Located at the quieter end of Darlinghurst, Sydney, is this little café whose food is best described as a fusion of Japanese and Scandinavian.
The setting of the café is simple, consisting of predominantly white walls and light coloured wooden tables. There are elements of Japanese influence scattered around the café, including jars of pickled vegetable and a small Japanese shrine near the top shelf in the open kitchen. Also noticeable were small pots of micro-herbs on the counter above the kitchen. The setting is comfortable and not overly crowded.
We visited this café at around 1pm on a Sunday for brunch and the café was nearly full. A look at the menu reviewed a menu that was very healthy and vegetarian friendly.
Piccolo $4
I ordered my usual piccolo coffee to start off my meal. There was far too much milk in the cup. This was more like a three-quarters latte than a piccolo. However, the coffee did have a nice complexity, but was leaning onto the sour end.
Cold Brew $4
Jono ordered a cold brew. The drink was refreshing and the flavour of the coffee shone through and was not diluted by the presence of the ice.
Smorrebrod $19
Looking around at the other diners, this dish seem to be the most popular, and so I ordered it. It consisted of smoked king salmon on rye bread, surrounded by pickled vegetables and roe. The dish had a contrast of textures and flavours – the soft salmon was a great contrast to the dense rye bread, and the saltiness of the salmon and the roe contrasted well with the sourness from the pickled vegetable and the sweetness of the bread. Unfortunately, the salmon to me tasted more raw than smoked, and the bread was too dry for my liking. However, I was impressed by the contrast in textures and flavour that this dish was trying to achieve.
Tofu salad $14
Jono opted for the healthy option and ordered the tofu salad. The dish came with fresh tofu, shitake mushrooms, pieces of nashi pear, wakame seaweed and daikon. There was also a miso soup that came as a side.
The first impression I had of this dish was the freshness of the ingredients and that this dish had a very distinct Japanese look to it. Jono couldn’t wait to dig into this dish and after a few bites, Jono had the following comments on this dish:
“The dish was flavourless. The tofu was very cold, and not tasty enough, even though the tofu was already split in the middle and soaked in soy prior to being served. But this dish had a very clean taste and would suit a vegetarian.”
I also tried some of this dish, and I felt that this was a very delicate dish, with very subtle flavours. To appreciate this dish, it should be eaten before drinking coffee as the heavy flavour of the coffee may have ruined our palate to appreciate the intricacies of this dish.
Overall, this café is serving very unique and distinct food, which makes it a worthwhile visit. However, the food at times may lack flavour and may not suit people that are used to eating tasty food or expecting a big substantial breakfast after a big night out. The kind of food being served certainly caught us by surprise.
Edition Coffee Roasters
Website: www.editioncoffeeroasters.com
Address: 265 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst
Opening hours: 7am to 3:30pm, Monday to Friday; 8am to 3:30pm, Saturday and Sunday
Accepts Visa and Mastercard cards, but not American Express cards
By Greg
Burn My Mouth Blog 