24/6/11

Se Joung, Campsie

Pea Pa signing in and on for some relief culinary reportage...
Oh my goodness, we love this place! Especially Baby Pea:


Even the timber tables are yummy!

Having decided to looker further afield for baby friendly digs, we spend a wonderfully cool and clear afternoon exploring the domestic and culinary potential of Campsie. While the domicile disappointed, the grub most certainly did not. As usual I can be persuaded to do almost anything provided there is a meal at the end of it, so the merest whiff of kimchi is all that is necessary to send me a couple of suburbs further south west to look at a house, and lunch.

The restaurant, Se Joung, highly recommended online, is on a side street next to one half of a certain grocery duopoly. Oh dear.

Once inside though, any concerns disappear. It is mercifully quiet and spacious. Large timber tables in the main dining room each have a very cool old-school grill in the middle, very well-seasoned, ready for action. Given our Baby Pea, we opt for non-barbecued dishes, this time. Another dining room is chair free...floor barbecue action! Not sure how that rates on the baby friendly scale, however.

First to arrive are the condiments: baby eggplant, bean sprouts, sweet potato, some delicious pickled greenery and - of course - kimchi. All absolutely delicious, and very very generous serves!


The generosity of the little dishes should have warned us, but we ( I mean me, really), still order waay too much, starting with a truly great haemul pajeon. Generous with the seafood, crispy, full of flavour, this pancake is also enormous. So big, we must take some home with us...


Next up is an old favourite of mine, dol sot bibimbap. Very very good, lots of fresh veg, a nice mix of crisp veg/rice crunch and soft savoury goodness. We eat this so easily. I could eat this every other day. The best bit is the crunchy rice base...


Ok, so, here is where we should have stopped ordering (ah the power of hindsight). The final dish, kimchi jigae, while good, is not truly appreciated due to our having already stuffed ourselves silly. Fortunately, the lovely proprietor is more than happy to parcel up our leftovers for tomorrows lunch! Lovely!

We will definitely be back, there's more tables what need licking, and kimchi eating.

Se Joung      
68-72 Evaline Street Campsie NSW 2194(02) 9718 4039

Se Joung on Urbanspoon

9/6/11

Paper Cup Espresso Bar, Stanmore

A new baby sister cafe to Clipper in Glebe, cute little Paper Cup is the ideal venue for a lunch date with a friend who's halfway through brewing her own bub. Pea Pa and I deliver some baby booty to her place in Petersham and with no room in the car for the pram, we get him to drop us off outside the cafe so we won't be late to meet our friend and her six-month-old.

I'm pleased to be pramless so I don't take up too much space at our footpath table. I feed Baby Pea then hand him over to sit with the bump so I can enjoy my flat white. It's strong, serious coffee.


There are a few breakfast things on the menu and just three sandwiches - good news for the indecisive diner. I go for prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato and pesto, and my fellow mum nabs the last one with smoked salmon, ricotta, capers and hard-boiled egg.



They come on toasted Turkish, quartered and prettily plated. Mine is a full-flavoured combination and I pull out some of the salty prosciutto to eat on its own so I can enjoy the simple trio of tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella. It's delicious either way, and my friend is just as happy with hers.

We love the service too. Filled water glasses are brought to the table without needing to ask, and they don't even mind when we have a baby brain moment, leave without paying for one coffee and don't realise our mistake for about half an hour. I want to come back again soon and bring my sweet tooth.

Paper Cup Espresso Bar
157/161 Cambridge St Stanmore NSW 2049
w. http://www.papercupcoffee.com.au

Paper Cup on Urbanspoon

4/6/11

Locantro Fine Foods, Leichhardt

I allow plenty of time to walk to Leichhardt for this week's Rippas lunch, so I can browse the baby shop round the corner and feed the Pea before the others arrive. Fifteen minutes early, after splashing out on a Bumbo play tray, I wheel him into Locantro Fine Foods, hoping to find a table to accommodate us.

I'm hovering near a lady who looks like she's about to leave when a man in the corner leaps up from his table and offers it to me. He even cleans it for me, and brings over extra chairs when I say I'm meeting three other mums. Owner Vittorio Locantro clearly values his customers, and it turns out mums make up a hefty number of them – during the week, he says, there's often a pram at every table, or mother's groups of five at a time.

I order a hot chocolate and get feeding, looking out past a stack of food show medals posted on the window. Vittorio's son Pino is the award-winning pastry chef, and the walls display posters of his new cookbook, Dinner with the Baker.



The others arrive and as usual we comment on how fast our boys are growing up. Baby Pea demonstrates this by stealing the opportunity, while I'm cooing over the other babies, to get his hands onto the table and knock my now-cold chocolate all over the table, pram and floor. Oops.

From a limited savoury selection of pies, quiches, sausage rolls and pizza slices, I pick a salami, artichoke and olive pizza and turn down the side salad. This is wise as I manage to cut it up and eat it one-handed. It's a good size for the price, with a light foccacia-style base, lots of cheese and lovely hot salami.


I should follow it with something sweet but instead I channel my change into take-home goodies - thickly sliced ham to go into the pasta dish I've planned for dinner and a loaf of ciabatta to go with it. I'm lucky to sneak a piece of someone else's treat though - an Italian custard-filled doughnut that reminds me of the Very Hungry Caterpillar before he turns into a butterfly.


Locantro Fine Foods
9 Catherine Street, Leichhardt NSW 2040
p. (02) 9568 3637

Locantro Fine Foods on Urbanspoon

1/6/11

Hijazi's Falafel, Arncliffe

I love living in Marrickville, but if I had to switch suburbs I wouldn't mind moving to Arncliffe or Turella, if only to eat Hijazi's falafel more often.



As it is, this is only the second time Pea Pa has driven us there, and when I get my hands on the roll and take a bite, it's even better than I remember. The falafel itself is super fresh and crunchy, and everything else from bread to salad and sauces hit the spot. I still can't believe it only costs $3.



Hijazi's Falafel
53 Wollongong Rd, Arncliffe NSW
p. (02) 9599 0726

Hijazi's Falafel on Urbanspoon

Gloria's Cafe, Petersham

Lunch with Nana Boot again and this time I suggest a healthy stroll uphill to Petersham. We stop at the art shop on Audley St to buy some picture frames for Baby Pea photos before settling in at Gloria's Cafe. We last ate here more than five years ago. I remember loving the garlic prawns, and the Portuguese hot dog - a roll with ham, cheese, frankfurter and mustard.



The lunch menu also offers $10 salads and my crustacean-loving mum-in-law likes the sound of the prawn croquettes. There are two per serve and I order the bacalao version so we'll have one of each, plus a bowl of fries.

Complimentary olives and bread rolls keep us going until the salads arrive in traditional terracotta dishes.



We're both very satisfied, though we both prefer the bacalao croquette. The Portuguese really know how to cook a good fish cake.



Gloria's Café
1/82 Audley Street, Petersham NSW 2049
p. (02) 9568 3966

Gloria's Café on Urbanspoon