Champagne Room: Brunch decadence on Crown Street

Posted by Kath

Perrier-Jouet bottles at Champagne Room, upstairs at The Winery, Crown Street, Surry Hills

It's that time of the year when champagne flows and one too many is just too hard to resist. For bubbles at brunch too, the new Champagne Room upstairs at The Winery in Surry Hills offers its new brunch menu with champagne on arrival.

Champagne Room bar

The Winery is surely a staple on the Crown Street strip by now, but that hasn't stopped them from re-inventing their upstairs real estate into the perfectly decadent retreat that is the Champagne Room.

Perrier-Jouet Champagne flutes on arrival

A-la-carte options are available but let the work be done for you with the new weekend brunch offerings and $75 set menu which includes that all important flute of Perrier-Jouet Champagne on arrival.

Champagne Room service button

The well-stocked bar upstairs is beautifully decorated with an impressive number of chandeliers, while blue velvet booths and a service bell for when the bubbles are running low offer a luxe escape from reality.

Freshly shucked oysters and raw Hervey Bay Scallops

Champagne Room's new weekend brunch menu is more lunch than brunch, and couldn't have started any better than with a serving of the most creamy Sydney rock oysters in a light champagne vinaigrette with a lemon cheek on the side.

Accompanying these were another favourite of mine, Hervey Bay scallops, covered in a lemon salt, truffled peaches and crispy pancetta which added great contrast to the sweet raw scallops.

Jamon, bresola & sopressa with chicken liver parfait, cornichons, green apple chutney and mustard fruits

Continuing with things I love, out came a very generous serving of chicken liver parfait which was incredibly light and fluffy, and would have been more than enough to keep me happy for the entire meal.

It was served alongside charcuterie from Byron Bay: paper thin jamon and bresaola, and sopressa salami; all accompanied by a gorgeous selection of cornichons, green apple chutney and mustard fruits.

Seasonal beets salad with sorrel, red kale, Jannei goa'ts curd, sunflower seeds, sherry vinaigrette

A nice side to the share plate was a fresh sweet red and golden beet salad. With on-trend ingredients of sorrel and kale, as well as the always excellent Jannei goat's curd, a zingy sherry vinaigrette helped cut through the richness of the cured meats and chicken liver parfait.

Mini mushroom pie and mini wagyu burgers

Our last savoury items were the mini mushroom pie and mini wagyu burger. The mushroom pie was full of flavour with champagne, thyme, garlic and truffle salsa mixed through with wild mushrooms and encased in freshly made puff pastry.

The sliders sandwiched very well seasoned wagyu beef patties with sliced heirloom tomato, mixed leaves, gruyere cheese and a truffle mayonnaise which I would have loved more of.

Chocolate brownie

To complete this journey of Champagne Room indulgence, there were two desserts on offer; first up a chocolate brownie.

While brownies can be hit or miss, this one was definitely a hit: rich and moist, it practically melted in the mouth, and served with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Summer fruits with champagne sabayon, vanilla and sugared pistachio

A perfect match for a balmy summer's day was the summer fruits dessert, including strawberries, raspberries and blueberries drenched in a champagne sabayon and topped with a berry sorbet.

With brunch available on weekends from 11am, Champagne Room certainly doesn't peddle the usual brunch offerings. The gorgeous selection of fresh seafood and heartier meals, and of course, Perrier-Jouet champagne makes it pure brunch decadence on Crown Street.

Champagne Room signage

Updated hours: Monday and Tuesday from 5pm - midnight; Wednesday to Sunday from 12pm - midnight 

Food, Booze & Shoes dined at the Champagne Room as a guest, with thanks to The Mint Partners.

No bones to pick at Pinbone

Posted by Kath

Weekend mornings can be as much of a mission as the weekday ones. I was on a mission of my own one Sunday: to finally experience brunch at Pinbone, where I'd been for an amazing dinner previously.

Sign at Pinbone, Jersey Road, Woollahra

With my brunch expectations relatively high, we headed to leafy Woollahra where there was, of course, a fixie parked out front of Pinbone.

Piccolo

The coffee at Pinbone is decent but it's more about the food of which they certainly have a strong quality focus. Not only are the serving sizes at Pinbone generous but so are the flavours and service.

Club Limbo - turkey, confit duck leg, bacon jam, crispy prosciutto, lettuce, tomato,
mayo and chip club sandwich with fries

Behold the Club Limbo, your not-so-average club sandwich. I was so excited to eat it that I devoured one handful of this amazing sandwich before I could contain myself enough to take a photo.

