This funky little cafe even sells coffee making wares.  It shows that they are serious about their beans! Because they even blend and grind their own!

Despite the tempting cakes and coffee machine shopping, we were here for a feed.  There is a good chalkboard menu of specials, as well as an all day breakfast menu and some toasted turkish bread specials.  The BLT arrived and I immediately had food envy.  It was stuffed with layers of crispy bacon, not dry at all, gourmet mesclun, and tomatoes – it certainly puts soggy white iceberg lettuce filled tiny BLTs to shame!  It’s served with a leaf salad that has a yummy balsamic vinegrette.

I selected something from the specials menu.  I have thing for corn fritters, and as they had the on the menu, along with garlic fried mushrooms, roasted tomatoes and grilled capsiscums, I didn’t even think twice.   It was definitely dressed up to city style standards, but what I was disappointed about was that the fritters were more like pikelets studded with some corn kernels.  Bills’ corn fritters have made me accustomed to more like corn cakes, which are chunky and barely held together with flour.  So almost 100% corn if you will.

Because there was no dressing or sauce served with it, the dish lacked of seasoning. But I have to say, if there were pikelets they would have been perfect as they were so fluffy!  Build your own breakfast is also available:  this is smoked salmon, poached eggs and spinach.  Perfectly poached eggs with just set whites and runny yolks.  I think the spinach was expected to be sauteed as in the city, but overall, a balanced dish.

The service isn’t as fast as your typical CBD joint, but that also means you aren’t pushed out and can linger over your coffee.   What also caught my eye was the sign out the front for mums saying ‘brst feeding welcome’.  Worth a try if you’re in town and looking for well priced, freshly prepared light meals

The menu is vast, and has everything – you get both the teppanyaki and standard food menu in one.  The best thing is that the dishes are small (with not so small prices in some cases!) so you can order a variety of things to try.  I wanted to try the Japanese egg omelette.  Oops, I didn’t realise it was just the sushi egg – but sliced thicker!  It was served warm, with some grated fresh daikon.  It was $8 for four pieces.

We wanted to try the dragon roll, which was $18.  It consisted of 8 pieces of sushi, freshly fried soft shell crab with roe rolled into the rice.  It was very yummy, but alas, no avocado, and to be honest, we thought the servings were very stingy – given that I could have 3 plates of dragon roll (of 3 pieces) at Umi Kaitzen in Haymarket!  But aside from the price, it was very very nice.  What wasn’t welcome however, was the 50c charge for extra wasabi.  I have never been to a place that charges for that – it would have been appreciated if the waitress would warn us beforehand.

I was very curious to try the rice balls.  They were kinda like Japanese arancini of sticky rice – seasoned rice balls, but disappointingly again, with no filling, just rice balls.  They were $8 for two.

For me, the highlight of the evening was the freshly teppan fried gyoza. You can choose from chicken or pork (we chose pork).  What makes them a cut above the rest is the juicy filling which was wrapped very tightly in the wrapper – not loose clumsy parcels like many other versions. Also, the bases were crunchy and the wrapper just the right thickness.  $10 for 6.  You’ll need maybe two serves they are so good!

Another special of the restaurant is the Japanese pancake (okonomiyaki).  Several versions are on offer. Standard chicken or prawn or wagyu beef ones at $13 each, or “special” ones for around $19 each.  They are served with a little box of the condiments – dehyrated parsley, and very finely sliced bonito flakes, you know, those moving tentacle type things that  are served on top!

I have a confession.  I loathe mayonnaise.  And every sour white creamy type of sauce.  Creme fraiche, sour cream, my worst nightmare!  Yes, even sweet Japanese mayo!  So since it happens to sneak itself onto many Japanese dishes, I requested the pancake sans mayo.  We selected the special one. It had pork and two split prawns on top.  It was quite small. I was actually annoyed at the waitress, because we wanted to order 2 pancakes between 4, but she INSISTED that one would be enough… lo and behold, it wasn’t And then when we wanted to order another one, we were told it would be a 30 minute wait! Not happy Jan!  But hungry!!

