Haven: Tailoring Coffee Joyously, Surry Hills

Haven: Tailoring Coffee Joyously opened up recently in Surry Hills.  A short walk away from Central Station, it's a must visit for all you coffee lovers.  Not only is the coffee good, but the dishes we tried also hit the spot and even C (who is not a coffee drinker) is keen to come back for both.

The interior is spacious and well-lit.  A nice change from many cramped and uncomfortable inner city cafes.  This is a place you can come to enjoy a morning brunch, sunshine and not feel a rush to leave. 

Haven allows you to tailor your coffee based on 5 criteria: aroma, acidity, sweetness, body and after taste.  K tailored her coffee to have more aroma and less acidity. Although we didn't order another coffee with different options to compare, it was definitely a perfectly made latte.  The coffees come with a serving of sultanas which you are meant to eat with the coffee to accentuate the flavours. We could definitely taste the difference with it!

Being a (fake) coffee drinker, C ordered a mocha.  The chocolate sauce dripped over the edge of the cup made for great presentation.  C tailored his mocha to be less sweet and with more aroma. The chocolate sauce (made with 73% Madagascan dark chocolate) was delicious and K kept sticking her finger over to get some leftover chocolate around the mug.

For our meals, K ordered the drunken chicken kale caesar salad with crystallised bacon, confit garlic and a poached egg on top. For those who don't know, drunken chicken is a traditional Shanghainese dish where the chicken is poached and then marinated in a Chinese rice wine and served cold.  K loves this and was curious to see how it would work in a westernised dish.

To our pleasant surprise, the flavours worked perfectly. The rice wine flavours are strong in the chicken but nicely balanced by the creamy dressing, garlic and bursts of umami with the crystallised bacon bits.  And with all the hype about kale being a superfood - what other reason do you need to try this dish?

Drunken Chicken Kale Caesar Salad

As we first entered the cafe, we saw a giant sign saying that the pork belly kimcheese burger is a "must try". C didn't really need much more (if any) convincing and K admittedly had a bit of food envy when she tried this dish. It is seriously a must-try (even for any Koreans out there who may think this is an insult to their national dish). The spicy and sour flavours of the kimchi balances perfectly with the saltiness of the roasted pork belly and the grated apple gives a refreshing lift to the dish. Believe it or not, kimchi actually works well with Bocconcini Cheese!

Pork Belly Kimcheese Burger

Getting up close and personal with the pork belly

Portions wise, we probably could have stopped at those two dishes, but for the sake of our blog (that's our excuse at least), we had to try their Soy Chai Pannacotta.  The chai flavours are intense but balanced by the sweetness of the candied lemon and pistachio. You should eat every element of this dish together in order to appreciate how delicious it is. 

Soy Chai Pannacotta

Not being experienced filter coffee drinkers, we asked Roy Yu, one of the owners to recommend something for us. There are 3 single origin filter coffee options - fruity, nutty and chocolatey. Ron recommended the "nutty" option for us. Having never tried a filter coffee before, we were surprised by how smooth, light and delicate the flavour is. Our coffee came with a side of crushed cacao to accentuate the nutty flavours of the coffee.

Single Origin Filter Coffee (nutty option)

We got chatting with the owners of Haven and it turns out they are originally from Hong Kong and have been in the coffee industry for a number of years before starting Haven. With K originating from Hong Kong herself, there was certainly a fair share of Honkie pride.

The owners of Haven

We have a soft spot for Asian inspired western food.  We love the idea of modernising and refining familiar Asian flavours and combining them with western dishes.  It reflects the identity of third culture kids, bringing back memories of food from our childhood, but with a twist.  This is why we liked Devon Cafe and Kin by Us and is the reason why we thoroughly enjoyed our visit of Haven.

Tim Ho Wan, Chatswood

If you are a Sydney-sider (and especially if you live on the North Shore), you would've heard of Chatswood's newest yum cha restaurant - Tim Ho Wan.

Famed as the "world's cheapest Michelin-star restaurant", Tim Ho Wan first started in Mong Kok, Hong Kong and now has several stores in Hong Kong and has extended to other countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines and now: Sydney and coming soon to Melbourne.  We should point out though that not all Tim Ho Wan branded restaurants are Michelin-starred and that the actual Michelin-starred Tim Ho Wan's are the North Point, Sham Sui Po and Tai Kwok Tsui branches in Hong Kong.

We first tried Tim Ho Wan a few years ago during our visit to Hong Kong.  We must admit - comparing it to the myriad of yum cha choices in Hong Kong, we weren't particularly blown away. But when something of this quality lands in Chatswood where there aren't really any decent yum cha choices - the outcome is a little different.

