Roger le goéland
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Posts posted by Roger le goéland
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Interesting insights! I have left the UK for quite a bit, but always remembered the UK Dining board as one of the best (if not the best) places to discover new places to eat in that "high risk high return" city that is London.
The board actually offered 2 things that I could not find elsewhere:
- anonymous discussion
- true expertise from experience and taste coupled with information impossible to find elsewhere.
The first may sound odd to many of the above posters, who post with their name, photo, blog link and ample reputation; but I do not know any of you bar one and as such really enjoyed only reading your arguments and way of thinking, without judgment being influenced by any personal considerations. Also meant my own meager contributions were suitably handled regardless of who I was, where I worked, who I knew, etc. - and by complete strangers who happened to be food geeks, not friends in real life who cared for my ego.
The second is still one of the best things about this board. I got on it from personal reference by an aforementioned "geek", and had to fill in a personal statement regarding why I joined. Talk about a culture! Maybe that is why everybody seemed so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about food. I still remember reading Matthew Grant's thread on Arbutus, with his detailed comments on what the chefs were trying to do, how, and what people ate, which probably brought them several dozen repeat visits from me and my friends (and how I wish Chiswick wasn't so far away, so that I could repeat with Hedone on my next trip). I learnt a lot regarding what to expect, what to order, how to think about a restaurant visit, how to spot truly worthy cooking from temporary fashions, how to make the most of my sterling from various discussions between vastly more experienced board members.
Do blogs replace the Forum? I'm not sure. I usually scan blog entries quickly to have a look at what is served; beyond that, few get into the level of detail, and shall we say more philosophical arguments that make many of the threads here worth a read. As mentioned above the discussion is the best bit.
I really do wish there was a similar group on the Singapore/SEA board, as the local food scene is otherwise dominated by PR agencies, and where every interesting meal has come via a personal recommendation.
Alright, back to lurking.
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I had the chance (some may say the misfortune) to stay in Geylang my first week here. Tried maybe 15 places in the area as I did not have the luxury of previous recommendations. Don't go out of your way for those but...
At the corner of Crane Road and Onan Road, a man fries up some parathas (my breakfast of choice in that area). You might spot him throwing the dough around in almost meter wide circles of potential deliciousness. 80c gets you a basic one with a couple of sauces, but I upgraded for the mutton at 2.50 SGD. This was hands down the best of all parathas/pratas/variations thereof I've had in Singapore so far. If you are somehow not filled and fancy something different, walk along to Carpmael road, turn left and somewhere across the road from what Google Maps calls 88, there lies a prawn and rib soup noodle place. This is a dish I have tried in many hawker stands but never again have I found the deliciousness of what I assume is stock that is topped up continuously. That stock was close to Ichiran's tonkatsu stock (in Tokyo) in terms of concentrated flavour. I almost wish I still lived in Geylang!
I tried Fei Fei's wonton noodles, they were no better than the average in the area if a dollar more expensive. Tried a few Viet places looking for decent hu tieu, forget about it. Nobody cares about stock. Just that prawn mee place. Tried Smokey's, well, it's what it says on the tin and not a bad choice if you are fed up with hawker stands, why not pay 15 hawker meals' worth for 48 hour slow cooked smoked meat and fries?
PS: Durian: just no. The smell stays in your mouth for hours. Hours.
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For tapas in the old town, Tempranillo (on Casa Baja) was pretty good compared to its neighbours.
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Any recent experiences? I'll be visiting for a weekend in two weeks.
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Amazing that Cambridge offers up so little though, particularly in the mid-range dining arena. Oxford the same.
I'd guess it is because there is no demand. Students have cheap, readily available opportunities to eat in a formal setting in Hall/Formal/whatever you call it at the other place (at £5 for a 3 course meal with silver service + BYOB, it's hard to beat). There aren't enough foodies in the city to sustain more than a couple of places, which operate in part as "neighbourhood restaurant" for the rest of the pro crowd. 45 minutes gets you into London which has a wide, cheap (by continental standards) selection of Michelin-level cooking. And maybe few chef wants to move here when they can have the lifestyle and access to produce/talent/etc. of London. Thoughts?
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There's also a deli with a huge plastic cow in front near Emmanuel. This is awesome and strongly recommended if you want a cheap satisfying meal. The inside is a pastel version of McDonald's though so perhaps not the best dining experience.
If you can, go to Grad Hall at Trinity on a Friday night. It's my favourite of the bunch. Ask any graduate students who go to Trinity if they can invite you.
