Koko Black, and Stone Tools

Having a sweet tooth is an advantage for a hunter gatherer. On that sort of diet sweet foods, and calories, are difficult to find. These days a sweet tooth is not so useful, but I’m always looking for excuses to indulge mine. A day outdoors, investigating remnants of tool making by hunters, is the perfect excuse to say you’ve burned enough calories to earn a sweet treat.

For a Chocoholic Sydneysider one of the best sweet treats in Canberra is Koko Black. First though, we had to earn our chocolate by exercising. Luckily we had the pleasure of doing this in springtime in Namadgi National Park. We were looking for Aboriginal stone tool making sites.

The remnants of stone tool making are flakes which have split off from the tool when it was being shaped. The site we visited was located on a sunny granite outcrop above a creek, but the flakes were from a fine-grained igneous rock. The raw materials for the tools must have been mined elsewhere.

Our fearless leader lead us to the site using his antique GPS. Dating to the 1990s it even predated graphics. You needed a separate compass to use the bearing the GPS unit calculated for you.

Back in Canberra we had worked up our appetites, so after dinner we headed to Koko Black. The Chocolate Icecream Martini is hard to resist, with it’s intensely flavoured icecream served with fudge sauce and an artistic chocolate curl.

The Chocolate Tart is very rich, and accompanied by a contrasting orange cream.

Leaving without visiting the chocolate counter was impossible, and I came home with a little paper bag of goodies. My old favourite Baileys was a must, and the new honey ganache turned out to be good too. Most impressive though, was the rum and raisin, which managed to taste very fruity without actually containing any chewy bits. It might be my new favourite.

It’s nice to get your sugar fix as honey ganache, rather than having to gather wild honey. Being a hunter gatherer can’t have been easy. At springtime in Canberra the bees are feasting on wattle, but I’m glad I’m not the one who has to rob them of their honey.

Koko Black
Canberra Centre
Bunda St
City ACT

Ratings (out of 5 snorts)

Price	3 snorts
Taste	4 snorts
Service	4 snorts
Atmosphere	3 snorts

Cafe Bello

Bello is located within Burwood Westfield, with big glass windows looking across the road to the park. The paintings inside are of happy groups of people, and the daughter of the owner features in every picture. A mixture of booths and tables allows for different size groups to sit together, which is convenient whether you’re having a big celebration or a romantic dinner for two.

There are two things about the menu at Bello that make it an attractive place to dine. One is that the dessert menu is very long. The other is that the full selection of pasta sauces are available as risottos. If you’re on a gluten free diet that’s a real bonus.

The Risotto Boscaiola was very creamy, with plenty of bacon and mushrooms. If you need room for dessert this isn’t the dish for you, but if you love creamy sauces it’s an excellent choice.

The Salami and Goats Cheese Pizza on the specials menu caught James’ eye. It proved to be very tasty, but the base was a little crisp.

The Pollo Gamberi featured chicken and prawns with a tomato sauce and cheese. It was somewhat outshone by the Fettucine Marinara with its beautiful scallop shell.

After these mains, it was a struggle to fit in dessert, but the long dessert menu is the thing that makes Bello special. They have a large selection of cakes, icecream desserts made with Serendipity icecream, and a selection of gluten free cookies.

The Choc Rock cake was popular at our table, with its layers of nutty meringue and chocolate mousse. Alloronan said hers good, but it was overshadowed by her scoop of Serendipity icecream. She had the fudge brownie flavour, and was in raptures over it.

The Pancakes with berries were dripping with red juice and topped with a scoop of icecream. A lovely way to finish your meal.

So which cafe do you choose in Burwood? It depends on the occasion. Bello, Gasparo and George’s are all good choices. George’s draws crowds with its slightly lower prices and has a good selection of meals, making it a good choice for a regular night out. For special occasions Bello is more suitable since it can seat more people at a table and has a quieter atmosphere. The long dessert menu is attractive too.

Cafe Bello
Westfield Shoppingtown
Burwood NSW

Ratings (out of 5 snorts)

Price	3 snorts
Taste	3 snorts
Service	3 snorts
Atmosphere	4 snorts

George’s Cafe

A recent review by Two-KG said that the desserts at George’s Cafe were a failure, so I was puzzled to walk past the other night and see this cafe bursting at the seams. Sunday nights are busy in Burwood, but this was a rainy night and many cafes were only half full. This was certainly not the case at George’s. The waiters were squeezing people into the odd available table. The whole Burwood crowd was there from families to first dates. George’s seemed to please everyone, so we had to try it out.