So does this international brand really live up to all the hype and anticipation? 

Our verdict: some of the dishes are definitely a notch up from usual yum cha joints, but others seem not very different.  So instead of reviewing every dish, we thought we'd identify the ones we thought are definitely better than other yum cha places and which you should try if you're going to line up 1 hour+ for a seat.   

Here goes out list...

1. The BBQ pork buns: This is a no-brainer.  The sweet, crusty and buttery outside with generous saucy BBQ pork on the inside is the star of the restaurant. Can't come to Tim Ho Wan and not try these!  Don't recommend taking these away though - they're best eaten hot!

Signature dish: BBQ pork buns

That gooey inside...can't resist!

2. Chicken feet with abalone sauce: Before you grimace and look away here us out - the soft, gelatinous flesh is well marinated by the abalone sauce.  I don't know how much abalone is actually used in this dish but the marinade is different to the typical soy sauce sticky sauce you see at other yum cha joints.  The bean curd on the bottom of the dish soaks up the sauce and makes for a nice satisfying finish to the dish.  Set aside your preconceptions and give chicken feet a shot!

Chicken feet with abalone sauce

 3. Steamed egg cake: This soft, airy cake is best eaten warm.  It's not too sweet and we think it's definitely lighter and airier than other steamed egg cakes you can get at yum cha.

Steamed egg cake

 4. Glutinous rice in lotus leaf: Ordinarily, this is served at yum cha as three little lotus leaf parcels.  At Tim Ho Wan, it's served as one big portion for sharing (much more in the spirit of yum cha). The filling is generous, with a combination of fatty pork, lap cheong (think, Chinese chorizo) and Chinese mushrooms.  The rice is aromatic and not too gluggy.  We think this is definitely one notch up from usual yum cha joints in Sydney where the filling is often sparse and does not look particularly appetising and resembles off-cuts or leftovers roughly placed amongst the rice.

Glutinous rice in lotus leaf

5. Pork ribs with black bean sauce: Last on our list of must tries is the pork ribs with black bean sauce.  Again, this is often a dish that looks roughly put together at yum cha and the pork often overcooked.  Here at Tim Ho Wan, we found that the flavour balances are much more refined, the pork not overcooked and still tender and it's not swimming in a pool of fat/steaming water.  Flavour wise, it's familiar but done better. The only down side is that portion wise, it's a bit small. 

Here are the rest of the dishes are tried on our first visit.  None of these were bad and in fact, we found everything was generally well executed, fresh and not overly oily and salty.  The above 5 are just what we found to be the notable stand outs and better than what you would otherwise find at most yum cha restaurants in Sydney.

This pork dumpling with prawns almost made the cut of top 5.  The pork and prawns fresh with a good texture and not overcooked.

Pork dumplings with prawns

Prawn dumplings 

C really enjoyed the Cheung Fan - vermicelli rolls with stuffing and thinks they should be included in the top 5.

Vermicelli Roll with BBQ Pork

Vermicelli roll with BBQ pork and Vermicelli roll with prawns

Beancurd skin roll with shrimp

Overall, our verdict is that Tim Ho Wan is one of the best yum cha restaurants you can find on the North Shore.  It may not have as much variety but the dishes are more refined and well balanced than other yum cha restaurants.   

Unsurprisingly (and partly because of the size of the actual restaurant), lines seem to have been consistently long over the past week or so since its opening.  K has been twice and both times, the wait was about 50 mins - 1 hour long (starting at the bottom of the stairs into The District).  You'd easily wait that long for yum cha on a weekend, but when the wait gets to about 2 hours or more, query whether it's really worth the effort.  You're better off coming at 9:30am to wait for their 10am start!  

PS: We drove past this morning and it's the longest we've seen it stretching all the way to the Chatswood RSL club - couldn't resist taking a quick snap!

The line keeps going up the stairs!

KIN by us - Macquarie Park

After their success and popularity on 2014's My Kitchen Rules, Uel and Shannelle recently started a new Asian-inspired cafe in Macquarie Park - KIN by us.  We visited last weekend on a wet, autumn day - though this certainly did not discourage the crowds from visiting.  Thankfully for us - we came just before the lunch time rush so we did not have to wait too long for a table.

The cafe has a homely, welcoming atmosphere.  The open kitchen and large share tables gives the cafe a communal, lively feel, reminding C of Singaporean/Malaysian Kopitiams.

K is a coffee addict and few drinks would ever intrigue her enough to pass on her usual coffee order. This durian affogato was different.  For those who don't know, durian is a pungent fruit, especially popular in South East Asia and often referred to as the "king of fruits".  You either love it or hate it and in South East Asia, people even go on durian degustation tours to sample different species of durian.

