Ampersand Cafe Paddington (Sydney, Australia) + Food pics

Can't say enough about this cafe! (Good things)

I wanted to give a shout out to this lovely cafe located in in the suburb of Paddington which is a 20 minute walk from Sydney Townhall.

In this post you will find a series of (food) pictures taken on various days throughout the last couple of months. I have been going to lunch at Ampersand whenever possible during the weekdays when my employer sends me to work at Paddington. 

Always look forward to spending my hours here.

The reason for this is...

• The deliciously interesting and healthy food options (this is the key reason). They have a set menu available, but it is the many specials of the day they have in their shop window that I always try.
• The quirky and fun furnishings themed throughout.
• The option to eat outside or inside (They have a second level upstairs or if room runs out you can go down below to their lower level).
• There are bathrooms!! (as often eateries these days share bathrooms and share a key for people to borrow and take with them - not always confident of how hygienic a practice this is? I mean think about it, are there special hooks to hold these shared bathroom keys...hmmmm...)
• They also offer a range of desserts and hot/cold drinks.
• THE BOOKS! If you sit inside to eat, you will find yourself surrounded by books on shelves. You can read them before, during and after you eat. Free entertainment for all may lunch hours.(They have a varied and good selection of books)

Keep in mind...

-> Price is not too expensive, but also not super cheap either. Cost is slightly above the average cost for lunch. In my eyes, worth the cost.

-> This place serves mostly healthy food, but they do it with such pizazz. I normally hate eating vegetables - but they certainly know how to make veggies appealing.

-> They have some delicious breakfast options too!

-> Gets incredibly busy during the week from 12:30pm to 1:30pm

If I had to rate them, for a cafe I would give them a 9/10. 

Salmon, Kale, Corn, Rocket, Spinach and a dash of Paprika.

Ricotta cheese, rocket, pasta, broccoli, capsicum, mustard seeds, pesto, olive oil

Sweet Potato slices Deep Fried with Aioli

Chick peas, Pumpkin, Capsicum, Spinach, Eggplant and Almonds (A delicious sauce of some sort)

 Mushroom and Kale Arancini (rice inside has a nice flavouring, maybe a broth of some sort), covered in a red sauce (tasting very similar to a salsa type sauce), it came with a side of rocket.

 Pasta, with capsicum, a delicious sauce of some sort, eggplant, rocket.

Keep it sweet <3 

Teacup Love

All photos and written content are under copyright 2014 © by the account holder of this blog. Seek permission via contacting ilikeilove.teacup@gmail.com to use blog photos and content.

Eno Pizzeria Neutral Bay in Sydney Australia, My Brief Review + 3 Pics

Ate at Eno Pizzeria today with my sister and Fiancé.

The Restaurant/cafe had a really trendy modern feel during the day, so environment vibe was great. Was not super busy at the time we went at about 1:00pm on a Saturday (Oct 2014)

 

Service is something that can change overtime, however, we had two lovely waitresses today, very attentive, kind and informative - so great service!

We ordered the following:

• Crochette (Salted Cod, Lemon Zest & Thyme) Delicious in small amounts, as there was plenty of flavour - the cod may have made it too salty though.
• Tagliatelle (Bolognese, Home made) A very sweet style bolognese sauce, it was good, a little more flavour (herbs) would have been ideal.
• Pollo Panini (Grilled chicken breast, Kale salad/Roma tomato, Home made mayo - Panini Buns are home made, baked by wood-fire) Served with Handcut Potatoes. This was so delicious, I would recommend this to others. What stood out was the home made Mayo and the wood-fired Panini Bun, altogether great! I was interested to see how they would serve the Kale, and it was better than I expected in that panini bun. The hand cut potato wedges were okay, they were not as crunchy as I had hoped (soft) but they had a nice flavour. 
• Margherita Con Bufala Pizza (Buffalo Mozzarella, Basil & Parmesan) This was delicious, it was a good pizza, my partner has had better, but definitely one of the good ones.

