Free Connoisseur Ice Cream – Blank Space Gallery

Free samples of the new Empire Collection of Connoisseur’s ice cream was available from Thursday September 17- Sunday September 21, 2014 at Blank Space Gallery, Surry Hills.

“We create CONNOISSEUR for the curious and adventureous. The new Empire Collection showcases four unique flavour combinations, inspired by four historical characters who each had a connection to the very origins of ice cream. With flavours inspired by the personalities of some of the world’s most charismatic leaders combined with stunning packaging designed by Steve Cross, the story of ice cream comes to life.”

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!! When this first appeared, I was no doubt going straight to Blank Space Gallery. The fact that the name is Blank Space Gallery really tells you a lot about the space- right?

Heading up on Albion Street from Central station, I knew that this hill we were climbing up would be the calories I would put back on when I get to Connoisseur’s exhibition. I don’t think I’ve heard of the gallery before but it doesn’t hurt checking new places out because who knows- maybe it’ll come in useful later on!

Going on a Friday night, I expected it to be packed with people but surprisingly, there was a security guard and two girls serving ice cream when I arrived. No other customers? Well, it worked in my favour because I got to try a little scoop of each flavour- twice! #winning FYI the prelim AFL finals were on so maybe that was why..

It was pretty neat when I arrived. The fridge was filled to the brim with Connoisseur ice cream tubs. I LOVE the new design. It’s sharp, slick and arty. Melbourne artist Steve Cross is the person behind these designs and also the four unique installations at the gallery. Watching his video here, I learnt that he started off painting murals, then graffiti, street art.. he is definitely #cuttingedge

What I found interesting is that percentages of the packaging needed to be 80% of one colour and 20% of the other colour. The composition of the characters and compositions of the placement of colours is very specific. Imagine your artwork in every shopping mall! I loved how he mentioned that he sometimes goes to the fridge and wipes the frost off the ice cream tubs so that you can see the design #commitment

Looking around the gallery, it is actually a pretty small space. The general vibe of the room was.. quite exotic, particularly the emperors. Let’s go through the emperors and kings and their flavours:

1. Emperor Nero (wickedly robust coffee flavoured ice cream scattered with chocolate coated hazelnuts and lashings of hazelnut liqueur sauce)

“As an ‘ice cream’ originator, Nero ordered snow to be brought back from the highest mountains which he would mix with exotic fruit and sweet syrups.” This was devilishly chocolately and for those who are needing that coffee/sugar fix.

 

2. Emperor Jing Zong ( red bean flavoured ice cream, mouth watering coconut pieces and a swirl of sweet, red bean syrup)

“The energetic leader would host extravagant parties at the Imperial Palace, which was dripping in jewels and bursting with the scent of fresh peonies. On hot nights, dessert was a unique creation of ice, buffalo milk and ‘dragons brains’.” I’m not too sure if there was a strong flavour of red bean but the coconut pieces are the secret ingredient to this delightful ice cream!

 

3. King Louis XIV (French Vanilla flavoured ice cream, laced with choc flakes and a splash of Armagnac liqueur)

“During his reign, he drastically changed France from its savage mediaeval ways to more refined, exquisite and opulent living – evident from the Palace of Versailles and the extensions he made to the Louvre.” What a classy man and a classy dessert! I’m not a fan of vanilla usually but the chocolate flakes did it this time round!

 

4. King Cyrus of Persia (pistachio flavoured ice cream, pistachio nuts and swirls of syrup made from cinnamon, honey and dates)

“Pioneers of ‘ice cream’ within the Persian Empire created a desert made of rosewater and vermicelli that was a cross between sorbet and rice pudding called a faludeh. It helped them cool off and relax after a hard day in the punishing Iranian heat.” With this, I really loved the nuttyness of the pistachio flavour and I have a feeling this could’ve been my favourite!

The designs around the room were gorgeous and I would’ve come here again if I had the chance! There was no line and sampling this in an art gallery helps the art community!

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

Event (Connoisseur free ice cream): 4/5

Ambience: 3.5/5

Service: 3.5/5

Value: 4.5/5

Would I recommend going to Connoissuer’s free ice cream giveaway at Blank Space Gallery? Is that even a question? Even for those who don’t normally like ice cream (such as myself), I would definitely come back again. You won’t be walking a couple of blocks to Gelato Messina after this!

