Taste Orange – Martin Place

From 20-22 August, 11:30am- 2:30pm and 5pm-8pm, the vineyards of Orange came to Martin Place and set up barrels of wine for everyone to taste, sample and buy.

This was lunch break challenge #2. North Sydney -> Wynyard -> walk to Martin Place, sample at least 5-6 different wines -> walk back to Wynyard -> catch the train to North Sydney. Done and dusted and this is how it went.

The flags signified the #TasteOrangeNSW presence.

There was a little chalkboard sign with the details.

It was a bit quiet when I was there and not many people were sitting down and enjoying the performance from Gabe Middleton. She had such a nice voice and sang some great music!

It was really cute having the signs up for individual wineries. I mean, they were bringing the country into the city! #countrygirl

What I really loved about the festival was that there were plenty of brochures everywhere. There has been so many times that I’ve missed out on important information because it wasn’t distributed correctly. These brochures were super special because they had a 10% off voucher- doesn’t everyone feel great when they got a great deal!

There were buckets of chilled wine.. from your red Shiraz, to your white Chardonnay.. it was all there.

Some funky labels were also on the wine bottles. There’s some potential out there..!

As I went past all the mini stalls and meeting the owners of these vineyards, the favourite was no doubt the tasting! Wines are unique and everyone has their flavours they like and dislike. This was a great opportunity to sample, taste and buy!

To be honest, it wasn’t even that expensive. Wine bottles ranged from $15 up.. but mind you, there were some that were $$$$$. I was even talking to one of the guys there and he said that it’s all organic and made by hand!

Aside from the wine tasting, there were a few stalls around with food. To my surprise, everything was only $5 to eat! That’s an awesome lunch/dinner!

An organic fruit market was there..

and some samples of pumpkin/cashew, blue vein/pistachio.. that one was soooo goood!

Unlike a lot of festivals, there were benches that people could sit around. I really liked the wooden feel to this event. Not only that, but everyone was so chilled, happy and ready for a drink!

@TasteOrange commented on my Instagram in which I wrote “Who says I can’t have wine for lunch?” and they replied “Wine is a food group@angela_bee!” Wine is made from grapes and grapes is fruit! #nailedIT!

Rating Review: (1-5, with 5 being exceptional)

Product (wine from Taste Sydney): 5/5

Ambience: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Value: 5/5

Would I recommend going to Taste Orange? Definitely an awesome place to catch up with friends while sampling and buying some wine! I was quite worried about the weather but it was a bit sunny. Once I got back to work, I was telling my colleagues to go tomorrow!

Highlight: I loved the set up. There was basically a circular stand so you just had to walk in a circle around. The stalls weren’t overly huge, but small enough so that each person had their selection on display. That made it more lively as opposed to those exhibitions where it was just too spaced out..

Suggestion of improvement: It could’ve been better if there were maybe two people at each stall? I found it difficult getting samples from some places because there was only one representative, but having said that, there were some stalls with 2-3 people and that really helped! One person would look after the sales, and the other person would be converting them.

Ends: August 22, 2014

Link: http://www.tasteorange.com.au/tasteorangesydney_promo

Angela Bee

$4 drinks at Harbour View Hotel – North Sydney

From 5:30-7pm, Harbour View Hotel at 17 Blue Street North Sydney has $4 drinks and $10 cocktails: the pianist plays, you listen, and have (multiple) drinks.

Funnily enough, this hotel is right next to where I work so it was definitely too convenient when my friends asked to come here. I was stoked!

When you walk up the stairs at the main entrance, head to the left and follow the path into the door glasses.

The place is spacious, modern and the people in there were classy, dressed up and potentially for the slightly older crowd. But I must admit, I would prefer it here because chairs and tables were apart, you could have your long discussions where you could easily hear the other person, and it’s not that busy.

In the background there was a lovely lady playing the piano and singing soulfully. Elegant.So we looked at the drinks and the choices were basically from wine and beer for $4.

The cocktails were $10 before 7 and listed below is the list.

There were quite a few bartenders which was great and we didn’t have to wait to be served! What’s even better was that we were able to get a tab card and bill it all onto it.

