Brickfields, Chippendale - I Ate My Way Through

Brickfields is the local café and bakery of your dreams. It’s the bakery that you’ve always wanted around the corner from your home. It has everything you need to live a happy and fulfilled life; good bread, good pastries, good coffee and good food.

Mecca has been providing Brickfields with their coffee beans since 2012. You know that when a cafe can make their coffee well, the rest can only go uphill from there. Our Flat Whites ($3.70) came filled to the brim, frothy and creamy.

The Fig and Walnut Toast with Quince, Ricotta and Pomegranate ($12.5) was a humble and hearty dish. The ricotta was made in house and served fresh with a drizzle of honey. The fig and walnut toast tied the dish together. The sourdough bread with pockets of sweet fig and crunchy walnut was toasted until golden brown. The bread had a good balance of chewiness and crunch which provided your palate with a myriad of textures.

The quince delicately fell apart at the touch of your fork creating the perfect consistency for spreading over a piece of toast. The quince and ricotta complemented each other extremely well as the freshness of the ricotta cut through the sweet tanginess of the quince. The bursts of pomegranate were a refreshing touch to this dish that was full of subtle flavours and textures.

The Roasted Broccoli, Chilli Mayo with Parmesan and Endive Sandwich ($14) was an adventure for your tastebuds as it was brimming with flavours. The roasted broccoli had a smoky, sweet caramelised taste which made it extremely addicting. The chilli mayonnaise was a combination of chilli oil and a light mayonnaise. The chilli oil wasn’t very spicy so, if you have little to no spice tolerance, this sandwich won’t harm you. The endive lettuce was crisp and crunchy which balanced out the rich flavours of the sandwich.

The sandwich was made with ciabatta bread baked fresh at the bakery. The crust was crisp and the bread inside was light and soft. The bread absorbed the flavours of the sandwich and was perfect for mopping up all the chilli mayo that has spilled. Be warned, there is no way to eat this sandwich neatly, just go for it and you won’t regret it (even when you have mayonnaise all over your mouth).

The Frangipane Tart ($7) was just as sweet and delicious as it looked. Made from flaky, filo pastry (the only kind of flakiness I like) with a succulent cinnamon frangipane centre topped with a slice of poached pear and roasted pecans, it was the perfect tart to end the perfect morning. None of the flavours in the tart overpowered one another. Instead, all the flavours, from the sticky sweetness of the pear to the crisp pastry, all blended together in harmony.

Like the former dishes, the tart was filled with subtle flavours that allowed the ingredients to speak for themselves, rather than trying to shout out with added bold flavours (like that annoying kid in class that just kept screaming, even though all the attention was already on them).

Brickfields is a rare pocket of tranquillity in Sydney’s bustling city. The bakery and cafe prides itself on its attention to detail and its respect for their ingredients. Brickfields’ aim is not to challenge your known perception of food, but it is to remind you of the humble origins of your food and to celebrate the simplicity in life.