Anyway, back to the affogato - it was a real surprise.  The ice cream had an intense durian flavour which was mellowed out by the coffee - it actually worked quite well together!  C was very jealous. A really unique drink that we recommend you try - as long as you are not adverse to that durian aroma!

Durian affogato

Onto the food.  C ordered the Waffle Belly - caramel soy pork belly, potato waffle, onsen egg, mushrooms and fresh cabbage.  Portion wise, the dish is a little on the small side.

Waffle Belly

The pork belly was really well cooked - tender and flavoursome, packed with umami.  The mushrooms and cabbage offset the heaviness of the pork belly. And the onsen egg...well, the next photo really speaks for itself...

K ordered the Congee - a chicken rice porridge with an onsen egg, pork floss and Chinese doughnut. This dish is beautifully presently.  The addition of fresh chilli, onsen egg and pork floss adds a real flavour kick to the congee and gives it a bit of a modern twist.  A comfort food, this dish brought back childhood memories of having congee on cold wintery days.  That said, at $17 a serve, we would be more inclined to try out the other dishes on the menu next time.  The Chinese doughnut could also be a little bit more crunchy/deep fried.

Arriving just before the lunchtime rush meant that we also got to order from the lunch time menu (which starts at 11:30am).  We picked the Sub-Marine, a soft shell crab brioche with a chilli crab paste. The soft shell crab was deliciously crunchy.  The chilli crab paste had chunks of crab in it and was very fragrant and gave the dish a strong chilli kick.

Overall, we love the concept of the cafe. We love how they've not shy-ed away from their Asian heritage but instead used it in combining familiar Asian flavours with a modern, Western twist.  Their menu changes from time to time so be sure to check the place out before these dishes go off the menu!

Devon on Danks, Waterloo

Following the success of their Surry Hills branch, Devon Cafe opened a second branch in Waterloo late last year.  This morning, we were craving some reliably tasty cafe food so decided to head out to Waterloo to check out their new location.

We've previously reviewed Devon By Night which by the way now only runs from their Waterloo branch and not the Surry Hills branch.

With its high ceilings and large windows, the cafe feels much more spacious and airy than their Surry Hills counterpart.  We got there around 11:30am on a Saturday and had no trouble getting a table.

Their donut and cronut menu varies from day to day.  We picked the most bizarre sounding one - a pork floss with sweet mayo cronut.  If only we had more stomach space - we would've also liked to try their black sesame and red bean cronut.

The cronut was seriously YUM.  The pastry was flakey, crunchy and generously layered with mayo and pork floss. It brought back memories of those pork floss buns sold at Asian bread shops...but 10 times better.   

Pork floss and sweet mayo cronut

K picked the Breakfast with the Sakuma's.  We had this the first time we visited Devon Cafe in Surry Hills and as tempting as it was to try something new, she couldn't resist picking this dish again.  You can't go wrong with these flavours - miso grilled salmon, smoked eel croquette, 63 degree egg, radish salad with kewpie mayo on the side.  The salmon is cooked perfectly and contrasts with the crunch of the eel croquette.  The burst of umami in this dish makes you keep going back for more.

Breakfast with the Sakuma's

C went for the Dr Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham - a thick cut bacon, crispy potato, 63 degree egg, green tomato ketchup, pea puree and soybeans. As with everything else, this dish was well balanced in both texture and taste, with the freshness of the pea puree nicely offsetting the saltiness of the bacon.  

Dr Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham

Ignoring the fact that we just stuffed our faces with 2 mains and a cronut, we thought we may as well maximise our visit and try their dessert and new soft serve flavour.  The new soft serve is a mango soft serve with green mango coulis, evaporated milk foam, crushed macaron, rice puffs and mango popping jellies.  Delish!

 

Final dish was the Little Lost Bread - a brioche French toast with freeze dried and fresh strawberries, balsamic and strawberry gastrique, strawberry cheesecake ice cream and Arnott's biscuit crumble (bacon optional).  That ice cream was definitely yum and the French toast had a beautiful crunchy outside and a light soft inside.  Plus, isn't it just such a pretty dish?

I think Devon Cafe is fast becoming a go-to cafe for us...if only they open one on the North Shore (Devon Cafe, if you are reading this, hint hint)!  They combine cafe atmosphere with Asian inspired flavours and we've really enjoyed ourselves each time we've been there.

One final tip - there is a public car park at the top of Danks Street (where Aldi is) with free parking for 1.5 hours.  Saves driving up and down looking for street parking!