As a result, we had 2 rounds of cocktails:
A martini with too much salt on its brim, a Slice of Heaven which tasted like creaming soda which was sooooooo delicious, and a martini which tasted like kerosene. LOL. #obviouslythepeoplewhohadithadfunopinions

Second round we all got coffee martinis and they were absolutely fantastic! If you’re a coffee drinker, this is your cocktail!

There’s also mulled wine FYI! Fantastic for the winter blues.

There was even a wine cellar in the bar and we were there for quite some time. Because one of my friends had been to the hotel before, a secret sneaky thought is going up to the 14th level (the top) and looking out at the window. It’s magic and it is why I call this area my new home.

Scenic tip – head back out to the entrance, go up and down the stairs on the right and end up at Lavender Bay. At the Indian Harbourview restaurant, walk down and you’ll be at the water. Follow the path to the left and it will lead you go Luna Park and the Harbour Bridge 🙂

Rating Review: (1-5, with 5 being exceptional)

Product ($4 drinks and $10 cocktails at Harbour View Hotel North Sydney): 5/5

Ambience: 4/5

Service: 5/5

Value: 4/5

Would I recommend going to Harbour View Hotel bar? Yes! bars in the city tend to be too busy and filled with a gazillion business workers. You can’t get a drink because the line is too long and you can’t hear your mates next to you because there are too many people. This place takes advantage of its space with a very chilled area and fast service.

Highlight: being able to have your space is a key factor in my books. If you want a place to chat and catch up with friends then this is the place to be..the prices for its cocktails don’t reflect how much they are actually worth so take advantage of the specials before 7!

Suggestion of improvement: would’ve loved to have the harbour view as the window seat but you can’t complain about it’s locality! It’s next to the train station, a 2 min walk from the water, and opposite Greenwood Plaza so if you need cheap food then it’s sorted!

Ends: never, but occurs daily

Angela Bee

Upcoming events

Free ferry to Glebe Island – Sydney International Boat Show

Anyone heard of Glebe Island? Free entry to Glebe Island from Darling Harbour for the Sydney International Boat Show on July31- August 4, 2014 was pretty cool.

Funny story. I was casually walking to the Growers Markets Pyrmont from Townhall, passed through Darling Harbour, and saw this.

Yup, this got the ball rolling and so my friends and I decided to hop on board. Where was Glebe Island? Does Glebe Island exist? How come I’ve never seen heard of it before? We decided to line up and find the answers.

“While the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre undergoes a major upgrade over the next three years, the Sydney International Boat Show will move its undercover exhibits to the interim facility that has been specially built at the historic working port known as Glebe Island”.

OK. So it is something according to the Sydney International Boat Show website.

We lines up in the massive line and only waited for 5 minutes before boarding a Captain a Cook Cruise ship. Today was very windy and if you were in the sun, it was a nice spring day. The double decker boat was huge and everyone filed in pretty quickly.

A ferry ride to normally costs around$12 return. Leaving the harbour, it was perfect.

It was calm and relaxed and everyone seemed to enjoy the ride. It was really windy at the top but we weren’t going that quickly.

We sailed under the Pyrmont bridge..

…I love calling this city my home.

Thank you big red boat!

and arrived at Glebe Island.

We walked past the Life Jacket Lounge, where there were lounges, meals, a bar..

and ended up at the entrance of the temporary Sydney Exhibition Centre!

Oh $21 adult admission fee no thank you! I do like an occasional ride on a boat but no super keen to own one.

Here’s a glimpse of it inside before we jetted back.

Thanks for the unexpected ride and wow! The line was pretty long towards the afternoon! #partycrashers #festivalcrashers

Rating Review: =D  =)  =|  =(

Product (free ferry ride to Glebe Island): =D

Ambience: =D

Service: =D

Value: =D

Would I recommend going on the free trip to Glebe Island? If you’re going to the boat show, this is the best way if transport. I mean, how often do you get somewhere via boat? Normally it is quite pricey and if you’re here in Sydney for the first time, then this would’ve been the perfect opportunity to see more of the harbour! It’s stunning!

Highlight: #datview #enoughsaid #mysterytrip

Suggestion of improvement: it would’ve been nice if we received some brochures about where we were going and what it was specifically for!