Highlight: I really liked how Connoisseur has combined this new Empire Collection with history and art – both things I’m highly interested in. Its actually quite funny because Connoisseur isn’t the cheapest ice cream brand out there and the fact that they’ve created unique flavours and aligning them with emperors and kings is quite interesting. I liked the decorations and paintings around the area – was there a chance of buying it? It was also very apparent that there was an official hashtag (and so many places don’t do this!!) and competition.

Suggestion of improvement: The artwork was really nice, but I would’ve liked it more if there was more explanation behind the emperors/kings with their respective flavours. Maybe if you had to go answer a question about the emperor/king whose ice cream flavour you wanted.., something more interactive maybe. Anyways, I’m glad I got to try them all!

Ends: Sunday September 21, 2014

Link: http://www.connoisseuricecream.com.au/#!/article/free-ice-cream

Official hashtags: #Connoisseur #EmpireCollection

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

$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

Your Nespresso moment – Good Food and Wine Show

Free tickets sample cheese, wine, chocolate, pasta, dumplings, beers, cider, yoghurt, muesli, nuts….thank you, Wennie for finding tickets to The Walking Advertisement readers to the Good Food and Wine Show from June 27-29 at Sydney Olympic Park.

“Tour the very best food and wine regions of Australia; Yarra Valley, Barossa and McLaren Vale just to mention a few.  We’ve got them all in one destination; simply have your tasting glass and taste buds at the ready. ”

I’ve decided in this blog not to write about the millions of ‘try before you buy’ samples because it would potentially be 100 pages. Instead I’ll be going through the highlights and the one cooking class I managed to get into- Your Nespresso Moment.

“Nespresso invites you to discover Your Nespresso Moment with host of the popular cooking show ‘Everyday Gourmet’, Justine Schofield. In this session, Justine will demonstrate the versatility of Nespresso coffee in an interactive session with a series of sweet and savoury coffee creations suited to different moments in your day. Discover your morning, afternoon and evening coffee moment with Nespresso.”

Sydney’s Olympic Park was chokers so lining up for anything was hard. Surprisingly my mum, brother and I found ourselves finding a shortish line at the Nespresso kitchenand got two spots to see Justine Schofield- mum’s favourite celebrity chef from MasterChef.

When we arrived at our stations, we had the whole layout of what we were going to go through. Morning coffee capsules, afternoon espresso..and evening dessert of course! There was a Nespresso machine as well. Thank goodness I got into this session because I’ve just started work at a PR agency and they have the exact one and I had no idea how to use it!!

First of all Justine explained what we were doing so here was our lesson and how Nespresso wants to be there to compliment every moment. I  loved how the waitstaff came out and gave us ONE blueberry in a little cup. Everything was miniature which made it really cute! Everything was also already prepared so all we had to do was use the little wooden spoons and scoop it into our respective dishes.

Your Morning Coffee Moment – Fruit and Nut Coffee Muesli with Nespresso Fortissio Lungo to accompany

Making this was simple. Firstly we made the Nespresso Fortissio Lungo with our Nespresso machine. If you don’t know how to use it, there’s an ‘on/off’ button and you can select the button with a small cup for an espresso or the button with a bigger cup for a flat white or cappucino.. you get the point. The milk was already in the side machine and you can adjust it depending on how frothy you like the milk.

Once that was sorted and we had our two sips of coffee to energise us for the session, we got to the breakfast! There was already-made muesli with hints of coffee and yoghurt so all we had to do was layer them into a cup and top it up with our one blueberry. I have my muesli every morning so this was a delightful treat!

Your Afternoon Moment – Caramelised Balsamic & Coffee Onions with Whipped Goats Cheese Tartlets with Nespresso Dharkan Espresso to accompany

The little tartlet came in a little boat and again the waitstaff came with their small goods. That caramelised onion was actually the best I’ve had (yes it had coffee in it)! Scroll down for a picture of the recipes. We topped it up with goats cheese/ricotta and poked holes using a toothpick into a capsule to sprinkle the tartlet off with extra coffee. It sat as a little lovely canape!