We joined the crowd and a waiter quickly found a table for us. Looking at the menu, and the tables around us, I could soon see that George’s Cafe was serving big meals at reasonable prices. Most of the meals were just under $20, which I think is one reason for the popularity of this cafe. It is slightly cheaper than several of the other cafes in Burwood.

There was a range of food across the cafe style including burgers, omlettes, crepes, steaks, pastas and a kids’ menu. We were surrounded by men eating steaks and kids eating nachos. One guy looked like he was really enjoying his chicken wings. Family dinners were squeezed into booths neighbouring couples nibbling at dips. It was a busy restaurant full of the hum of voices.

James spotted a huge white plate of pasta going by and his decision was made. We noticed that there were plenty of tasty looking vegetarian options and he chose a pasta that featured roasted eggplant and olives. It was rich with oil and salt, and big enough to satisfy a man’s appetite. James was particularly delighted that two different waiters offered him cracked pepper, so he was able to get a double dose.

I decided to have one of the gourmet omelettes. I didn’t want to be left out of the roast eggplant scene, so I picked an omelette that featured it. The fetta and sweet capsicum were perfect foils for the eggplant. In a fit of health consciousness I chose the vegetables over the chips, but I admit I was glad to find some crispy roast potatoes under my omelette. Like the pasta, the serving of omelette was huge, and I had some difficulty finishing it before we had to rush for the bus.

Now Two-KG criticised the desserts at George’s cafe, but I can’t address this because I was too full of mains to try them. I did have a banana smoothie which tasted of real banana and I was fairly happy with it. James had a chocolate thickshake which was nothing to write home about, but was thick with icecream.

On the whole I’d say that George’s is one of the better cafes in Burwood. It is better priced than either Bello or Gasparo and I think that the food is similar. The atmosphere is quite noisy compared to the sereneness of Bello. I’d say you choose your cafe by the occasion, but George’s is a good choice for a big tasty meal at a reasonable price.

122 Burwood Rd
Burwood, NSW

Ratings (out of 5 snorts)

Price	3 snorts
Taste	4 snorts
Service	3 snorts
Atmosphere	3 snorts

Poetry at Sappho Books and Cafe

I love the candles at Poetry Night at Sappho. They provide a warm glow, or an evening of waxy pyromania, depending on your inclination. If you’re biased to the pyro side you do need to be careful though. It’s all too easy to burn yourself. Alloronan had problems when her candle reached critical point and overflowed all over the table and onto her hand. Poor thing. At the end when everyone helps to carry their dishes up to the kitchen we were warned not to touch the candles in case we burnt ourselves. The moral of the story – don’t touch the candles.

Of course the main attractions at Sappho are books and coffee during the day, so you probably don’t normally play with candles. The candles come out for the poetry evening each month. The poetry reading and open mic poetry is run by Poetry Unlimited Press. Sappho Books and Cafe in Glebe kindly keeps their doors open for the event. The evening is run by the enviably energetic Roberta. She is all smiles and full of praise for the poets. Her warm personality really sets the mood for the evening.

This month’s guest poet was Martin Langford. His poetry was both prettily worded and comprehensible, which is a combination I like. One of his ideas that struck a chord for me was about how every moment passes quickly. We cannot hold onto them. He said that the song of the currawong feels to him like a sad goodbye and he reminded us that we’re saying goodbye to the present all the time. At yoga, Pink often tells us to have “conscious presence”. This poem reminded me of that focused look at the world.

The open mic section was a good one this month. We had around 20 poems that ran for two minutes. I think it works best when people read a single poem rather than trying to squeeze two into the timeframe. It leaves a stronger impression. Again I’m left with fleeting images, of farm machinery, red brick, sex, colours… I think the only comic poem of the night was Alloronan’s piece on chicken suits. I found it a little spooky, but it was funny.

While the poetry was sustaining our minds we looked to the Sappho Cafe to sustain our stomachs. At these evenings they have hot drinks, cakes and toasted sandwiches available. They have little gluten free polenta cakes from Manna from Heaven and the brownies are gluten free too.

