Carmels by the Sea, Palm Beach

An early morning drive down through the lush greenery of the Wakehurst Parkway and winding along on top of the ridges to Palm Beach evoked alot of memories. The location has certainly put some polish on since this blogger last visited some years ago now. The smell of the salt in the air a perfect balmy morning and an excellent location. Alot of conversation about the inhabitants of this area our politics, qantas grouding and the state of the nation as well as what next our next visual treat in the cinema is going to be. We were entertained by the young wait staff who had a relaxed casualness about them perfect for the place. We were amused by the way coffee arrived one at a time and the incomprehensive mumble announcement of what was being delivered. Views out on Pittwater, spectacular and the place hasn't changed for some years. See a painting of the original wharf by Lally Low.

Food was excellent and the berry frape served in the old style milkbottles where a hit. Avocado, bacon served on rye with a tomato salsa and a squeeze of lime, and green (pesto)eggs and ham all went down very well. Brunch was a peppered with a number of calls with some furious phone bidding at an art auction - a purchase made!!   Post brunch we toured the area looking at the real estate for sale.  Oh to be so lucky!! to have a home in this heavenly place.

QUIZ:  14/15

ANDREW: Tired from the birthday parties celebrations . But, still loved the beauty of this Palm Beach Cafe as well as my scrumptious food and beverage. 4.5 golden eggs. 

BRAD: 4.5 golden eggs. Chichi, age shall not weary them.

SAL:  I love this place - 5 golden eggs!! great food, great location, wonderful ambience. 

Camperdown Canteen (15 Fowler St, Camperdown) 22nd Oct

A great week. On one side of the planet a tyrant is removed. On the other, a true sovereign blessing her people with style and grace. The beginnings of summer, with a view over Camperdown Park, people relaxing on picnic rugs and it's Saturday at 10am.

Food was fluffy scrambled eggs, (would have been great with a tomato relish) eggs benedict with bacon and a big brekkie sandwich - the full monty with poached eggs, bacon, cheese, rocket and herbs all above average and served promotely. Coffee was great.

Got the feeling these people care about their locals lovely atmosphere.



Quiz Results = 15/15!!! how smart are we....

Ratings:

Andrew: 5 Golden Eggs. Recommended by my dear Kel doll this was sensational. Loved everything about it. My meal was delightfully delicious. Perfect start to our brunch club birthday week (two of our birthdays are this coming Thursday on the same day can you believe it?).  15/15 for the quiz was thrilling it's been a while. And I'm in an especially good mood because the gigantic toad is finally dead.

Sal: I've driven by many times but never stopped - so it was illegal parking this morning! Loved it from the moment I arrived; relaxed, great service by a good looking sort from Tamworth, and great coffee served in YSL coloured cups - 4.5 golden eggs.  Oh, and great bonus seeing Mrs Rabbit who popped in mid-brunch and meeting Phoebe.

Brad: It was a winner the moment I sat down and saw the sugar bowls with a correct sugar spoon for appropriate portion control. 41/2 golden eggs. Unpretentious, reliable and good honest service.

NB: Today's post comes to you live from the postgrad digs and art of one of our sponsors.

Citrus (227 King St, Newtown) 15th Oct 2011

Hello blogworld, long time no talk. Apologies for that. One of us has been off USAing while the other two have been most busy with their work and PHDs respectively.

What fun we had today! Although not all of us liked the cafe itself while some of us really fell for itfound it pleasant. Citrus cafe is on the northern end of King st before the Dendy and is one of those lovely King st cafes which open out onto the street. And you know you are on King st when one of the juices is called 'lush boy'. Overall, opinions of the food varied and the service was good to begin with but waned when we didn't order our food automatically. Then in terms of atmosphere one blogger deemed it 'plain' while another liked its open street feel.

This morning it was just back to the three of us again after a big last two weeks with numerous esteemed guests and even a country expedition to north-west New South Wales when the brunch club went on tour. Conversation topics canvassed (I sound like Malcolm Turnbull) films (please everyone go see 'Take Shelter'), Qantas union strikes and USA vs Aus pronunciation with a conclusion that Americans tend to phonemically follow the spelling eg. 'endure, opportunity' but then have weird spelling for 'pajamas. We definitely had consensus on the fact that dihorrea must have had a weird origin because the spelling is wildly different to the phonemics of it so we proposed a new spelling 'dia-rear'


ANDREW SAYS: 3.5 eggs. "Enjoyed my food and love the street feel. But maybe I'm cheap and will just praise anything"
SAL SAYS: 2 golden eggs. "They need to reupholster their cushions. Food was nothing special."
BRAD SAYS 2.5 golden eggs. "Too noisy"

'Nebea' - COONAMBLE (1-4 Oct)

BRUNCH CLUB GOES ON TOUR!!!