A-ha!  Just dug out some photos from last year – and check it out, last year it was bigger and thicker

Finally, to taste what we came for – handmade soba. And enter, second issue with the waittress’s recommendations.  At Jugemu, when you order a soba dish to share, they pre-divide it up for you into individual serves, so one order will be brought out in two dishes for you, so you can elegantly share without dripping all over the place.    Actually, this was very nice when I came with one friend, but with four, we thought, let’s just put it all in the middle.  Oh no, can’t do that.  She will split it for us, and therefore we will need to order two serves in order for there to be enough.  (How about increasing the serving size then? ).  So in the end, I thought, right, I would rather order something else, let’s just get one serve and the lady can divide it into three, to please herself.  Not happy with that, she then asked us to order extra noodles for another $4. *sigh*. Very bossy this lady.  Anyway, this experience really wrecked it for me.  Here are the noodles:

Here is the really salty dipping broth.

I really really loved Jugemu and Shimbashi last year, which is why I wanted to go for my birthday this year.  But after the pushy waittress, I really don’t think I will come back Coupled with the poor value for money.    But anyway, if you wanted to try hand made noodles or okonomiyaki, this is the place for you.

The menu was HUGE!  Ssssoooo many choices.  It’s a big menu for  a big breakfast. So many different things to try, ranging from bacon and egg rolls to ‘Voluptuous Veg’ – aka poached eggs on green beans and sweet potato and zucchini fritters.  We opted for the sweet corn fritters with poached eggs, spinach, bacon and tomato relish.  Two big corncakes arrived piled high with bacon (a bit crispier would have been better) and lavished with perfectly poached eggs and a dollop of relish.  Check out the size of this mountain of food!! Exactly what I was hoping for and more!  The fritters were not too doughy yet still held together well.  Sort of like chunky pancakes, with a spicy curry flavour from the relish which added a slight heat.

Everyone was eating mushys and their garlicky aroma filled the air as you walk in.  Side of mushys – $3.

And second most popular choice, the BIG BREKKY, the cafe’s namesake!  Two rashers of bacon, two eggs any way you like, two MASSIVE slices of buttered toast, vine ripened cherry tomatoes, a small chorizo, more mushys, and for some different – potato gratin and pear chutney.  Admittedly, I didn’t really like the gratin that much. A plate full of saturated fat needs a fried hash brown IMHO And personally I’m not a fan of savoury fruit, so my chutney stayed on the plate.  Everything else was delish though. The eggs were cooked crispy on the edges, mushys full of garlic flavour, and the cherry tomatoes a very posh touch.  Great value at $18.

This little cafe must have been a local’s secret – until SMH unleashed it!  It hits all the right notes without being pretentious or posh.  Great food and REALLY good service from the friendly staff, totally unphased by the number of kids there – who can also play outside on the grassy outdoor back area too.  Very quick service too.

Well one disadvantage of sitting near the kitchen is seeing all the goodies go past.  And what we could not let past was a taste of the pancakes.  Baci pancakes in fact.  YUM, two huge thick flapjacks sandwiched with (not enough ) nutella, dusted generously with icing sugar and cocoa and fresh strawberries. See for yourself!   I found them a bit doughy, but my friends liked it that way.  A scoop of ice cream really would have completely made the dish too!  But I think we definitely had had our weeks’ serve of calories hehehe.  What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday.

We were famished by the time we got there, so first up was to order some roasted garlic bread.  Each serve came with four generous wedges of garlic bread with a twist. It was bread with whole baked caramelised cloves through it. And boy was there alot of garlic!  The husband of my manager was said to say “you reek!” when she got home!  But we as a whole team wolfed it all down.  It came served with extra garlic butter, as well as a walnut sauce which was a bit redundant as it was a bit sweet and the bread was sweet anyway.  I would have preferred the garlic to be more integrated into the bread as it was a bit offputting to chew through whole cloves of garlic.

Hunger staved, we could then turn our attention to ordering.  We were having the $29 team lunch, which comprised a choice of one of four courses with a glass of house wine, beer or soft drink; AND tea or coffee at the end.  First choice, was their signature fish and chips.  The fish was hake (ie shark), which is not atypical of fish and chips in Australia, but could be improved by using flathead for example.  They were crispy and served on crispy fries.