Alloronan decided on a cake with a rather spectacular curl of icing on top. Apparently it was quite buttery. It wasn’t strawberry, but she wasn’t sure of the fruit. She said, “Do you know what a pomegranite tastes like?” and I said, “No, they’re always $3 each and I’m not that curious.” I couldn’t taste it since it wasn’t gf, so I’ll have to leave you with the mystery.

I went for the white chocolate brownie with macadamias. It was very rich. I liked the bits of sour fruit inside, they provided some balance.

On the whole the cakes were nothing to write home about, but the chai tea was amazing. It’s made by the Byron Bay Tea company and came in a pot holding two cups worth. It was milky and not too sweet with a lovely taste of cinnamon and cloves. I love fragrant chai and this was a good one made of real tea leaves and spices. Sappho is serious about their tea and coffee. Their teas come from T2 or the Byron Bay Tea company. The coffee is Toby’s estate.

I think to really sample the food at Sappho you should visit during normal hours (or see NQN’s review). The cakes aren’t special but the tea is beautiful. The combination of a bookshop and a cafe makes for a lovely atmosphere. The courtyard has a relaxed combination of graffiti, plants and candles. It’s a nice place to enjoy poetry.

Sappho Books and Cafe
51 Glebe Point Rd
Glebe
NSW
The Poetry nights are on the second Wednesday of each month, 7-9pm.

Ratings (out of 5 snorts)

Price	3 snorts
Taste	4 snorts
Service	2 snorts
Atmosphere	4 snorts

Guylian Cafe

The Vegaquarian recently asked me out for dinner and a lecture. It sounded like a nice idea for a girls night out. Even if the American Recession wouldn’t have been my first choice of lecture topic, I thought it would be worth seeing. I was also drawn in by the prospect of dinner at the Guylian Cafe. As it turns out the lecture was quite interesting although it would have been useful to have some prior knowledge of economics.

I resisted the temptation to ride the new office elephant to get there. I think she’s only really good for trips down the corridor. Preferably after hours when you won’t get spotted.

When we arrived at the Guylian Cafe we decided to have a main course as well as a dessert. The Vegaquarian loves her salmon, so the Smoked Salmon Salad with capers was the obvious choice for her. It arrived with plenty of salmon, rocket and capers.

I couldn’t resist the goats cheese in the Vegetarian Salad, so it was my choice. I really liked the pine nuts and currants and I would have been happy to have more of these. I found the salad dressing a bit vinegary, especially with the tangy goats cheese. Overall the salad was pleasant, but it seemed light and small for a meal. There is a good reason for this though and that’s saving room for pudding. A light salad is the perfect choice before a big rich dessert. This is a good piece of menu planning – well done Guylian.

The Vegaquarian is on a mission to try Affogato at every restaurant she visits. The Guylian Affogato lost points for being served with the coffee already poured onto the icecream. This removed a certain level of interactivity and affected the temperature of the dessert. What the Affogato did score well for was the liqueur. It was chocolatey and creamy. A perfect addition to the coffee and icecream.

I had a Chocolate Passion Shake. The passion in the name made me expect passionfruit, but there wasn’t any. The passion must refer to a passion for chocolate not passionfruit. That’s a good kind of passion too. The shake was served in a really tall glass, but luckily the large quantity didn’t mean any compromise in quality. The shake was rich with chocolate and icecream. I really enjoyed it, but I have to warn you it was really filling. I was very glad I’d had a salad for first course when I had to fit in a dessert like that.

On the whole I enjoyed the Guylian Cafe. The service was fine and the view at Circular Quay was lovely. It’s quite expensive at $10-15 for even the simpler desserts. The quality of the food is good though. In the chocolate cafe stakes I would say I preferred Guylian to Lindt, but my favourite is still Koko Black.

As well as the difference in food, I wonder if these cafes differ in their levels of girliness. Alternatively maybe the differences in clientele on my visits were related to the time of day. When I’ve been to Lindt in the afternoon it has felt like most of the tables were groups of women and the only men there were accompanying women. At Guylian the eaters seemed more mixed and there were even some men eating there without women. I wonder if that was because it was dinner time or if different types of chocolate attract different consumers?

Guylian Cafe
Shop 10 Opera Quays
3 Macquarie St
Sydney

Ratings (out of 5 snorts)

Price	2 snorts
Taste	4 snorts
Service	3 snorts
Atmosphere	4 snorts