Le Pain Quotidien

Le Pain Quotidien

Level 4,

Pitt St Mall Westfield Sydney

http://www.lepainquotidien.com.au/

The idea behind "Le Pain Quotidien" is simply to make a good daily bread, a handmade bread with a good crust and a firm slice, the kind of bread that makes great tartiness. Bread not only to nourish the body, but the spirit as well. A bread best shared around the table, to be savoured amongst friends.

Le Pain Quotidien. How do you pronounce that?? I've been saying Quo-ti-di-en but I have a feeling I'm saying it wrong. I'm pretty sure the proper pronunciation is more fluid (and french).

Gotta love good cafes in the Sydney CBD, and I think I've hit the jackpot with this one. Only disappointment is that they don't serve the usual bacon and poached eggs breakfasts :(

Cafe Interior

At the end of the cafe is a large round table which is great for random chit-chat with strangers (mostly with older people so I wouldn't come here to pick up haha). The floor to ceiling glass lets you watch the city go by.

I tried Le Pain Quotidien about a week ago and liked it so much that I returned with my sister. These photos are from both the visits. No I don't eat that much :)

Skim Cappuccino ($3.25)

The coffee here is served in bowls so you cup the bowl with both hands to drink it!

Pain au chocolat ($4.25)

Organic soft boiled egg/s with organic bread soldiers (2 eggs, $7.95)

Okay so I think the way you're supposed to eat this is crack the top of the egg, peel off the shell, and then spoon the runny yolk onto the bread soldiers. And then eat it. Yum! Its also very nice with a little bit of vegemite and butter, something recommended by A :) Although don't put vegemite on the sweet breads.. it doesn't taste very nice.

Roast beef with caper mayonnaise, diced tomatoes & shallots tartine ($13.95)

Tartines are open sandwiches made with organic wheat bread, greens and fresh herbs. They're also served with some fruit which is a nice touch.

I ordered the beef tartine and it was delicious. The seeded mustard and beef combination works really well. Theres also a side of gherkins and honeydew (for dessert? haha)

Rustic Tuna salad with tomatoes, black olive tapenade and roasted red peppers ($12.95)

The Good: Centrally located in the new Pitt St mall, coffee in cute bowls, roast beef tartine and breads baked daily

The Bad: Tables are a bit small. A bit pricier than your standard cafe.

Mario Tokyo, Japanese Pizza, Strathfield

Mario Tokyo

Shop 2/11 Strathfield Plaza

The Boulevarde Strathfield

9746 2022

Strathfield is well known for its abundance of Korean restaurants so it was interesting to spot a Japanese Pizza place along the main street. And even better- it does breakfast!

Coffee

Big Breakfast with poached eggs

Big Breakfast with scrambled eggs

Its not really a 'big breakfast'. Its actually quite healthy since salad leaves, roasted tomato and mushrooms make up half the breakfast. It was quite good, even though it was missing those greasy hashbrowns that are awesome for breakfast.

Mario Tokyo is a cute little cafe/pizzeria/japanese joint (wow that sounds like an identity crisis) and well worth a try.

Toros Tapas and Bar, Spanish, Darling Harbour

Toros Tapas and Bar

Harbourside, Darling Harbour

9280 0706

My ideal start to a lazy Sunday morning is having breakfast along the harbour. Initially our plan was to breakfast at the Mecca Espresso in Ultimo but upon arriving.. it was closed! How disappointing since D had researched it and it was supposed to be open 8am-3pm on Sundays.

Anyways so our second choice was one of the cafes around Darling Harbour. We walked along the promenade and most of the cafes/restaurants were offering similar choices- big breakfasts, eggs benedict etc w/coffee or juice for around $12-$13- which is quite cheap. Toros caught our eye because it served 'canadian style breakfast'- that is pancakes with eggs and bacon. Sounds weird right?

We each started off with coffee.. 2 soy cappucinos and 2 skim cappucinos.

They sort of all look the same so I've just uploaded one photo instead of four. At first D & I were accidentally served the soy caps- which made me go 'this coffee tastes really strange'. But thankfully the waitress correctly it quickly after so we just swapped coffees.. Kind of awkward eating all the froth and then giving your coffee to someone else..

Big Breakfast - Bacon and poached eggs served with toast, tomatoes and mushrooms

The big breakfast is normally supposed to have lamb and rosemary chipolatas but I changed that to mushrooms- which was nice of the restaurant because I know some places are really strict when it comes to altering the 'specials'.

I enjoyed this. The poached eggs were great and runny. Bacon was nice and crispy. Serving size was fantastic, I could'nt finish it and had quite a bit left.

Canadian Breakfast- Pancakes with maple syrup served with bacon and fried egg

Voila! Looks intense huh? The three other girls ordered this and they all seemed to enjoy it. I think the sweetness of the maple syrup goes well with the saltiness of the bacon.

The verdict

I'll start by saying that the food was good, the coffee was good and generally overall it was good. When we asked for the bill I was surprised to see a $2.50 per head surcharge. Now this was unexpected. When we were deciding on which cafe to eat at there was no mention of a Sunday surcharge or any surcharge whatsoever on Toro's menu. It was misleading because if we had known about the surcharge we would have gone to one of the other cafes. I also think that surcharges (At least % surcharges) for Sunday may be illegal?

For us it was more that we weren't expecting a surcharge rather than the cost of the surcharge itself. $2.50 isnt much but its always unpleasant when you are hit with an extra cost that you didn't expect. I understand that the cafe may have higher staff costs on Sundays but there should have been a bigger sign or something.. The breakfast specials were advertised as $12 for the big breakfast with coffee and $13 for the canadian breakfast with coffee.. it didnt mention any surcharge. Anyways I'm not too fussed by the surcharge because $15 for breakfast and coffee is actually quite cheap and we we rent ripped off. But it would have been nice to know about the surcharge before we sat down.. And what if we had just gotten a $3.50 coffee? Does that mean my coffee becomes $6? Now that gets a bit ridiculous.

What do you guys think? Would you also feel annoyed by a surcharge?

Three Tone Cafe, Haymarket

Three Tone Cafe,

Shop 8, 405 Sussex Street Sydney

Last week smh wrote an article about some of the best cafes in Sydney. Mentioned in their article http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/blogs/table-talk/wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee-the-smh-good-cafe-guide-is-here-20110617-1g897.html was Three Tone Cafe.

Three Tone Cafe in the middle of Sussex and Dixon Streets and you don't really notice it other than for a little blackboard sign outside the cafe. So after hearing about it my sister & I decided that we would come for breakfast and give their coffee a try.

The menu has a bit of everything... pastas, big breakfasts, open grill sandwiches and various vietnamese foods

And the coffee!!

Eggs Benedict

Not the typical sourdough eggs benedict.. although it was very pretty it was very generous and hearty. The additional salad leaves were actually really good because it make the breakfast a bit more balanced. I wished my poached egg was a bit more runny though..

Big Breakfast

Now for $11.90 this was fricking huge. D & I managed to get through only half of this (mostly the mushrooms and the sausage) and most of the toast was untouched. The serving size was biggggg.

Overall it was okay... I found the coffee to be good but I dont know if I can rave about it. It certainly is better than most of the cafes around Haymarket though.

Avenue Rd, Cafe, Mosman

Avenue Rd Cafe

185 Avenue Road, Mosman

My sister had lunch at Avenue Rd on Sunday afternoon and was more than happy to share her experience. It was her dear high school friend A's wedding that day and what better way to pass the time between the ceremony and the reception other than to eat and chat over coffee?

Berry Shake

Avenue Rd Burger, beef pattie wrapped in proscuitto, fried egg, beetroot relish, tomato and aioli

Prawn Linguine

Eggs Benedict, poached eggs, thick cut white toast, hollandaise sauce and bacon

And ofcourse... coffee

She thought it was very nice and would happily make the trek to Mosman again :)

Glass Brasserie, Hilton, Sydney

Glass Brasserie

Level 2, 488 George Street Sydney

Hilton Hotel

www.glassbrasserie.com.au

So today I took a day off, time in lieu, and started it off with buffet breakfast at the Glass Brasserie Hilton Hotel Sydney. What better way to start a three day weekend other than to feast on a humongous breakfast range?

Its nearing the end of my rotation and soon I will be moving to our office near King St Wharf .. for four whole months. No more Hunter Connection lunches, Jimmy's hainan chicken and food from Pitt St mall :( Sad..

But its okay, its good because it means now I can actually get back in shape! I feel like lately all I've been doing is eat (which ironically is why I blog) and I cannot handle all this gluttony. I must cut down on excessively high calorie foods and up the ante on gym classes.

Anyways so back to breakfast. Waaahhh so good lah!! I arrived early and spent a good 10 minutes walking around taking photos. Its so nice to have good lighting and seriously, I should just blog about breakfast and lunch because most of my dinner photos turn out sh!t.

Restaurant interior

Wine Bar

I wonder how they get the wine bottles from the very top... ladder maybe? Or maybe they are just for show and you don't actually GET them... just like the fish in Chinese restaurant tanks.

Fresh juices

Didnt get to try any of these but from memory they had pineapple, orange, mango, apple etc

Cereal and fresh fruit bar

Spot the mangos

Freshly squeezed juices

AAAHH!! These were fantastic. The glass with the fruit shows you whats in the fruit juice mixes and I tried the Dragon fruit, orange, watermelon, rockmelon and pineapple one and also the mango and wheatgrass one. The mango and wheatgrass one was really good! The lady at this stall was very sweet and I think you can also make your own juice and choose your own fruits.

Fruit Bar

Strawberries, Grapes, Pineapples, Rockmelon, Honeydew and Watermelon

Super vege shots

I've never even heard of carrot or beetroot shot. Sounds too weird for me. I gave the wheatgrass shot a go and didn't mind the taste. L tried the beetroot shot.. didnt seem like it was very enjoyable.

Asian Breakfast Bar

Actually more like japanese breakfast bar.. no congee here.

Cheese platter

Cheese for breakfast? Really? Is that normal?

Cold Items Breakfast Bar

Look at the tubs of Philadelphia cream cheese! I love food that comes in individual portion sizes. So cute. Its cute like how baby socks are so adorable and cute :)

Salmon, capers and cream cheese on mini breakfast roll was delish.

Yoghurt .. and Yakult

I was shocked to see Yakult here.. I didn't expect it to be a popular breakfast item. I had to get one. Also tried the guava yoghurt which didn't taste anything like yoghurt. Taste like guava puree which is alot better than yoghurt. For all the yoghurt enthusiasts out there, don't worry- they have three yoghurt choices with like muesli, fruits and ecetera

Grilled Mushrooms

Crispy Bacon

Sausages

Roasted tomato and spinach, hash browns, french toast, grilled peaches and poached eggs

Pastries ..

I didn't get to try any of these but they look great

My drinks!

Lightly sparkling mount franklin (couldn't find any still), mango and wheatgrass juice and yakult.

By the way they also make coffees and teas to order- the proper barista types. Super duper happy.

My Breakfast No #1

Another breakfast plate (not mine)..

Okay.. this one I will admit is mine..

Glass is a fantastic place to have buffet breakfast if you have a few spare hours in the morning. The fresh fruit/juice/made to order options are so vast and great tasting and the service is superb. Love the made to order coffee and tea options. Definitely recommended!