The sandwich tower of colours and textures comprised three layers of soft white bread holding together roast turkey, confit duck leg, the crispiest prosciutto, shredded lettuce, tomato and potato crisps - all doused in mayo and finished with deliciously sweet and slightly spicy bacon jam.

Served with a separate dish of fries, Club Limbo made for a formidable brunch.

Scones, smoked cheese, sausage gravy and fried eggs

Another stunner from the menu were the flavourful, albeit unphotogenic, scones with fried eggs, American-style sausage gravy and smoked cheese.

Also a generous serve with two portions of scones and eggs, the gooey smokey cheese hits from the very first mouthful, while the creamy sausage gravy just kept me coming back for more. Warning: This brunch dish is definitely not for the faint-hearted or just peckish.

Pinbone signed entrance

Satisfied and sufficiently fuelled up for another weekend, I'm glad to report that brunch at Pinbone definitely lived up to my expectations. With amazing food, friendly service and not even a wait to be seated, there really were no bones to pick at Pinbone.

Rock out or relax at Suzie Q

Posted by Kath

If you're after a place that's slightly off the beaten track of bustling cafes on Crown Street, Surry Hills, then Suzie Q Coffee and Records awaits you a stone's throw away from the main road.

Suzie Q, Hutchinson Street, Surry Hills

Stroll down Hutchinson Lane and you'll be greeted by a cosy little space that was previously a loading dock. While its past may not have been so glamorous, the space has been transformed into a relaxed and inviting place to enjoy some good coffee, delicious food and a rare music record or two.

Entrance area and part of large scale Woodstock photo

Across one wall of this hip little joint is a large-scale photograph of Woodstock which adds to the relaxed vibe and reinforces the owners' love for the classic eras of music.

Family Affair - Roast chicken, Brussels sprouts, carrots, aioli and stuffing
with a side of roast potatoes and gravy

We kicked off brunch with a number that you wouldn't often come across at this time of day called the 'Family Affair', basically a roast chicken dinner in a roll with all the trimmings.

Family Affair - Insides

And they weren't kidding about "all the trimmings" because this was literally a delicious roast chicken dinner loaded into a roll.

The roast chicken was lovely and moist with whole oven-roasted Brussels sprouts and carrots having the right amount of char, while the stuffing was deliciously genius on a sandwich.

Aioli added another element of naughtiness to the meal as if the golden roast potatoes and gravy weren't enough, the separate gravy boat of the latter helpful for slathering liberally over the feast of a sandwich between each bite, .

Baked eggs, with chickpeas, eggplant, peppers & sourdough

A special on the menu was the baked eggs which was a lot healthier than most I've encountered. Accompanied by crispy buttered sourdough, the substantial dish was jam packed with chickpeas, eggplant, peppers and of course, Two gooey-centred baked eggs.

Front counter

So take some time to explore the road less travelled - soak in some classic tunes and enjoy some inventive takes on classic brunch at Suzie Q.

Coffee hits at Seven Seeds (Melbourne)

Posted by Hendy

A coffee sourcer, micro roaster and café, Seven Seeds is a short tram ride north of the heart of Melbourne in Carlton.

Sister café to Brother Baba Budan in the city, Seven Seeds has even extended its reach to Sydney with Double Barrel Coffee Merchants (across from Wynyard Park in the city) also offering the Seven Seeds coffee blends.

Seven Seeds, Berkeley Street, Carlton, Melbourne

Located on a relatively quiet street, close to the University of Melbourne, we had a short wait for our breakfast coffee hit at Seven Seeds.

Long black

Being in a specialty coffee house, and having tried the Seven Seeds blends previously, it was going to be all about the coffee.

A long black is my standard coffee order, and this was a clean, aromatic medium roast with hints of nuttiness.

Pour over coffee - Colombia Las Delicias

The pour over coffee was listed on the menu as a single standalone item, with the staff helping us out on the various beans currently on offer and suitable for filter. 

A little picture card comes with the pour over set, explaining the origin of the beans, the farm the beans were harvested from and a small description of the region. Our first pour over was the Colombia Las Delicias beans, which were produced in the Las Delicias farm in Gigante, Colombia. 

As the brew is poured from the small jug into the cup, the aroma of the coffee spreads across the table. As with pour overs more generally, this had a very clean and subtle taste with a hint of citrus tang.