A good place to drink on a Friday night is Clare College MCR (again you will need an invitation from a friend) whose bar has something like 70 scotches going for £1 or £2 a shot (£2 for a shot of PC7! fabulous).
Another "local" secret, the butcher's pork and sage sausages from the market are the best I've ever tasted anywhere in the world, and I've eaten a lot of sausages (they are way better than Ginger Pig's). He also sells duck eggs, so here's your breakfast suggestion if you have access to a kitchen.
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I see Cambridge threads haven't been updated for a while so let me indulge:
Midsummer House is great indeed and worthy of the detour.
An oft overlooked one is Alimentum. Take a cab if you must, otherwise walking there and back is part of the fun on a warm British winter day (an oxymoron, but who knows, you might get lucky). Ask the waiter for a Sazerac, the bartender rarely gets tough requests, which is a shame because he was I believe voted Best in the UK or similar in 2006. He knows his stuff. The food has been consistently satisfying, better than many a London 1* (Arbutus included), every time I went although my last visit was about a year ago. Set lunch for £15 is an absolute steal.
If you want your head blown off, go to a Chinese restaurant called Sesame next to a church, it looks like any other Chinese place with Chinese-British dishes (black bean chicken and other variations on sweet gloop with protein). When I was there last, they had just translated the "Chinese" menu, but it's still worth going with a Chinese person. Ask for the spicy cold noodles, and the Szechuan water-boiled fish, and Chinese-spicy please (i.e. with an inch of floating chillies). Sesame is the hangout of the Chinese Scholars Association (loosely translated) and basically serves as a canteen for the homesick Chinese student, but they usually dine downstairs. They also do pig's feet and cool things but I could never manage to eat these without a Chinese friend ordering them for me.
A nice takeaway, and another homesick Chinese student canteen, is on the corner of Lensfield Road and Regent Street, opposite the church. It's called Lan Hong House, has a wooden bench inside, and limited English. For £4 you can get an amazing fatty pork belly with or without aubergines (Hong Shao pork or sea-salted aubergines). It should reliably feed you and another person.
I keep hearing good things about Restaurant 22 but never set foot there.
I love the Maharadjah on Castle Hill for curries. Don't rate any other places, which seem designed more for students to get very drunk than for dining but then I rarely ate curry back in the days.
Another good takeaway is Manna Mexico. Those burritos... when I am back (which is rather rare these days) the first thing I do is get a pork burrito with guacamole and loads of cheese. So satisfying.
Coffee is hard to come by but a good place is a small cafe/Italian deli whose name escapes me on Regent's street. They use fresh roasted beans, albeit quite a strong roast, which in a former life, I used to be much more sticky about (a new workplace with free nespresso has rapidly dulled my coffee taste buds to oblivion, unfortunately). The food is pretty decent too although expensive by UK standards.
Other than that your best bet is to go for a chain. Zizzi's and Wagamama's are the safest.
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Two servings of bone marrow was definitely too much considering the amount of delicious fat on that steak and on the chips. Next time I'll stick with one.
I can perfectly cook a steak at home (from Ginger Pig or a good butcher around here in Geneva, they source pretty well). It will be tasty like this one, not quite as fun or convenient however. I do think H is a great place to go out with friends and enjoy a relaxed Saturday night. At 50 quid a head including cocktails, leaving us too full to more than nibble the tasty (but not as satisfying) desserts I call it good value, but then my idea of value is twisted by the fact a kebab is about 20 quid in Geneva and a decent cocktail starts about there too.
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Better than either is a 50/50 mix of the two. Then proceed with Peychaud's, absinthe, etc.
Ah, but at $200 a bottle and with it available only once a year for about three hours, this will have to remain sipping territory for me... maybe I'll add a touch of sherry to my PC8 instead
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Well, it's Fall 2010, so Sazerac 18 went back on the market. I am almost ashamed of the amount I paid to have the Whisky Exchange ship a bottle to me to Switzerland... probably three times as much as you guys over the pond. But it was worth it, since for two years I have been looking for this bottle and been completely unable to buy it.
Spectacular, especially the nose.
Still, call me mad, but I prefer the Thomas H. Handy. For me, both taste of everything that is great about America, but Handy takes it further, it is more extreme, more enveloping, more thoroughly satisfying. Cask strength helps...
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Some recent drams that got my attention, summed up in a line. They are very personal, I hope you disagree, since it will make for interesting discussion:
Bruichladdich Octomore 02.2 Orpheus: cool, delicious, creamy, long finish, love it. Damn hard to drink though. Like a cigar infused rum (I had exactly that 2 weeks ago, so I can compare).
Ardbeg Supernova 2010: gimmick, especially after the Octomore; was expecting the other way round because of PPMs. Peat don't make no taste here.
Caol Ila 25 Year Old 1984 (cask strength): subtle, powerful, bitter, younger than it sounds.
Ardbeg Corryvreckan: Ardberg.
Highland Park 16 Year Old Calvados Finish: Speyside with apple juice, like a middle school experiment gone wrong.
Highland Park 22 Year Old 1987: wonderful nose, beautifully full in the mouth, bites like a young 'un, damn good. Did this come from the same distillery?
Lagavulin 12 Year Old 2008: ouch, but I do LOVE that loooooooong finish that lingers for half an hour. 16 is fine thank you very much! It's also... less salty...
PC7: astonishing.
In fact, I went out and bought PC8, which will be reviewed shortly. If you haven't tried a Port Charlotte yet, and you like Islay, do it asap!
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Recently, I discovered a wonderful British website which came up with the idea of selling "samples" online, so that you can try before you buy. Geneva being about as sophisticated about spirits as a Dubai housewife about Karajan's post-BPO recordings with Decca, I jumped at the occasion and rock-bottom prices (thank you New Labour for killing the GBP), ordered 10 scotch samples, and rapidly consumed them to my satisfaction (discovering that I prefered the easily available Buffalo Trace bourbon to the supposedly "finest bourbon" (Washingtonian says so) that is Rock Hill Farm.
My second order contained 19 samples (what, a French guy's gotta live) whose average age, if applied to a person, would grant them entry to an American bar (you guys have ridiculous age limits!). Of those, three were rums; after discovering the Ministry of Rum, my curiosity was piqued, and I decided to order two "interesting" ones and a classic. Please bear in mind the following review is done by a complete philistine to the world of spirits (as becomes abundantly obvious from what I write), and after just one tasting late at night in dry and cold Switzerland (as opposed to a warm Caribbean beach).
Ron Zacapa 23 year old. This is supposed to be the classic against which all other rums must be measured. I think that's just good branding - it's a bit like saying you can rate a Highland Park 20 year old versus a Lagavulin 16 distiller's edition or a PC8. Those spirits try to do completely different things!
Ron Zacapa comes from Guatemala, and has had a fair bit of marketing done to it. It's made from the Solera method of producing sherry, which means adding younger spirits to the barrels as they age to replace the "angel's share". It's a good idea, in my view, you get both the full body and presence of a teenager with the maturity, complexity and interesting potential of the older stuff. Bear in mind that Ron Zacapa has changed substantially over the years, and changes from bottle to bottle (so I hear/read/have been told).
My impression of the RZ 23 was fairly disappointing. This is an incredibly sweet spirit. Whilst the nose is wonderful after dinner (so long as your dessert was not too sweet and rich), I felt like I was drinking one of those sweetened rums handed out at parties. Yes, crucify me. For me this is not worth the price tag it reaches at least in Europe, nor the hype on rum forums and reviews. Perhaps my taste buds are just not there yet. In large part I think this is because I am used to the dryness and clean flavour profile of scotch, but I loved Angostura 1919 and Havana Club (international, not US) Anejo Especial (or was it the 8 year old?). By the way, those last two, or at least the first for you US residents, are great intros to rum (I have read that Bacardi has recently launched a competing Havana Club brand within US borders, which is markedly different, sweeter and aimed more at the mass market).
Now for the interesting stuff.
When I saw the bottle picture for the offerings by the Renegade Rum Company, I knew this was going to be fun. This is Bruichladdich-style new design, with care but without the flash that marks out certain other spirits as club-fodder.
I love special bottlings that have something extra to offer, and generally, any spirit that has the balls to stand out. After all, Diageo etc.'s main product lines are very good at the balanced and boring style. Why have a Glenwhatever when you can have a Port Charlotte or other Bruichladdich madness? (loved Octomore II, by the way, although it took me a while to finish) My drinking "account" is limited, I can only have so much scotch in a working week, and I sure will try cool stuff whenever possible.
I ordered two. One crazy one and one subtler, more complex and interesting sounding one.
1. Renegade Barbados Black Rock 9 Year Old 2000 - Château Pétrus Finish
Incredible. Simply incredible. This overpowers every single of your senses. The nose, the taste, the char, the afterburn, everything is just powerful but in a nice, balanced way. It's tasty, it's a challenge, it excited my brain, I'll buy a bottle, or would if they hadn't run out. Incredibly dry for a rum, similar to those I had from Havana Club. The Petrus is there, oh yes. Very, very there. This is berries, pepper, some hints of sherry, char, and a whole load of other things, but mostly excitement and a sense of amazement that someone out there cared enough to make this, and knew enough too.
This to me is like
. Powerful, rich, complex, well crafted, incredibly tasteful yet absolutely overpowering, pure pleasure to sit down, close your eyes and enjoy. Look how excited I am to talk about it. Try this rum!2. Renegade Grenada Westerhall 12 Year Old 1996 - Château Margaux Finish
I should have had that one first. It was good, very good, well balanced (unlike the RZ 23), sweeter than the first. The story was in the nose and in the finish. This was a perfect after dinner tipple. I must admit I bought it because of Margaux. There's not much in the way of Margaux in that glass (unlike the Petrus overload of 1.), maybe hints if you smell carefully; but I do not mind, it works well. This, to me, is Schumann's piano quintet op. 44. Good, and interesting in occasions, but I generally prefer the
. I'll stick to trying Laddie's various experiments, which do the same job at 2/3 of the cost.I'll be trying some more from Renegade. Anybody else experienced this brand?
I also had a Goslings, but it was as part of the Widder Bar's excellent "Nelson's Blood" cocktail. I do not usually go for cocktails which are shaken (the alcohol account thing; I'll have a clear cocktail like a sazerac with Van Winkle Special Reserve 13 year old over a daiquiri any day), but this one stayed in my mind. Grapefruit juice, lime and simple syrup, and something strong and powerful in the nose like Goslings. Give it a shot instead of your next Dark and Stormy!
Next on my list: Diplomatico, Renegade's rest of the collection, Angostura 1824, Cruzan...
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As Bottega was apparently closed ("forever") we visited Tre Risotti, which was ok, and Al Pompiere, which was expensive and decent but less good value than TR, with an interesting but bit too young wine list.
Thank you for all your recommendations! I particularly enjoyed Amarone, enough to purchase a few bottles. I didn't, however, enjoy Gini much; perhaps because the Soave style reminds me of my university days when it was on sale at Sainsbury's and therefore the alcohol of choice for most of my neighbours.
Now for Joia in Milan, hopefully, and then back to the food desert of Switzerland...
Photos coming up.
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I will be in Verona this weekend for the opera festival and am looking for options for lunch, dinner, breakfast and lunch.
What good quality dining (1*+) is there available in Verona? Any recommendations for a quick lunch towards 1-2pm within walking distance (1-2km) of the Arena? Any food, any style, any budget. Any wine recommendations to match the local cuisine? Should I just go to Milan for lunch on Sunday?
If you know an interesting place to have breakfast on a Sunday, please do let me know...
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Has anybody been to Les Cartes Postales, rue Gomboust?
Supposedly Michelin-level ingredients and preparation. Japanese, French-trained chef.
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Any recommendations for a quick, early (probably 11.30 - I must make a meeting at 1pm!) lunch near the Place Vendome during weekdays?
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I'd like to bump this thread. Visiting London again next week.
My favourite bar in London (although I am not a member) is still Milk & Honey, simply because they are so skilled with classic cocktails. I have also heard Saf is quite special - anybody been?
I'm planning to finally try Hawksmoor, both for the meat and for the drinks.
Any other suggestions for classic cocktails in, shall we say, quieter environments? For NYC types, the equivalent would be the Raines Law Room or the Brandy Library. Speakeasy types.
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We'll be visiting Rome next week. Although we fully intend on sampling the delights of Latium cuisine, we got a flat with a big kitchen because we are expecting that it should be possible to find exceptional ingredients in the region. We are staying at the south end of the Piazza Navona, but can walk (up to half an hour if necessary). And I hear public transport works well, so if necessary I'll take a bus.
I would love to hear from any members residing or knowledgeable about Rome, about sourcing the following things. I promise to try as many as possible and to come back to this thread to tell you about it. With photos.
Coffee
More precisely, mild or at most medium roast (as opposed to the stronger Italian roasts), African (Kenya, Ethiopia preferred), Columbian or Kona beans. I'm bringing a grinder. This does not mean we won't go sample espressos, but in the morning I prefer a cup of mild roast. And there's a kitchen, so...
