Goblin Cafe

Let’s meet ‘Goblin’ for breakfast.  Yes!  Situated round the corner of Summer Hill train station, this little café was opened in June 2012 and well-managed by the dedicated, energetic and handsome chef, Eliot assisted by his brother Anton and sister Scarlett.

The ambiance of the café is comfortable.  The indoor seating area is simple yet cozy.  In a sunny day, you won’t have any excuse of not choosing the courtyard seat to have a touch of the sun and fresh air.  

Today I visited this café with a group of friends.  Coffee was nicely made.  My cappuccino offered some dark chocolate flavor with medium after-taste.  Single origin coffee is also available in Goblin.  

 

Breakfast sets were wonderful: nicely presented and well-prepared.  The baked beans in the Spanish breakfast gave surprises to everybody.  Having some baked beans in the winter to give you heart-stirring warmth, what else could you ask for more?

The end of our gathering was marked by the amazingly awesome pancakes　– Ricotta and Buttermilk Hot Cakes with Poached Quince and Whipped Maple Butter.  The pancakes were expected.  Yet, the poached quince was excellently made to give your palate wonderful softness and sweetness – an experience you would hardly forget.

讓我們與’精靈’共晋早餐! 這咖啡店位處Summer Hill火車站出口的轉角處，於2012年6月開業，由一位充滿熱誠、有幹勁及英俊的廚師Eliot悉心經營，現時他的兄弟Anton與姊妹Scarlett也在店座陣幫忙。

咖啡店的環境相當舒適，室內的座位簡單而舒服。若是晴朗的一天，你怎會有藉口不選擇後院的座位，親親陽光與新鮮空氣。

今天我跟一班朋友來訪這咖啡店，咖啡造得很好，我點的意式泡沫咖啡帶著黑朱古力的口味，並帶中度的感餘韻。這裡也有單品豆咖啡可供選擇。

早餐的定食極好：賣相吸引，並做得很美味。西班牙早餐定食內的焗豆帶給每個人驚喜。在這冬日，暖，夫服何求？

我們聚會完結前，享用了最後的一道甜點－煎薄餅，上有燉煮的溫桴(爛桃梅，梨子的一種)，並配以打發過的楓糖牛油。煎薄餅的味道是可以預料的，出奇地美味的，是溫桴(爛桃梅)竟能為味覺帶來如此妙絕的柔軟及甜美的享受－一種難以忘懷的感受。

6 Sloane Street, Summer Hill, NSW 2130

Website: www.goblincafe.com.au

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goblincafe

Mon- Fri: 0700-1600

Sat-Sun: 0800-1600

Phone: 8033 0981 or 0425 276 411

Email: goblinkafe@gmail.com

 

Don't panic when you see goblin at the toilet :P

 

close-up shot of the poached quince

 

with Anton (left) and Eliot (right) @ Goblin's important place - the kitchen!

Hello Happy Cafe

There are heaps of Korean people living in Sydney.  Yet, few Korean style cafés exit here despite that in Korean cafés are prevalently available and it is one of the leading countries in Asia in coffee industry.

Although this café has Korean style, most of the coffee choices are largely espresso based ones.  One interesting drink is green tea latte which I tried tonight.  The latte art was really cute!

I really love Japanese/Korean style cakes which are somehow different from western style cakes.  The former tends to be lighter in texture, mostly mousse instead of heavy cheese cake (Remark: The major difference between mousse cakes and cheese cakes is that the former do not use cheese (e.g. cream cheese) while other ingredients such as cream (and eggs in some flavors) are still available.  Yet the absence of cheese gives mousse cakes lighter texture.)  Usually these Japanese/Korean style cakes are made in different layers with various flavors and the appearance is always enticing!