Second choice was olive crusted slow cooked lamb.. I don’t eat lamb, but was informed that it was braised so tender it fell apart at the mere touch of the fork, and the serving size was also very generous.   Served with mash topped with ratatouille and a basil dressing, it sounded a bit busy with the jus, but that’s just my opinion, uninformed

My choice was the sirloin with watercress salad and chips.  The steak was very tender and the salad tangy.  I quite enjoyed it!  I particularly loved the giant chips, stacked like a little block of potato jenga

Fourth and final choice was a vegetarian trio. No once chose it, so no piccies sorry!  Apart from the potential view, the absolute stand out star of the show as dessert.  Hats off to the pastry chef for producing such amazing tastes, and for the management for the very reasonable prices!  Overwhelmingly most popular was the lemon tart and bombe alaska.

The lemon tart was in fact a lemon BRULEE tart – yummmm the crispy toffee coating makes an already delicious tart just that little bit more luxurious.  The lemon was perfectly balanced between tangy and sweet.

And it paired so well with the little bombe alaska – also with lemon gelato in the centre.  The outside eggwhite wasn’t the cooked eggwhite type however can be forgiven for the flavour.

Second most popular was the chocolate tasting plate.  You’re getting the gist of these superb two or three for the price of one desserts?

A chocolate tart, chocolate terrine and ummm don’t know what the third one was, but I was assured that they were all delicious.

All in all, a great value lunch.  This is restaurant food at bistro prices.  If it was a sunny day, it would have been idyllic.  And coming here simply for dessert would be worth it on its own.  Quick, the $29 lunch deal ends in September!

Also unlike other stuffy high teas in Sydney, Bathers does NOT put everyone’s food onto the one tea stand in an attempt to make it not look stingy! Bathers puts two persons food on the one stand, no need to make it look good value because it already is!

Many people eat savoury sweet sweet, but for me, I start with hot then move to savoury then to sweet.  First up, scones!  One each, still warm, and of a good size, served with whipped cream and strawberry jam.  High tea purists might argue that clotted cream or double cream should be served.  But I prefer my cream with as little saturated fat as possible, it makes it much less heavy.

The sweets of the day were a bread and butter pudding slice, a hazelnut chocolate mousse layered slice, and a passionfruit meringue.  These were all lovely, but probably not up to 5 star hotel standards.  The bread and butter pudding could have been warm for my liking; and the chocolate on the layered slice wasn’t quite tempered, but the gold leaf was a very elegant touch.  The mousse could also be a bit firmer to make the chocolate thing easier to eat, as it squished when you used your fork to eat it.  I liked the taste of the mousse though, as well as the passionfruit tart.  But I was a bit sad that I think the meringue wasn’t evenly torched, and I don’t think it was done the cooked way (ie to add hot sugar syrup into the egg white).

The savouries were a delightful change on traditional crust off sandwiches! We each got a shitake mushroom bun (chinese style), a mushroom tart and a smoked salmon finger sandwich.  The shitake mushroom bun wasn’t quite up to chinese standard, especially since it was cold, as the bun was a bit gluggy, when it should be fluffy and warm.  The filling had a delicious earthy flavour though.  The tarts were absolutely perfect, bite sized and full of flavour.  And finally, the smoked salmon finger sandwich on rye with creme fraiche was as good as the best I’ve had.

Your $25 also includes any coffee including cappucinos, mochas etc, and also a pot of tea. All in all, amazing value.  All so good that in fact I forgot to take pictures of the view! hehe. Oh well.  If you can get here, do try it.  It’s something different from other high teas.  The only problem though is that there are no bookings, and it’s only on Mondays to Fridays.  Don’t let that stop you though!

Inside the store, it’s even cuter, with pink cupboards, pink and brown checkered floor and rows and rows of perfect cupcakes behind glass display cabinets. (I didn’t notice this lovey dovey couple on the left until I got home, the guy blended so well with the decor ).  The restaurant has a row of benches where you can eat it (it costs more though) and enjoy a coffee.

All the treats from the book are on display here.  The most popular is the red velvet, and of course the traditional vanilla cupcake, each is adorned with a lick of pastel cream.  New flavour of the day was the earl grey tea flavour.

These mounds of calories and goodness were in fact rocky roads, rather than rocky road topped cupcakes as I had imagined.

