Saturdays are for sleeping in. No one should be allowed to wake up at 6am on a Saturday morning. But alas, the things we do for a sale. I was in dire need for some new hipster clothes, so I dragged my sleepy butt out of bed and picked up L10, Shan and DDN on the way to Darlinghurst. By the time we arrived at around 7.30am there was already a queue - how early were these people awake?! After a coffee, two hours of rummaging, and $200 poorer later, we were ready for brunch. Unsure of what was around we turned to our trustworthy Urbanspoon App that lead us to Cowbell 808 in close-by Surry Hills.
I learned that the name Cowbell 808 came from Roland TR-808 drum machine with the cowbell being one of the sounds it made. The music theme is evident throughout the entire cafe with a super cool graffiti image of a drum machine, posters of of everyone from Bowie to Rod Steward, and a collection of vinyl records under the register.
Nested on the busy Bourke Street, Cowbell is far from your typical too-cool-inb4 esque hipster joints we are accustomed to in Surry Hills. We were welcomed kindly by a cute old man, who was one of the owners, before seated by another guy who seemed to be in charge and/or related to the owners. Saturday brunch always means business so we were lucky enough to grab the last group table.
Our server was very laid back, throwing in a swear word in now and there - far from some snobby and pretentious establishments in the area. He asks if we've been to Cowbell before and we replied no, so he takes a stab by guessing three items we will order by writing it on a piece of paper and putting it under a cup, and then gives us some time to inspect the menu.
Fresh bread ready for the oven!
After ordering our dishes, Shan decided to check us in. The server, I think his name was Matt, saw us on our phones and gave us a good telling about being antisocial. Phones away, guys! I argued I had to take photos for my blog, as I forgotten my camera (again) that day - it's free promo for you guys!
Chai Tea ($5?)
A nice and warm cuppa on a chilly morning. The chai had a lovely aroma, but as someone who is not the biggest fan of overly gingery-spicy chai, I thought this lacked a bit of kick. Also, I don't mean to be picky but I wished they served it with a ceramic teacup instead.
Affogato ($5?)
Shan had this so I can't comment much about it. I'm always one for a good affogato though - coffee and ice-cream, what's not to love!
The 808 Burger $18
Ground chuck pattie, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions and Cowbell's sesame seed bun, served with spiced onion rings. This was a bit heavy as the first meal of the day, but boy was it worth it. The pattie was pink in the middle and was good ratio with the bun. Who hates when there's too much bun and not enough pattie, or vice versa? I sure do! The burger was smaller than I imagined but it was still very filling. A solid burger, but not a memorable one. The onion rings were golden crispy and made as a nice side.
Braised Lamb Toastie with Provolone and Rosemary $10
Danzo had this and I didn't try any, but he did enjoy it. It was part of their specials menu.
Sucuk Baked Eggs $18 + Crispy Bacon $2.5
Spicy Turkey beef sausage, braised tomato, 2 free range eggs, served with house labneh and flatbread. So very Middle-Eastern with its spices, yoghurt and flatbread. Mrm and Shan both added extra crispy bacon on top, because bacon! Runny egg yolks and spicy sauce was yum. I think we all would of preferred sourdough or similar instead of flatbread though to dip and soak all the sauces in.
The Original Fat Stacked Ricotta Hotcakes $18 (changed)
Two fat ricotta hotcakes, swapped bacon ice-cream for coconut ice-cream, espresso caramel sauce, with added crispy bacon! This was probably my favourite dish, though L10 said it got sickening by the end and gave us the last bites (which I happily ate after my burger hehe). The combination of bacon, coconut ice-cream, hotcakes and the sauce was to-die-for. Perfect combinations of sweet and savoury, and all levels of this-can't-be-good-for-my-diet. Absolutely ah-mazing and I can still taste it while writing about it. I wonder how it would of tasted like with the bacon ice-cream?
Oh, remember how Matt guessed and wrote three items we were going to order? Well, he got them all right lol - burger, baked eggs, and hotcakes!
Labels: food