The Chelsea Bistro

I tried breakfast at The Chelsea for the first time a few weeks ago. Located in The barracks complex at the top of Caxton Street in Paddington the Chelsea is a newly establish bistro offering breakfast, lunch and dinner. Upon arrival at just before 9.30am on a Sunday morning we were confronted with a 15minute wait for a table which demonstrates the popularity of the Chelsea as they don’t accept Sunday breakfast bookings. Waiting 15minutes for a table wasn’t a big deal as we were able to have a coffee and stand around a high set table while looking over the menu. Once seated, service was great and we were able to place a food order rather quickly.

Fetta hash w carrot jam

The menu had a fair variety and offered a great range of cold options. However, the hot options available were a slight let down as most meals needed to have sides of things added to make them more complete. The wait for food wasn’t too bad considering how busy the cafe was. I ordered the bircher muesli which came with yogurt, grated apple strawberries and flaked almonds. This combination was delicious but the serving size was extremely tiny and I was left still feeling very hungry so I ordered leavain organic fruit toast. This was some of the better fruit toast I have had as it wasn’t too heavy and was accompanied by a delicious homemade strawberry jam.



Poached eggs w bacon



Others in my group ordered poached eggs on pane with bacon and slow roasted tomato, the B.L.T with smoky tomato relish and the Carrot jam, smoked bacon, poached eggs, potato hash, marinated feta. The sizes of these meals were far better, leaving everyone feeling satisfied but not excessively full afterwards.  A highlight of the breakfast would have to be the delicious combination of the sweet carrot jam and saltiness of the marinated feta. A combination I have never tried before but would definitely try again. I definitely would have liked to of tried the summer fruit plate, the raspberry and coconut bread and the pistachio and ricotta crepes. Overall breakfast was enjoyable, reasonably priced (approx $20 per person) and the service was above average but not sure I would chose to come back here if I am in the Paddington area.

The Cockadoodle Cafe and Espresso Bar

This morning two friends and I decided to try out the brand new Cockadoodle Cafe and Espresso Bar located at the old Olivetto's site in Red Hill. This cafe is run by the good people who run the popular Java Lounge Cafe in Paddington so it's safe to say I had my expectations set pretty high!

Menu

Having only opened little over a week earlier it was obvious word had spreed pretty quickly as the cafe was fairly busy for 8.30am on a Saturday morning! After being seated at a semi sluggish pace, the menu offered a wide variety of tasty sounding breaky options.Our drink order was taken promptly but came out extremely sporadically. The banana smoothie which is made with yogurt instead of ice cream came out first and was nearly finished by the time my skinny cappuccino and our remaining diners latte appeared. Although we had to wait the coffee was very good!

All three of us had trouble deciding between several items on the menu but I eventually settled with the fruit salad with yogurt and honey and a slice of banana bread. The other two decided on a ham, cheese, tomato and basil omelet, lemon and sugar crepes and poached eggs on sourdough toast with a side of bacon. The breakfasts came out pretty much together but my order of banana bread never appeared. So after finishing all of our breakfasts I had to ask an apologetic waiter for the missing item.

Fruit salad

The fruit salad was a fairly small serving and didn't seem like anything I couldn't have made at home so I was slightly disappointed. The banana bread was the absolute highlight of the meal! It was dense, moist and had nuts mixed through it...perfect! The best banana bread I have ever had. The ham, cheese, basil and tomato omelet smelled amazing and was thoroughly enjoyed by my dining companion! The poached eggs on toast with bacon and the lemon and sugar crepes also met with a tick of approval. However at the end of breakfast one of my guests ordered a second latte and was left waiting for an excessive amount of time for the order once again. After asking about the missing drink he was told it was in the queue but it seemed like the ordered had never made it to the barista.

Lemon sugar crepe (back)
Poached eggs (front)


All in all the Cockadoodle Cafe and Espresso Bar served up an enjoyable breakfast. Although there were some hiccups and delays with orders, I put this down to the cafe being a little over a week old! In time I'm sure the service will improve but the most important thing is the food and coffee which were pretty good! I would definitely return for breakfast again as there were many tempting options such as banana and chocolate crepes, brook farm macadamia and cranberry muesli and zucchini and haloumi loaf with poached eggs!