Your Evening Moment – Cardamon Affogato with Hazelnut Brittle with Nespresso Decaffeinato Intenso

Everything on this menu was amazing. How can you not have a workshop involving an affogato? The vanilla-bean ice cream from Movenpick by itself is amazing but pouring that Nespresso Decaffeinato Intenso in it was sooooo good. I’m not a fan of anything vanilla-flavoured but this intensified it. The hazelnut crunches gave its crispy, creamy and smooth textures. Great compliments!

I must say, everyone in the class was really pleased and even more happy when we got to have photos with Justine, herself! Obviously my mum stands out with her phone with a chocolate cover but it was really awesome! I guess it was partly due to the fact that we got lucky and got front row seats haha!!! These workshops are definitely worth lining up for!

Rating Review: =D  =)  =|  =(

Product (Your Nespresso Moment at Good Food and Wine Show): =)

Ambience: =)

Service: =D

Value: =)

Would I recommend going to Good Food and Wine Show to friend? Yes do do do do go!! It’s totally worth it and you’ll get as much alcohol and eats as you wish! For the Nespresso moment, I think it’s really good if you love coffee and it’ll help you integrate the grinds into your recipes. I thought it was clever so if you love cooking this is the way to go!

Highlight: Hearing from Justine and eating the food! Who doesn’t love to eat good food after you’ve gone through a million nut, yoghurt and cake samples? haha! For me, I don’t usually use coffee to cook anything except .. tiramisu? I usually buy my coffee but now that I have this at work it does change things!

Suggestion of improvement: I would’ve liked this to be be more ‘hands on’. I saw other workshops had people tossing pots and pans and it looked like heaps of fun. I get why it needed to be simple but everything was too well prepared! It would’ve been better if Justine could walk around and help each person to make it more interactive. It’ll just give it that personal touch!

Ends: June 29, 2014

Link: http://goodfoodshow.com.au/sydney/entry-tickets/nespresso-experience/

Angela Bee

$7 Arepa, fruit juice, coffee – La Latina Chatswood

I’m shamelessly going to promote two of the best countries in the world- Columbia and Venezuela… this time not for their nature, but their food in Chatswood. $7 for an arepa and fruit smoothie.

La Latina aims to present authentic South American flavours, with a menu of Venezuela and Colombian favourites including arepas and empanadas and sides including cassava chips and fried plantain. Wherever possible, La Latina uses local and organic ingredients, for maximum flavour and authenticity. Gluten-free options are available.

The little joint itself is on the way to Chatswood Chase on 82 Archer Street at the big intersection.

Ok, let’s face it. I miss Latina and South America so when I saw this on Groupon deal my jaw dropped. Where else would I get a papa relleno, plantains, yuca and empanada? No one else understands my words!!

The salsa music was in the background, the counter front of Colombian goodies. My Colombian family would be so proud of me right now.

I looked in the freezer section and they have yuca croquettes, rellenos de queso, ice blocks… Mmm! Yuca is a type of potato and rellenos de queso is cheese filled balls of potato and rice goodness.

Also loving the simplicity of chairs and seating.

Check out the bottled caps too and the salsa- yum! I miss little bottles of salsa at a dining table as a staple.

I love the pictures on the menu. I’m sorry this blog is about my past travel experiences but this one time I had a 12 hour wait in Venezuela and it’s not be best country to travel in because it’s pretty communist so the advice the police gave to me was: stay at the bus station where there were lots of people and protection. I sold arepas for a ridiculous 50 cents or something with this family and it was so much fun! Each person gets either beef, pork, chicken or whatever and put as much salsa and salad on top. It’s wonderful!

Here was their full menu and yeah, not as cheap as Venezuela!! I chose the shredded beef arepa but there was also chicken avocado on the menu which is not really what you’d see normally…

This experience was a little different of course but similar indeed. I think i waited for around 20 minutes? The lady there was by herself for the first ten but I guess it does take some time and there were a few customers. She made four at once in the hot plate.

In typical Venezuelan fashion, the arepa came out wrapped in aluminium foil and also in a paper bag because I asked for it to be taken away.

You could tell that the arepa was slow cooked and had this nice crunch on the tops and bottoms. Arepas are made from maise, which is a corn, and the shredded beef was not dry and you could see the stringy cheese melted in between.

 

 

 

They are quite dense and extremely filling.