What I have found in France is that if you walk around long enough you find an independent roaster, a guy with an old machine circling beans above heat and selling them in half pound packets. In Nice there's one near the West end of the Promenade des Anglais, a bit into the vieille ville. Any equivalent near Piazza Navona would be great.
Bread
There is word in France that it can be tricky to find good bread in Rome. Any ideas? This is a long shot, but is there anywhere we could find some Poilane bread? I am otherwise happy with any bread style, so long as it's freshly baked, without preservatives.
Eggs and milk
When I grew up, my grandmother's cousin had a farm in the Vercors in France where we spent a fair bit of time. The hens would roam about eating worms, grains, whatever they found; the eggs had a flavour that I have been unable to find anywhere else. Does anybody know a farmer who happens to sell at, say, a city centre market, whose eggs display exceptional flavour? This is for soft-boiling.
We also used to have raw milk straight off the cows. Not sure whether I want to risk it in Rome, but if you know a place...
Tomatoes (and all vegetables)
Somehow I don't think they're in season. But here in Annecy it's still possible to get tomatoes that have some flavour. Any ideas for good tomatoes?
I've been reading Maureen B. Fant's fabulous blog with attention and will be checking out her recommendations for other - particularly local and in season - vegetables, but again, anything close to the Piazza would be great!
Not strictly veggies but what about mushrooms? What's in season at the moment? Any chance... for ceps?...
Cheese
I live in the Alps so already have a lot of French cheese (both local - tommes, reblochon, Beaufort d'ete, etc. - and national - Bleu d'Auvergne, etc.), but we have no Italian cheese here! Time to further my education. Where are the cheese shops? Any particular recommendations?
Sicilian pastries
Just in case you know a bakery...
Beef
I'll take a thick cut sirloin or fillet, sear it lightly on both sides after sprinkling with salt and pepper and eat it close to raw. Where shall I get the beef?
Wine
Any good wine shops near the Piazza? I'm looking at bottles between 10-20 euros from a local producer, with interesting flavour.
Interesting meat
Venison, rabbit, pigeon... preferably skinned and prepared. I can skin a pigeon if necessary.
Oh yes, and lardons. I think you call them pancetta in Italy.
Fish
A guest is a huge fan of fish and seafood. I've seen another thread on a fish market, will check it out. But any other ideas will be welcome!
Chocolates
Per una ragazza
I'm looking at very high quality, single origin high cocoa stuff. My favourite house is still Artisan du Chocolat in London - is there a place in Rome that does this kind of innovative experimentation?
I've run out of ideas but will no doubt be back (and probably still posting from Rome).
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Here's a cheap and interesting Indian recommendation.
Preface: I've been here 2 weeks, have tried maybe a dozen places (maybe more if you include cafes, food shops etc.), not one, not even Jean-Georges' main dining room, inspired me enough to open eG and type this.
Preface 2: I worked for a few months in North Mumbai, for an Indian company with Indians. This was a very different experience from a later business trip doing the 5* hotel round (the chef's idea of "not spicy" for breakfast means 2 chopped green chillies in your masala omelette rather than 3). Whilst there I tried 6-7 different "dabbawallahs" (this is when a group of housewives clubs together, bakes meals and sends them to you in boxes via a dabbawallah which means mealboy) until I found one that hit the spot. If you are around Vikroli, give Meals 'n More a ring (+91 932 1999 599) and get the exec veg tray. Despite being French, and therefore a "raw, bleeding meat" carnivore, I quickly gained a taste for vegetarian dabbas (and a tolerance for capsaicin - two whole dried red chillies in one portion of dal is just overkill!). Ever since, I have not been impressed by any restaurant this side of the Himalayas, either in the UK, France or US - there really is such a thing as too much ghee. Indeed, I find even the food at the Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore 5*s (or at least the 10 or so I've tried) to be less satisfying than a good ol' exec tray delivered by bike in sweltering summer heat (although I draw the line at leaving the food outside for 4-5 hours - "but it will be cold!" - sure, but I'll remain healthy).
I have found a place that does this style well: Ayurveda Cafe on Amsterdam and 94th. You have to eat the menu of the day.