Ends: August 4, 2014, occurs annually

Link: http://www.sydneyboatshow.com.au/

Angela Bee

Sydney Morning Herald Growers Markets Pyrmont

Sydney Morning Herald Growers Markets next to The Star was kinda like Eveleigh Markets, but with a killer view and much spread out. They are held on the first Saturday of each month and I decided to go on August 2, 2014.

“Located by Sydney Harbour at the picturesque Pyrmont Bay Park, The Sydney Morning Herald Growers’ Market features more than 70 producers’ stalls selling everything from fresh fruit and seasonal vegetables to venison, lamb, beef, rare-breed pork and seafood. Loyal regulars and visitors make a morning of it with specialty breakfasts, locally-roasted coffee and much more”.

You know what? I honestly thought the markets were at Pirraham? Park and not actually right next to The Star. Cut my walking time by a good 5 minutes and increased the amount of spending by 5 minutes. Maybe it was a good thing? Maybe it was a bad thing for my wallet? Anyways..

The first thing I noticed about these markets was the spaciousness of it. The large white tents were nicely spaced out into a large oval, and then another strip of stalls were down at the water.

Secondly, like Eveleigh, there were many samples but of course not as many. There were stalls which I’d never seen before at markets! Yay! Efendy had these delicious dips for sampling.

This sounds amazing! Natural makeup made from food! Edible makeup? Wow!

EatMeChutneys saves squishy, wonky, wounded, unsold produce and makes epic ‘rescued’ chutneys.

These are the best oranges in the planet! We had some samples and their sweetness radar goes +1000000000

Some lemonade for the sunny day.

And even some pink lady apples including their trees hahah.

Towards the waters edge, I cannot believe how great these photos look!

It’s not everyday you have a market right next to the Harbourside! The farmers must love coming here once a month to have a different sea change.

Notable stalls that also come here are Sonoma, Farmer Jos, Ruby and Rach, and Ocello.

There’s even a fun saucisson stall with French girls in berets and a very charismatic French Monsieur!

There are also some nice plants to buy and it’s good to know there’s a bit of parking around.

Some girls brought in some mushrooms for show and tell!

The areas to site down were huge and grassy. Very picturesque.

Easily a great place to chill outside and these markets will go off during summer!

No literally…!!!

Rating Review: =D  =)  =|  =(

Product (SMH Growers Markets Pyrmont): =)

Ambience: =)

Service: =)

Value: =)

Would I recommend going to Growers Markets Pyrmont? If you live in the area, it would be good. There’s a lot of a produce but not a huge huge amount if variety. There was one cheese shop and a lot of them had egg and bacon rolls. They were $5-$6 each so grab brekkie here!

Highlight: the location is central to everything. I was walking from Townhall so I passed Darling Harbour. It’s right next to the wharf so it’s a good stroll after looking at the markets. The Star is right next to the markets too and Messina and Zumbo are there! You can kill 5 birds with a stone! (Not literally!!)

Suggestion of improvement: I think we were until about 11:30 and the stalls were already closing! I’m super used to Eveleigh Markets which close up at around 12:30-1ish and so this was quite early..but then again the farmers do drive a long way to get here!

Ends: August 2, 2014 and occurs on the first Saturday of each month

Link: http://www.growersmarketpyrmont.com.au/

Angela Bee

Aroma Festival 2014 – The Rocks

The smell of coffee is by far one of the best aromas we love on a day-to-day basis. The Rocks held their annual Aroma Festival on 10am-5pm Sunday 27 July, 2014 and the turnout was definitely a reflection of the popular scent.

 

“See it all and much more as roasters grind, baristas pour, milk froths, machines whirr, music drifts and thousands of cups are filled, sampled and sipped at the main event on Sunday 27 July”.

How brilliant was the sun on Sunday? Even though there was trackwork on my line, I still managed to head out to Sydney’s biggest coffee event.

Walking from Wynyard station, I was shocked to see the amount of people lining up at the white tents walking towards MCA to meet my friend. It took me a good 5 minutes to get there though.. the crowd..

And.. of course, the obligatory Opera House photo needs to be taken!

One good thing about The Rocks is that they always have signs where you needed. We decided to do a full circle of the area and we started close to the MCA.

