One of Le Grand Cafe’s salads and a selection of tea canisters
As the lovely Not Quite Nigella wrote, “how much can a petite female food blogger eat?”. Even after downing two burgers and an unlimited bowl of fries? Quite a lot if you tempt them enough, and that’s exactly what Lorraine did. While everybody else went back to work after an event, us ladies of leisure obviously felt like we didn’t punish our stomachs enough. It definitely didn’t take much to convince me to eat again when she uttered the words, “new cafe”, “Justin North” and “French”.
How gorgeous are these teapots?
Located opposite Justin North’s Becasse at the Alliance Francaise, this is one cafeteria that perfectly caters for the Francophile within. Our intention was to ‘check it out’ and grab a small bite. But I know that food bloggers never do anything by halves – full bellies be damned – and there is no such thing as a ‘quick’ or ‘small’ bite. Surely another croissant, brioche, dessert and one salad wouldn’t hurt right? I’m also guessing our waiter Brad saw the excited glint in our eyes as he immediately guessed that we were happy first timers and therefore was incredibly hospitable and helpful.
Clockwise from top-left: Justin North’s new cookbook, brioche toast, French pastries, banana bread
Our salad of frisee leaves, lardons, caramelised shallots, a poached egg and crispy baguette croutons is modest in serving size but it sure tastes good, made even more so once you pop the poached egg and watch the yolk ooze (such fun!). Lorraine finds it a tad salty but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Would love it if there were more crunchy croutons however.
Frisee salad aux lardon – $10
What Lorraine thought was a French toast brioche were actually slices of French brioche toast. Though it was a little too toasted (therefore was a bit dry), the taste was buttery good and accompanied by your choice of strawberry and lime jam, maple syrup or a compote of rhubarb and pear, which was criminally god. So much so that we both wished it was jarred for us to take home.
French brioche toast with a compote of pear and rhubarb – $6
The mark of any good French cafe are their croissants, and traditionally these come petite sized. This turned out to be a monster of a pastry and extremely buttery (very good). However it lacked the flakiness and the airy multi layers that I love at La Renaissance, which so far remains my favourite for croissants. A big plus was that it came with the strawberry and lime jam that we missed out on with the brioche (the call of compote was far too strong). I love strawberry and I love lime and the combination of the two was amazing. Another one to be jarred I think!
Monster croissant – $4
Yes we were full but there was still the issue of dessert. Unfortunately the citrus mille-feuille was unavailable but we were recommended to try the chocolate pot instead. Not a bad substitute I assure you as it was more like a chocolate crème rather than a light mousse. Silky, smooth and divine with the quenelle of vanilla bean ice cream and toasted pistachios. Oh how I love toasted nuts! By this stage we were defeated and the chocolate pot sadly remained unfinished.
That was until we chatted with the waitress who commented about her favourite caramel surprise at the bottom of the chocolate pot. Surprise? There was caramel?! Talk about getting a second wind as we frantically grabbed our spoons and started digging and lo and behold. We were greeted by a thick layer of fudgy caramel. Now we were officially satisfied.
Petit pot au chocolat (and the caramel surprise) – $8
And as a final surprise (seriously who doesn’t love surprises?), our lovely waiter Brad came over at the end of his shift to bid adieu and to give us a slice of super-moist banana bread with his complements. I wish all first-time visits were this good. :P
And would you believe that these four dishes plus drinks came to a modest cost of $32 for two people? For a quality French cafe by a chef as esteemed as Justin North, this perhaps was the nicest surprise of all.
Display of goodies
Le Grand Cafe by Becasse
(at the foyer of the Alliance Francaise Centre)
257 Clarence Street
Sydney CBD, NSW 2000
(02) 9264 7164
Open Mon to Fri 8am to 6:30pm
Saturdays: 8am to 3pm
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
u gals and your bottomless pit stomachs!
i couldn't do it, i'm pretty weak like that haha..
Ohh french toast brioche would have been better than toasted brioche :( But that jam sounds so lovely! I must go here soon, I love places like this!
oh to be a lady of leisure :) can't believe you had more room to eat after all those burgers, although faced with such delectable treats i think that i, too, would have somehow found extra room too!
LOL yes the French Toast brioche should be on the menu! Thanks for being a fun partner in crime :)
I've been wanting to go since I saw Lorraine's post! That chocolate dessert with the caramel surprise – as if anyone could resist… and such a lovely waiter… Must go soon!!
How do you stay in shape?
Justin North is just dominating the food scene. He's like the Roman Empire, no? …observe my son, your future kingdom reaches as far as the eye can see.
But seriously, everything he touches is pure gold. Just really honest food, and big flavours. And the value!
Nice blog :)
Hee hee if you ladies can do it, I must give it a go :P! That dessert… I so wannt!
I so so so want to go there! It looks grat!
Hi Betty – hehe it takes years of practice and stomach stretching :P
Hi Stephcookie – agreed! But honestly just give me the jam by itself and I'll be happy!
Hi Helen – if it counts for anything, I couldn't finish my burgers unlike everybody else… but I was still full from the fries!
Hi Lorraine – No problems, thanks for encouraging me to eat more!
Hi Betty – hehe yeah chocolate and surprise in the same sentence is a very good thing indeed!
Hi SydneyCider – LOl who said anything about being in shape? :P But yes at the moment Justin North is ruling the dining scene and we are all better for it!
Hi FFichiban – oh you'd put all us ladies to shame!
Hi Renee – Hope you get to visit soon! xx