My top 4 clover/pour over coffee bars in Sydney

I come to appreciate filtered coffee since coffee can pronounce its character than in espresso form.  So, I did a wild hunt for clover/pour over coffee in Sydney CBD area for the past few months for fabulous filtered coffee.  And, here're places I 'll bring my foodie teams for coffee if they come up to Sydney:

1. Coffee Alchemy

I postponed my trip to this place since it's far from my place but I had to come here before I head back home.  I was so overwhelm when I first steped into Coffee Alchemy.  There are 6 single origins (s/o) coffee on offer and tempting.  Some s/o 're very sort after like Nekisse from Ethiopia and Panama La Esmeralda.  The other s/o're something different in term of estates.  Flavor's clearly stated in pour over form.  And, Hazel and her baristas're happy to talk coffee.

2. Mecca

The King Street branch's the branch that offers clover coffee.  They have 3 s/o to go with the clover.  I love their La Esmeralda.  Its flavor just screamed back to me with jasmine on the nose, bergamot, and nectarine, plus coffee profile kept changing when the temperature dropped.  I love the roaster when they do a great job ^^
The catch for this place is try to go there during off-peak hour.  Afternoon and Saturday're my favorite time to go there.  Not only that I'll garantee to get a seat, baristas're also happy to talk coffee if they aren't super busy.

3. Le Monde (83 Foveaux St, Surry Hills)

They aren't a roaster but they provide great coffee.  Apart from espresso, they have 5 s/o, supplied from 5 senses, on a clover machine.  Rumor said they have 4 clover machines in total.  Sigh... can I get one?
 

4. The Sources, Mosman

It's my Sunday filtered coffee place since all other 3 above're closed.  Not that it's not as great as the other three but it's so far!  It takes me about 40-60 minutes to go there depending on the buses.  They have around 3 s/o on clover.

Which one is my most favorite?  No, I can't answer this question.  Their coffee all met my standard.  So, it depends on what beans they offer at that moment.  At one point in time, all four places have Nekisses... sigh...   

Another reason to make my own coffee

Despite increasing green beans price which gives coffee bars the reason to increase their retails coffee price, there's now one more reason I prefer to make my own morning coffee.  One of the best coffee bars in Sydney started campaigning on 'Coffee Pooling'.

They 're trying to solve the increasing waiting time for coffee by suggesting customers to team up and order the same coffee or at least same type of milk.  So that it 'll be more effeciency to make coffee.  They further suggest that the most effeciency way is by trying to team up to create even number of shots and a full jug of milk!!!  The other benefits from coffee pooling, from their perspective, is to reduce carbon footprint.

Hmm... I can understand that it'll be more effeciency to make coffee.  But I still think making my own coffee'll be more time efficiency and reducing more carbon footprint.  At least, I don't have to queue up to buy coffee and it takes about 5 minutes to brew my own coffee, from grinding to brewing.  Plus brewing my own coffee creates less carbon footprint; don't have to write down my order in a paper, no napkin, and no paper cup, etc.
 
Will I not drink coffee outside?  Definitely not, I'm still happy to pay for good coffee.  Since good coffee and bad coffee're charged about the same price.  I just try to drink my own coffee if I want one during the rush hour.       

Dealing with coffee dilemma in Sydney

After whining about how hard to find good coffee in Sydney to my fellow caffeine buddy for almost half year, I think it is time to stop complaining and look harder for good coffee.  I can't find my usual coffee place here.

It is not the case that Melbourne has more great coffee bars than Sydney.  I think it's more the case that Sydney's much larger than Melbourne.  That's why great coffee bar in Sydney isn't cluster in some areas like what's happening in Melbourne.

Part of my problem's I almost always after single origin coffee.  There's nothing wrong with the house blend, though.  I just like to play with s/o, it's such a fun.  So, my issue here's I have to find places that have house blend that I like before I try their s/o coffee and they should change s/o daily.  I know... I know... I'm very spoiled when coming to coffee.   

Thanks to Jasper, Dancing Goat, BBB, SevenSeeds, Eclipse, MarketLane, Chris who turned my coffee world upside down, and last but not least my foodies team :D

So, I settled for the second best options.  I won't have my usual place but just go to each cafe once a week since most of the places change s/o once a week, give or take.  Thanks to technology, I'm now following coffee places on twitter to keep track on s/o.

My best love cafe'd be Workshop Espresso, who uses Toby's Estate coffee.  Their extracting's so good that they can convince me that Harar can be up to my liking which no other places can do before.  Plus, they change s/o daily but the downside's their place's so small that I feel guity if I hang out there for long.

Campos'd be a place I go if I crave afforgato.  I like their blend as well 'cos it's chocolaty and nutty.  Plus baristas 're dedicated to coffee.  I witnessed one of them dumped latte down the sink 'cos it wasn't up to his standard.  Luckily, he did that because it supposed to be my latte.  How I knew that?  'Cos I sat next to coffee machine.