Tea, tea and lots of tea! Sleepy, relaxing, cooling.. all the tea you wanted! There were little cups of samples and what a perfect way to start drinking caffeine! I must admit, you did have to battle the crowds though.

As we made our way through the tea stands, we headed towards the grassy area if you walk towards the station. Breville were making fresh waffles to go along with the free coffee made by their machines.

Tea cups!

The grassy area was packed! Firstly, there were some strips of stalls towards the left hand side selling chocolate, cake, and sweet goodies! My friend suggested putting these a-mazing chilli chocolate covered coffee beans in banana ice cream. Let me tell you, they are one big hit!

To the right, there were lines and lines and lines of people waiting for coffee. Stalls included The Paramount Coffee Project, The Fine Food Store, The PlayFair Cafe and much much more. It would’ve been at least 20 minutes wait behind all your fellow coffee-lovers.

We then made our way up the stairs, coming up at George Street. Again, here were more cafés but the lines were shorter. Delano Espresso was my pick of the day.

All the cafés had $2 tasting coffee cups. Such a. Good price because you think it’s a small cup of coffee and you end up trying more than a couple of samples then feel slightly dizzy because you realise you hadn’t eaten much.

We lined up and then those little cups were named by our orders.

We all know that this festival is not only about the coffee beans but the baristas..

And we only had to wait 10 minutes to sip on these lovely cups!

We then made our way towards the food market, where on the way there was a chai stall with only chai! Thought you hated dandelion tea? I give you dandelion chai to try!

Also, just saying that daily milk chai exists.

Ps. How good can rocky road get? Loving the colours!

Getting to the food markets is a headache, especially if you dislike crowds.

The food stalls were pretty much the same as the ones that are normally there on weekends including kebabs delicious kebabs, gozleme ladies, German hot dogs, sushi, gyoza, skewers…the lot!

I just bought like a lamb baguette thing? It was alright.

We ended up going around the back loop and heading towards the coffee garden. There was a lush garden filled with coffee and bush tucker plants and one massive massive line for coffee.

There was a little band playing in the courtyard area where there were some seats available.

The Bean to Cup exhibition was also in the same alleyway. It was a simply exhibition with just a product life cycle of coffee bean plants to how they end up as coffee beans we see at the shops.

This picture was #instaworthy!

There was also tea leaf readings which was pretty hilarious but nice and then we walked around to the music areas to get the vibe of the festival.

Live music was more towards the water with the gorgeous backdrops

And there were seats to chill. Tent area was definitely required for this.

We sat at the SmoothFM picnic area and we can’t wait to go to the Smooth Chocolate Festival in October!

May the finest blend win!

Rating Review: =D  =)  =|  =(

Product (Aroma Festival, The Rocks 2014): =D

Ambience: =D

Service: =)

Value: =)

Would I recommend going to The Aroma Festival to a friend? If you’re a lover of coffee and know your beans, then this is the best place to be! The weather was a wonderful sunshine and this was where the coffee lovers lingered..

Highlight: stamping the coffee! Coffee Haven, Double Roasters, Paramount Coffee Project, Mayan Coffee and Xocolat were all in one place! Saves me from hopping from place to place! Loved the passion.

Suggestion of improvement: there honestly needs to be an ATM around the place. We had to walk back to Circular Quay station. There were 4 ATMs and 4 huge lines.

Ends: Sunday 27, 2014 and occurs annually.

Link: http://www.therocks.com/whats-on/aroma-festival.aspx

Angela Bee

Eat Think Save Sydney event by OzHarvest

Using produce that would’ve been wasted, OzHarvest served up free hot meals to thousands at Martin Place during lunch time on Monday 21 July, 2014 thanks to VirginMobile.

               
“OzHarvest is the first perishable food rescue organisation in Australia collecting quality excess food from commercial outlets and delivering it, direct and free of charge, to more than 500 charities providing much needed assistance to vulnerable men, women and children across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Newcastle and the Gold Coast“.

This was my ultimate challenge: I had a 1 hr lunch break so I had to get from North Sydney to Martin Place and this is what happened.

I waited for 2 minutes for a train, hopped on, waited 2 stops, got off at Wynyard and power walked to the top end of Martin Place. There was a massive panel going on talking about food and its wastage.

There were so many people (and totally did expect this because this is 100% office zone).

I spotted some delicious lemon cups supplied by Cocos Table so I had a sip before I headed to the long line.

Apparently it was absolute chockers when it hit noon but I was there at around 1 and it went quite quickly! Loved the little decorations even when we were lining up!

Guess what? For all the Masterchef lovers, Matt Moran was here and serving up the delicious vegetarian curry.

Just before getting the meal you were also reminded to hashtag #mealforameal so that for every photo taken,  meal will be provided to someone.

After getting the curry from the enthusiastic yellow shirted volunteers, we headed towards the chapati station where we got our chapati and dips!

Here’s my #mealforameal photo!

There was even a cute station to add a wedge of lemon and garnish.

For dessert, Brasserie Bread used their leftovers to make apple/fruit crumble and there was even cream to go with it!

What a fancy meal!

After getting all my food and taking these photos, I listened to the panellists for a bit. On the way, I passed the OzHarvest tree

And OzHarvest shop

What a great cause and I’m so glad I got back to North Sydney within 45 minutes of leaving the office #winning. Use leftover produce and don’t waste food! Thanks Richard Branson for such a great initiative!

Rating Review: =D  =)  =|  =(

Product (Think.Act.Save Sydney event by OzHarvest): =D

Ambience: =D

Service: =D

Value: =D

Would I recommend going to volunteer/going to an event for OzHarvest? It was crazy busy but seeing everyone excited and willing to learn about food was amazing. You honestly don’t need to do much so get on your phones and hashtag #mealforameal to fill a belly!

Highlight: walking up Martin Place and seeing the huge crowd! I didn’t think there would be so many people coming down, the media, the amount of food…yum! It was so tasty and it reminded me of India and Nepal.

Suggestion of improvement: it would’ve been awesome if the queue to the food went past some of the stalls that were there because I didn’t have enough time to have a proper look at everything but then again I was rushing through it. It was such a relaxed vibe and well organised.

Ends: Monday, 21 July 2014

Link: http://www.ozharvest.org/events/think-eat-save/

Angela Bee

Fresh Food Market Opening – Macquarie Centre

The opening of the Fresh Food Markets at Macquarie Centre from July 17-20, 2014 was the most jam packed experience I’ve ever had in my life in a shopping centre (excludes Boxing Day sales).

“The first stage of the development—the Fresh Food Market—opened on 17 July, ahead of schedule and on budget. It includes 37 food and specialty stores including Coles, ALDI and a refurbished Woolworths”.

When you walk from Event Cinemas, past the cute gozleme ladies, down the escalators, past the Chinese takeout eateries, towards Woolies, you’ll notice one big change. Bam. There are a million people packed in the same area, checking out the new shops and food markets- just like yourself.

Since December last year and up until over a month ago, I used to work at Macquarie Centre. It was dead silent and there were the rare days we hit our targets but this, THIS was insane. You would’ve needed to triple your work staff. Kudos to the Macquarie marketing team for putting this on and all the new stores.

As you walk inside, you’ll see a Chinese butchery, Tokyo Ramen and a few other stores on your right.

On the left there’s a modern take of the popular Asian grocery, Miracle, and ‘$2.80 for everything’ at Daiso. It’s spacious, it’s gorgeous and Macquarie is definitely heading in the right space.

There’s a queue to go up the escalators! But look upwards! The long screen advertising genius is on top of you!

To the left is Aldi and to the right is Toys for Tales. They even had some life size characters and balloons floating around for the kids.

Next to Aldi is Pancetta Markets. Did anyone else notice the guy who was holding a massive pancetta sign when you were driving to the centre? Must be a boring job but the dude was flipping that sign inside out! The produce there was a bit pricey but they did have some nice specials. The vintage, yet brand new look certainly helped with the sales and it’s actually pretty big!

The Moroccan lamb and I think cranberry sausage was my favourite at the butchery heading straight forward, but how about the dry meat that was hanging up on display? Would vegetarians be comfortable?

There was a little aisle with Habitana, National Geo and stuff so that was quite nice.

On the other side there’s Bakers Delight, a very very fancy version of a cafe which I don’t think anyone would’ve guessed as Michel’s Patisserie..and even a sushi train, Soul Origin and Nuts Galore and a few other stores bundled in the middle.

