Three Williams, Redfern

It's hard to keep up with all the new cafe openings in Sydney, especially in the inner-city. One of the newer kids on the block is Three Williams on Elizabeth Street in Redfern.  Too far for me to visit during a work lunch break so I tag along with a blogging friend one weekend for a quick brunch.

The cafe space is large, and I mean L-A-R-G-E, but even so it fills up fast. The room is all concrete, brick and wood paneling but despite their being no soft-surfaces I didn't find it too loud (and I'm an old grump when it comes to "too loud" restaurants and cafes). The music was quite mellow which, for me, added a nice vibe to the general hub-bub of the place.

There's a large chalk board at the back of the cafe making this a popular place for families with younger kids - the folks can eat and the kids can draw. The large space works really well for pram parking too - which is rare in most inner-city cafes. There's so much space I think I could've laid down in the middle of the floor and had a nap and not been in anybody's way.

Just for something different I decide to order an iced-coffee ($5.00..and yes, that's sarcasm). I like the addition of a coffee ice-cube as it keeps the coffee flavour happening throughout the whole drink. I do find the size a bit too large for me however -- but that may be more around my issues with "too much milk makes me frothy".

Tara ordered a really lovely peach and vanilla soda. I had a sip (or two) and it was super refreshing and would be perfect for a hot day.

Even though Three Williams hasn't been open all that long the legend of their super crunchy fries is already, well...legendary. These beer-battered fries ($6.00) are GOOD! Super crunchy on the outside and soft like a pillow on the inside. And yes, we're eating fries for breakfast. So what?

The beef brisket narnie ($14) is also gaining quite a reputation for itself (as is the vegetarian Tempe narnie). A house-made naan bread is piled high with glazed beef brisket, coleslaw, pickles and dill. I'm told by our waitress that the best way to eat this is with your hands, which looks impossible at first, but it's total doable with persistence (and a napkin on your lap). It's messy - but it's definitely the best way to get all of the flavours in one mouthful - fatty beef, crunch coleslaw and zingy gherkin. I resorted to a knife + fork at the end and it wasn't the best way to combine all the elements.

Tara opts for a simple breakfast of spicy smashed beans with avocado served on char-grilled toast ($13.00). There seems to be a few vegetarian options on the menu which is nice to see.

Be careful of these amazing looking donughts as you make your way up to the cash register! It took ALL my willpower to avoid getting one (or two). Maybe next time...

Three Williams is at 613a Elizabeth Street, Redfern.  

Coffee, Tea and Me, Redfern

Coffee, Tea and Me is a teeny tiny hole-in-the-wall cafe that can be found on busy Redfern Street in...Redfern.  This is the cafe that first kicked off my obsession with hole-in-the-wall cafes and I've been obsessed with them ever since.

I think I first heard of this place via John's blog and then The Boy and I kept driving past it on our way to "somewhere else". Every time we went by I'd beg him to slow the car down so that I could stare, longingly, at this petite little cafe.  Often I'd sigh and say "this is the kind of place I want to own".  It's seems small, and manageable for someone - like me - who doesn't know the first thing about owning or running a cafe.

This cafe is SO small that there is absolute NO seating inside. There's pretty much just enough room for the three staff working there and one customer at a time to step in, place there order, and then step back out onto the footpath to await their order. The ordering process reminds me a bit of the Soup Nazi episode from Seinfeld, except for everyone is really nice and the staff serve every customer with a smile and an hello.

I step in, place my order, step out and go find a seat at one of the mini-sized tables scattered along the footpath outside the cafe. I often worry about seating like this - I mean I'm no feather weight. What if I break the chair, or get down but can't get back up again - my knees don't work so well afterall (for the record, all was well on this occasion...I got down and up again incident free).

I'm here for a quick pre-working breakfast so a coffee is in order. They serve Campos coffee here and it's a really good cup. Not much else to say really - tastes like coffee, wasn't bitter and I didn't need to add sugar. Two thumbs up.

Food wise, the only thing on offer besides a few sweet treats is a selection of bagels. These are some of the flattest bagels I've EVER seen...but this smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel was also one of the most delicious I've had. I think the flatness makes the bagel quite crunchy and the texture is less chewy and doughy then regular bagels. I LOVE the toasted sesame seeds on top.

Coffee, Tea and Me is at 93b Redfern Street, Redfern.

Chapter Five, Redfern

Chapter Five in Redfern is my dream cafe, if I were ever to switch careers that is and become a cafe owner.  I've often thought I'd like to open a cafe (naive dream I know) but I worry that I cannot cook so it would be a MASSIVE flop. Chapter Five is proof that you don't need a massive kitchen, a big cafe or a fancy-pants menu to make a successful cafe. There's hope for me yet.

This newly owned cafe, that sits adjacent to bustling Redfern Station is pretty much just a  hole-in-the-wall. They serve various types of caffeinated beverages, teas and freshly made juices and in terms of food it's as simple as it gets.  If it cannot be sandwiched between two pieces of bread and popped into a Jaffle machine you probably won't find it here.

I LOVE this sort of cafe. They do a few things and they do it well - coffee, juice, toasts, muesli, sandwiches and jaffles. What more do you need?

The cafe is housed in a small, narrow space and it reminds a little of the layout of Circa or Three Ropes - which probably is why I have such fond feelings towards it. The two guys running the place are very friendly and they seem to know everybody's name as they pop in for their morning coffees on their way to work.

I've stopped a few times on my way to work for a coffee, but last week I had 30 minutes up my sleeve so I decided to take a seat and enjoy a weekday brunch. My coffee of choice here is a skinny cappuccino - I like that it's a petite size (6oz I'm told) as you get a good hit of espresso without too much milk fussing things up. Their takeaway cups are the same size too which is perfect for me.

