice Tea with Mint – a refreshing combination!

Fresh Watermelon Juice

Salt & Pepper Tofu

These seem to be highly recommended by others – so we tried to squeeze these in alongside our individual bowls of noodles.

Flavour-wise, they were more ‘chilli’ spicy than pepper-ry, not bad I say. I suppose the only let down is.. it LOOKS a little crunchy on the outside, but in fact it was soft.. I’m not sure if that’s how its meant to be.. I mean aren’t they usually a little crispy?

Boyfriend had the Fat Pho – I had a taste of it aaaand… the verdict goes:

Size - probably a little smaller than the average bowl of pho,ingredients weren’t overly generous.

Broth – If you like a more ‘herbal’ tasting broth, then this is perfect for you.

The pricey Angus Sirloin - personally, I’d rather the usual slices of beef only because I found those were more tender, maybe that would’ve brought the costs down too!

Noodles - I HAVE to comment on the pho noodles, because they are probably the best pho noodles I’ve had. They were really ‘fat’ and ‘juicy’, unlike the usual thin flat rice noodles. Definitely compliments the whole dish for me

I… felt like a bowl of Laksa that day..

It tasted and smelt more like curry rather than Laksa, not the kind of Laksa I like (Singaporean)..

But anyways, it had a rich creamy soup base, with fried tofu, fish balls etc. and it also came with the nice noodles

Overall, the experience was enjoyable, and think Fat Noodles would be an awesome (and expensive) place to go for late supper since they open till like 6am fri-sun (i think) and until 2am the other days… great for that late night craving of pho right? Now if only it would match the average price of a bowl of Pho!

Alsoo… finding parking during the day is a PAIN so going there later at night is much, much better! I forgot the mention though, their service is heaps fast.. within like 5minutes of ordering… out comes the Pho. So I suppose the 1 hour parking meter during the day is sufficient!

I want some FAT PHO now ..

Brasserie Bread Cafe, Botany

Woke up earlier than usual today; quite unlike me on a cold ‘Autumn’ morning… so before my first alarm goes off.. here I am drooling over what I’d Ideally LOVE to have for for breakfast…

I had always wanted to try Brasserie Bread Cafe for their oh-so-delicious breads… ever since my visits to Foodies Deli Cafe which serves a lot of their dishes accompanied with bread by Brasserie Bread.. love it!

I don’t often get taken out for breakfast; all depending on whether the girlfriends call up for breakie or the boyfriend wakes up early enough to take me!

So the Brasserie Bread visit was my last breakie-outing .. and a memorable one

We walked along Botany Road and came by this lovely decorated window..

The moment I walked in, I got caught up looking at all the little details around me… I was already in love with the atmosphere, can you tell why?

Smell of fresh bread, and petite little cakes behind those glass counters…

I ended up buying these Raspberry & Pistachio Friands on my way home for the sisters; they were sooo good!

And a display of the range of breads they make. Before becoming a foodie; I had never knew there were such a variety of breads!

#thegirlwhogrewupwithwhiteandwholemealbread

and I learnt my tastebuds favour some-sort-of-sourdough

Gotta love food places where they offer taste testing!.. mm Jam!

It was a busy Friday morning..

Blueberry and Pear Soda for me!

The boyfriend got the Poached eggs with smoked trout and feta salad with parsley on toast.

Had a bite into this, and have to say the combo of Feta salad and Trout was yummo ~

I had one of their signature dishes; the Croque Monsieur

a ‘closed sandwich’ with ham, gruyere cheese and rocket inside.. on sourdough toast topped off with a fried egg!

I have a complicated relationship with rocket; so other than that… it was goood…

Serving appeared small, but it filled me up sufficiently!

mm melted gruyere cheese

Already am looking forward to my next visit to Brasserie Bread; … when someone can take me ! hehe.. next time I’m going to try their other signature dishes such as the sourdough pancakes, mushroom and ricotta bruschetta etc. Also going to bring home a loaf of something and educate my sisters about artistan bread so they can help me finish it too!

Argh, wish someone would call me up for breakfast now *nudge*

… Cereals it is!