There was also a greenery set up with food demonstrations at 10am, 1pm and 3pm. My brother and I went to the salmon one supplied by Costi’s and Healthy Life and those chunks were literally a snatch away.

Heading towards Coles, Uel and Shannelle from last year’s My Kitchen Rules had cooking demonstrations. There was constantly a crowd around them and you had to be fast to grab their steak salad San Choy bow!

Luckily I snagged one haha! I looooved the dressing and I hope they’re online somewhere!

Coles also had tons of FREE SUSHI SAMPLESSSS! The Coles ladies were so passionate about giving free food!! I took advantage if this moment and got 3 pieces. I loved the crunchy onions and the mayo was spectacular!

There was also pizza and all their salads on trial for us.

I would that there are some nice cafés around. Greenery seems to be trending this hipster season and this one breathed it. They also had a deli and cakes which was lovely!

I also loved the charity aspect oh giving a gold coin donation and receiving a little fortune cookie in return from OzHarvest.

My brother and I spend so much time checking every aisle of every shop. For lunch we had the miso soup noodle at Tokyo Ramen for $8 and ordered extra ramen on the side for $3. It was sooooo busy and average.

We also tried out the Snag Stand where there were was quite a line!

If you’re coming here soon, don’t forget to check this place out because it’s going to be one of the biggest shopping centres in the Southern Hemisphere! Rumour has it that H&M will start up here, too!

I now leave you with the funky watermelon carvings from Woolworths.

Rating Review: =D  =)  =|  =(

Product (Fresh Food Market opening at Macquarie Centre): =D

Ambience: =D

Service: =)

Value: =)

Would I recommend going to the Fresh Food Market at Macquarie Centre? Can you believe how much competition there is amongst the shops? You have Woolworth, Coles and Aldi on the same level! That’s insane. That’s absolutely insane. Great place to grab your bargains and everything is new and top notch – yessssss!

Highlight: this might not be a highlight for everyone, but the crowd. It was so quiet when I worked the the Centre and now it’s full of people! It kinda sucks for North Ryde Shopping Centre but food here is good. I can’t wait until they release the fashion section in October! I also loved how much staff they had on the floor and helping everyone out. I must say that their marketing team needs a special thumbs up because the amount of people who came over the weekend was enormous!

Suggestion of improvement: there needs to be more signs..for the toilets, shops, rubbish bins..I’m actually now not too sure where the toilets are. I went back to the food court ones near the ice rink. Ohwell.

Ends: never

Link: http://www.macquariecentre.com.au/be-involved/whats-on/events/new-fresh-food-retailers

Angela Bee

Gourmet Tasting Platter for Two – Le Pain Quotidien, The Rocks

$25 for a sharing platter for two at newly opened Le Pain Quotidien through Groupon is a cheese and bread filled deal.

“Alain Coumont learned about bread  as a small child, standing on a chair every Sunday watching his grandmother  bake bread. As a young chef in Brussels, Alain could not find the right bread  for his restaurant.
Passionate about quality, he  returned to his roots and opened a small bakery where he could knead flour,  salt and water into the rustic loaves of his childhood.
He called his bakery “Le Pain Quotidien“.

With all groupons, deals, coupons, etc I have a habit of calling and booking before I buy the deal. I’ve had a situation where I have organised a time with a friend, bought the voucher, and it turns out the time we wanted to go was not available because the day had exceeded the ‘voucher limit’.

Anyways, I called and booked, bought the voucher and when my friend showed up it was not in the system. Thankfully I called from my phone so I had a record of who I talked with but keep that in mind!

We got a table anyway and our red wines came straight away.

This restaurant is pretty interesting. It has several small rooms whereas the one at Sydney Westfield is a pretty wide space. I overheard that you had to book for the rooms but it would be be quite cute and vintage to dine in the old cells of Sydney Town.

I’m not sure if this black dog could be the iconic thing here but here it is!

The space we sat in was pretty nice and cosy. The brick walls was a charm.

Then our gourmet tasting platter came out. Cold meats included salami, prosciutto, pate, salmon and it was weaves through the shredded cheddar, brie and blue vein cheese. It was delicious, nothing spectacular, not bad, could be fresher. I guess I used to work in a deli so it was quite average.