Pour-over coffee, Colombia El Hueco

The second pour over coffee was brewed using the Colombia El Hueco beans from the El Hueco farm in another Colombian region, Tarqui. This had a much sweeter note and was most pleasant to drink.

House-smoked salmon, fennel & alfalfa salad, fried capers, almond skordalia, brioche crumb, poached eggs

Having travelled through the short and sweet coffee journey, breakfast arrived. The smoked salmon and poached eggs were presented immaculately across a bed of garlicky almond skordalia, topped with an alfalfa salad.

The salmon was subtly smoked and nicely balanced with fennel shreds and capers, making for a very clean and fresh breakfast dish.

Heirloom tomato medley on toasted Turkish bread with cauliflower cream, shaved pecorino & a poached egg

Another fresh and healthy option was the colourful heirloom tomato medley, served with warm Turkish bread and a light, earthy-sweet cauliflower cream.

The bread had a crisp surface and slightly sweet-soft insides, forming a filling base for the tomatoes, cauliflower cream, shaved pecorino and fresh basil leaves which brought even more colour to the plate. 

The industrial-esque interior of Seven Seeds

Whether you visit Seven Seeds in Carlton, or any of the other 15 cafés stocking its blends, don't miss out on having a great coffee hit.

Pub brunch at The Henson

Posted by Hendy - seasoned cyclist, peaty whisky drinker, coffee Instagram-mer

For a brunch venue that's a little different to the growing number of cafés in the inner west, one weekend a friend suggested a newly-renovated pub, The Henson in Marrickville, previously known as the Henson Park Hotel.

Photo collages of Henson Park and  surrounding Marrickville area at
The Henson,  Illawarra Road, Marrickville 

Located near Marrickville's Henson Park which hosts various sporting events, The Henson is one of the more family-friendly pubs in the area.

The new renovations feature an outdoor, upcycled hipster-chic bar and spacious beer garden extending into a kids play-pen, in addition to the more traditional but updated pub inside.

The Henson's courtyard

Long black

The Henson's menu is extensive, if not eclectic, and caters to various taste buds from 11am daily; that lunch-brunch kind of time where schooners are optional.

The menu features starters that wouldn't look out of place in a restaurant, along with tacos, burgers and mains that span from tempeh to koftas to kim chee nasi goreng.

Kumera fries, nigella, tahini yoghurt

To kick off brunch, I ordered the kumera fries. Served in a plastic basket with a side of milky tahini yoghurt, lime and a sprinkle of nigella seeds, the sweet potato fries had a soft texture with the occasional crunch.

Knuckle Sandwich - wagyu brisket, fennel slaw, swiss cheese, smokey mayo on rye & chips

I could not resist the wagyu beef brisket on the menu, labelled as a Knuckle Sandwich. Comprising tender wagyu beef brisket, fennel slaw and swiss cheese bedded on rye bread, the sandwich reminded me of a good ol' Reuben sandwich with a twist.

The toasted rye worked well with the tender brisket and the fresh, crunchy slaw, served together with potato chips – making for a solid winner at brunch.

Blackened barramundi burger, coleslaw, tomato, dill pickles, tomato/beet relish & chips

The blackened barramundi burger was layered similarly to the Knuckle Sandwich with slaw, pickles and relish on a burger bun.

Served with more fluffy chips in a basket, the barramundi burger opened up to a grilled fillet of barramundi, slightly dry on the outside, followed by the crunch of the cabbage slaw and the tanginess of the pickles and relish. It was, sadly, no comparison to the Knuckle Sandwich.

Lamb koftas, flatbread, labne, fennel, chickpea olive salad, tahini & beetroot

Arriving next to the table were the lamb koftas, served with flatbread; a bowl of fennel, olive, beetroot and tahini; and small balls of labne yoghurt cheese.

The koftas were a tad dry, saved by a dollop of tahini dip, while the other sides freshened up the dish.

½ kilo buttermilk chicken wings, verde picante

To finish off the brunch run, I ordered the buttermilk chicken wings – a mixture of winglets and drumlets. Generally, I tend to avoid fried items in the morning as they tend to bog you down, but with baskets of the wings flying past all around, it smelt too darn good to pass up.

The fried chicken had a lovely texture: starting off floury, then with crunch followed by the juicy innards, while the verde picante hot green sauce served alongside packed an additional punch. I didn't have a beer at brunch but these wings would go very, very well with a nice cold one.

The Henson has done remarkably well with its recent renovation, catering for people of all ages with pub food that is fresh and different, especially for a pub brunch.