Snapshot: Sydney cafés I

It's funny to think that the Sydney CBD is slightly lacking when it comes to the café department. It's places in the 'burbs like Alexandria and Surry Hills that are on trend at the mo. Actually, I can't believe I haven't written much about the cafés on our doorstep at all! The search for the best café/coffee in the city isn't exactly a tight race but that might be all about to change... Here are two that definitively buck the trend ;)

Baroque Pantry

88 George St, The Rocks

Baroque Bistro came onto my radar a couple of years ago when macarons had their resurgence in popularity. I can't comment much on their French biccies but here's my two cents on their pop-up café, Baroque Pantry. An all day café sitting flush by the harbour - that's all we want! A casual setting for breakfast, brunch and lunch. The only issue is that it's now ridiculously full!

Freshly baked breakfast pastries from Baroque Pantry - err, yes please?! How French of us. Credit: Baroque Pantry

Full of revellers hailing from all corners of the globe, Baroque Pantry is perfectly situated for a light lunch whilst cruising the harbour with your entourage and DSLR. Here's a snapshot of what we had:

Quiche of the Day: Quiche Lorraine with green salad and mascarpone. A lunch classic if there ever was one, I think the mascarpone on top is completely unnecessary. Whatever happened to the good old curly-leaf parsley garnish? One other thing, the quiche came out to the table only lukewarm...not good!

Eggs benedict Baroque style: hot smoked Petuna ocean trout, spinach, hollandaise on toasted brioche bun. The star attraction for me - I love a good Benedict and this one is a nice rendition. Don't be fooled by the rather smallish serving size, the two poached eggs squished on there make up for that. And thankfully they can pull of a decent hollandaise

My only peeve about this place was that the service was very unorganised and slooow. I was half worried they'd always forget what we asked for. However, the numbers don't lie - this place is still chockers! 

The perfect way to round out the meal. A zesty orange sponge cake topped with shavings of coconut. The quinelle of double cream was slightly overkill but the crunchy crumbs made up for that

Palomino Espresso

Shop 1/61 York Street, Sydney CBD

Palomino Espresso is the 'new' kid kicking up it's heels on York St in the land of suits. Like a breath of fresh air, this puny café is serving up good coffee with a swathe of baked goods in house and a bunch of daily specials (for those that have time to dine in). Owner Liesel Schmidt has cracked onto a winning formula. The menu changes daily so you're never left wanting. In the age of the time-poor this café has all the answers and the queues for tables speak volumes.

In a cosy interior with a few miniscule fold out tables, Palomino dishes it up. On the walls and tables are Western themed postcards and memorabilia Source: Time Out Sydney

The Daily lunch special: Greek lamb orzo. This portion was so generous, the orzo were nicely plump in a tomato based sauce. The lamb was cooked tender but somewhat lacking in flavour

The Pie of the Day: Butter Chicken. On all accounts, this homemade pie was goood.

Standard order: cappuccino (left) and the Belgian Chocolate cake with very funny looking ice cream (right). The coffee was very good and the cake the perfect (though gargantuan) end to a quick and easy meal. The hazelnuts strewn through the mix made it for me.

Palomino ticks all the boxes for me, I made a few trips to the cabinet alone just to oggle. The sandwiches look fantastic and put my packed lunches to shame! I will definitely be banking this spot for another visit in the future. Highly recommended!

Thanks for reading!

xGourmand