A local taste at Brixton Lounge and Dining

Posted by Jan

Glebe Point Road is one of Sydney's eat streets where you can pretty much find whatever you happen to fancy. As a local, I love how it's a blend of long-time favourites and new, up-and-coming trends. A relatively new addition is Brixton Lounge and Dining with its a modern Australian and British approach to neighbourhood dining.

Brixton Iced Tea from Brixton Lounge & Dining, Glebe Point Road, Glebe

Having walked past a few times when they opened, I was pretty curious to try out the new kid on the block, which does breakfast, lunch and dinner, 7 days a week. I recently attended a special spring menu degustation by invitation, in association with Burge and Rathbone Fine Wines.

After a hard day I was pretty happy to be ushered to a comfy armchair and served a Brixton Iced Tea - possibly the most delicious cocktail on Glebe Point Road. I loved the mix of organic basil & rose tea, peach schnapps, vodka & strawberry.

Salt and pepper eggplant

We had a couple of nibbles while waiting for our dining companions to arrive. I like fried things so was naturally biased towards liking the salt and pepper eggplant. 

I think these could be the new french fries. I liked the crunchy outside that was just salty enough before giving in to the lovely, sweet softness of eggplant. 

Gruyere balls with homemade tomato relish

The gruyere balls were a revelation for me: crunchy on the outside and oozy with melted cheese on the inside. 

The homemade tomato relish was delicious and my dining companions liked it with the cheese balls, but for me, nothing could distract me from oozy, cheesy yumminess. I even tried to surreptitiously eat more than my share. 

House-cured salmon, crème fraîche with pickled fennel

The first entree taster of the 6-course degustation was a fresh-tasting and tender sliver of house-cured salmon. The dab of crème fraîche and pickled fennel added just a touch of tartness to contrast the sweetness of the fish. 

The bread was a tasty rye (I think from Sonoma just down the street) but I refrained from eating too much as I knew there was more to come. I enjoyed the accompanying glass of crisp Yarrabank Sparkling Cuvee Brut from the Yarra Valley. 

Warm bacon, asparagus & haloumi salad

The next dish was a warm salad of bacon, asparagus and perfectly grilled chunks of haloumi, served with a honey mustard dressing.

This fabulous salad could just be a whole main course and would be great for a summer's day when you want something lighter but substantial. 

Signature salmon spring roll

Brixton's signature salmon spring roll was pleasingly crisp on the outside with the salmon cooked just right within. The homemade chilli jam was gently spicy and added pizazz to the spring roll and presentation. 

A light and refreshing Happs chenin blanc from the Margaret River was paired with the salad and salmon.

Tomato & ricotta tortellini with black olive butter

The next two rounds showcased the perennial Italian favourites of pasta and risotto and how these dishes should be cooked just so.

I could smell the butter sauce the moment the tomato and ricotta tortellini landed on the table. The light pasta filling was perfectly complemented by the salty black olive and rich melted butter. 

Pea & goat cheese risotto

The pea and goat cheese risotto was cooked exactly how I like it: pleasingly al dente with a tiny hint of crunch. There was also mint stirred through the rice that added freshness to the dish, which I could have eaten a main size of without problem. 

A delicious marsanne/viognier/roussanne blend from Yering Station was matched with the pasta and risotto.

Pan roasted NSW lamb, pistachio crust with cauliflower puree

As a seasonal menu, the perennial spring favourite of lamb was bound to appear. The pistachio-crusted lamb was quickly seared for a crunchy exterior before being pan-roasted to a perfect medium-rare. The lamb was tender and juicy; gently complemented by the cauliflower puree and crunchy carrots. 

Another Yering Station wine was well chosen to pair with the lamb. I like the full-bodied fruity flavours of the 'Village' shiraz viognier. 

Mixed berry ravioli with Galliano & passionfruit anglaise

I am not much of cake-type desserts person so was pretty pleased to see a yellow and maroon plate of mixed berry ravioli with a passionfruit anglais sauce. 

