Buzzzbar Cafe, Newtown

 Vegan salad: hummus, chick peas, potatoes, tomatoes, mushroom, cucumber, capsicum and avocado ($15)

 Black and white mousse cake ($8.50)

Baked cheesecake ($8.50)

A couple of things to begin: 1) I have been sitting at my desk for 2 hours now; trying to chip away at my 500 university assignments and have managed to write one sentence. 2) I really need a new camera and apologise for the poor quality of these photos. I currently take all of my photographs using my phone (HTC Incredible S), which doesn't seem to be too fond of dimly lit rooms.

Last Saturday night, when the daylight was dwindling, a friend and I decided we wanted to go out for dinner. I have a list of places I have been dying to visit so did a ring-around to make a reservation. Of course they all had no tables available for the evening. So after hours of looking, I finally decided on Buzzzbar Cafe in Newtown. I had never heard much about it (be it either good or bad) but decided for the purposes of bringing to you all kinds of dining experiences that we may as well give it a go.

We arrived at the cafe/bar around 6.30pm and it was empty. This is never a great first impression. The waitstaff were friendly and showed us to a table and promptly gave us some water and menus. 

Although not a vegan, I ordered the featured salad. In its written form, the meal closely resembled a chick pea and lentil salad from Taste of Europe in Port Macquarie that I had always resorted to when I felt like healthy takeaway. My friend ordered Penne Bolognese ($16.50). We were going to order garlic bread as a starter had the waiter not informed us that all meals come with a side of garlic bread. He did however, continue to try and sell us another serve on the side. On the whole, the waitstaff seemed a bit pushy when it came to upselling (he later tried to sell us drinks, then coffee, then gelato). This is of course a waiter's job but, having worked in hospitality myself, you can usually tell when someone will or will not be open to ordering items at your suggestion.

Our meals came out rather quickly. My friend did receive spaghetti rather than penne but the staff quickly fixed this for him and were sincerely apologetic. He said the pasta was delicious and filling. My meals was massive and quite tasty, especially the marinated mushrooms. Nonetheless, it wasn't exactly anything special. The complimentary garlic bread was also a very nice touch and did not taste store-bought being made on crisp turkish bread, which was a refreshing change.

If anything, I would go to Buzzzbar for their desserts! They offer a page long menu of cakes, gelato and other pastries including flourless chocolate cake, chocolate truffle torte, a blueberry flan and the baked cheesecake and black and white mousse cake that we ordered (among other things). We both received very generous servings that were well priced at $8.50. The cheesecake was just like a cheesecake should be- rich, sweet and yet not too creamy (I have had some bad cheesecakes in my time). The different layers of mousse in my friend's cake were divine, and again, very rich. We couldn't decide which dessert we preferred, with each having very distinctive flavours. By the time we left, there were quite of lot of people who seemed to have this same idea- some scrumptious after dinner desserts.

In terms of decor, the place is not too fancy. It's very laid back with couches and an outdoor courtyard nestled in some stunning greenery.

Buzzzbar Cafe, 349 King St, Newtown