My bf & I have a weekly tradition of trying out new restaurants almost every Sunday. Cafes are usually one of our favourite places to go to for a Sunday brunch and we always try to look for new and popular places from friends or the trusty Urbanspoon website. With the help of my friends recommendation, we stumbled across Rustic Pearl Cafe - food for the soul which is located at the busy hearts of Crown St in Surry Hills.
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The service was attentive with a female waitress taking us to our seat and giving us a jug of water with a little cute surprise. My friends & I call it the awkward orange, as shown in the picture below you can see they serve water with quite a cute little twist.
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| My bf staring intently at the awkward orange. haha |
Their Homemade Lemonade was very refreshing! Just a little bit more towards the sour side for my bf's likings but the colourful mixture made the drink visually appealing to us and plus points were given. Nonetheless, he enjoyed it, so for those who loves refreshing drinks, this drink is definitely the way to go.
As for my Soy Chai, the creamy goodness of the smooth mixture was just purely satisfying! Unfortunately I didn't use their pumper properly and there was tea leaves inside my drink which did make the drink slightly less desirable. (As who likes to drink tea leaves right?) So for those who order this drink, remember to push the pump down before you pour it into your cup! :)
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| Front: Soy Chai Back: Homemade Lemonade |
The food arrives and of course being the hungry bf he is, he gulped at the chance he could before pictures could be taken. Actually I am not a fan of burgers, but dame his Wagu Beef Burger was to die for! I have tried Wagu Beef Burgers at other cafes before, but they've got nothing on this place! It was not drying like most burgers I've tasted. The juicy, succulent Wagu Beef pattie sandwiched in between the soft burger buns with just the right amount of fillings and sauce made it amazingly pleasing to eat! It also didn't have that unpleasant smell that's in some meat so no wonder my bf stuffed it down before I had a chance to take a second bite! =_="
Luckily I still have my one to show you guys, the Eggs Royale like its name comes on its almighty plate of 2 poached eggs, wilted seasonal greens, & petuna smoked trout topped w/ homemade hollandaise & side w/ tomato relish. The whole thing was just heavenly and words cannot express the goodness of it. The eggs were cooked to perfection both with the yolk in a bit of a liquid form just like how poached eggs should be (another plus side is that it didn't have that sour vinegar taste to it like most poached eggs, so thumbs up for that). The salmon tasted fresh and the sides gave an extra addictive twist to the whole experience. The hollandaise sauce was smooth & buttery going along with the whole dish! Almost nothing is at fault with this dish except that I just wished they gave even more sauce than provided (only because I like to eat all my dishes drenched in saucey goodness). The pleasing meal was demolished by my bf & I. Both ended up satisfied and rather full after finishing our meal so the serving sizes were definitely generous proportions for a brunch meal.
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| Eggs Royale: 2 poached eggs, wilted seasonal greens, & petuna smoked trout topped w/ homemade hollandaise & side w/ tomato relish |
For our second visit, we were set to try their famous Gozleme & a Gnocchi pasta dish that I eyed the 2 girls eating at the table next to ours from the last visit. So we ordered our mains and as for drinks, I saw Avocado smoothie and my eyes literally lit up, so of course I had to get it, as for my bf, this time he opted for the Banana smoothie.
Lets just say omg my Avocado smoothie with yogurt was DELICIOUS in capitals!!! It was a hot day so I literally gulped that drink up before my main dish arrived! It was so smooth, so creamy but with a crunchy after taste added by the pistachio was just a heavenly mixture with just the right amount of sweetness. As for my bf's Banana smoothie, it was also great in its own way, the additive cinnamon powder gave it a little twist from a normal banana smoothie which I really enjoy, but I would assume those who doesn't like cinnamon would not like that mixture as much as we did. I give these 2 drinks a 2 thumbs up, and if you are a fan of smooth, creamy goodness like I am, these 2 drinks will definitely lift your taste buds to give you the right amount of sugar hit!
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| Avocado smoothie topped with chopped pistachio |
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| Banana smoothie topped with cinnamon powder |
The food arrives and I had my camera ready to snap these goodies up to shown you guys this time before my bf gulps it all like last time. Firstly the bf's order of Gozleme w/ smoked ham, wild mushroom and caramelised onion arrives and we both wondered, where is the sauce? Typically when we eat Gozleme at Turkish/Middle Eastern restaurants we get a choice of a sauce, often I choose garlic sauce because that stuff is GOOD stuff! However, this dish doesn't have the sauce option so we ate the whole thing on its own. To be very honest, this dish was okay and nothing special. It lacked the saucey goodness that could have accentuated the flavours of the whole thing but it didn't so it left our mouths dry. My bf on the other hand didn't mind the lack of sauce as much as I did, so If you are the type who likes a cleaner taste in food, then you'd definitely enjoy this dish more than me.
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| Smoked ham, wild mushroom and caramelised onion gozleme |
Although I love my sauces and all, the dish I ordered was the Gnocchi w/ mushrooms cooked in a tomato base sauce topped w/ goats cheese. This dish I was a little skeptical upon ordering once I read what was in the ingredients because as much as I loved Gnocchi, it had my favourite 2 things and my least favourite 2 things all in one. My two favourite being the Gnocchi pasta itself and the mushroom, as opposed to my least favourite tomato base sauces and goats cheese. I should have known better to have asked the lady to please tell the kitchen people not to add the goats cheese, but I forgot and it did lower the taste of the dish by this reason. However, the gnocchi itself was cooked to perfection! It was so soft, so easy to eat! I really really enjoyed it! The tomato base was good for my bf, but again because I don't enjoy tomato based sauces much, it was a little too sour and tangy for my likings. Overall I would order it again because the pasta was made and cooked to perfection, but I would definitely ask the chef to take off the yucky goats cheese!
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| Gnocchi w/ mushrooms cooked in a tomato base sauce topped w/ goats cheese |
Nonetheless, our overall experience at Rustic Pearl Cafe was an enjoyable experience. Both times we were served immediately and attentively by their friendly staff with no waiting time needed. Food was great and the price was reasonable (approx. $55ish for both food and drinks for 2 people). Drinks are usually the highlight of my visits and this place definitely does their drinks justice! Too bad my bf and I don't like coffees because I've heard their coffees there is really good! So for those who finds the food & drinks I've mentioned look appealing to you, definitely do give this place a try as I promise you I wouldn't recommend places or things I don't like to others.
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| The kitchen & coffee bar |
So until next time, eat lots everyone! :)
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xoxo
L is Lily
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