Mecca, the city branch, always crowded but s/o always so tempting.

Toby's Estate, City Road, is the closest to my place.  I went there today since I craved afforgato and it was raining.  So, I didn't walk to Campos.  I didn't have afforgato in the end since s/o on filter catched my eye.  It was Panama Kaiser Serracin Gesha.  Bloddy damn good coffee!  Very clean and complex.  If I did the blind tasting, I 'd think it isn't the same coffee.  Coffee profile keeps changing according to temperature change, from floral to citrus (lime, I think) then to dark, smooth, and syrupy.  Who care it's $8 a filter!  Can't drink everyday, though.  Now, I'm afraid to think about a price of La Esmeralda and how good it'd be!  It should be very very very good.  Since other Central America Gesha're fantastic.  LS already fell in love with Costa Rica La Candelilla Gesha this season from Marketlane.

Klink handmade espresso is the newest in my list.  So very cute cafe where I can wait while my mom does some shopping.  Another place with passionate barista.  He refused to sell me coffee since he doesn't know the tasting note of one estate s/o.      

I'll keep searching for more places.  Next in my lists'd be Coffee Trails and Bangbang.  I guess I should give Single Origin Roasters a second go, too.

Nakashima

7 Cambridge Street, The Rocks
Tel 9241 1364

It was a leisure walk from Circular Quay.  I wandered around the Rocks area today.

Since I read about a hidden gems in The Rocks...

And, here I am... Nakashima!

A petite Japanese restaurant ^^

Not hard to choose... my favorite Jap foods... Tempura...

Ah.... tempura lunch set ($17).  Salmon sashimi's just nice but the kuppa maki's very.. very good.  The rice 's soft and sticky which contrasts and compliment the crunchiness of fresh cucumber. 
Tempura itself 's pretty good.  My favorite 's aubergine.  It 's soft, warm, and just melt in my mouth.  The prawns... they 're crunchy from the outside, prawns inside 're juicy and sweet.  Pumkin 's sweet just liked pumkin ^^ 

Adriano Zumbo

I first heard his name from MasterChef last year and was wowed by his desserts in the show.  I then made note that I 'll visit his cafe if I visit Sydney.  I first visited the shop with FH to pick up her birthday cake.  I told FH that I don't like and don't understand macaroon.  She let me try one of her macaroons and I 'm addicted to it since then.

I feel like I was a child visiting Toy're Us everytime I went to his shop.  I 'm happily queuing 'cos it takes time to make up my mind what I want.  His desserts 're all very tempting and colorful.

My all time favorite 'll be macaroons.  Which flavour I like most?  Hmm... truthfully, I can't answer that question.  So far, I like rose&pitachio, salted caramel, licorice, ferrero, pear&fennel, mandarin.  Pumkin risotto is also interesting.  I still haven't try olive, chickpea, mont blanc. 

What fasinated me 's he seems to turn every produces into desserts.  The cake on the right hand side, the one with yellow rings and chocolate on top, 's my current favorite.  I don't know what AZ called it but I called it 'a ginger cake' since it 's a core ingredient of the cake and staffs there understand what I want :D 

I haven't tried all this season cake (Winter 2010) but I have in mind what I 'll have.  I 'll try 'roses 're red, mandies 're orange', lol.   

A beauty of piccolo latte

I struggled to buy coffee from coffee strand nearby my workplace. But I can’t come to term with the fact that they steam milk in advance and left the steamed milk in a jug until someone order coffee although I understand why they do it that way. There is always a long queue waiting for their coffee. So, they steam milk in advance to speed up the process. The fact that they use the bean I approved, Campos coffee, doesn’t help the case.
Why don’t I buy from other stand? It‘s the bean issue. I like the beans there more than beans using in other strands. Yes, I know I ‘m choosy :D
This afternoon I came up with a theory that they should make latte art for piccolo since their piccolo cup does not have a lid. Thus, the barista will need a specific steamed milk temperature in order to make latte art so he has to steam milk on the spot with fresh cold milk. The only assumption of this theory is the barista makes latte art according to the book. Lucky me, he did!

A Taste of Sydney 2010

Ja and I were so excited about A Taste of Sydney that we went out since 10.30 am to take a 378 bus to Centennial Park. Luckily, Ja spotted A Taste of Sydney's staff on the bus so we followed him to the venue since we didn't know exactly how to go there, lol.
We arrived the venue around 11.30... about half an hour before the session starts...

I went to buy Beef rib w watermelon from Danks street depot since I 'm curious for quite some time how to cook watermelon in a savoury dish since I read about a dish made of grilled watermelon and prawns from a comic book years ago. Watermelon, pineapple, and tomato cut through the richness of ribs and made it 's very easy to eat during a summer time.

Ja bought Wagyu beef spring roll with mushroom foam from Balzac. I quite like the creameness in mushroom foam.