For the drinks, it was so hard to choose between soursop, lulo and feijoa. I remember having soursop and lulo in Colombia because I remember going to this huge supermarket with Cec, my Colombian host mum, and raiding their produce section tot try everything I’d never seen before.

I opted for feijoa this time round, which was slightly sour but still delicious. From memory lulo is very sweet and the lady working there said they actually import the fruits from Colombia.

Because I went on a Tuesday (and this also applies on Wednesdays), i received a free small Colombian coffee. Surprisingly this tasted absolutely amazing. Great coffee and totally unexpected!

I used to work in Chatswood and had no idea this place existed! There are so many asian eateries but I’m wanting to come back for the tamales and empanadas!!

Review Rating : =D  =)  =|  =(

Product ($7 Arepa, fruit juice and coffee): =D

Ambience: =)

Service: =|

Value: =D

Would I recommend the $7 deal with arepa, fruit juice and coffee to a friend? Yes yes yes! If you want to try food from Colombia and Venezuela, there aren’t many places that do so! There’s a place called ‘Boca’ near Messina but thats all I can think of. Do you guys know any?

Would I donate the money saved to my charity? I really can’t believe how much and how full I was after this meal. This is definitely my moneys worth. If you can’t make your way north of South America, I’ll give you $7 to try it.

Highlight: the hot arepa with its delicious fillings. Ok, I must admit, maise isn’t for everyone but when its cooked so that there is that crunch, it doesn’t matter. As you eat your way down you will probably notice that it gets a little soggy at the bottom as you do with burritos, etc. Have a go and see how it goes!

Suggestion of improvement: the wait was slightly long although there was only one person cooking and serving. I felt bad because I saw two other people wait for a long time and a family needing to rush off but didn’t have their coffees served. Once someone came I got a coffee straight away but the drink and arepa took some time. Maybe a little ‘could you please come back in 15 minutes’ or ‘it will be a 15-20 minute wait if thats ok’ would’ve been nice.

Ends: October 13, 2014

La Latina Website: http://https//www.facebook.com/LaLatina2012

Groupon: http://www.groupon.com.au/deals/sydney/la-latina/718215944

Angela Bee

$5 for 2 coffee-caramel buns and drink – Pappa Roti

Fresh out of the oven, into a paper bag and then into your hands could be two perfectly rounded caramel-coffee buns and a hot or cold drink from Pappa Roti for just $5.

Pappa Roti is known for their crispy, fluffy, fragrant coffee cream coated bun with buttery filling. They’ve popped up at a few places including Macquarie Centre, Blacktown and on the way to UTS from Central station.

From Event Cinemas, walk down the escalators and head immediately to the right. Pappa Roti’s bright lights and desserts will attract your attention. This voucher is only available at Macquarie Centre though.

Pappa Roti is not just the buns, but the ice cream range…

And desserts too!

And please don’t forget about these tempting Malaysian drinks.

Today’s deal was two buns with a drink worth $5.40. Oh man, it smells so good! I’ve been here a couple of times and every time they make the buns straight away and they are steaming hot from the oven. The person kindly asked if we wanted the buns before the drink.

Eating any kind of breads, cakes, muffins without any cooling time is the best in my opinion. The coffee on the top crisped up extremely well, forming a semi hard surface so when we initially bit into the middle, the munch on the crust formed was evident. Look how perfectly round this bun is!

It was extremely fluffy inside and quite sweet too! The centre was magic. If you like melted butter, then this treat is for you! Look at the yellow ness! Yup, one bun was eaten even before receiving our drink #bunmagic

My mum ordered the Milo Godzilla. The difference between the milo dinosaur and godzilla was that the Godzilla has ice cream. It was massive compared to the other drinks available and my mum scooped up the ice cream and devoured it. I drank the milo because I don’t exactly fancy vanilla ice cream…

This was a super sweet morning tea but a super sweet deal! Thanks for bringing a taste of Malaysia to us! I hear they have Nasi Lemak and Chendol too!!

Review Rating : =D  =)  =|  =(

Product ($5 for two coffee-caramel buns and drink): =D

Ambience: =)

Service: =)

Value: =D

Would I recommend the $5 for two coffee-caramel bun and drink to a friend? Yes yes yes! If you live near Macquarie Centre then this is for you! My mum has already bought another one for her mum when she comes to Sydney so defs.