Well, where to start. After much planning and in fulfillment of a promise made almost 20 years ago, the Brunch Club set off at 6:00am from Petersham to make the long journey to Coonamble for breakfast at the ancestral home of the Lampe clan.

We stopped at the Foxwood Cafe in Running Stream for our first coffee of the day - a delightful spot, with delicious home made pies, and a fire to sit around whilst we had coffee.

More coffee at the Butchers Cafe in Mudgee excellent coffee and discussion on education policy

The brunch that awaited us was more a feast of Biblical or perhaps Royal proportions. Farm-fresh produce, coffee, pots of fine tea, and something a little stronger for the the weary travelers was all lovingly prepared by our hosts in the new kitchen which looked like a page from a Vogue magazine,

brilliant work by local Interior Designer Susan Jane Lawrance well done!! 

Brad was a little taken aback by the initial enquiry, 'would you like to see the shag in the pool?' and may be why we only scored 12.5 in the quiz. And this was despite having no fewer than 10 people contributing and Rohan even knowing the capital of Mongolia. The theologians (read: Andrew and Brad) were ashamed not to know how many days Jonah spent in the whale - 3 by the way, but all was soon forgotten when Andrew suggested taking urine samples to test the theory about asparagus.

In short, this legendary brunch started at 1.30pm and went on until 6.30pm that evening. It's success overwhelming and reflected in the scores:

BRAD: 6 golden eggs (out of 5). What can I say? Talk about country hospitality! All is now right with the world.

SAL: Hear! Hear! A Triumph on all fronts! I give it as many golden eggs as the scale will allow.

ANDREW: 555 out of 5.  Mum, your new kitchen is breathtaking which earns my inflated score.. 21 years late but still in every way worth the wait. Nowhere can every beat home especially after returning from a very mixed quality overseas trip.
LAMPE HOSTS: Just wonderful to have our most loved in our new beautiful kitchen.

Men around a fire...

Other highlights of the weekend included:

Quad bike riding where the lessons were short but Hugo had full confidence in the driver!
A visit to the historic Nebea Woolshed. What a treat to see this piece of Australian history still standing.
A side trip from the shed to the shearers quarters evoked recollections of a scene from Wake in Fright!

Ah, country life!...

Week-end Guests included Bethel and Betty, Netty & Graham, Malcolm, and local fang farrier Mark.
We were also guests at Sunday lunch hosted by the fabulous Helen and Frank, tennis played, camp oven produced a wonderful lamb roast, fire by the Castlereagh.

Return journey via Mudgee - lunch at High Valley, red wine from Peterson's and olive oil from Bling. A visit to the Lawson homestead and a wonder in the garden to see the Tea Drinkers by Tom Bass. Onward to Springwood where we had to break into the family home for a cuppa to revive us for the downhill run. What a memorable week end!

Delicados (Blues Point Rd, North Sydney) 24th Sept 2011

As a last taste of civilisation before one of our members tramped off to the mud of cadet camp, we treated ourselves to a little Spanish flavour at Delicados. 

Waited upon by the mandatory private school boys, a family friendly environment with a multi-purpose edge. Clearly a great tapas, wine bar at night, we were, however restricted to breakfast and purchasing some pastries to take away.

Good relaxed ambience. The service was fine but sometimes confusing with the multi-waiter approach - not our preferred method.

Conversation was a varied affair. Our two guests digressed into what could only politely be described as being..., well, ... impolite. I hope they let us back.

Quiz results - mediocre. Best forgotten.

Sal: 4 golden eggs. Mango muesli in a matini glass. Beautiful. 

Brad: Loved the baked eggs. 3 1/2. Only because it was a little predictable.

Indigo (Double Bay) 3rd Sept 2011

One of Double Bay's outdoor brunch spots where you can taste the truffle in the poached eggs. An entertaining morning with guest bruncher Connie bringing her four legged friend Schartzie, we blended in well with the other patrons.  Service was great, the global wait staff were terrific. Food was excellent and a large menu to select from. The conversation flowed over our usual area's of discussion - focus today was on global politics and the worrying trends in Greece and Italy and what the consequences for Australia will be if the European downturn really takes hold.

Our GW quiz effort this morning was ably assisted by our guest with a solid 14/15!!

SAL: 4 golden eggs for Indigo's really enjoyed the truffled eggs and good service. Lovely morning in the sunshine, excellent company in a friendly and the very relax atmosphere.

CONNIE: 5 eggs and Schartzie (5 bones!!) would agree.

BRAD: 

Bilton Gourmet (Erskenville) 20th August 2011