It is an interesting approach to incorporating seasonal berries; however, I felt that the passionfruit flavours overwhelmed the Galliano liqueur in the sauce. 

My favourite seat in the house for people watching

In a street of many food choices, Brixton Lounge and Dining fills a niche created by the ever increasing cost of real estate and cramped eateries on Glebe Point Road.

It is a rare luxury these days to have such a large, un-crowded space for a slow unwind after a long day or just a casual weekend catch-up with friends - and you could have a taste of it too.

Giveaway - cancelled (11 Nov 2014)

Food, Booze & Shoes dined at Brixton Lounge & Dining as a guest.

Park it at Cantina Mobil Bar & Garage

There's a new amigo on Glebe Point Road, with one of the Sydney food trucks putting down (more) roots in a bricks and mortar outlet.

Cantina Mobil, a food truck known for its travelling tacos, has opened a second shopfront in Glebe (its first is in Darlinghurst).

The bar at Cantina Mobil Bar & Garage, Glebe Point Road, Glebe

On a strip that seems to be seeing lots of change, Cantina Mobil Bar & Garage is a fun and colourful addition marking the third Mexican offering within a few blocks of Glebe's main road.

But with Cantina Mobil's reputation, vibrant renovation and a dedicated bar housed in a truck-like structure, it's injecting a lively, devil-may-care, and potentially rambunctious, spirit to the neighbourhood.

Cantina Mobil Bar & Garage store front

The multi-functional space is so named as it features a front bar as part of the restaurant and has a garage, or parking space, for the Cantina Mobil food truck on its days off and after hours, out the back just behind the outdoor dining area.

Colourful wall murals

Frozen margaritas

At the launch night a few weeks back, a Monday night started appropriately with frozen margaritas from the 'van' bar, hosting a good hit of tequila, fresh lemon zing and a liberal salt rim.

Upstairs dining space

The corridor

While there's a small upstairs dining area in addition to the shopfront tables, the partying happens out in what's essentially the backyard.

Through a narrow but brightly decorated corridor, pass the stainless steel brightness of the kitchen before reaching the backyard, which has the carefree feel of a friendly backyard get-together.

Nachos and tacos

The menu is short and sharp at Cantina Mobil Bar & Kitchen, probably mirroring that of the food truck for consistency and stock management reasons.

But with the favourites in tacos - soft or hard shelled, burritos and nachos all making an appearance, the menu's brevity isn't too much of an issue.

Hot chilli sauces

There are a few hot chilli sauces that seem to be the Mexican standard around Sydney now, all available on request at Cantina Mobil Bar & Garage, although I rarely feel the need for them with fairly straightforward taco combinations.

Chipotle beef taco

We started with soft flour tortilla tacos filled with slow cooked, softly pulled chipotle beef; a welcome change from the porcine pulled meat version.

Shredded iceberg lettuce, corn kernels and guacamole filled the taco alongside the beef which was spiced with adobo chilli sauce, while queso cheese and a vivid chipotle mayonnaise topped off the taco, served singularly in a serviette lined plastic basket.

Beef nachos

The Cantina-style nachos on offer also featured the chipotle beef as a filling, with lashings of sour cream, chipotle mayonnaise and guacamole obscuring the pinto bean mix and tomato salsa.

While I don't have anything against supermarket corn chips as such, the superior quality crunch and natural flavour of the round ones served by Cantina Mobil make them even more addictive to snack on continuously.

Pinto bean taco

The vegetarian pinto bean taco had most the same fillings as the earlier beef taco, with tomato-stewed beans in place of the meat and just as much fun and flavour.

Sangria bowl

As a launch party treat, along with the margaritas, there was a great big punch bowl of sangria; an unexpectedly drier version than I've ever tried or made, and better for it

Sangria

There was fruit aplenty in the sangria, and perhaps a touch of dry sherry making the difference that lemonade never will.

