Rustic Pearl, Surry Hills

Talk about procrastination! I have 10 pages of report waiting for me to make and I'm not even halfway done, but I hear the calling from my blog, lol.

So today I'm reviewing a cafe I visited last Sunday after church. We were planning on going to Bill's at Surry Hills, but it was so full and we were so hungry that we decided to go to Rustic Pearl instead. It was a good decision as everything was satisfying.

What I love from Rustic Pearl is how it's not a common kind of brunch places that offers classic menu. Here, they give a mediterranean twist to classics like Eggs benedict and baked eggs. Even cuter, they serve all their food picnic-style. Everything was served nicely on a wooden serving board.

Although they have very limited seating indoor and out,  the very attentive and very friendly staff managed to get the six of us a table in less than 5 minutes, despite the fact that it was quite packed as it was lunch time... So thumbs up for service! The staffs kept trying to have small conversations with all of us in between serving, making the whole dining experience even better. And although we sat outdoor, they always go back and forth indoor and out to make sure no customer is ignored.

Rustic pearl is located in Crown Street, very close to Mad Spuds Cafe, Four Ate Five and Gelato Messina, to name a few well-known places in Crown Street. We were sitting outdoor and so we get to see people passing by Crown Street happily carrying their Gelato Messina. Oh! I even met Gerard Butler right in front of Rustic Pearl just a few weeks ago. No kidding! I was so excited, lol.

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Lemon water bottle served with lemon as the bottle stopper. And notice that long pieces of tile in the middle of the table. Reminds me of ceramic tiles in Caltagirone, Sicily, Italy.

Spinach, Fetta & Mozzarella Gozleme (AUD 16)

I can't stress enough how good this gozleme was. I haven't had that many gozleme in Sydney, but I can say that this is the best gozleme I have ever had. It was even better than the scrumptious gozleme in The Rocks market. The combination of the salty fetta and mild-fragrant mozzarella cheese works really well with the subtle flavor of spinach. I can have 3 plates of this gozleme myself. Maybe 5 even. Please get this if you go to Rustic Pearl.

Braised Soft Centered Organic Eggs - with spinach, homemade ricotta, nigella and sumac coated Japanese breadcrumbs, topped with Petuna ocean trout (AUD 23)

I didn't try the ocean trout cause it was raw and I didn't eat anything raw, unless I REALLY have to. Some people think I'm weird cause I don't eat sashimi and all that good stuff. I am just still terrified by my high school biology teacher's story of how a person's brain was filled with worms because they ate too much sashimi. It's not a secret that I HATE worms. No, more like terribly scared of it.

Braised Soft Centered Organic Eggs - with spinach, homemade ricotta, nigella and sumac coated Japanese breadcrumbs, with sucuk on the side (AUD 23)

I googled what sucuk was before I ordered it and it turns out to be a kind of sausage. Interested, I ordered it as a side to this baked egg dish. It turned out to be a very delicious kind of sausage. I didn't dare asking what type of meat was used, just hoping that it was beef. Cause Wikipedia said that horse meat is sometimes used to make sucuk. But, whatever meat was used, it was a good sausage. The baked egg itself was good with runny yolks and crunchy savoury breadcrumb. It has a LOT of wilted spinach at the bottom of the dish that I feel like popeye after finishing this dish. One little thing I didn't like about this dish is how the spinach was so watery and it makes everything soup-like. Despite that, I like everything that I finished every bit of it.

Char grilled Mediterranean Lamb Burger - with red onion jam, smoky eggplant puree, fresh tomato, cos lettuce & yoghurt dressing (AUD 18)

My friend ordered this dish and he said that it was really good. By the look and smell of it, I know that it was a good lamb patty and the fact that he finished the whole thing confirms that it was a good lamb burger. Although I didn't get a chance to try it because I'm not a fan of lamb, I recommend this dish cause I saw a lot of people ordering this burger, so it should be good.

Sucuk Bruschetta - with chargrilled sucuk, melted buffalo mozzarella, fresh tomato, avocado, basil, rocket, pomegranate molasses, soft boiled egg (AUD 17)

How beautiful is this dish served on the wooden serving board. It was a delicious bruschetta, the creamy avocado and strong flavor of the sucuk was made even better with the mozzarella. The best thing about this dish is the soft boiled egg. I know it's only an egg, but look at how beautifully cooked that was.

Nutella, banana, coconut and almond gozleme (AUD 14)

Indonesian who likes Roti Bakar (classic toast in Indonesia) will definitely like this. It was gozleme filled with soft sweet banana and nutella, topped with chocolate powder (I suspect that it was Milo), roasted almonds and dessicated coconut. I can't describe how good the combination is, but this is a perfect dish to finish our meal as a dessert. I'd happily have all 9 pieces by myself. Besides the spinach, fetta and mozzarella gozleme, please also get this dessert gozleme even if you're already too full from the savories.

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Would definitely be back to try their Eggs Benedict. They serve lobster meat with Eggs benedict (!!)

Also would like to try their gnocchi from the lunch menu. So till next time, my beloved gozlemes!

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Food: 8.5/10
Ambience: 7.5/10
Service: 9/10