Would I donate the money saved to my charity organisation? A coffee-caramel bun is normally $2.50 each so we are getting a free drink. Something cold and refreshing needs to go with the combo so I would say $3 would go towards a charity.

Highlight: the tops of the coffee- caramel bun. If you know me well, I’ll eat muffin tops only. I love going from a hard to a light texture and the tops of these are amazing. Love!

Suggestion of improvement: have more branches in local areas and share the bun love.

Ends: July 8, 2014

Link: http://www.groupon.com.au/deals/sydney/papparoti/718201795

Angela Bee

Update (8/5/2014): Today my mum went again and she said that the bun wasn’t as great because it was flat, a tad burnt and the buttery centre was not in the middle. Also, we tried the Bandung (rosewater drink) and that tasted extremely artificial. Stick with the Godzilla!

$8 breakfast groupon deal – Alice’s Tea Cafe

Get lost down the tunnels of a Wonderful, be greeted by a giant teddy bear and grab a (very) small Mad Hatters $8 breakfast from Groupon at Alice’s Tea Cafe Chatswood to use until September 3, 2014.

Alice’s Tea Cafe is known for its Alice in Wonderland themed High Tea parties, particularly its recent $29 for two high teas that are always popping up on offer on OurDeal.

Take the escalators down from the main food court and make your way towards Oxford where the little cafe sits.

It looks quite really cute and I’m loving the display of menus, cakes and coffee!

There isn’t table service so we ordered our $13.50 worth of breakfast at the counter. This included options of ham, tomato and cheese croissant, bacon and egg roll, eggs Benedict with ham or avocado, poached eggs, scrambled eggs.

We took a delightful cupcake with a table number and seated ourselves next to the giant teddy bear.

Looking around, they had some books, magazines and toys for the kids. There’s also free wifi if you ask for their password.

Soon our breakfasts came. My friend got the eggs benedict. Unfortunately it was as small as it looks. It wasn’t even on sourdough but toast? Sadly bread wasn’t toasted either. $25 on a Kmart toaster would not be a bad investment…  The plate lacked any salt and pepper. It wasn’t worth the original $13.50. I could’ve made this myself easily.

I got the scrambled eggs with tomato, mushrooms, bacon and ‘sourdough’. I don’t know where to start. Again, it was quite small. The eggs needed some salt and I wished it was more runny like Michel’s Patisserie Eastwood. The bacon wasn’t too bad but noting special. The mushroom was minuscule and cut into tiny pieces. Didn’t taste like mushroom anymore. The tomatoes weren’t ripe either. Quite disappointing and glad I got the groupon otherwise I would’ve not been happy.

On the upside, our coffees arrived with some nice love hearts and flowers on top. Below is a mocha and cappuccino. The coffee was actually really nice and wasn’t burnt. I would come back just for a coffee if I wanted, and it was the large one, too!I’m quite happy with my large cappuccino. That got me through the quick meal.

Compare the above to what was picture on the deal online. This might teach you to not judge a book by its cover..

The decorations and ambience really made up for the food, but even the high tea didn’t look too wholesome. I must admit, I have been warned before about this place being ‘not so great’. I tried. This was the result.
Remember: not all groupon pictures display what is the reality.

Review Rating: =D  =)  =|  =(

Product ($8 All Day Breakfast at Alice’s Tea Cafe): =(

Ambience: =D

Service: =|

Value: =(

Would I buy another groupon voucher at Alice’s Cafe? Nope. Lesson learnt. I guess I could’ve made this for a friend of mine at my house for the same price, if not cheaper. We also had to wait until 10:30 for someone to arrive to cook the breakfasts. They say they are going to change the menu next week. I hope it’s better.

Would I donate the amount I saved ($13.50 – breakfast + $3.50 – voucher minus $8 – voucher), $11, to a charity organisation? Probably not. I don’t even think I got what I paid for. It was a bit disappointing for such a cute place. There are so many other cafés and restaurants in Chatswood. Money could’ve been spent elsewhere.

Highlight: the big teddy bear! Who wouldn’t? I’m not obsessed with soft toys but just having one for an hour or two makes it more fun. It was huge and cuddly!

