The Book Kitchen, Surry Hills

On the first Saturday of each month the Surry Hills Market makes an appearance on Crown Street.  The markets house a mixed bag of vintage items, handmade goods, second-hand goodies, a food few stalls and filled to the brim with loads of interesting people-watching moments.

I've been dying to check out the markets for months now so Niecy Poo and I make a date to "do brunch" and browse the markets looking for vintage finds or cute bits of bric-a-brac.

Before we get down to the business of shopping however the business of brunching must be seen to.  I'd spotted The Book Kitchen on my previous wander through Surry Hills and thought it would do just fine as it is just a hop, skip and a jump from the markets.

 
The Book Kitchen is a lovely mix of cafe and bookshop.  The books on offer are of the cookbook variety - not much interest to me given my failure rate in the kitchen, but there are a lot of brunchers happily sipping their coffees and flicking through the range of books on offer.

We start of with coffees which hit the spot. The coffee is aromatic and pleasant tasting , no bitter after taste at all - a perfect start to brunch.

As we are brunching just after noon Niecy Poo is still in the mood for breakfast, whilst I am hankering after lunch.  Niecy Poo opts for a lovely tasting Spanner Crab Omelette with enoki mushrooms, chives and asparagus served on sourdough toast ($17.50, or $20.50 if you choose a bio-dynamic version of the breakfast).

As I'm unable to make a decision as to what to eat (everything sounds so tasty) the waitress suggests the Poached Salmon with soba buckwheat noodles, cucumber, avocado, fine herbs and soy mirin dressing ($20.50). I'm in raptures over my salad, so much so that I'm going to attempt to replicate it at home (wish me luck folks - or give me some instructions on what to do...please)! The salmon was melt in the mouth tender, the soba noodles healthy, but filing, and the dressing was zesty and lifted the dish to a whole new level LOVE!

I decide to finish brunch/lunch with a Mixed Berry Frappe ($6.50)...I just needed something sweet to finish off my lunch. The frappe was a deep red colour and we agree this would be a perfect lipstick colour, don't you think?  Of course it was also very refreshing on what has turned out to be a rather warm winter's day.

Of course, if cook books are not your thing you make be as lucky as I was to spot these two cute-as-a-button Dachshund's soaking up the sun outside the cafe. The long-haired puppy was SO freaking cute and happily posed for all my photos. I think my squealing and cooing at their uber-cuteness had the short-haired puppy (Lola) hiding under her chair from the crazy lady with the camera.

The Book Kitchen is at  255 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills.