I remember coming to twenty one espresso about 15 years ago and I swear the decor, the menu - everything! has not changed one bit.

It’s a simple cafe in Double Bay and they’re famous with the local Jewish community for their matzo ball soup. We both weren’t too hungry after having a late lunch so we both ordered a soup. The prices for the soups were reasonable at $10.90 each and we were given complimentary rye bread with butter as a starter and to dunk into our soup.

The main meals ranged from around $20 and crept up to $30 or more. They serve a lot of traditional European food here such as Stroganoff, cabbage rolls and schnitzel so this cafe is popular with Eastern Europeans.

The service was prompt and friendly and the meals came out within about 10 minutes of ordering. The only downside is that they cram so many tables in there that you’re only inches away from the table next to you.

Twenty One Espresso
21 Knox Street
Double Bay, NSW
02 9327 2616  

The Cafe 21 Menu - I swear this hasn’t changed since I was last here about 15 years ago!

Matzo dumpling soup $10.90

We both ordered a soup for $10.90 each but most of the other meals were affordable. Some of the mains creeped up to $30 or more.

The chicken noodle soup was also $10.90

Technorati Tags: matzo ball soup, matzah ball soup, cafe review, double bay, chicken noodle soup, rye bread, sydney

I came down to Sydney for a long weekend a few weeks ago with my mum and we decided to treat ourselves by staying in Double Bay.

Double Bay is notoriously exclusive and snooty and is known as ‘Double Pay’ by Sydneysiders. We ate lunch at this casual open air cafe called Bar Indigo which had seating both inside the cafe and also on the traffic island in the middle of the road. It’s a quiet road in the middle of Double Bay so the (expensive) cars are only slowly driving by. It was really nice to sit out in the sunshine under the trees.

The staff here were really friendly and the service was very fast. The meals were also very well priced and averaged around $15 for most meals.

Most of the other diners were 50+ and we were surprised that the area was so quiet given that it was a Saturday. Walking around Double Bay it seems like it’s lost some of it’s lustre over the years - the famous star spotting cafe with the green and gold chairs under the Stamford hotel has gone and is undergoing renovations. Overall there were few people around and a lot of the boutiques seemed a bit drab and dull.

Bar Indigo
6, 15 Cross Street
Double Bay NSW
02 9363 5966

Bar Indigo

The falafal vegetarian wrap was $13.90

The seating in the middle of the road

Spaghetti and meatballs was $19.90

Technorati Tags: cafe review, double bay, sydney, bar indigo, spaghetti and meatballs, falafel

I came here for breakfast with my friend and for some reason I always imagined the Brighton baths to be an indoor swimming pool area. Instead it’s a fenced off section of the bay.

It was a freezing day with a chilling wind yet there were still swimmers doing laps around the outside. I would have been wearing a wetsuit at least!

The middle brighton baths has an upmarket restaurant upstairs however we went to the downstairs cafe for breakfast. Our table wasn’t at the front of the cafe but we still had a good view of the baths.

The cafe is very modern with a concrete floor and sparse furnishings. Service was prompt and friendly and our breakfasts cost $15 each by the time we added two extras. The cafe felt really cold though as it was a cold day outside and the concrete flooring added to this. It would be a great spot to come to in Summer.

Middle Brighton Baths
251 The Esplanade, Brighton
Ph: 03 9539 7000

The cafe inside has a nice view of the Brighton baths. It was a freezing day yet there were still people doing laps around the outside.

Poached eggs ($9) with avocado and bacon ($3 each)

Scrambled eggs ($9) with mushrooms and avocado ($3 each)

One of the pigeons that regularly sneaks in through the opened door to wander around looking for crumbs

The lifesaver painting inside the cafe.

The Brighton bath! it’s a fenced off section of the bay and on the day we were there it was absolutely freezing yet there were still people doing laps around the outside.

Technorati Tags: brighton, brighton baths, middle brighton baths, brighton baths cafe, cafe review, restaurant review, brighton melbourne

If you love cakes, deserts and sweet biscuits you’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven when you walk into Brunetti.

Brunetti is, without a doubt the best cake and biscuit place in Australia. There are so many different cakes from large cakes for birthdays, to large slices, bite sized portions as well as a huge variety of biscuits.

Everytime I come here I find myself (like everyone else) walking backwards and forwards along the huge glass display trying to decide what to have.

If you’re not into sweet’s there are savoury meals around the corner and Brunetti also has a small fine dining restaurant attached. If you’re visiting Melbourne you absolutely MUST visit Brunetti. The great thing about it is it is open late so you can come in after dinner for a sweet desert. They have other locations in the city and Camberwell but the Faraday street store is the original and I think, the best.

There are plenty of seats both inside and out but you may still find yourself waiting to grab a table, especailly at night as it’s always packed out. If you’ve ordered coffee or a drink you’ll need to wait for it to be made and stand over near the coffee area until your number is called rather than have it brought out which is a little annoying but I guess you don’t have to wait too long.

Brunetti
194 - 204 Faraday Street
Carlton
Ph: (03) 9347 2801

Some of the amazing Italian biscuits on offer

Some more biscuits and sweet treats - everything from florentine biscuits to nougat

Trying to make your choice is so hard! I always end up walking from one end of the glassed area to the other trying to decide

Some of the large ready made cakes which you can choose. You can also have them designed just for you for bithdays etc.

This is where the savoury meals are such as foccacia’s, aranciata rice balls and there is also a gelato ice cream area!

Some of the small taster sized cakes - this way you can try 3 or 4 little cakes instead of just getting one large slice.

Technorati Tags: brunetti, brunetti’s, italian cakes, lygon street, faraday street, carlton, brunetti cakes

Tiamo used to be one of my absolute favourite’s when I lived in Melbourne and it seems like it’s still everyone elses favourite too as it’s always hard to nab a table. This restaurant is so popular that they’ve expanded into next door and have created Taimo 2.

Simple things make for a great restaurant. Fantastic service (authentic, good looking Italian waiters also helps in this restaurants appeal), large servings at resonable prices ($14 for the pasta meals) and really good food. I also love it when restaurants give you something free for a starter, in this case they gave us a basket of sliced french bread with butter.

Turnover here is quick and you won’t be waiting forever to get your meals - ours arrived within about 15 minutes of ordering. I found it hard though to get used to the fact that you can still smoke and eat outside in Melbourne so if you’re a non smoker - try to get a table inside.

Even though it was a cold Autumn night there were plenty of heat lamps available. I highly recommend this restaurant if you’re dining out on Lygon street. This is comfort food at it’s absolute best and it’s a great spot to do some people watching and to check out the Ferrari’s cruising down Lygon street.

Tiamo
303 Lygon Street, Carlton,
Ph: 03 9347 5759

Most of the pasta items on the menu were around $14 - great value

Cannelloni with bolognese sauce on top

The tortellini bolognese.

Technorati Tags: tiamo restaurant, lygon street, tiamo 2 restaurant, italian restaurant, restaurant review, lygon street melbourne