Cafe Ish - Crave Sydney 2011 Let's Do Brunch

As part of Crave Sydney (SIFF) 2011, numerous cafes and bistros are offering Brunch for $25. We arrived at Cafe Ish for a normal breakfast but then realised they are offering the Crave Sydney Brunch as well, awesome!

On the website it says:

"Bush Brekkie
A bush-inspired choice of the famous crab omelet or scrambled eggs with emu prosciutto, breakfast trifle and a signature wattle macca-cino"

Their menu is Japanese and native Australian inspired, reflecting the cultures of the chef and his wife. It is only a small establishment but don't be fooled - they serve up some hearty meals with a creative menu.



Their signature wattle maccacino was scrumptious. It was a richer kind of coffee than i prefer but I could definitely taste the sweetness of the wattleseed and macadamia. It also comes with a small biscuit on the side which was a nice touch.



The breakfast trifle was a 'lush' yogurt with native berry compote and home made muesli. It only filled up a third of the glass which made you crave for more. The berry is concentrated and sharp in taste which was paired well with light muesli and creamy yogurt.



My companions ordered the soft shell crab omelette which was so humongous neither of them could finish the plate.


Crispy crab, avocado, shallot, garlic, chilli, soy, ginger dressing and lime
native berry compote and toasted house made muesli.


I opted for the emu eggs which consists of 2 emu eggs scrambled with proscuitto which was piled on top of a thick piece of sourdough toast served with tomato relish.

The emu eggs must have been huge as the generous scrambled egg portions covered the whole toast and even had some height. It was very eggy but not overly creamy. Unfortunately my piece of toast was so thick and tough that it was near impossible to cut through and so i had to resort to ripping the soggy toast it with my hands.


Emu eggs, which consisted of 2 scrambled eggs, emu prosciutto, tomato relish and toast


Cafe Ish
82 Campbell Street
Surry Hills
Tel - 02 9281 1688
http://www.cafeish.com.au/

Cafe Ish

We headed to café ish for their final all-you-can-eat-ribs for $35 for the season (but we were told they may make this permanent and offer it once a month due to its popularity - call to check!). Having read about their meat-fall-off-the-bone ribs, I was very excited.

We were expecting to wait for a table as we were early for our reservation but were ushered straight in. This place is the spot for regulars, as we soon found out none of our surrounding tables were first timers.

I was forewarned how the owner doesnt like phototaking and hence i was cautious and asked for permission. But owner Josh was actually very friendly, extremely passionate but cheeky as he pretended not to be the owner =) Josh was great and came over several times to chat.

Owner Josh is Aussie but his wife Ai is Japanese hence all his food has japanese/asian influences in terms of ingredients and flavours.

We ordered the Edamame with murray river salt, lightly tossed in soy and ginger. Edamame can't possibly be this tasty and addictive!


Edamame $6 Fries $6

Shoestring fries with wasabi mayo were also ordered. The fries were crisp and crunchy but not overly oily, served with the best wasabi mayo.

Servings of blue gum smoked pork or beef ribs comes in a bowl. The ribs were marinated in ginger, soy, mirin (japanese wine), vinegar and sake with sprinkles of shallot, chilli and sesame. It was absolute heaven!


Beef Ribs Pork Ribs

Meat did fall off the bone, except for the ribs at the bottom of the bowl which were a bit tough. The flavours were devine! The flavours were blended togehter in perfect harmony. Ribs were succulent and tender, especially with my favourite (slightly fatty) pork ribs.

For dessert we each ordered the lemon delicious. And man, was it delicious! Zingy and zesty, freshly baked served with ice cream. Mmmhmm.

Lemon delicious $8

Cafe ish's signature coffee - wattleseed maccacino, did not live up to its standard as Josh's wife was not there that night to make it. Oh wells. Next time =)

Cafe Ish
82 Campbell St

Surry Hills

New South Wales 2010

Tel - 02 9281 1688

(no website available)