Alt Cafe, Blacktown

The city of Blacktown is slowly transforming into a Western Sydney culinary destination. There are places like Mr Ping’s Eatery, Black Bear BBQ, Green Peppercorn, Ketchup Canteen and the occasional food trucks & stalls of the Aussie Night Market. Now, another specialty eatery has joined the scene.

My prayers for a specialty cafe in Blacktown have been answered when I recently found out about ALT Cafe. They are located in the heart of Lalor Park. I really like what Osheen (head barista and owner) and his crew has done with the cafe. The space has a minimalistic look and a sleek Synesso machine that acts like a centrepiece. I love their coffee and the fact that they carry beans from the Reformatory Caffeine Lab. It’s a small all-day menu that has awesome offerings like a 300gram patty cheeseburger, a massive bacon & egg roll, French toast and more.

The house blend is the Loma blend from Reformatory. The flavours come through sweet and nutty in milk in a piccolo latte and flat white ($3.50). It had medium body and the textured milk temperature was perfect!

The OG breakfast burger ($9) here is one of the best bacon & egg rolls I’ve had. Y’all know I believe in the whole perfection in simplicity thing. The combo of texture and flavours of perfectly crisped bacon, egg, avocado and tomato relish in soft light brioche was just amazing.

The cheeseburger ($15) is massive! 300grams beef patty, sexy melted swiss and American cheese, mustard and tomato relish in a soft light brioche.  It reminds me of a Japanese style burger where the patties are smoky and peppery with a nice hint of sweetness and lots of umami. I really liked this burger but I think it could do with a smaller patty for better ratio. Nevertheless, it was ace! It’s also a steal for the price as it already comes with perfectly seasoned crisped medium thick hot chips. 

They also have a harissa fried chicken burger ($16) available on the menu, which also comes with hot chips. It has deep fried chicken breast fillet with slaw and lime mayo in a light brioche.

You can also get other usual cafe staples here like a French toast ($15). Their version comes with a salted caramel praline sauce, acai berry and fairy floss.

It’s really great to have more brunch options out in Western Sydney. I’m really looking forward to all the awesome things Alt will be doing in the Blacktown scene. Check them out when you’re in the area.

Alt Cafe
55 Turner St
Blacktown NSW
Hours:
Mon to Fri 6am to 3pm
Sat to Sun 7am to 3pm
(last order at 2pm)

Brewristas 2.0, Darlinghurst

We see some of our favourite restaurants and cafes come and go. One of those places was Brewristas in Glebe almost a year ago. It was a sad day for all of us who loved their creations like the Brewmonade and Porky Pig’s hotteok. Guess what folks? The boys are back!

Kevin Ly and the team have recently re-opened at a new location in Darlinghurst. It’s a smaller space compared to their 1.0 joint but their new pocket rocket shop delivers quite a punch. They got your espresso and filter coffee needs sorted along with a new minimalist style menu and some pastries from Brickfields. There’s a good combination of usual café-fare to Vietnamese inspired dishes.

The beans are sourced from Savant Roasters. The espresso-roast blend is a bit on the darker side. Even through a latte, the dark chocolate notes are quite defined. I’m more of light to medium roast kinda guy. But for those of you who like your coffee strong, then you will dig this. The Colombian coffee on pour over was quite juicy and nutty. The filter coffee was more of my jam.

I’m a fan of cheese toasties in general but I’m a bigger fan of the Gruyere cheese toastie ($10) here. I added ham for an extra $3. The sourdough bread was well buttered with the cheese nicely melted. It had a nice balance of sweet, sour and umami flavours.

Their Brewristas banh mi ($10) was next level! It had the classic banh mi thit salad like pickled veggies, coriander leaves, shallot, chilli and well buttered baguette-like roll. You get a choice of pork, chicken or mushrooms & tofu. I went with their extremely tasty and tender honey, shallot and black pepper pork. The bread was amazing! Quite similar to a baguette, which was flaky crisped on the outside and super soft on the inside. Seriously, this was the best non-traditional banh mi thit that I’ve had.

Last but not least is the Lunch in a Bowl ($16). It’s their take on a Vietnamese noodles salad with with vermicelli noodles, pickles, herbs, peanuts, and fish sauce dressing. You also get to choose between chicken, pork and mushroom with tofu. I opted for a perfectly cooked lemongrass and chilli chicken. The whole noodle salad dish was so flavoursome and fresh. I could have this for lunch everyday!

Version 2 of Brewristas might be smaller than its predecessor but the quality of coffee, food and service is more than ordinary. Congrats Kevin and to the rest of the crew!


Brewristas 2.0
2/303A Liverpool Street
Darlinghurst NSW
Open 7 days, 6:30am – 4pm

Caffeine Villains Espresso Bar, Newport - Sydney Nothern Beaches

The Northern beaches of Sydney has a badass coffee joint in their midst. Caffeine Villains is a family run cafe in the heart of Newport. They have only been around for a few months but locals and people from different parts of Sydney have been flocking to this spot since their opening day. It’s probably mostly due to the powerhouse husband and wife owners Alberto (ex Three Rosetta and Cavalier Espresso) and Barbara Fuerte (ex Three Rosetta and Back & Forth Castlecrag).

   

Tucked away within the shopping area of Newport and just a short walk from the beach is where you’ll find Caffeine Villains. The space has a warm and modern beach shack type vibe going on. Alberto is one of the best baristas around. So with his mad skills and Melbourne’s St Ali beans put in the mix, y’all know magic is about to happen! Then there are Barbara’s creations taking inspiration from different cuisines like the Philippines, Japan and Mediterranean countries. There is no doubt that this place has got it going on!

Both the flat white ($3.50) and piccolo latte ($3.50) we ordered had the perfect milk temperature and velvet texture. Whilst the flat white was sweet and smooth, their piccolo was rich with dark chocolate notes. Alberto really knows how to deal with St Ali’s dark roast coffee beans.

Every now and then, they have beans from guest roasters. I was lucky that during our visit, I got to try a beautiful Colombian coffee from Kwila.

The CV Benny ($18) has gotta be one of the most beautiful looking brunch dishes I have come across! It’s an exceptional Japanese inspired twist to the traditional eggs benedict. The most notable parts of this dish was the textural contrast and flavours between the umami packed house smoked salmon and nutty flavoured brown rice wrapped in nori. The perfectly poached eggs and wasabi hollandaise sauce is the icing on the cake.

Y’all know those amazing burgers at Back & Forth in Castlecrag? Barbara’s the genius behind all of that! So I was pumped to see a double cheeseburger on the menu. The Caffeine Villains Double Cheeseburger ($16) is a work of art. A beautifully stacked dish of juicy double beef patties and double melted cheese, CHEESE SAUCE, bacon, onions, pickles, lettuce, tomato sauce and mustard in a soft charcoal milk bun. This burger didn’t really need the lettuce but I do really appreciate that there’s only a small portion of it. This burger was saucy but not too messy and just packed and layered with great flavours. Umami galore yo! I would smash this again for sure! For some chips on the side, just add $2.

The buttermilk pancakes ($14) tastes as beautiful as it looks! Stacks of fluffy pancakes topped with nutella, strawberries, blueberries, fresh cream and vanilla ice cream.

Congrats to my homies Alberto and Barbara for doing a great job with Caffeine Villains. Y’all need to hit them up when you’re in the Nothern Beaches area.

Caffeine Villains
Shop 7/331-335 Barrenjoey Road
Newport NSW
Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri 6:00am to 3:30pm
Sat-Sun 7:00pm to 2:30pm