Tequila shots and sangrita shooters

The night ended, as nights out with friends do, with tequila shots and fabulous sangrita chasers of tomato juice and lots of other healthy ingredients that quell the potent taste of tequila.

Locals and diners won't be going to Cantina Mobil Bar & Garage for an authentic and gourmet taste of Mexico - they'll be flocking there for a place to park themselves while having simple and filling Mexican food and drinks, and Mexican good times.

Food, booze and shoes attended the Cantina Mobil Bar & Garage launch as a guest.

Guerrilla (Bar) celebrity spotting in Glebe

There's a touch of celebrity spotting to be done at Guerrilla Bar and Restaurant in Glebe. It's probably more relevant for females who were teenagers or tweens in the late 1990s/early 2000s - I'll offer some clues but I won't spill because where's the fun in that.

Inside Guerrilla Bar and Restaurant, Glebe Point Road, Glebe

We arrived shortly after 6pm (which is an hour after 5) and I did my very best not to squeal like the teenage version of me at the sight of one of the owners sitting in the front, street level, outdoor terrace.

The venue was previously a Thai restaurant and earlier, two adjoining terraces, explaining the two wooden staircases side-by-side next to the bar. It's got the feelin' of a homely, maybe English, student hangout with an array of dining tables, couches and cute nooks and crannies appropriate for both drinking and eating.

Guerrilla board

The menu, by an ex-Becasse chef, features what sounded like an interesting variety of shared eats 'to graze', and a couple of larger shared mains. There’s also a very decent selection on the wine menu, especially by the bottle which is what this particular evening called for (extra points for Plumm wine glasses).

Ordered from the bar, a board of nibbles  is mysteriously named the Guerrilla board and looks like it could feed a band of boys. The sticky smoked almonds attracted me first; a bit odd at first but then becoming irresistibly moreish.

The variety of olives came with a cute jar for pits while there were two chunky and unexplained pastes that were best had with the bread and feta-like cheese.

The slam dunk, though, was easily the mini chorizo: juicy, packed with flavour and an exemplary specimen of the spiced and cured pork sausage.

Chicken nuggets with chipotle mayonnaise

There was about a couple of milliseconds between me spotting chicken nuggets on the menu and ordering them, although they weren’t a reinvented version of fried chicken bits as I had expected.

Instead, the very crunchy crumbed chicken was more like small pieces of schnitzel, served with a dipping sauce of chipotle mayonnaise. Keep on movin' down the menu if you want something a little more exciting.

Slow cooked egg, bacon jam and toast

We were sold on the promised ‘bacon jam’ on the next dish which was not very bacon-y, and certainly not pinky-red nor any other colour which would suggest any substantial amount of bacon in it.

The slow cooked eggs were done well with a gooey yolk, while the barely toasted bread probably could have used a bit more inspiration. But if bacon's on the menu listing, it's the things you do with the bacon that really make the dish.

Hand cut chips and calamari with Szechuan pepper

We retreated to menu failsafes and more shiraz after the first round of food, with a mound of fried stuff on a wooden board that looked like it would get us to until the time is through.

The generous servings here were enough to feed five, but we tackled the spicily seasoned rings of small, tender calamari with gusto, served with a seriously great tartare sauce. The thick hand cut chips did just as well with the sauce.

The front room

At the end of the night, around the time when the lights go out, we weren’t rushed out of the venue despite being the last lingering customers - indeed, the decidedly 90s soundtrack continued all the way to the last drops of our wine bottles.

Guerrilla doesn't seem to fall comfortably in to either category of bar nor restaurant, while the uni student feel is at odds with the higher-end ambitions of the menu and bar list.

Nonetheless, it's early days and another addition to the Glebe collection of small bars is great - Guerrilla is well worth a visit if ya gettin' down to Glebe.

Give The Little Guy a go

The enthusiam for small bars in Sydney has pushed out from the city and Darlinghurst into Glebe where a few recent openings are attracting a local crowd. The vibe in Glebe is still a little rough around the edges, and the small bars on the main road have that same likeable characteristic.

