Brewtown Newtown

Brewtown has been on my to visit list for a while, so with an afternoon to while away in Newtown, I made a beeline for their store. It occupies the former home of Berkelouw Books on O’Connell Street, and is well-known for their take on the cronut – the Brewnut. I was seated right away at a share table near the window, and ordered a soy hot chocolate and a fruit and nut Brewnut. While I waited, I admired the tasteful decor – from the white tiled tabletop, to the fresh flowers and old-fashioned Newtown fire department sign on the wall. My hot chocolate arrived first and was a real delight – Sydney’s inner suburbs really know how to steam soy. There was just the right amount of sweetness, given the sugar hit that was about to follow. The Brewnut was a towering cavalcade of fruit and nuts – pistachios, almonds, pecans, crystalised ginger, raisins and dried apricots all vyed for space on the layers of luscious, deep-fried pastry. Yes, it was sugar overload, but oh man, these guys know how to bring the flavour. Without a doubt it was the most creative, well-executed cronut interpretation I’ve tried to date. Yum.

Brewtown Newtown, 6-8 O’Connell Street, Newtown, NSW               http://www.brewtownnewtown.com/

Patissez

I was super excited to try Patissez’s raspberry and pomegranate galettes after drooling over them on their Instagram feed, but alas, they had sold out when I arrived. The staff were really friendly and helpful, and when I asked for another fruity cake to try, the pointed me at this one – a raspberry and lychee dacquois. As you can see, it’s pretty, and yep, it tastes amazing. Let me walk you through it. The garnish on top is a fresh raspberry and a cluster of caramel popcorn -the popcorn doesn’t relate to any other flavours in the cake, but it’s really tasty! The red outer layer is a raspberry gel of some kind, and it’s really thick and stretchy – quite an unusual texture. The raspberry flavour is excellent though, and it matches the lychee cream filling perfectly. The lychee cream is really authentic and I couldn’t believe how light and fluffy it was – but hidden inside is a layer of more raspberry and pistachio cake – as if it could get any better! The flavours and textures all worked together really well and the dacquois was just the right size for an afternoon treat.

Patissez, Shop 2/21 “The Lawns” Bougainville Street, Manuka ACT, no website

Kagetsudo

I was lucky enough to be in Tokyo for Sanja-matsuri, one of the city’s largest festivals, held in Asakusa. Unfortunately, this meant that many of the district’s traditional stores had queues out onto the street for blocks to pick up their specialties. Kagetsudo’s specialty is melon-pan (melon bread), which they make in jumbo-size, but as the queue was a bit silly, we decided just to try their soft serve icecream. There are about thirty odd flavours to choose from, including only-in-Japan flavours like matcha and red bean paste. I picked sakura, which also falls into that category, and was surprised at how large the portion was. It was piled up in a perfect soft serve spiral and we hung around near the store to enjoy it. The icecream was really creamy and, as expected, had a beautiful floral flavour. The sakura tasted so familiar, and we decided that it was a bit like rose, but not quite. There were also little crispy bits inside the serve, which we decided was crystalised petals, but we couldn’t be sure. I’d love to come back to try both the melon-pan and more of the soft serve flavours.

Kagetsudo, 1-18-11 Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo                             http://www.asakusa-kagetsudo.com

Cafe Comme Ca

Food blogging is a tough business – sometimes you have to make great sacrifices for the sake of a good post. After exploring Loft, one of my favourite stores in Shibuya, I spotted a Cafe Comme Ca and had to stop in to try their special promotional tart – yep, true sacrifice, especially because the tart was shaped like the adorable cartoon character Rascal the Raccoon (oh no, if I HAVE to). For 1000 yen I got a slice of this decadent…slice, a cup of black tea and a commemorative coaster. The tart had a milk chocolate paw and tail (could it be any cuter?!), and was jam-packed with cream. The tart base was dark chocolate flavoured and there was a sinfully rich dark chocolate ganache layered inside. The ribbons of mango woven throughout to cut through the rich creaminess of the rest of the slice were a highlight, but there was also a lightly-flavoured coffee cream in between the ribbons which complemented the mango nicely. The whole dish was very, very sweet though, so maybe not the best pre-lunch snack, but definitely the tastiest slice I’ve munched on for the sake of this blog!