Apart from the cupcakes, Hummingbird Bakery also has large cakes. Sadly, I didn’t realise you could buy these by the slice, until too late

Despite the fact that I was still full from lunch, I decided I did not want to carry around a cupcake whilst shopping. So I had to eat one there. Eating in costs just slightly more – but at least it allowed me to dissect what’s so good about these cupcakes After much agonising deliberation, I decided on a chocolate cupcake for something different, swathed in a gorgeous lemon coloured vanilla frosting.

The cake to icing ratio was less pleasing to me than to the traditional American audience (ie 50% cupcake 50% ‘frosting’!), however the cake was deliciously moist without being sickly sweet, and the icing wasn’t grainy at all, and quite buttery.

I highly highly recommend the book, the cupcake recipe does in fact have sooo little butter, which means that you can eat them relatively guilt free

Buy the book from Amazon here

It is SO cold lately, that all I want to eat every night coming home from work is a hot bowl of noodle soup.  Usually that’s noodles (udon, egg noodles, rice noodles), with veges of some sort, meat of some sort and some fish balls.  Tonight, I had some leftovers from a steamboat meal so my trick was to poach all the ingredients for just long enough to cook them without turning them into a soggy mess.  Two bowls of water going at once.  One for the fish ball squares – they need to be boiled for 10minutes.  And whilst that is going, poach the other ingredients in order of delicateness - golden mushrooms, shitaki mushrooms, then the tripe and finally the seafood ever so slightly.  Rinse the rice noodles under hot water (if you boil them they will be too soggy). And make the soup base: boil 2 cups of chicken stock, and add a slurp of soy sauce, a sprinkle of white pepper, a few drops of sesame oil and some chopped spring onions.  Place refreshed noodles in a bowl, and arrange all the ingredients nicely on top.  Pour on the hot soup and serve steaming hot.  No need for heaters and woolly socks, you will be warmed to the core In 15 minutes flat too

It came with freshly deep fried (And very oily) but crispy french fries.

But OMG, how do I describe the flavour…. it was so rich (and to be honest soooo salty), but there was smokey bacon flavour, and after asking the waiter, found out that the other ingredient are cream (yikes!), paprika, garlic, mushrooms, green beans.   It was SO AMAZINGLY tasty!!! The pork loin must be simmered in this flavoursome sauce, as it was so tender.  They didn’t give enough The portion was so small and not much meat at all. But I asked for bread to mop up all the amazing sauce.

We also tried traditional Danish meatballs.  They were served on a platter with traditional accompaniments: pickled cucumbers, barbeque sauce, parsley potatoes and sauerkraut.  There were also parsley potatoes that were so salty that they tasted like they were cooked in sea water! The meatballs were a bit disappointing too, because they were a bit “floury” like rissoles. 

Maybe the Danes need heavy handed seasoning as the freezing cold weather just makes you crave strong flavours, we didn’t get to try enough traditional cuisine to be able to tell.

I do highly recommend that pork casserole though. I definitely definitely will attempt to try to make it at home.  Other people were trying the herring platter too. Not for the faint hearted Aussie like me though

Kobenhavner Cafeen is located on Badstuestraede 10 1209 Kobenhavn Ph: 33 32 80 81

THe cut through the middle test:  Fair distribution of colour, but still a bit too much pink.  Not burnt on the inside.

Crumb was okay and the icing was fairly even (on this slice at least hahaha), but still dry for my liking   Big fail!   I concluded:  It’s not me, it’s not the contestants, it’s the word “moderate” to describe the oven temperature.  Everyone’s oven is different. Whilst moderate generally means 180 degrees, my oven is fan forced so I should have turned it down 10 degrees.  Who knows what the CWA oven is like?  So “moderate’ could have meant a bit range of potential fails    Oh well… better luck next time.

Link to the recipes:

http://www.cwaofnsw.org.au/newsEvents/generalNews.do?newsId=3368

Step 5: I lined two tart tins with baking paper but for the traditional way, just simmer off some of the liquid until the caramel is thicker, then lay a whole sheet of puff pastry on top and put it in the oven.  For my way, lay the apples nicely in a spiral, then simmer the sauce until it’s thicker, and then pour over the apples.  Lay the pastry on top.  Step 6: Bake in the oven until puffed and the edges are very brown and the sauce is caramelised.

Final step: carefully invert onto a plate and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Eat immediately whilst still warm and whilst the pastry is crispy.  Cooked and eaten in 40 minutes