With a street facade painted dramatic black, The Little Guy features a huge window that opens out to Glebe Point Road where elevated drinkers sip wine and cocktails. Walk into the cosy front area to see the bar with handwritten drinks menus on clipboards, with some seats at the bar and plenty of space down the back of the converted house and even upstairs.

Bloody Mary and popcorn at The Little Guy, Glebe Point Road, Glebe

If it's a Sunday, you'll need to order the $10 special on their Bloody Mary. With the greatest use of garnishes I've seen in a Bloody Mary, this vodka, tomato juice and worcestershire sauce cocktail is rolled rather than shaken, with your choice of Tabasco sauce levels.

It's one of the best variations I've tasted, helped along with the pretty tri-coloured skewer of a green olive, a pickled onion and a cherry tomato, and a gherkin on the side. If that's not two serves already of your daily fruit and vegetable intake, I don't know what is.

Freshly popped popcorn from the old-school popcorn maker is complimentary and with a little more seasoning, would be the perfect afternoon drinking partner.

Pisco sour

From the changing cocktail list, the day's pisco sour is a passionfruit variant of the South American liquor cocktail. With a great egg white head dotted with bitters, the pisco is full of fruitiness and a good kick of booze, although I'm undecided as to whether I like passionfruit seeds in my cocktails.

The Little Guy

There are limited grazing plates on offer, I think, but The Little Guy isn't trying for too much and that's where it succeeds. Keeping it simple and casual suits the neighbourhood bar and Glebe locals perfectly while live music on Sunday evenings is a total bonus. Go on then, give The Little Guy a go.

Bling Bling Dumpling: All that shimmers

Red glitter walls, silver glitter-topped tables and all manner of tacky, if not cheap, 'Asian' trinkets greet diners who take the chance to walk into Bling Bling Dumpling on Broadway.

But for the promise of dumplings, some at a special advertised price of $1 each, I was game enough to enter the den of bling - quite literally. How they got that large-size red glitter to cover an entire wall was impressive enough for me.

Inside Bling Bling Dumpling, Broadway, Ultimo

The menu is normal Chinese sized; that is, about ten pages or more, traversing the entire spectrum of appetisers, soups, meat and vegetable mains, and of course, their namesake dumplings.

Banana chips

As we went through the pages of the menu, a small dish of complimentary banana chips was brought to the table, which was frankly odd, not helped by the fact that I don't like banana chips.

Steamed dumplings

The dumpling menu was much more complicated than I would have liked. A serve of four dumplings costs $4.80 - as long as they're not meat (additional 80c), seafood (additional $1.80) or pan fried (additional 80c).

On top of that, they're given 'bling' names like diamond, emerald and citrine when they really mean pork and chive or chicken and leek - which were the varieties we ordered four each of (the pork and chive being the advertised $1 per dumpling special - steamed only).

Both varieties elected as steamed for simplicity, these dumplings seemed to have been freshly steamed in bamboo baskets as they arrived to the table last and very, very hot. They are definitely larger than your standard dumpling, perhaps even double the size.

The pork and chive was pretty decent, with nicely chewy dough wrapped around the minced pork filling. The chicken and leek, however, was underseasoned and desperately needed soy sauce and chilli oil; the latter which had to be requested from the staff.

Hot and sour soup

We started with a huge bowl of hot and sour soup featuring tofu, carrot, bamboo shoot and black wood ear fungus.

The flavour was, as expected, both sour and hot but so hot and spicy that it caught sharply at the back of the throat every time I had a mouthful. It was a warming, if not somewhat painful, experience that left me with chilli sniffles.

Xinjiang braised eggplant, lightly pan fried in special sweet sauce

By lightly pan fried eggplant, I do believe they meant deep fried. These golden segments of eggplant were on the slightly oily side, but surprisingly pleasant: think soft eggplant, oil, slight crispness and a sugar-sweet sauce - what's not to like? A bowl of steamed rice would have completed the picture.