Meal starts with a cup of water, served in a steel cup just like in an Indian canteen. Maybe that's the main difference with India - I'd never drink tap water there! The meal arrived on a steel tray (look on their website for a picture). 6 cups. Some yellow dal, some vegetables (peppers + potatoes; peas + carrots + mushrooms + green beans); cabbage + carrots + lettuce; yogurt + raw carrots; that South Indian semolina breakfast whose name escapes me. Some basmati rice. Some rotis fresh from the oven, very thin, very edible. And then dessert is that Muslim noodles boiled sweet milk dish whose name I never bothered to learn. That was the only downside of the meal; the milk was too thick, not flavoured well, and the noodles burnt. The rest was good. The temperature set at 25 Celsius inside the restaurant added to the experience, and for a minute I couldn't help but think I was at a table in the corner of the office with 5 co-workers from Gujarat, Bengal, Punjab etc. all eating their own unpronouncable things (but either delicious or painful - ever tried Rajahstani mango nut pickles?) out of metal boxes and talking in fast Hindi, or maybe at a sunny factory canteen South of Pune.
Maybe the experience won't be quite as striking if you haven't experienced India, but I still think it's worth a shot to experience "Indian" that isn't meat boiled in ghee with loads of spices and cream.
Especially at $10 for lunch, $15 for dinner.
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Gosh, the name immediately brought back memories of high school:
http://www.inlibroveritas.net/lire/oeuvre6471.html
Perhaps a rather foolish question, but I can't help asking it - can you eat a becasse like in the book? It's been something I've wanted to do since the age of 13...
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Plane food:
I was passing by, and had 20 minutes, so before I knew it I was in the restaurant (thought I'd have a look first, and then decide, but they immediately got me a table and I thought "why not"). I told them 20 minutes, and they took 22 minutes. Bah. It's fun running through T5.
If you are wondering what the food looks like, it looks like this:
That was wild mushroom orichiette in a cream sauce with lardons and three little bits of crisp bacon. The lardons were very good (definitely not from Sainsbury's), otherwise I could have had that in Pizza Express or any other large "Italian"-inspired chain. The pasta was severely overcooked.
The upfront cost was £7.50 (for the "small" portion), but then there was a £1.50 cover charge (which I expected, as it said "service charge £1.50" on the menu) and then another 94p of service charge (which I didn't expect). Bread was served warm and quite alright.
As for whether it will go out of business, all I could see around me were attractive, fashionable 20- and 30-something women, sipping rose alone or chatting. It was fairly full. No kids. I don't think they cared much for the food.
I don't think it's worth it, unless you want the service, slightly nicer seats and tables, and a warm meal (since one no longer gets warm meals on EU flights, unless one pays an extra £200 to be seated in the same seats and be served microwaved horrors). I must say, however, that the cheese sandwich I got on the GVA-LHR leg when I asked for a ham sandwich compared favourably with Pret's.
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Set lunch 28/09/2009, £15.50 + service.
Warm salmon salad:
I loved the sauce, and the radish especially.
Lamb:
The carrots were too salty, but it was a lovely piece of meat.
Had Morbier for dessert. I didn't know what it was, so I went for it to experiment. My friend then looked it up on his berry. I visit London for 3 days after spending the summer in Haute Savoie devouring the best cheese in the world, and accidentally pick the cheese option!
The bread was, as mentioned above, regular, warm, and lovely (and this is after coming off the plane from aforementioned Haute Savoie). The brown bread especially. The service was great, polite, friendly, on time. I love London.
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For those who are in Annecy, I have found coffee!
There's a corner shop between (I believe, from Google Maps) Rue de la Republique and Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau. They roast, quite well, in the shop. I was fortunate enough to pick up beans from the roaster, a batch had just finished. Name is "Brand Cafes", address 16 Rue J.J. Rousseau. Prices in line with UK (3.50-5 euros for 250g).
Much fresher roast than the posher shop 200m away.
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Absolutely, Midsummer House visit is much overdue... thanks for reminding me Mr Clifford.
Debenhams bans "confusing" coffee titles
in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining
Posted
For Sydney at least as a former resident I would be inclined to lean for the "better coffee" theory. Not just talking about CBD, Eastern Suburbs or the North Shore - had routinely decent coffee as far as Bankstown and Cabramatta (whether this is in "Sydney" is a debate for another day
). Just on the street of my former office, there were 4 different options 3 of which were Monmouth-good (at least the pre-2010 version - no idea what it is like now). And I prefer Gloria Jeans to Starbucks, Nero and Pret (for coffee at least).
On the other hand I'll give you that coffee is extortionate in Australia. That mining boom...