Cafe Comme Ca Shibuya, within Loft, 21-1 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya, Tokyo Japan   http://www.cafe-commeca.co.jp/ (Japanese only)

Brooklyn Parlour

Dessert before dinner is one of those beautiful things that being an adult makes possible, and I’m convinced it’s even more legit when you’re on holidays. So I stopped by Brooklyn Parlour for dessert. Before dinner. Yep. I was given the choice of a solo or share table when I arrived, and I picked the share table – it was in the middle of the basement space and gave a great people-watching view amid the floral arrangements and bookshelves. I started out with a pot of peach and apricot tea, which was bright pink when I poured it and lightly aromatic to taste. For dessert I chose the red berry, pistachio and chocolate mousse glace (icecream). The berry coulis around the icecream was full of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and cranberries, and added a nice tartness to contrast the sweetness of the chocolate. The mousse-icecream was mostly frozen but soft enough to eat and silky smooth, with a rich but not-too-rich milk chocolate flavour. The real delight was the layers of frozen raspberry and pistachio inside the icecream – aka heaven. One of the best desserts I’ve had in a long time, and in one of the coolest venues.

Brooklyn Parlour, OIOI Anex B1F, 3-1-26 Shinjuku, Tokyo Japan           http://www.brooklynparlor.co.jp/shinjuku/

Ice de Lion

On our way back from Kyoto we were a bit early for our shinkansen, and given how warm the day was, the best solution was clearly to hole up at the nearest icecream store. Luckily, the nearest icecream store happened to be the adorable Mister Donuts icecream brand, Ice de Lion, with a supercute lion mascot. Obviously, I had to order my icecream in the lion wafer sandwich, which has an impression of the lion mascot’s face on top. I picked the ‘passion’ sorbet flavour, which was a blend of mango and raspberry sorbets. The serving was a huge sphere of sorbet and it actually stayed together quite well, considering how slowly I ate it. Both fruit flavours were really true and I’m very glad someone thought of swirling them together, because they went perfectly – the sweetness of the mango really complemented the tartness of the raspberry. We even got to enjoy a live band performance of music from Disney songs coming from the next floor up while we enjoyed our icecream and people-watched.  Oh, and the Ice de Lion lady even gave me a sheet full of cute lion stickers, like the big kid I am when it comes to icecream.

Ice de Lion, Kyoto station (JR), Kyoto  Japan                            https://www.misterdonut.jp/icedelion/

Cold Stone Creamery

A Swiss friend of mine introduced me to Cold Stone in 2009 and I haven’t looked back. It’s very similar to Cold Rock in Australia, where you choose an icecream, load it full of yummy things, and watch while the staff mush it all together (mush being the technical term, of course). Actually, Cold Stone ups the game, offering icecream in waffle bowls (you heard me, waffle bowls) and singing to customers as they prepare your icecream. As if this place didn’t make me happy enough, they also have the best icecream flavour combo ever – peach and raspberry! It’s a spring special called the Peachy Cheeky and includes white peach icecream, raspberries (frozen), peach jelly, peach chunks and whipped cream. In a waffle bowl. Are you sold yet? I first tried this delight in 2009 and was super excited to have it again this year – it didn’t disappoint. The sweet peach and tart raspberry combination is always a winner, and the textural contrast of the fruit pieces, jelly and icecream was magic. I may or may not have devoured the waffle bowl too… Luckily that’s what they’re there for. Check it out, they’ve got locations all around Japan.

Cold Stone Creamery, Shibuya Mark City 4F, Dogenzaka 1-12-13, Shibuya, Tokyo Japan  http://www.coldstonecreamery.co.jp/