Brewristas, Glebe

Something I'm bringing over from last year to this year (and forever) is my obsession with filter coffee. I especially can't get enough of Ethiopia Yigracheffe cold drips! The fruity and floral flavours of the coffee from that region is so vibrant. I've been eyeing a particular Glebe specialty coffee joint for a while now that specialises in cold brew coffee. It goes by the name of Brewristas.

Simon a.k.a @Coffeeguru_

Filter Brewmaster Kevin

My buddy Simon D aka @Coffeeguru_ is one of the baristas at Brewristas and the person that has put this place on my radar. Soon as I found out that they are doing cold brews blended with lemon or tea, the coffee geek in me just wanted to visit them ASAP! So some food lovin' buddies of mine and I went to check them out at the beginning of the year.

This joint has a mixture of vintage and industrial fit out. Aside from the Synesso machine set-up at the shopfront, they also have a sleek brew bar at the back. The bar showcases v60 pour overs, a black EK43 grinder, siphons, steampunk and a neon blue-lited fridge for their cold brews! I was like a kid in a toy store!

The Drinks

Piccolo latte

The house blend used for their milk-based coffees is Sensory Lab's steadfast blend. I had a piccolo latte ($3.30) prepared by Simon and it tasted amazing! It had a medium to full body with sweet notes of milk chocolate. The textured milk's temperature was perfect.

We tried the cold brews prepared by Kevin:

Cold brew

We started with their current coffee cold brew ($9), which is a cold drip of Ethiopia Yigracheffe coffee roasted by Brewrista themselves. It was a little bit floral with fruity and chocolate sweet notes with medium body.

Then we had their brewtea ($10), which was a blend of the above mentioned cold drip coffee and a cold drip of black tea. The lovely aroma of lychee was quite strong. It was sweet with notes of stonefruits and lychee.

Their brewmonade ($10) is their popular cold brew and I could understand why. It was sweet, citrusy and refreshing! I could keep going but I didn't want to get too caffeinated and start bouncing off the walls.

The nutella frappe ($7) tasted as great as it looked! It was heavy with an intense  gianduja (chocolate & hazelnut paste) flavour and I love intense chocolate hazelnut flavours! If you want to take it to the next level, they also have the ultimate nutella frappe ($10) that has additional condensed milk and brownie.

The Food

Coconut poached chicken salad ($16): with spinach, fennel, coriander, watercress, topped with fried shallots, drizzled with a pomegranate infused lemon dressing

Let me start by saying that the grilled eggplant stack ($14) was amazing! It also had grilled zucchini, roasted tomato, mushrooms, Thai pesto, bocconcini, sweet potato pureé with additional chorizo ($3 extra). The soft textures with the creamy, caramelised and sweet flavours is addictive. The chorizo gives a nice garlicy and salty flavour contrast in this dish. This is a must for anyone who loves eggplant like myself.

Then there's the delicious Kevin's balls (4 pieces for $10). The awesomeness of these balls starts with the crispy shim ramyun crust, which is then followed by the juicy and spicy roast pork belly and kimchi on the inside. The sweet potato adds extra sweetness to balance out the flavours and the tofu gives a contrast silky texture.

When bacon & egg roll gets together with the korean pancake known as hotteok, a delicious open sandwich beauty called Porky Pig's hotteok ($15) is born! The hotteok itself is similar to a doughy bakpia/hopia rather than the traditional flakey pancake and is used as buns in this dish. The honey jam gives a delicious sweet flavour that compliments the salty bacon. The poached egg had a perfect runny yolk. The guacamole and habanero mayo gave it a nice twist. The rocket gave a good fresh balance to the dish.

There is no doubt that their milk-based and filter coffee is excellent. The food is not only delicious but innovative too. Brewristas is a great addition to the Glebe neighbourhood and Sydney cafe scene.

Brewristas

73 Glebe Point Road

Glebe NSW

Wesbite: http://www.brewristas.com.au 

Trading hours

Monday to Friday:

8:00am to 2:00pm

6:00pm to 10:00pm

Saturday:

9:00am to 12:00pm

Sunday:

9:00am to 9:00pm

Hawker - Malaysian Street Food, Sydney

Mamak Restaurant of Sydney needs no introduction. Many of Sydney's food enthusiasts highly rate this establishment as one of the most favourite Asian restaurants in this city. The amount of awards that they have received throughout the years since opening in 2008 is a sign of their success and excellence. There are also the queues of customers that continuously form every lunch and dinner time outside their venue to prove that.    

Aside from their other branches in Chatswood and Melbourne, the team behind Mamak recently opened a new venture in the form of Hawker. It focuses more on popular Malaysian-Chinese dishes like curry laksa, popiah, and an all-time favourite of mine, char koay teow. The interior fit out has a studio gallery-like look and vibe. There are sittings for 2 and for groups of 4 or more. I was so pumped up when I heard that Team Mamak was about to open this place. I went to check them out on their second week of opening. 

Kat chai suen mui ($4) - Calamansi lime and preserved sour plum on ice

Assam laksa

The first thing we ordered was their assam laksa ($12) as I heard great things about it. It did not disappoint at all! It was pretty mind blowing. It's a rice noodle dish with tamarind fish-based broth that also contains shredded fish, cucumber, mint, pineapple, and lettuce. Firstly, my sense of sight feasted on how nice it looked and it was shortly followed by the fragrant smell of mint. The sweet, fruity and sour flavours from the tamarind and other components in broth was well-balanced and addictive. It was also spicy with hints of briney fish flavour. I would definitely come back for this dish again.

Char koay teow

They also make an amazing char koay teow ($14) which most of us also refers to as CKT. It had rice noodles, prawns, egg, beans sprouts, lap cheong and stir fried in a soy-based blend sauce. First of all, it had a lot of wok hei, which is one of the crucial parts of an excellent CKT. The smoky and sweet flavours were so distinct and everything in it was cooked perfectly in my opinion. I loved that it had a lot of lap cheong too!

Apam balik

Last but not least, we had the apam balik ($6), which is a crispy turnover pancake with crushed peanuts, butter and creamed corn. The pancake part is a wafer-like crispy crepe. The crushed peanuts, butter and creamed corn worked so well together with the pancake. It was buttery and sweet on the inside.

Hawker is nothing short of excellent. The staffs were friendly and attentive whilst the food was very delicious. I can't wait to return to try their other dishes like the Ikan Bakar and Curry Laksa. 

Hawker - Malaysian Street Food

Shop G.02

345B-353 Sussex Street

Sydney NSW 2000

Phone: 02 9264 9315

Trading hours:

Monday-Sunday 

Lunch 11:30 am to 2:30pm

Dinner 5:30pm to 10:00pm