A couple of colleagues and I went to Devon in Surry Hills a couple of weeks ago. It was rather warm day and K had convinced me that Devon was ‘just behind Central Station’. Which it is, just on the other side of Central than I had in mind! As if its location in Surry Hills didn’t already give it away, Devon is hipster as you can see from its interior. I
t’s famed dish, the sakuma (which featured an eel croquette!) has won awards, as has its barista.
I have a weakness for original bruschetta (I love tomatoes!), and anything called bruschetta generally. At Devon, I also had their spin on bruschetta: roasted eggplant, hummus, labne, za’atar, coriander, fried onion on Turkish bread ($11.00).
With good bruschetta, the toppings are always piled so high it’s quite a task to eat! And this was no different. With every bite, I was reminded of babaganoush but better. Better because this is more than a dip – there is actual texture that makes up that delicious flavour of babaganoush. The chick peas (and the actual nuts!) gave the bruschetta a pleasant nuttiness, while the yoghurt kept the dish fresh.
2015
Breakfast with the Sakuma’s at Devon is a major draw card. It’s the dish K keeps coming back to and N looked forward after I tell her of my visit with K.
The Breakfast with the Sakuma’s ($26.00) is miso grilled king salmon, smoked eel croquette, 63° egg, radish petit salad and kewpie mayonnaise. There are distinctly Japanese flavours to the dish (especially in the eel croquette) and the salmon was grilled to perfection – medium rare. N enjoyed the dish and described as being very easy to eat.
I went for the Eggs Blini ($20.00), a buckwheat blini with cured king salmon, salmon caviar, brocollini, Mikado sauce and poached eggs.
This blini is my first foray into savoury pancakes, and it was delicious! The blini was fluffy, and while cakey on its own, that didn’t matter because it was tasty once it soaked up all the gooey eggy innards. The Mikado sauce (a hollondaise sauce with a mandarin twist) was added a subtle acidity to the dish. The brocollini was fresh and sweet – brocollini are a much tastier version of brocolli – and the cured king salmon and salmon caviar added pops of saltiness to the dish. All in all, a beautiful balance of flavours. And so pretty too!
Then on a subsequent visit, I had the Little Lost Toast ($17.00) – brioche French toast, triple chocolate, caramelized banana, and salted caramel ice cream.
Yes, I had dessert for lunch. Every other visit, I’d listened to D’s voice inside my head reminding me not to eat desssert for lunch ‘cause I’ll feel terrible afterwards from the sugar crash. But not this time! (I did order a side of bacon as protein to ward off the sugar crash though…)
Everything about this French toast is amazing. The brioche is pillowy soft. The egg coating the brioche is crunchy. The salted caramel ice cream had the consistency of a gelato, so as to be almost refreshing against the the bread and the chocolate. The caramelised banana was so soft and delicious that I forgot my general aversion to fresh bananas – this may well be the only way I’ll eat bananas in the future! And the triple chocolate (white chocolate ganache, dark chocolate syrup, hot chocolate powder) had the perfect bitterness to balance out the sweetness of the rest of the plate.
As for drinks, I went with the Iced Orange Mocha ($6.00), a cold pressed coffee with house made chocolate orange reduction. It tasted like a liquid jaffle – the orange notes really sing through with it’s tangy flavour, while chocolate added sweetness to the slight bitterness of the coffee. While it’s not something I’d want to drink everyday, the iced orange mocha was enjoyable and pleasant. And it’s totally true that cold brewed coffee has higher levels of caffeine than hot brewed coffee.
Next, I had the Mulled Cascara ($5.50), a hot tea made from dried coffee cherries (or the dried berries of coffee beans). I’d been curious about it previously, so I finally tried it. It tastes nothing like coffee – it’s sweet and tastes a bit like slow-cooked overly ripened cherries. It’s mulled, so there’s definite hints of spices like nutmeg and cinnamon. I’d be curious to taste straight brewed cascara, although I can’t say for certain whether I like or dislike the taste at the moment. It’s not unpleasant and an acquired taste, definitely – I’d need to try it a couple more times to decide.
With the French toast, I had a matcha latte ($4.00). This was a decent matcha latte, although it was on the milky side. I prefer matcha lattes to be creamier (almost like a dessert) and richer in flavour (on the brink of being too bitter).
Overall, Devon Cafe is as good as people say. It certainly doesn’t disappoint!
2016
Our return from the annual rounds of the CeBIT Australia computer expo out at Olympic Park found H and me at the south-eastern exit of Central Station just before 1, in time for an early lunch at Devon Cafe.
My tastebuds are set on Little Lost Bread ($16.00), this time with Piña Colada French toast, rum cooked pineapple, fresh coconut, pineapple gel, roasted coconut chips, and coconut ice cream. For protein, I add bacon.
This Little Lost Bread was a delicious marriage of coconut and pineapple flavours. The brioche was pillowy soft and covered in toasty golden brown desiccated coconut beneath a dusting of fresh coconut. The rum cooked pineapple gave an intensely sweet and acidic kick to the dish that contrasted with the sweetness of the pineapple gel, while the coconut ice cream was super smooth, giving a pleasant not-too-sweet- cold hit to every bite. And finally, the roasted coconut chips added a delicious crunch. This French toast is a taste sensation.
I pair my dessert-cum-lunch with a Dragonwell Tea, a pan-roasted green tea from China. Renowned for its high quality, this pot had a bright flavour with pleasant nutty notes.
Devon Cafe is located at 76 Devonshire St, Surry Hills NSW 2010.