Suggestion of improvement: everything excluding the decoration and coffee. More flavours, bigger portions, just better food in general.

Ends: September 3, 2014
Link: http://www.westfield.com.au/chatswood/stores/au-alices-tea-cafe/51733#!

Deal: http://www.groupon.com.au/deals/sydney/alice-s-tea-cafe-1/718067263

Angela Bee

Cake of the day and Coffee – Michel’s Patisserie Eastwood

Treat your sweet tooth with a slice of creamy cheesecake, dangerously deadly chocolate cake, or  Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster cupcake at Eastwood’s Michel’s Patisserie for only $6.90, enjoyed with their fresh coffee roast.

Michel’s Patisserie not only caters for individuals, groups and functions so try a sample from a selection of cakes along with great coffee to see what you’ll like for your next birthday cake and possibly ordering some fun cupcakes for the kids’ or work party.

The staff was really friendly and even let us choose whichever cake we wanted!

The most popular is the cheesecake so I decided to go for the mango cheesecake according to staff. The upper layer of mango jello was a nice compliment to the creamy cheesecake. It was extremely sweet but it did have small bits of mango in it.

My friend got the kiddish Cookie Monster cupcake. Looks best for the photos! Loved the chocolate sprinkles as eyes and mini oreo as the mouth. However, the cupcake itself was quite disappointing because it was dry- but who cares, right? It’s the creativity that counts!

Coffee was good and the baristas do a fine job every time I come in.

I do prefer the outdoors area when it’s nice and sunny. But who knows these days with Sydney weather…

Indoors is spacious and even with a full house it doesn’t get too crowded.

Eastwood’s store is a two bar area with a savory side if these cakes get too much!

Come along either to indulge in a sugar-high experience or pretend to be a kid again, eating the eyes, mouth, and other parts of the Cookie Monster!

Review Rating: =D  =)  =|  =(

Product (Cake and Coffee special at Michel’s Patisserie Eastwood): =)

Ambience: =)

Service: =)

Value: =)

Would I come to Michel’s Patisserie Eastwood for cake and coffee every day? It’s nice to treat yourself every so often but being slightly health conscious these days, I would have to pass. Maybe once in a while, or even if I share with a friend I wouldn’t mind.

Would I pay full price for the Cake and Coffee special at Michel’s Patisserie Eastwood? I’m not too sure about the cakes because they were really sweet and the cupcake was just dry. If I had a Sesame Street party, or a kids themed party then I totally would for the occasion.

Highlight: That Cookie Monster cupcake looked so good! It wasn’t particularly the taste that mattered, but the presentation was immaculate!

Suggestion of Improvement: probably make the cupcakes taste as good as it looks? It was quite dry and I didn’t really eat the bottom because it wasn’t worth its calories. The top was amazing though?!

Ends: never, but check in-store.
Link: http://michelseastwood.com/

Angela Bee

Brunch at The Great Bagel and Coffee Co

$6 for a blueberry bagel, pear and raspberry, fruit and nut, banana, or raisin toast before 11:30am makes for a fantastic brunch and extra energy for those tiring mornings, or sleepins at The Great Bagel and Coffee Co. $2 coffees also availed before 9:30am.

The Great Great Bagel is a cafe or kiosk that has an all day menu around bagels and coffee, baked to finish on premise.

Today a couple of friends and I decided to check out the morning specials at Macquarie Centre before we headed to work or start studying for this semester. Early, right? There weren’t many people in the spacious cafe but the bright lights will wake you up.

The staff were really friendly, with a good selection of healthy bagels, or several types of ‘bread’ for those with a sweet tooth displayed above the counter. Menus were also available on each table.

Nice deco on the walls!

Blueberry bagels are delicious! They were lighter and fluffier than what a bagel should take like with a generous amount of cream cheese sandwiched in between. It tasted more like bread but probably made with real blueberries as opposed to some cafés at Macquarie University that use purple/blue colouring. You can actually see it! On top there was a thin layer of sugar sprinkled on top so tastes sweeter than normal.

Pear and raspberry bread is the most popular choice of the breads. To be honest, it was quite a small slice with melted butter on top. It was very sweet but then again, I’m not a sugary person.