The bruschetta was on a crispy baguette and the lamb slider was more like a mini lamb sandwich with mustard. It was all topped with a few leaves and a couple of very sun dried tomatoes although I’m sure that the voucher came with pumpkin and beetroot salad? I was missing my greens!

The bread basket was huge! I don’t know how people can eat so much bread in a sitting so this was generous! The bread was fresh but not morning-fresh but the walnut bread was my favourite. Just an FYI that Le Lain Quotidien means the bread expert! I was still satisfied because who expects anyone to make fresh bread at night?

The outside street view is the MCA so it’s close to Circular Quay. #lovesydney

Rating Review: =D  =)  =|  =(

Product (Gourmet Tasting Platter for Two at Le Pain Quotidien): =)

Ambience: =)

Service: =D

Value: =)

Would I recommend buying an antipasto platter to a friend? If you love your cheese, bread and wine, this is a good one for it! A block of cheese at Aldi is $5.99 so this deal is pretty sweet!

Highlight: looking through the little rooms at the restaurant! It got us excited  and I’m glad there wasn’t anyone inside. The ambience  and feel of the place is great and chatting over food is the best.

Suggestion of improvement: it would be fabulous if they had a better booking system so there isn’t a mix it. It was quite embarrassing asking for our table again! Also, we were missing our pumpkin and beetroot salad and I didn’t notice until we saw the menu. I don’t think I would normally pay full price of $35 for the two but it was pretty good for what we paid and that included the much needed wine!

Ends: October 19, 2014

Link: here

Angela Bee

$8 crepe and drink – The Crepe and Pancake Place

Grab a sweet or savoury crepe at The Crepe and Pancake Place at Broadway Shopping Centre for $8 and enjoy it for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

The Crepe and Pancake Place “offers Savoury & Sweet Crepes, Pancakes, Waffles, Omelette along with Barista Coffee. We also serve milkshakes and fresh fruit smoothies”.

What a brilliant name. It brings me back to the crepe days we had at FRESS (French Speaking Society). Such fun times making stacks of crepe cakes ahaha. Anyways, this place is at Broadway Shopping Centre at the Level 2 food court, opposite Soul Origin.

Well it wasn’t super fancy place but there are tons of specials on display. I can’t help but wonder why someone would not come here to buy $4 pancakes instead of Maccas? What a bargain!

You could see yeh ladies make the crepes on hot plates and the goodness was made nice and hot!

There was an extensive menu but because we were coming for brekkie I went with the Florentine with spinach, mushrooms, ricotta, feta and white sauce.

Service was pretty quick so in no time I got my medium skimmed cappuccino for my morning wake up drink. I was surprised it tasted really good because I find that places which specialise in non-cafe -style food tend to be quite crap. This was good!

The crepe came very quickly as well with plastic knife, fork and tissue. This was gigantic!! No joke. I could’ve shared this between two people but I kinda ate most of it..whoops!

No, I mean check this out. I love cheese (didn’t use to until a couple of years ago) but this hot filled crepe was sooooooooooo good. I’m glad I had a coffee to go with this but alternatively you could get a smoothie or milkshake. I’m not a fan of vanilla ice cream so I was quite disappointed that they don’t use a yoghurt base for their smoothies. At least they use real fruit!

Nomnomnom. My friend and I sat down for our famous long catch up sessions at Victoria Park. Let me encourage everyone to sit in the sun and enjoy nature. It’s beautiful.

Rating Review: =D  =)  =|  =(

Product ($8 crepe and coffee at The Crepe and Pancake Place): =D

Ambience: =)

Service: =D

Value: =D

Would I recommend purchasing a $8 crepe and drink voucher from the Crepe and Pancake Place? If you don’t know how to make a crepe or you feel like something deliciously savory or sweet this is the place to be! It’s pretty awesome considering there’s heaps of eateries around the place. They’re big portions so go for it!

Highlight: the crepe! They were generous with the fillings and super cooper yummy. They are normally $7.50 for a Florentine crepe and I would buy one even if I was on a deal!

Suggestion of improvement: I would totally love a juice option on the menu or even a $10 meal deal could be a crowd pleaser.

Ends: 90 days from purchase

Link: here

Angela Bee