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Foodcraft Espresso & Bakery: Sydney’s Best Milkshakes & Cafes

October 24, 2015 / Erskineville, Inner West, Sydney, Sydney Food / 2 Comments

Like the rest of Sydney, I’m a bit obsessed with milkshakes right now. I’m particularly partial to Nutella and have very fond childhood memories of making myself ill by eating entire jars of Nutella with a spoon.

Foodcraft Espresso & bakery have made a name for themselves recently with their Instagram-breaking Tella Ball Shake – basically a Nutella-filled donut stuck on top of a Nutella milkshake. Basically my dream food, with a straw shoved in the middle. Of course we had to go and get one.

I’d heard stories of long waits to get in due to the recent popularity, but when we arrived at 10am on a Saturday we only waited five minutes for a roomy table. The staff were some of the friendliest I’ve ever encountered at a cafe anywhere. All smiles, asking Cheese what her name was, really giving the place a friendly laid-back vibe that was incredibly welcoming.

Families and young couples alike were all there for the shakes. Diners with dogs sat outside with their pooches under the tables, with babies perched in highchairs at the table next door. The cafe really sums up this part of the inner west – a bit more family-friendly and chilled out. Not as much of a “we’re so hip you’re not welcome” attitude that makes erm, less hip people like myself feel out of place.

The food! What good is a great atmosphere if the food is rubbish? Luckily, the food was delicious and decently priced. The famous Tella Ball Shake was $10 – and really enough for two people to share. The milkshake was so full of Nutella and ice cold, with a big fluffy donut on top. Cheese eye’s lit up like it was Christmas day when she saw it.

For meals, we ordered the Smashed Avocado ($16, with poached eggs, marinated feta, fresh lime and sea salt) with extra salmon ($4), Eggs on Toast ($10, free range eggs, any way you like it), and the Haloumi Stack ($16, balsamic glazed tomato, poached eggs, baby spinach and avocado). The food was served pretty quickly, and was all spot on. Perfectly cooked eggs, great bread that was lightly toasted (don’t get me started on how hard it seems to be to be served toast that isn’t burnt these days!), and fresh, bright ingredients. Just delicious. Everything.

Right across the street from the cafe is a little park with some strange torpedo-shaped sculptures that kids were enjoying playing on before and after eating.

While we came for the Tella Ball Shake, we left converts of the cafe for completely different reasons. Incredibly kid-friendly and delicious, well-priced food: Foodcraft Espresso, we will be back!

Highchairs: Yes.
Stroller storage: Yes.
Easy access: Yes.
Change tables: No.
Kids’ menu: No.

Foodcraft Espresso & Bakery
33 Bridge St,
Erskineville NSW 2043
Phone: (02) 9557 8656
Prices: $$
Hours: Tue-Fri 7am-4pm, Sat & Sun 8am-4pm
Get Directions

The Gingerbread House: Kid-Friendly Cafes, Katoomba, Blue Mountains

March 26, 2015 / Australia, Blue Mountains, Cheese, Katoomba, NSW, Travel / 8 Comments

On our recent Blue Mountains drive we stopped off at The Gingerbread House for afternoon tea after several recommendations from friends. It’s the sweetest cafe, housed in a beautifully restored 100-year-old church. As you can guess from the name, The Gingerbread House is all about sweet things – milkshakes, Serendipity ice-cream, cakes, cookies & gingerbread. They do have light savoury food, by the way, but it’s the sweet things they’re well known for.

The Gingerbread House is owned by the creators of Josophan’s Fine Chocolates, so they obviously know a thing or two about the sweet things people go crazy for.

Inside the church is an adorably styled gingerbread house containing a sweet shop filled with lollies, and a mix of small and large communal tables. You can also sit outside and soak up the sun while the kids play in the gingerbread cubby house.

On our visit, we enjoyed a chocolate gingerbread man, a vanilla malt milkshake, a slice of chocolate cake with salted caramel frosting, an affogato with Serendipity caramel ice cream, and a scoop of Serendipity ‘Death by Chocolate’ ice-cream (which has just been awarded Champion Premium Ice-cream at the Sydney Royal Cheese & Dairy show).

The cake was mine, and I found it to be just the right mix of dense, moist chocolate cake, with thick caramel frosting for my taste. I loved the milkshake (nice and malty), as did Cheese, who stole mine off me. Alec enjoyed his affogato (said the ice cream was great) and Cheese devoured her ice cream (as the official “eat the rest of the cone when the kid is done” person, I can confirm that the chocolate ice cream was really, really good, too!).

The Gingerbread House is delightful and delicious – the perfect stop for a treat on your next drive to Katoomba.

Highchairs: Yes.
Stroller storage: Yes.
Easy access: Yes.
Change tables: Yes.
Kids’ menu: Yes.

The Gingerbread House Cafe
56 Lurline St (Cnr Lurline & Waratah Streets),
Katoomba NSW 2780
Phone: (02) 4782 6958
Prices: $
Hours: Daily 9am-5pm
Get Directions

Linking up with Grace and Bron.

Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain

November 13, 2012 / Brooklyn Bites, Carroll Gardens, New York, New York Food / 0 comment

The Farmacy (as the locals call it) is a beautifully restored 1920s pharmacy in Carroll Gardens, well-known for their amazing grilled cheese sandwiches and egg floats. They’re also a haven for neighbourhood families to bring their babies and kids of all ages to enjoy lunch, sundaes at the counter, or musical jam sessions with kids’ entertainers, the Jitterbugs, on Thursdays at 11am. Don’t let the lack of highchairs put you off. If your tot isn’t happy sitting in their stroller or on your lap, they’ll be in good company running around the store.

Brooklyn Farmacy Jitterbugs — Floor space only left during the weekly Jitterbugs show.

Highchairs: Yes – but only one. There is, however, plenty of room to keep your baby in their stroller at your table.
Stroller storage: Yes – if it’s not too busy you can leave your stroller in the back room or by the front door.
Easy access: Yes.
Change tables: No (there is a large bathroom where you can change your baby on the floor if needed).
Kids’ menu: Not a special menu, but most of the food is friendly for bigger kids.

Brooklyn Farmacy
513 Henry Street (at Sackett st),
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Phone: (718) 522 6260
prices: $
Fall Hours: Sun-Thur 10am-10pm, Fri-Sat: 10am-11pm
Get directions.