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If you have a sweet tooth like me, then you might be similarly always on the hunt for the best dessert in Sydney.

I’ve been loving the Tella Ball shakes at Foodcraft Espresso & Bakery in Erskineville pretty hard since the Nutella-injected donuts perched on top of Nutella-flavoured milkshakes almost broke Instagram last year, so it was with great excitement that I heard the original creators of this delicious extravagance, Aki Daikos and Simon Kappatos, were opening a Tella Balls Dessert Bar in Dulwich Hill.

Tellaballs dessert bar “Gelat-dough” it’s the latest craze by Tella balls dessert bar! A fun way to combine your two favourite things; gelato & doughnuts! Gelat-dough is a doughy gelato that looks like a doughnut but tastes like the finest gelato on a stick. #gelatdough #gelato #doughnut #icecream #gelatostick #dessertheaven #sydneydesserts #sydneycommunity #innerwestsydney #dulwichhill #tellaballsdessertbar #sydney #australia @excusemewaiter?

A photo posted by Tellaballsdessertbar (@tellaballsdessertbar) on Mar 5, 2016 at 10:59pm PST

The Instagram pictures for the cafe have been killing me – particularly this gelato donut on a stick, which sells for $7. Sadly when I visited they didn’t have any for sale, but I guess that means there is a reason to go back next time?

There are no savoury dishes on the menu at the dessert bar – just sugar, sugar and more sugar. It is 100% a pure dessert bar.

As well as their signature Tell Balls and milkshakes, the dessert bar serves house-made gelato, Nutella layered lasagne, waffles, pancakes, and amazing sweets that feature Nutella heavily as a signature ingredient.

I visited on a week day before school let out to ensure we had a quiet dining experience. Even at midday on a Friday it was pretty busy, so I can imagine the cafe is a bit of a zoo on weekends.

My dining companion Jayne from Girl Tweets World and I ordered a few dishes to share between us. The Vanilla Tella Ball Shake with a Boston Custard Tella Ball on top ($10), the Ferraro Bowl (a smooth Ferraro Rocher mousse in a chocolate bowl served with vanilla bean gelato, $13), and the Ricotta and Blueberry Pancakes (2 stack buttermilk ricotta & blueberry pancakes topped with Canadian maple syrup and mascarpone, $16).

The vanilla shake was excellent, and the donut on top fluffy with a very tart custard inside. We were a bit regretful not to have ordered the Nutella one seeing as it’s the signature shake, but sometimes it’s good to brand out and try new things, right?

The Ferraro Bowl looked incredibly sweet, but surprisingly wasn’t. I really appreciated this, as even though I love all things chocolate, I can’t handle feeling ill after injecting myself full of dessert these days. I really particularly enjoyed the crisp chocolate shell with nut shards on it, and its pairing with the refreshing vanilla bean gelato.

I deliberately ordered the pancakes that did not have Nutella as I thought I couldn’t handle more chocolate after the Ferraro Bowl, and it was a good move when they were all on the table in front of us, with our dining companions looking on in … horror? awe? Who can tell!

The pancakes were excellent. Not super-fluffy, but a good size, and nicely soaked with maple syrup. I found the double serve of cheese a bit too much for me – I didn’t love the ricotta with this dish, and could have just done very nicely with the mascarpone and blueberries. I love fruit with my pancakes, so the huge amount of blueberries it was served with did me very nicely.

I would love to go back on another day to try more dishes from the menu. Tell me if you go and what you try.

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

Tella Balls Dessert Bar
372 New Canterbury Rd,
Dulwich Hill
Prices: $$$
Hours: Sun-Thur 11am-10pm, Fri & Sat 11am-11pm
Get Directions

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

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