Neighbourhood Favourite: Pablo & Rusty's

After an accomplished morning of housework and homework (for the course I'm doing), I took myself on a date to another of my favourite local cafes, Pablo & Rusty's.

Pablo & Rusty's has been bringing speciality coffee to Sydney's north shore since they were founded in 2004. They began by supplying beans to a number of cafes but it wasn't long before they established their flagship store in Gordon. They now have additional cafes in Epping, Lane Cove and Sydney Olympic Park, as well as their headquarters and testing facilities in Ryde.

My local, Epping, has recently launched a new cafe menu with lunch items as well as an all day breakfast selection featuring simple yet flavoursome food. Today I was in the mood for some carbs so I ordered the smashed avocado and tomato on sourdough with salsa verde. Such a simple light meal but the addition of the salsa verde gave it a bit of tang and I didn't feel so guilty for ordering something I could have easily made myself. I was also tempted by the poached eggs on sourdough with quinoa and smashed peas. Next time!

If you're ever around any of the locations listed above, I would highly recommend a visit to Pablo & Rusty's for an excellent coffee or light meal.

P.S I only just noticed that it appears they're using old jalapeno jars for their sugar (pictured above). Bec from My Bloggable Day and I are keen collectors of these jars. Don't be jealous but I now have nine of them!

All photos taken by me on my iphone and edited with the Afterglow app.

The Grounds of Alexandria

A few weeks ago, my friend Alyssa and I went to The Grounds of Alexandria for breakfast. It is situated in a converted warehouse in Alexandria (hence the name) which used to be a pie factory.The Grounds incorporates a cafe, coffee research and testing facility (sounds scientific!), an outdoor courtyard and garden complete with fresh herbs and vegetables used on the cafe's menu, a chicken coop (for the eggs, of course) and a bakery. 

Since opening earlier in 2012 it has become the talk of the town among Sydney coffee connoisseurs, hipsters and families alike. Since I apparently fall into one of those categories (guess which one!?), it was only natural that I was eager to visit. Like many trendy joints in Sydney these days, the cafe does not take bookings for groups under six people and I had heard the wait was often up to an hour. With this in mind, I met Alyssa around 11am on a warm Sunday. We put our names down, went to the bar next door for a cool drink and before we knew it our buzzer was going off. I'd say it was only about a 20 minute wait for us, so we were stoked.

I ordered the turkish eggs and a cappuccino. I was impressed with how quickly the food arrived despite how busy they were that day. I wouldn't say it was the best breakfast I've ever had (maybe because I burnt my tongue on the beans) but it was still tasty and the coffee was good enough for me (by now you're probably guessing I don't fall into the coffee connoisseur category!). 

We enjoyed having a wander through the gardens, inspecting the chooks and veggies before we left. On weekends, they also have different 'pop-up' market style food stalls selling the likes of egg and bacon rolls or homemade lemonade and the pictured boxes of delicious mangos. I'm currently investigating their options for larger groups as my birthday is coming up and I'm planning a brunch. Something in the garden might be nice!