Sydney Winter Holiday 2014 (Day 5): Cafe Ism (My Hidden Gem) ~ Review

This is a cafe at a corner of a road that I had frequently visit since I accidentally discovered it 3 years ago. It has recently changed owner but the chef was still the same guy, which I am glad to hear. This cafe is not much heard about and in my opinion, it's kinda underrated.

I'd like to share with you my little hidden gem :) Cafe Ism. I love this place so much mainly because it never failed to serve me good quality food. I swear I can actually taste the freshness of each ingredient in every dish and the coffee are awesome as well..

The outside of the cafe

The Kitchen + Order Counter

Located in a corner of Wilson Street in Newtown, the place has a very cosy ambiance and quite ample seating areas inside and outside. You can find the menu on your desk and order at the counter. The food will be served to you straight from the kitchen. Below are the stuffs we got on our round of trip this time around:

The dish that made me fall head over heels with this place. Egg Benedict with Bacon drizzled with Hollandaise sauce and served with Avocado and Mixed Greens on the Side. You can just taste the freshness of each ingredient. The Hollandaise sauce has that nice consistency of being thick but not overly thick. The taste is just divine - savoury, sweet and a hint of sourness. The bacon is huge, savoury and not too greasy; I don't remember seeing so many layers of fat on it. The poached egg was just cooked perfectly and you can taste the freshness of it. The fresh avocado just balance out the richness of the dish with its creaminess and mild flavour. I like eating the toast, egg, sauce, bacon + avocado all in a mouthful - the texture and combination of all those are just yummmmm.... I alternate this mouthful with bites of the mixed green covered with the Hollandaise sauce. I am salivating now while writing this. 

Okay Okay.. My family went overboard and ordered the smoked salmon version of the Eggs Benedict as well and these..... are awesome too. If you're not a fan of bacon or meat, get this. The smoked salmon gives a lighter taste to the dish compare to the bacon version.

Bacon & Eggs with the Lot. Yumm. This is my first time ordering this. The portion was just so generous. The warm and soft toasts, the sweet salty roasted tomato, the gigantic mushroom and bacon, the evenly-coloured and soft scrambled eggs, and my favourite, their homemade four-bean mix which has like a Mexican influence into it; it tasted like an awesome chilli minus the meat. I will definitely get this again.

My least favourite dish of the bunch will be this right here. The feta & pesto scrambled eggs with roasted tomato, toast and mixed green. Compare with the other dishes, I just think that this dish does not have that much play of flavour. The scrambled egg was a tad too dry as well. It just taste rather bland and I don't know, presentation wise is just not as appealing as the rest. I'd probably skip this the next time around.

Another favourite dish of mine. I mean just look at this thing: Banana Pancakes with Ricotta and Honey. The pancake is just so fluffy and soft. Paired it with the caramelised banana, mild saltiness of the ricotta and that generous drizzle of honey, it's basically party in your mouth. If you're more of a sweet breakfast kind of person, get this. It's soo good.

And let's not forget the awesome coffee. We had the latte and the cappuccino.

The milkiness of the milk and the bitterness from the coffee were perfectly balanced in this latte over here. The smell of the coffee just perks me up in the morning. I'd say this is a more milky version that Campos' latte.

The cappuccino were divine. The combination of the sweetness from the chocolate, the fresh milk and the coffee made this a good alternative for those who like to drink sweet coffee without adding sugar.

Oh and if you look behind, you can find their freshly squeezed orange juice :)

To sum this up, this place will always have a place in my heart :) Will visit this again whenever I'm in Sydney.