Clockwise: Bird, Cow, Fish; Guillaume at Bennelong; Pilu at Freshwater; and Marque.

Jonah's at Whale Beach: Alba White Truffle popcorn, Crisp school prawns with a spicy Cajun remoulade, and vanilla panna cotta with lavender honey and fresh pomegranate. Panna cotta 's just perfect... just enough jelatine to set a panna cotta... very elastic.... and also tastes fantastic. The red sauce sourness 's sharply contrast with lavender honey which go wonderfully when eatting sauce, honey, and panna cotta together. This 's my most favorite dish.

We both buy cocktails from Longrain. Ping Pong for Ja (passionfruit and lychees shaken with 42 Below vodka and fresh lime juice. And, Rose Poteous for me (watermelon and mint muddled then shaken with 42 Below vodka and cranberry juice. They 're nice for such a warm day.

Free foods from City Tattesalls Club: (anti-clockwise) doughtnut with sour berries sauce, mini burger, soft shell crab, bramble cocktail (pink) and white chocolate martini.

Some products I like :D

After eatting that much, it was time to check out classes. Jared Ingersoll from Danks Street Depot demonstrate how to make a saucy tart (right). The paint gun in his hand 's used to coat the tart with chocolate and an editable substance used in cosmetic to form a thin protecter for a tart. So that the tart will not melt in a warm Sydney weather.

Romeo Baudouin from Victor Churchill, Charcutier (left) demonstarted pig head terrine using dry white wine to make a stock along with garlic, carrot, celery, and 4 different herbs which I remembered only tarragon... sigh...

After that we went to a chef table, this session also run by Jared. He brough all his dishes selling in the show for us to sample. Chicken liver parfait 's creamy but light.

I quite like him... like when he said don't cook what you want to cook but let the product tell you what you should cook. Meaning... cooking should be based on what product 's in season because you 'll get flavoursome product. I actually did cook what I feel like in the beginning of my cooking journey and tried to sort out the products. Luckily, I long pass that time...

Craving Thai foods

I don't know what happens w me, it seems like I 'm craving Thai foods... maybe because the weather in Sydney 's warmer and made me think of home... I don't know.
Anyway, it brough me to Chat Thai, one of the famous Thai restaurant in Sydney. My Malaysian friend who loves Thai foods recommented this restaurant to me when he knows I 'll move to Sydney. I went there before noon and the place was very pack. I think I know why Chat Thai 's famous, it offers Thai snacks which quite troblesome to make... Kao Krep Pak Mor (ข้าวเกรียบปากหม้อ), chinese bread (ปาท่องโก๋), etc... and everything looks yummy :D

I tooked a picture of Chat Thai menus while waiting for foods.
Suki (สุกี้แห้ง) for my mom, this one 's without consomme - it 's a glass noodle with braised chinese cabbage, kang kong, and chinese celery and seasoned w fermented tofu... yumm...

Sukhothai noodle (ก๋วยเต๊่ยวสุโขทัย) 's rice noodle w fish balls, dried shrimp and mince pork. The consomme 's seasoned to have sweet, sour, and spicy flavor by sugar, lime juice, and dried and fresh chilli. I quite like this dish, it tastes like Sukhothai noodle back home.

Another Thai restaurant I went this week 's Newtown Thai on King Street (I think around number 190 something) during lunch time. The lunch menu 's very typical Thai version of fast food. My mom had Prawn Pad Thai (ผัดไทย) which 's a rice noodle cooked in a mixed sauce of tamarine sauce, fish sauce, and sugar to balance its flavour of saltiness, sweet, and sour.

Mine 's a very typical Thai quick lunch dish called Kra Praw Kai w fried egg (กระเพราไก่ไข่เจียว). Thanks to the lovely waitress, she asked me whether I wanted it in typical Thai style ($8) or the usual one in the lunch menu ($6). The difference 's Thai style one 'll have lots of mince chicken and bamboo shoot while the other will have lots of vege. I definitely went for the typical Thai style which was very very tasty, 2 thump up! This place can pass for a cheap eat and tasty foods :D

2042 + Eveleigh Farmers' Market

2042 's a postcode as well as a cafe name in the same suburb, which 's at 403-405 King Street, Newtown.

Ja's Beansprout suggested that we should try this new cafe since it has good reviews from food bloggers... and so we went... It 's a child-friendly cafe with a small table for children :D

I had hope when my latte arrived... good color, right texture, and the most important 's right temperature. Latte 's decent with a hint of chocolate. I don't mind going back for coffee there. :D

I assumed they use Danes coffee beans judging from Ja's skimmed milk cappuchino's cup.

We decided to share corn fritter w bacons, avocado, and green tomato relish ($12.90) to start a day. The saltiness of bacon 's balanced by the bitterness of rocket leave and sweetness of tomato relish.

After a light breakfast, we decided to check out Eveleigh Farmers' Market, which opened every Saturday from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Many stalls worth visiting... especially meats!