As we went to pay the bill down the back of the restaurant, the space reveals a dark, less-bling back section and an adjoining restaurant next door. I have no idea if the two spaces are connected but neither was particularly busy at late lunch.

I was distracted for a good several minutes in front of the tropical fish tank down the back, not too sure of the bling connection. Bling Bling Dumpling is certainly one of the most curiously themed restaurants around, but unfortunately, I haven't found dumpling gold here.

Follow the Coffee Trails to Toby's Estate Cafe

It's exciting when you're around passionate people. Their enthusiasm and liveliness is infectious, and you tend to learn a lot too. There's a lot of passion in the industries of food and drink, and right there somewhere up the top has to be Toby Smith of Toby's Estate coffee.

Toby's Estate coffee beans

If you drink coffee, you're probably acutely aware of Toby's Estate and its enviable reputation for great coffee. With a massive wholesale distribution network throughout Sydney as well as a growing brood of flagship cafes, the latest - opening for its first day today - is sidled right across from Broadway Shopping Centre on Bay Street in Glebe.

Toby's Estate Cafe, Bay Street, Broadway

Neighbouring the Co-op Bookshop, the new cafe is as splendid as it is welcoming. With warm tones and a slight retro feel, it's a coffee paradise for bean beginners all the way through to absolute afficionados.

At times it also resembles a science laboratory, but on the launch night there were inviting espresso martinis to be had - not on the cafe menu but something for future consideration given how well they went down with the launch party crowd.

Some serious crema with the espresso martini

Vodka, Kahlua and Frangelico liqueurs, shaken with a shot of none other than Toby's Estate espresso, strained into martini glasess with a few coffee beans for garnish. It was the best coffee I'd had all day.

Espresso martini

So good was the espresso martini that I felt justified breaking my 'no coffee after 4pm rule' and hitting up the bar for seconds. Someone also mentioned the caffeine uplift would be dulled by the somewhat sedative alcohol, and I was more than happy to go with that explanation.

Canapes by Forte Catering

Tiny tidbits of tasty canapes made their way around the room on pieces of black slate, and included these scrolls of jamon serrano with cheese, smoked duck breast with cucumber and mini lamb pies.

Coffee or science equipment?

In addition to a couple of Mirage espresso machines (including one lever machine), there are several other instruments for coffee extraction up on the zinc-topped counter space - and not just for display purposes.

Siphon coffee maker

Even with retort stands and flasks about (hello, year 12 chemistry), the siphon coffee maker is the one to watch; from its red hot heating lamp, to the bubbles of boiling water and the ever-fascinating process of condensation.

Siphon coffee

It's a softer extraction method than high pressure espresso machines, and thus results in a softer, more mellow end product too. And the beauty of all this equipment is that you can try them all in a degustation-like fashion and really taste what they're doing to the beans.

Like in wine tasting, there's always a lot to learn, but in the end, it has to be enjoyable and to each's own tastes, so I think it's just as much about experimentation and diversifying your experiences as coffee knowledge.

Toby Smith of Toby's Estate

Man of the hour Toby Smith couldn't help but exude his passion for coffee as he took to the stage to conduct an old school slide showing of some of his travels around the world for the perfect coffee.

Toby's passion/obsession started in sincerity more than two decades ago when he first tasted Yirgecheffe; an Ethiopian coffee bean. And now, completely enamoured with coffee origins, he's produced a stunning and enjoyably informative coffee table book (pun intended) detailing his visits to coffee-growing destinations of the world, Coffee Trails.

Images taken from Coffee Trails by Toby Smith

Images taken from Coffee Trails by Toby Smith

Travel journal and a coffee encyclopedia, the photos are simply breathtaking, the stories compelling and some of the artworks richly painted in coffee itself. It's pure passion for something, and so exciting to take in and learn about. And for bringing new perspective to that morning cappuccino - thank you Toby.

Food, booze and shoes attended the Toby's Estate Cafe and book launch with thanks to Liquid Ideas.