I ordered the fruit and nut bread and it was absolutely divine. Apparently it isn’t very popular and not as sweet as the rest. I love my dried fruit and nut, particularly when the top crust of the slice is packed with walnuts. There was a moderate amount of fruit and pieces of nut throughout the slice which proved to be just right.

If you ordered a tea, it was 50 cents extra. There was a funky pot for milk. Nice display.

The coffee was not the best. Maybe slightly burnt but still well done for a $2 cup. Event Cinemas at Macquarie Centre do $2 and that is quite horrible…

Final verdict: good choice for the morning. The Coffee Club does banana bread for $4.50 and is sickeningly sweet. $6 for both fruit and nut bread and coffee is a great deal! #brunchbargain

Review Rating: =D =) =| =(

Product ($6 blueberry bagel with cream cheese or fruit bread with coffee): =)

Ambience: =)

Service: =)

Value: =)

Would I get a bread of choice with coffee at The Great Bagel and Co every time I’m at MacqCentre or Towers? You know what? If I feel like treating myself to something delicious, I know that this will both be good and satisfying. Other cafés at Macquarie do coffee and cake for around $7 and a whole slice of cake may be too much sweetness for me. At least the cream cheese breaks it up a little for the blueberry bagel.

Would I pay full price, $4.50 + $3, for the fruit and nut bread and coffee or blueberry bagel and cream cheese with coffee? I think I would rather go to another cafe for an excellent coffee for the same price. As for the blueberry bagel or fruit and nut bread, I wouldn’t mind at all!

Highlight: that nut layer on top of the fruit and nut bread. I was going to get the blueberry bagel because it’s always amazing but let me tell you one thing, I don’t regret it! There were some comfy couches on the slides too!

Suggestion of improvement: I quite like the chocolate on top of he coffee and I guess the coffee could have some slight improvements?

Ends: never, but check in store

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

Angela Bee

Menu:

Banana Bread and coffee special – Michel’s Patisserie Eastwood

Bite into that lovely crispy crust on all four edges, then gradually make your way to chew on the light and moist centre of the thick banana bread or raisin toast with coffee for $6.90 as you treat yourself for tea at Michel’s Patisserie Eastwood.

Michel’s Patisserie Eastwood prides itself with its best sellers- raisin toast and banana bread with coffee. For two consecutive years, they were named Coffee Shop of the Year 2012, by the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards.

Located right next to the fountain at Eastwood, the outdoor and indoor tables and chairs make meeting up for a coffee a treat for all seasons.

Asking what was the cheapest and most popular eat at the café, we were presented with a delightful plate of banana bread. Definitely a favourite.

Check out the coffee art!!

Or even the display of tea.

Banana bread can go wrong in so many ways- the texture, the softness, the sweetness, the moisture from the bananas.. I’ve had my run experimenting with baking. However, Michel’s Patisserie has seemed to get it perfectly right.

Ask to get it toasted 2, or 3 times for that extra crunchiness. I really like how the butter is served on the side for those who don’t fancy it (like me).

The size is huge too and after a slice I’m done!

Review Rating: =D =) =| =(

Product (Banana Bread and coffee at Michel’s Patisserie Eastwood): =D

Ambience: =)

Service: =)

Value: =D

Would I go and get a $6.90 raisin toast/banana bread every time I’m in Eastwood? I wouldn’t say every single time because there are a lot of cheap Asian places around. However, when it comes to western-style breakfasts/morning or afternoon tea, this would be my choice. I really liked the banana bread because it wasn’t awfully sweet like some other shops which sugar coat everything. Here, you’ll taste the light banana cake side, rather than mouthful of a thick and solid slice.

Would I pay full price for the bread and coffee? To be honest, I think I would. At normal cafes, banana bread is around $4 + and to add an extra coffee would be a standard price anyway. And on top of that, I know that I will enjoy it. 100%.

Highlight: ask for that banana bread to be toasted 3 times. You might think it’s a joke and it’ll get burnt but it is the BEST thing ever. I love muffin tops and I’m known to only eat (and be-head) them whilst I bake. Just imagine a whole slice of this.. yumo!

Suggestion of Improvement: The $1 extra only applies to the small coffee. It would be great if you could add $1.50 extra for a medium, and possibly $2 extra for a large for those needing a caffeine boost.

Ends: never, but check in-store.
Link: http://michelseastwood.com/

Angela Bee