悉尼有不少韓國人，在韓國，咖啡店隨處可見，而韓國亦在亞洲咖啡市場中，為領導國之一，然而，在悉尼卻很少能發現有韓式的咖啡店。

今天，來到這間韓式咖啡店，它的咖啡也是以意式咖啡為主導。但我仍發現一款他們很有趣的飲品－綠茶泡沫咖啡，他們把圖案弄得很可愛！

實在很喜歡日韓式的蛋糕，它們大致上跟西式蛋糕有點分別，主要在於前者的口感較輕怡，非起司為主的蛋糕，而是慕絲蛋糕 (註：起司蛋糕與慕絲蛋糕最大的分別，在於後者沒有用上起司(例如：奶油起司)，卻仍會用上其他的材料成份，例如是奶油(有某些口味，會用上雞蛋)。但就因為慕絲蛋糕沒有起司，令其口感較為輕怡。)這些日韓式的蛋糕，常被做成多層次的口味，而且賣相也相當吸引！

22 The Boulevarde, Strathfield, NSW 2135

https://www.facebook.com/HelloHappyStra

Mon- Sun 0830-2200

Mousse cakes of various flavors

Green tea latte

Di Bella Roasting Warehouse

How to define a good café?  To me, putting aside the quality of beans, consistency of brewing (barista skills) is of prime importance.  Di Bella Roasting Warehouse was the first few cafés I visited when I started my coffee journey in Sydney.  Each and every time of the subsequent visits, coffee and food were of good quality.  

Today I brought a group of friends to come for a coffee gathering.  The location is perfect, situated close to Central Station.  Most of the cafés in Surry Hills close on the weekend.  Di Bella is one of the exceptions.  The place is quiet and you can enjoy good coffee chat with friends.

As usual, apart from house-blend coffee, you can also enjoy single-origin coffee here.  Today, they had Costa Rican coffee.  My day was lightened up by this well-prepared cappuccino with single-origin Costa Rican beans: well-frothed, with chocolate flavor, medium after-taste and good temperature.

Each plate of our ordered food was well-made with reasonable price and good portion size.  Flavour was good as well!

Wanna try some cold-drip coffee?  There you go for a huge-sized cold-drip set which attracts your attention soon after you enter the entrance.

If you want to make some home-made coffee, there is a variety of different brewing tools for you to choose, including mini-cold drip set, siphon set, mocha brewer, plunger, hand-drip filter, etc.

For a couple of lazy weekend mornings, I sat in this café reading books or observing the baristas and customers.  Life can be simple and beautiful when you give yourself some quiet time to observe people around us.  I like Di Bella, and I liked the moments spent there!

An earlier post of Di Bella Roasting Warehouse can be found at this link.

怎去定義一間咖啡店為好的咖啡店? 對我而言，若不把豆子的品質計算在內，沖煮咖啡技巧的一致性絕對是首要的重要性。這咖啡店是我來到悉尼以後，最先光顧的數間之一。往後的每一次光顧中，它的咖啡與食品質素，也相當之高。

今天，我帶一班朋友來這兒聚會。它的地點實在很好，因為就近就是中央火車站。同時Surry Hills一帶大部份的咖啡店，在週末都不營業，而Di Bella就是例外之一。這地方，基本上很寧靜，適合跟友人邊歎咖啡邊談心。

如常地，除了咖啡店的調配口味外，你也可以享用單品豆子。今天，我就選了一杯來自歌斯達黎加來的豆子。這一天，就因為這杯怡人的咖啡，整天的心情也被燃亮起：泡沬充份地打發、帶巧克力的味道、中度的餘韻感、溫度也適宜。

我們點選的每一碟食物也很好，不只做很美味和賣相好，價錢及份量也很合理。

想試一點冰滴咖啡嗎? 這兒有一座超大的冰滴咖啡壼，當你一進咖啡店，你的視綫會不期然被它吸引。

若你想試在家做咖啡，這兒有很多不同沖煮法所需的工具，包括：小型冰滴壼、虹吸壼、意式加熱煮咖啡壼、壓壼、手沖濾杯等。

有幾個懶懶的週未天，我坐在這兒看書，或觀察咖啡師與顧客。當你容許自己一點寧靜的時間去觀察身旁的人，生活其實是可以這樣簡單及美麗。我喜愛Di Bella，也喜愛在這兒渡過的時刻!

關於這咖啡店，較早前的一篇，見這超連結。

Shop 2/50 Holt Street, Surry Hills

Website: www.dibellacoffee.com.au

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiBellaCoffeeSydney?fref=ts

Mon-Fri 0700-1600; Sat-Sun 0830-1600

Hand-drip coffee set

What a good coffee~Costa Rican beans!

The menu states that it's ham on toast... wow, it's Parma ham!

Big breakfast

The roaster is no long in use.  But still it's good for education purpose.