Monday, September 2, 2013

Devon Cafe - Surry Hills

My friends and I had decided to check out Devon Cafe in Surry Hills after hearing tons from the place all around. It's a cafe opened not too long ago opened by two hot shot ex-Guillaume chefs. Stepping in, it is a bit like Asian Central - I guess because of the location and because 90% of food bloggers and food blog readers tend to be Asian?

After a brief wait, our party of 6 was seated up the back on a share table. Definitely an interesting interior design concept. Rustic and hip? The cups and stuff reflect the same style (especially the rust on the water cups? :P ).
The coffee was pretty good - with Alchemy beans. The fruit juice concoctions were also decent and served in funky jars.
coffee alchemy beans

juice in cute glass jars

Hubby ordered the 'two chicks in a basque'. This was two 63 degree eggs sitting pretty in a ramekin full of a flavour-packed piperade, swirls of pistou and dollops of goats cheese. It's a massive BANG of flavour - almost too much so, and the tiny slice of sourdough toast that come with it was unfortunately finished way way way before the eggs were even barely touched.
Two chicks in a Basque

One of my friends opted for the citrus cured salmon. The house cured salmon looked really appetising and was topped with a perfect soft boiled egg. Apple, celery, cucumber, fennel and a split dill cream accompanied this all - giving the 'fresh and healthy' allure. All this came with a soft brioche.
Citrus cured salmon
One of the house specials for the week was the ‘Breakie with Sakuma’. This was a pretty much perfectly cooked miso grilled king salmon fillet. with their specialty 63 degree egg, smoked egg croquette and generous dollops of kewpie mayonnaise. I loved the look of it. My friends loved the fish. What he wasn't too sure about was the type of egg - I think he preferred the egg cooked in another way?

breakie with sakuma
But you know what would have been perfect with the 63 degree egg? This super famous truffle toasty - 'the ultimate'. This was a super massive portion of toasted bread with loads of sauteed mushrooms (all types of mushy - enoki, button, shitake, the whole lot), melted cheese, sunny eggs and a heap of truffle shavings. Just one whiff of this dish made us all salivate! Loved it! Wish I had two stomachs to gobble it all up.

the ultimate toasty

I also couldn't go past the chips with aioli. I saw it on other blogs and absolutely couldn't not order it. Crazily crispy and crunchy golden deep fried chips with a generous amount of super delicious aioli. ZOMG I could have this every day - SO YUM!
chips with aioli

I really liked Devon Cafe. Yummy food and casual vibe. Pretty damn good.

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 31/40

Devon Cafe
76 Devonshire Street
Surry Hills
NSW 2010
Tel: (02) 9211 8777