I am BIG fan of the Jaffle, so much so that The Boy are planning on adding one to our kitchen arsenal. Chapter Five has a few Jaffles to choose from and best of all if you buy a Jaffle and a coffee your coffee is just $1 - talk about a meal deal people! For this brunch I go for the housemade beans with quinoa and cheese. I like that the beans add a bit more oomph to the Jaffle and it keeps me full until lunchtime.

Chapter Five is at Shop 2, little Eveleigh Street, Redfern.

The Rag Land Cafe, Redfern

I was first lured to The Rag Land Cafe in Redfern by a pop-up that BBQ aficionado and pop-up master Smokey O was doing at the cafe a few months ago.

I must REALLY love Smokey O's BBQ and smokey meats as I got up EXTRA early to be at the cafe before work...that's like SUPER early considering I have to be in the office around 9am!

You never know what you're going to get with a Smokey O pop-up and that's why it's wise to go to as many of his events as you can...to try everything on offer. I opted for the apple-smoked maple bacon with fried eggs on "texas toast" (which I think means BIG toast, which makes sense seeing as everything in Texas is BIG). That's my breakfast there on the left.  My friend choose the field mushrooms (also giant so maybe also from Texas) with melted cheddar, char grilled capsicum on Texas toast.

I really like the vibe of this cafe - it feels very homely and comfortable with lots of pre-loved furniture and eclectic nick-nacks on the shelves. It sort of feels like my lounge room actually and I knew I wanted to come back....soon.

 ...and, it's not long before I'm back for a big brunch party to meet the newly-born daughter of one of my fellow food bloggers. We toast the new arrival with coffees expertly brewed by cafe owner, and barista, Dave. An iced coffee for me and a flat white for The Boy. The Rag Land also offers "suspended coffees" which I think are great - customers can donate the cost of a cup of a coffee which then goes to providing a cuppa for someone who's not cashed up enough to afford their own fine brew. Nice, isn't it?

I was pretty hungry on this visit and wanted something substantial and the pea fritters + poached egg with rocket and tomato chutney came highly recommended to me by Dave (the cafe owner slash barista, not Dave my husband).  He also suggested I add a side of pork belly which I did and it was DELICIOUS - sweet and savoury with a hint of Asian flavours! As you can see they know how to poach an egg here and it was a really good breakfast that totally hit the spot.

If you guessed that The Boy would order a Big Breakfast then you'd be right. He liked the "build your own" concept and went for toast, mushrooms, tomato, pork belly and poached eggs.

Because this was a celebration brunch we needed to order some cake. The cafe has the cakes, cupcakes and slices baked for them by budding bakers and the snickers cupcake there on the right is baked by our very own blogger friend, Love Swah. Her baked goods are at The Rag Land each weekend and they are GOOD! The cupcake looked kinda lonely on its own so The Boy grabbed a slice of the very large lamington cake.

The Rag Land Cafe is at 129 Ragland Street, Redfern/Waterloo.

Town Bike Pitstop, Redfern

I was going to start this post by saying that Town Bike Pitstop is a "new" cafe that's recently opened up in Redfern. But it turns out that this cafe has been lurking less the a kilometer from my office for well over a year. A YEAR! Why did noone tell me this sooner?

I was particularly interested in checking out Town Bike Pitstop as it combines a casual style cafe with a cute bike shop/bicycle workshop.  I bought a pushbike for myself over the Christmas break and I've ridden it about 10 times which totally qualifies me to pull up a stool in this bicycle cafe like a true cyclist...or not (I don't own any Lycra bike shorts FYI). Whilst I've not ridden my bike since being back at work I like that I can admire other bikes whilst stuffing my face during my lunch break...exercise by proxy.

On my first visit I'm keen to try the Ei, Salmon + Hass ($13.50) - a sensational Dutch version of baked eggs that is super cheesy, a little salty from the salmon and super tasty.  The owners are not Dutch but they've spent some time living over there and I'm glad they've brought this delicious dish to our fair shores as it really is something different.

They don't do iced-coffees here (I'm guessing that they don't have a freezer for the ice) but they do make a mean coffee milkshake.  They very agreeably made me a half serve as too much milkshake makes me feel a bit...frothy on the inside and that's not good.

On my next visit I'm in the midst of #meatFreeWeek so need something vegetarian. They have a bunch of sandwiches on their menu board but nothing without meat.  Nevermind as they happily whip me up a baconless BLT and add a schmear of avocado to the mix - DIY ALT ($7.50), perfect!  The sandwich comes with a healthy dollop of garlic aoili which is a nice change from plain old mayonnaise.

I forgo the coffee milkshake this time in favour of a refreshing ginger "Mojo Kombucha" - an organic soft drink bursting with pro-biotics. It sounds a bit hippy-dippy but it's really light and doesn't taste at all like the mainstream sugary soft drinks that haunt some many cafes.

My kombucha drink had me feeling so virtuous and healthy that it felt only right to undo any good work the drink had done by having a little something sweet. The Stroopwafel (what a funny name - ah, the Dutch) is a biscuit made from two wafer-thin waffles which sandwich a sweet, sticky syrup that tastes like caramel. It's only a small sweet indulgence but it's deadly sweet...in a good way.

Town Bike Pitstop is a cute little neighbourhood cafe that serves simple food made by the friendly cafe owenrs.  I love that there seems be unique little cafes popping up all around Sydney. Perhaps they'll open up some cafes with car washes soon, that'd be great. Oh wait...have they don't that already?

Town Bike Pitstop is at 156 Abercrombie Street, Darlington/Redfern. Phone them on 9699 0096.