Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Mini Food Crawl - Reuben Hills, El Loco, & Messina


Forget pub crawls, food crawling is the new deal! It is also known as progressive lunch/dinner or food tripping.

A few weeks ago, I carefully planned my food route. I decided to visit three eating joints, namely: Reuben Hills, El Loco and Messina.

Reuben Hills




Tip number one to food crawling, include a place that serves caffeine or sugary beverages. You need the buzz/energy to pursue your crawl journey. One cafe that has been getting a lot of buzz in the social media network is   Reuben Hills. I love my coffee and cafes so, I was very keen to visit this place.

Reuben Hills is a new-ish cafe establishment on Albion St,  at Sydney's cafe central which is Surry Hills. It has a  rustic contemporary industrial kind of look. It has a very strong coffee culture as expected from a Surry Hills cafe. They even have their own coffee lab on site!



Cappuccino


Skim flat white ($3.50). The coffee is a little bit on the strong side but very smooth and not bitter. It looks very enticing!


Not only do they make good coffee they also prepare good food. I went with their popular "the not reuben" ($16) sandwich. The wagyu salt brisket was so tender. It has well balanced salty and tangy flavours. It also has melted manchego, horseradish cream & pickled slaw that made it the perfect sandwich package.


99 Breakfast at Tiffany's ($15). It is a fluffy brioche sandwich with flavourful garlicy chorizos, ranchero sauce and crispy onion. Do try this amazing item!


As the food & coffee were quite filling, I decided to order a takeaway of the salted caramel shake ($6.50) It is one amazing shake! It is like a liquified version of a salted caramel macaron filling.


El Loco




This is another joint that has been getting a lot of good reviews. Especially amongst food bloggers. The menu has been designed by renowned Sydney chef, Dan Hong.





They serve Mexicali (Mexican & Californian) food with a  twist. It is located inside the Excelsior Hotel on Foveaux Street, Surry Hills.




Tip number two, don't order too much on the second joint. I ordered the Excelsior hot dog ($9).  I love the generous amount of awesome grated cheese that the grilled pork Frankfurt is topped with.   It also contains pico de gallo, pickled jalapenos, and mayonnaise encased in a soft bun. In my opinion, hands down, it is so far the best hotdog I've tried in Sydney!


Messina (Gelato Messina)







Tip number three, make room for desserts. For me, there is always room for dessert! After all the savoury goodies, it was time to sweeten it up and just chill. I decided to relax at Gelato Messina, home of the best Gelato in Sydney!



Salted caramel and white chocolate gelato ($3.90 a scoop). It was an instant winner! My tastebuds went crazy! It wasn't too sweet thanks to the salted caramel component.


Cheesecake gelato ($3.90 a scoop). You've guessed it! It tastes like cheesecake! It has bits of biscuits to give the gelato that cheesecake effect. It has a delicate lemon flavour that helps mellow down the richness of the cream cheese taste.


So there you have it! My mini food crawl! Expect to see more food crawl reviews in the future from me! Till then, eat up!

Reuben Hills
61 Albion St
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Open 7 days - 7am to 4pm

Reuben Hills on Urbanspoon

El Loco
64 Foveaux Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Hours:
Sun 12-10pm
Mon-Wed 12pm-1am
Thu-Sat 12pm-3am

El Loco on Urbanspoon

Messina
241 Victoria Street
Darlinghurst NSW 2010
Hours: Sun-Thu 12-11pm; Fri-Sat 12-11:30pm

Gelato Messina Darlinghurst on Urbanspoon
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13 comments:

  1. MelApril 3, 2012 at 8:32 PM

    Food crawl - now you're talking! What a great day out...dying to get to Reuben Hills.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tina@foodboozeshoesApril 3, 2012 at 8:34 PM

    I generally don't like hot dogs, but cover it in mayo and cheese and apparently I love them! I'm still dying to try that salted caramel shake!

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  3. gastronomous anonymousApril 4, 2012 at 10:42 AM

    love a good food crawl! did that for my hens and loved it! will have to do it again soon i think.....

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  4. Penny aka jeroxieApril 6, 2012 at 2:07 PM

    Love all these places! Let me know next time you are in my hood.

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  5. sirandmladylikeluxuryApril 6, 2012 at 3:30 PM

    Certainly like the idea of food crawls or progressive dinners - the variety is better. Enjoyed your update!

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  6. thang@noodliesApril 9, 2012 at 9:24 AM

    Ok, 99 breakfast at tiffany's is for me, delish1

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  7. UnknownApril 9, 2012 at 11:47 AM

    I've always wanted to tro El Locco! I've heard so many good things about it: atmosphere and the food!

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  8. misskliciousApril 9, 2012 at 8:22 PM

    Salted caramel shake sounds like a must try!

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  9. Vivian - vxdollfaceApril 10, 2012 at 9:43 PM

    haha i agree with you! BEST hot dog in syd :D messy though

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  10. rockahenryApril 12, 2012 at 11:31 AM

    lol dude i love these food crawls of yours! now... whens our ramen one happening? haha.

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  11. joey@forkingaroundsydneyApril 14, 2012 at 11:03 AM

    Must bring my US friend to El Loco and see what he thinks of Aussie Mexican food! :-)

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  12. AnonymousMay 9, 2012 at 2:02 PM

    Sorry guys the best reuben can be found at a cafe called spilling the beans cafe located at 215 Clarence street, Sydney.

    Got to check this place out, its a must.

    ReplyDelete
  13. cooksuckMay 21, 2012 at 1:06 PM

    ^^ was it posted anywhere that this was the best reuben? no it wasn't.

    great post, heaven!

    ReplyDelete

Let me know what ya think, aight! Would love to hear from ya.