[invite] Bianca: Toby’s Estate supplies coffee beans to hundreds of cafes in Australia. Beginning their story in 1998 when owner Toby Smith (upon returning from a coffee holiday) opened a small roaster in Wolloomoolloo. The Chippendale outpost, now their current flagship cafe and roasting location opened in 2005 and has recently undergone a refurb.
Despite working in Redfern and driving past the cafe almost 5 days a week for 10 years I’d only ever dropped in for the occasional coffee so I was pretty excited to finally sample the menu.
Starting with a round of coffees, our Soy Capps $4.5 were very smooth and not overly milky. I typically find their coffee pretty reliable (my greatest indicator is whether I need to add sucre or not…).
I had FFS lovable stand-in Felications in tow and that usually means two things – haloumi and some sort of fried chicken will make an appearance.
And very much true to tradition. We start with the Crispy Buffalo Chicken Burger- w/blue cheese sauce, pickles, lettuce, tomato & shoestring fries $16. We were both impressed by this burger, the brioch bun was a good vessel but not as soft and pillowy as others I’ve come across. The Fried chicken was great, moist, with a super crispy outer coating. But really, the main hero was that blue cheese sauce. Pretty decent price for the serve as well.
Another good option are the Zucchini & Corn Fritters -w/ poached egg, crispy bacon, roast tomato & Salsa verde $15 + avocado $4 + Haloumi $5. Very enjoyable! Wonderfully sweet, plump corn kernals, alongside the salty haloumi & bacon! A great spring time dish with all the fresh veg & accompanying salsa. My only feedback would be the placement of the poached egg. Typically most people break the yolk over bread/ a fritter to mop up the yolk, being placed on the plate, you pretty much lose all that. Minor quibble, less lazy people will simply re-arrange the plate to their liking…
The new menu wasn’t available online before my visit so I was pretty chuffed to see pancakes, that turned to minor horror when I saw the full title. Vegan Pancakes -w/strawberries, apple, pomegranate, granola, coconut yoghurt & maple syrup $17. Boy did I eat humble pie… This could have been on the menu without the big V and I really could not have told the difference. I had also visited Clean Treats Factory in the same weekend and they were miles away in terms of taste, texture and execution. Yes they were denser than your average but still remained fairly light, the pancakes themselves very flavourful. Big points for all the textural elements, the crispy granola, nuts, fresh fruits. But best of all, sauce!!! Lot’s of it! We loved the sharp notes of the coconut yoghurt and tying it all together, the maple syrup!
Completely unnecessary but I can never go past a good BB – the Banana Bread $5 supplied by Brickfields and liberally spread with butter!
I just wish it hadn’t taken me so long to try the food. I’ll definitely come back!
Bianca
*For Food’s Sake dined as guests of Toby’s Estate.
Great post 😁