We did not order any wine, believe it or not, as I am actually allergic to alcohol.

Hope you found some of the above review somewhat useful.

If I had to rate it out of ten, overall I would give Eno Pizzeria 8/10.

Keep it sweet <3 

Teacup Love

All photos and written content are under copyright 2014 © by the account holder of this blog. Seek permission via contacting ilikeilove.teacup@gmail.com to use blog photos and content for commercial purposes. If using for non-commercial purposes, feel free to use but with acknowledgement or a link to this blog. 

How to Make/Brew Tea

My tea journey started a decade ago, I went over to my friend's for a sleepover, she made me try a Mauritius black tea. I was very hesitant, as I had never tried one ever before. 

I grew up drinking a lot of soft drinks and hot chocolates - and I only ever saw my dad only ever making himself coffee.

My friend insisted, and boy am I glad she did! 

On any given day when you need that moment to relax or to have a nice casual chat with friends and family - tea never fails to add a special feeling to the occasion. 

I normally group tea into two main groups:

1. Black Tea varieties (i.e. Flavours such as English Breakfast or French Earl Grey etc.) 

2. Herbal Teas (i.e. Flavours such as Chamomile Tea, Green Tea or Jasmine Tea.

Simple steps on how to brew tea individually (not using a teapot with a strainer, as shown in my video below):

Step 1. Boil the Kettle or Boil hot water on the stovetop. 

Step 2. While it is boiling, grab a cup/mug/teacup. 

Step 3. When the water has finished boiling, pour hot water into your cup/mug/teacup. 

Step 4. Add loose leaf tea into a strainer (can be seen demonstrated in my video/blog below) or using a teabag, lower the strainer or teabag into your cup of hot water.  

Step 5. Leave to brew for 2-3 minutes depending on the strength of the flavour you want, or what the box for the tea recommends. As some like a weak tea (leave tea in the hot water for less time) or if you leave it too long you can over brew a tea, which can make your tea taste bitter. 

Step 6. (OPTIONAL) Then you can put a teaspoon of sugar or honey to sweeten your tea (this step is optional). Using a teaspoon, stir the liquid until the sugar/honey has dissolved. You can also choose to add milk to black tea varieties. Traditionally, you would not add milk to a herbal tea. 

You may also wish to be adventurous with your tea and add other flavours, such as cinnamon or vanilla. 

Keep it sweet <3 

Teacup Love

All photos, videos and written content are under copyright 2014 © by the account holder of this blog. Seek permission via contacting ilikeilove.teacup@gmail.com to use blog photos and content for commercial purposes. If using for non-commercial purposes, feel free to use but with acknowledgement or a link to this blog. 

My First Vlog and Blog

I have officially started my new vlog on my Youtube channel 'Teacup Love' (video below) - it is an introduction to my vlog channel.  Still have not worked out the kinks of how to have a better still image for the start of the video, caught mid-sentence clearly looks soooo attractive (sarcasm)... lol. 

But this being my first introductory blog, I would like to state for the record - it takes a very long time to snip and edit raw footage to make what was a very brief video (41 seconds), took me at least 2 hours to finish it. 

Gets me thinking how long it must take to put together a feature film... whoa!

I will upload another video within the week about "how to make tea", for those who have never made tea, or for those curious to see how another person makes tea.

Personally, I feel that with a blog entry there should be at least one photo... Therefore, for the purpose of pure aesthetics, below is an image of my partner popping into the background during the filming of my vlog (brushing his teeth).

Thanks for reading my blog :)

Keep it sweet <3 

Teacup Love

All photos, videos and written content are under copyright 2014 © by the account holder of this blog. Seek permission via contacting ilikeilove.teacup@gmail.com to use blog photos and content for commercial purposes. If using for non-commercial purposes, feel free to use but with acknowledgement or a link to this blog.