The Grounds of Alexandria: breakfast and lunch foods.

Serving one of the best coffee I have ever tasted in Sydney, The Grounds cafe was surrounded by a beautiful picturesque garden, complete with a beautiful selections of bread and pastries, fresh produce, lemonade and flower market during the weekend... No wonder it is buzzing all weekend during breakfast and lunch time, and it was a tiny bit more quiet during weekdays. So do expect long queue to get a table, or even a take away coffee. 

Yes, they're that good.

Okay, this post will mostly be pictures that I had taken in The Grounds of Alexandria. Since I thought that this place is very pretty and picturesque, I think I'll let the picture do the talking. Unless for the food... it was very dark indoor where I was sitting and so were the pictures that I took :(

But here you go, a visual tour to the beautiful The Grounds...

The famous rainbow rose of The Groudns Florist by Silva! So in love <3 

Oh, the queue...

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BREAKFAST MENU:

Cappuccino (AUD 4.00)

No question, it was a superb cup of coffee. It was my third visit to The Grounds, and the coffee quality was always consistent.

Breakfast Burger - fried egg, bacon, cheese, avocado, lettuce, tomato relish, spicy mayo on The Grounds brioche bun served with polenta chips on the side (AUD 16)

Best breakfast burger I've had I think. The next breakfast burger that I can think of was the one in Three Williams, it was good there, but this one was just perfect for brunch. The size was quite massive and the polenta chips will really give your carbohydrate fix. I like the spicy mayo complementing the classic bacon and egg, it's somehow like a dressing to the lettuce. And I think they bake their own brioche bun here, it was nicely toasted and fluffy at the same time.

The Grounds Soldier - quinoa and seed crusted free range eggs with polenta dipping soldiers (AUD 17)

How cute was the presentation? Okay, maybe it doesn't look good in the picture because of my poor photography skill when it's dark. But the eggs were cutely sitting in the egg carton. The egg was perfectly cooked with runny yolks and crispy crust. The polenta as the sides was the same as the one with the Breakfast Burger. Although I find nothing too special about this in terms of taste. This is quite new in The Grounds, by the way.

Eggs on Toast - poached egg with The Grounds signature sourdough (AUD 12)

This was a regular eggs with sourdough, nothing new. But the real standout is the sourdough itself. I'm a huge fan of sourdough and I tried quite a lot of sourdough in Sydney and this was quite good. Although it wasn't better than Sonoma's or Brasserie Bread's, but it was good. Because it was too plain for me, I order myself a side dish of:

sides: Spicy Lamb Merguez Sausage - sauteed with kipfler potatoes and herbs from the garden (AUD 4.50)

Just so you know, I don't really like lamb, I think lamb has a smell that's too strong and most of the time I don't like it. But this lamb sausage is an exception. It was exceptionally good, the herbs helped to lessen the lamb smell and those kipfler potatoes are so good. Oh, and I love the quantity, it was a lot for a side dish.

sides: Kale and Feta Croquettes - preserved lemon and chilli mayo (AUD 3.50)

So since I didn't know that the size of lamb sausage side was massive, I thought that I had to order another side and so I got myself two sides and this was the second. Although I felt very full (fat) after finishing all of these, I didn't regret even a bit. It was a damn good croquette. And that mayo was awesome.

Strawberry Custard (?) Tart (AUD 7)

Nothing special in particular about this tart, it was okay, not too sweet. I think I was too full from all the food to enjoy this tart.

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LUNCH MENU:

Iced Coffee (AUD 8.00)

Blue-Eye Trevalla - warm salad of potato, zucchini flower, speck pieces, capers and gribiche sauce (AUD 19) 

The fish itself was perfectly cooked, not dry at all and it was seasoned perfectly. The salad was fresh, but I didn't really enjoy the combination. But my mom did. 

Beef Ragout Stracci - slow cooked beef ragout, papardelle, parmesan, parsley (AUD 19)

The star of this dish for me is the flavour of the ragout itself that gives this pasta its sauce. I also love the way that the fresh pasta was cut thicker than how pappardelle is usually cut. It was cooked perfectly al dente, just the way I like it. Despite the picture, the portion was actually big and it was a good value for 19 bucks.

The 'Ground' Burger - ground beef brisket, cheese, lettuce, dill cornichon mayo served on a toasted brioche bun with beer battered fries (AUD 19)

Some of my friends said that The Grounds has one of the best burger in town. And they are right. Of all the burgers I've tasted in Sydney, this is definitely one of the tastiest so far. It was very simple, not overdone by various filling. Brioche bun toasted perfectly. Cheese, mayo and beef patty combines really well in my mouth. And that crispy fries with mayo dip was good, but even if the burger stands by itself without the fries, it would still be good.

Beef Short Ribs - parsnip puree, wild mushrooms, green peas, shaved brussel sprouts and truffle oil (AUD 19)

We shared all our mains, but I ordered The Grounds Burger. One thing that makes me regret ordering that burger was the presence of this dish. Seriously it was so good. One more time, so good. Every element in this dish complements each other well, and every little thing was cooked to perfection, nicely seasoned too.

The beef short ribs falls off the bone, nice amount of meat too. I never thought I'd like parsnip purée, but it was a creamy deliciousness. The wild mushroom was so good with a strong truffle oil aroma. And this wasmy first brussels sprout experience, and I love it.

I don't know why I always blog about restaurant reviews late at night. Now I can't stop thinking about that beef short ribs...

Okay, I'm off to the fridge now.

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Food: 8/10

Ambience: 9/10

Price: $$