A Year Ago Today at Acre Eatery

Lunch at: Acre Eatery, 31A Mallett street, Camperdown NSW 2050. Photos taken by me with my Canon D70 DSLR

So I had no intention of posting these photos to my blog. It was a day I took out my best friend Betty for her annual birthday lunch, one year ago. Our tradition is to 'surprise' each other with a restaurant we know we both enjoy to show how much we care and love one another. <3

But this year, with the Covid-19 pandemic, Australia has been in lock down and I think me and Betty quietly knew we couldn't celebrate our birthdays in our traditional way.

But these photos came up as part of my 'Facebook Memories' as Betty's birthday was a few days ago and I realised how much I missed our old lives before lock-down.

Everyone, please do your part and wear a mask, sanitise, isolate if you feel sick and practice social distancing so that next year I would not need to experience the same frustrations. Hoping I am lucky enough to take my best friend out for her birthday in 2021. I hope everyone else does too. We all deserve to be safe and happy.

Reflecting back, I picked Acre Eatery because of the cosy farm-to-table feeling I felt when I saw the website photos. When we arrived, the eatery was surrounded by a garden where you can see that they grew their own foods where they can. The menu is seasonal so unfortunately it changes all the time so I couldn't find what I ate a year ago on the menu today. But everything was delicious and our favourite was the garlic topped baked Camembert with rosemary crackers.

My favourite thing was that I could order a special in-house baked birthday cake for Betty to be served at the end of our meal. I pre-ordered before I arrived to the restaurant when I was made my booking. It was beautiful vanilla sponge cake topped with cream and fresh colourful fruit from the gardens. I remember the look of glee on Betty's face when it came out and the sinking embarrassed feeling I had when I realised I had to sing the birthday song to Betty solo, but I love her so much I would do anything for her.

That's the beauty of our friendship <3

Stay safe everyone x

Social Hideout Cafe

Brunch at: Social Hideout Cafe in Parramatta. Photos taken by myself with my Canon D70 Camera.

One of my best girls Erin is travelling to Canada for five weeks to spend time with her boyfriend. We are super happy for her so we went out for a small farewell brunch at Social Hideout.
Catching up, we had little baby Rosie being passed around and we let her suck on our fingers as we suspect she is teething. Jaye updated us on her work adventures and she and I share inside jokes on Critical Role (we play Dungeons and Dragons together). Betty shows us her new fresh haircut and giggles watching Rosie's cute reactions. Erin lets her dog Cody be posh and we discuss her holiday packing. I talk about my new hair colour and how its a new look for 2020 (new year, new me?), with camera in my hand ready to capture memories.
We all talk about the men woes in our lives; and we all agree they are hopeless at getting ready on time. Then we spend a good fifteen minutes trying to pick out what to eat, debating pros and cons of each dish. And staying true to our tradition, we unanimously agree that we would have dessert afterwards no matter how full we got.

We ordered The Green Frenchy (matcha french toast with berries, caramelized banana, mochi and red velvet cream), Red Velvet Benedict with added Smoked Salmon (poached eggs with baby spinach and hollandaise sauce, on a red velvet croissant) and The American (breakfast burger with bacon, eggs, hash brown, avocado). We topped the order off with green tea lattes and coffees.
Delicious food with a beautiful floral backdrop.
Then, we decided on the Panna Cotta Granola Bowl for dessert. This was my favourite dish - berries, nut and granola sitting in purple taro milk then topped off with the smoothest and creamiest matcha panna cotta.

At the end of the meal, it was clear we over-ordered, but it could've also been that we stopped to chat so much that we were just distracted.  I love these girls. They are the best.
We gave our goodbye hugs and left with full happy bellies, knowing that we would see each other again in 6 weeks, ready to hear about Erin's adventures in Canada and hopefully get some cute maple syrup treats.

Waffle Burgers at The Factoria, Wetherill Park

The Factoria, 1003-1009 Canley Vale Road, Wetherill Park NSW 2164. All photos taken by me, on my Canon 70D DSLR.

Once in a while, I come a across a hidden gem in Western Sydney. Situated next to the quirky and classy Italian restaurant Grano, The Factoria offers a laid back atmosphere serving up coffees, pastries and a dedicated breakfast, brunch and lunch menu.
Me and Hai visited on a lazy Sunday morning, right after one of my morning gym sessions. Thinking I deserved more than a mere salad I opted for the Waffle burger and Hai the Bricklayer.

The Waffle Burger, came out with crispy bacon drizzled with bourbon maple syrup, melted cheese, and a juicy beef patty all sandwiched between two waffles. I devoured it, as I've never had a waffle burger and maple syrup bacon - and I'm always one for trying new foods (except if I'm in a Japanese restaurant then I tunnel vision towards Japanese Curry).

Hai's Bricklayer Burger was made up of two brioche buns, fried bacon strips, potato hash brown, tomato relish, red onion and topped with a fried egg. He was not disappointed with his choice as he washed it down with The Factoria's iced coffee.

It was a nice morning, the sunlight streamed in and highlighted all the sweet details of this restaurant. The decor had a pleasant 50's and 60's vibe, with retro furnishing and industrial finishes in the ceiling and shelving.
The Factoria also stocks soaps, local and imported pastas, jams, oils, honeys, biscuits - all the good stuff. Just another added bonus. Also, if you don't feel like a heavy lunch, they also offer gelato, cronuts, Italians cakes, and a huge range of coffees and teas to satisfy the sweet tooth.

The Factoria - opens until 4pm on weekdays and 10pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.