A few weeks ago, some friends and I went to Sydney for a weekend away and to go to the Mardi Gras parade; eating and drinking our way through a super fun weekend. We were due to leave on a Sunday midday flight so had enough time to squeeze in a harbourside breakfast before we were to leave.
So we sauntered down the road down to Cockle Bay and found a sleek looking Italian place called 'Baia The Italian'. The place looked fancy, staff well dressed, and who could resist an Italian accent anyway? The girls agreed (and our one male friend was happy with the location being in front of a bikini photo shoot) and so we walked in.
Looks aren't always what they seem. The place looks nice, the staff look nice, even the food looked nice. Below is my friend Tash's Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon and Apple Scented Hollandaise sauce. Looks nice right?
But the place leaves a dry taste in your mouth and this is when looks don't matter. As with any food establishment, drinks are ordered and served first, and that we did. Our drink orders were the usual coffee, tea and juice, which seemed to take a lifetime to arrive. Our food, a further 45 minutes. Bear in mind this is breakfast we're talking about, not a slow cooked lamb ragu or anything. Breakfast aka sausages, toast, grilled tomato etc etc. And the place wasn't even half full! The lengthy wait on breakfast made us on edge; we had a flight to catch very soon. I had asked several times on the status of our food and was rudely assured 'it is on its way'. As if I were not allowed to know when my food would be ready. And when our meals finally arrived, we collectively agreed that the food was definitely not worth the wait.
One of my beliefs is that a meal should not require extra condiments unless they are supposed to have them. A chef has not done his job if what he cooks gets drowned in sauces that are not meant to accompany the meal he makes. I ordered the scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. I'm not sure if it was just me, but it seemed as though they had put maybe one slice of smoked salmon into the eggs. Did they manage to omit the salt and pepper too? It was completely tasteless and so I asked for some hollandaise sauce to try up the flavour. The hollandaise sauce was akin to watery mayonnaise, with less flavour. No 'apple scent' whatsoever. I think Coles branded hollandaise has more flavour.
Our meals were not overly complicated which added to our gripes on how they managed to take so long to deliver. Again, I stress this was BREAKFAST. And to top it off, my friend Khalil found a piece of metal from a metal scourer IN his scrambled eggs; definitely not what he ordered. Tasteless food coupled with bad service really leave a sour taste in your mouth. I'm not a huge breakfast person but I fail to understand how such simple meals can take so long to serve. Completely disappointing end to a wonderful Sydney weekend.
[Editors Note: First of all, I sincerely apologise to the 5 or so people who actually read this blog for the lack of posts. Various things in my life have taken my attention away from this blog, but fear not for my love of food is oh so ever strong]
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Recently I took one of my closest friends out for her birthday to a beautiful little Italian place called La Via on Little Stanley Street, South Bank. We only decided to go there as we wanted to go somewhere in South Bank that neither of us had been before. Turns out La Via was a wonderful choice.
First of all, the staff were amazing. So much so, I actually emailed La Via to commend them on their service. I'm not a huge wine drinker and I don't know too much about how to pair wines with food but the waiter recommended a beautiful one to go with my pizza.
Secondly, the pizzas. Oh my god. There is a reason they promote themselves as having the 'Best Pizza in Brisbane' and it's not to toot ones proverbial horn, they really were amazing. I had the 'Wagyu bresola, roast garlic, truffle oil and parmesan' pizza. Four key ingredients on a handmade pizza base that tasted like a million dollars in my mouth. It just shows that the combination of simple, fresh ingredients can really create a gourmet meal. Some pizza places try to sell their pizzas as being 'top quality' by over complicating with extra unnecessary toppings but La Via strips it all back down to a simple mix creating an enjoyable pizza. And it's not particularly hard to get pizza wrong, but it seems as though it's hard for places to really get it right. La Via does just that.
I highly recommended La Via for a delicious, beautifully created pizza. Now I just need to go back and try the rest of the menu.
Website: http://lavia.com.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laviasouthbank
