Bitter Sweet, Port Macquarie

I have posted many times about Bitter Sweet (most of the posts can be found here). The cafe/patisserie is the go-to in Port Macquarie for a sugar fix, or luscious breakfast. And, since moving to Sydney, nothing has changed.
Nathan and I visited Bitter Sweet with his family back in February. Like always, it's hard to find a table, the cafe is bustling with patrons of all ages; young and old alike opt for the sweet, sweet cakes. Not a soul seems to find it odd that it's nine in the morning.

I start with a mixed berry smoothie ($5.50) as I'm having one of my anti-coffee days. My drink shortly arrives, and my am I pleased with the choice: the smoothie is full of flavour and silky smooth.

Yes, Bitter Sweet has definitely not changed. The staff are as pleasing and joyous as ever. But while the cafe retains all its good assets--namely the friendly vibe, and that delectable array of cakes--verging on the negative side, the menu is same-old, too. Sure, this isn't necessarily bad, but I've visited the cafe enough times to last a life time for your average-day cafe goer, and I have tried EVERYTHING. My visit suddenly decreases in excitement.

Nonetheless, we order and end up happy. Nathan's beautiful mother, Yvonne, goes light with the bircher bowl with vanilla stewed rhubarb, prunes and natural Hastings yoghurt. She is overjoyed. The muesli is crisp, bursting with different textures and tastes and the blueberries and strawberries are an unexpected, but all the more welcome, addition. For $11, the meal is a steal.

For the rest of our party of four, it's an Eggs Benny day, two with bacon, the other with premium leg ham ($16). Our Bennies look stunning on arrival, garnished with tomato and a sprig of herbs. The hollandaise is fresh and creamy. The eggs epitomise poached, with the yolk dousing the crisp toast and flavoursome ham upon being sliced. Bitter Sweet does one of the best Bennies I've ever had.

Consistent, friendly and scrumptious. Perhaps the largest downfall to my visit is that I didn't leave with a patisserie good. But nevertheless, our breakfast outing was divine. And will we go back--do you even need to ask? 

Bitter Sweet, 48 Watonga Street, Port Macquarie

Bitter Sweet, Port Macquarie

Although Bitter Sweet is a cult favourite in Port Macquarie, as well as one of my go-tos for a sugarcoma, I think a lot of the praise it receives is superficial. Sometimes, when someone else is buying for you and a measly cake costs 8 dollars or more, you just want to tell them it's good. The same situation hits you when you're eating out at a place one your dining partner has chosen: we internalise that it would be rude to let them know that they just wasted our money. I think this situation happens a lot with Bitter Sweet.

The selection of patisserie goods on offer is awesome - I will give them that. But too often, they look a lot prettier than they taste. This is especially the case with their baked cheesecakes, which, despite being advertised of different flavours, are differentiated in taste only by the toppings: the cream, fruit, ganache, nuts et cetera.

This is why I was astonished when confronted with the baked macadamia and honey cheesecake ($8). The macadamia and honey flavours were very evident, and the cheesecake different to all others I had ordered from the patisserie. This creation was almost perfect: the chocolate ganache tucked away in the waffle cone had a beautiful velvety texture that contrasted the crunchy macadamias that surrounded it well. The only let down was the small waffle-like cone. Upon glancing I expected a crunch, but when I bit into it, it was soft and chewy, disappointing.

This visit was with my grandparents; Bitter Sweet is one of their favourite cafes in Port Macquarie and they visit frequently for a mid-morning coffee and toasted banana bread. They both ordered the gigantic white chocolate and almond cookie ($3). My Gran was unable to finish it, so wrapped it up tenderly in the accompanying pink serviette. My Gran is quite the cook and the treats at Bitter Sweet continue astound her, if that says anything. As do the friendly waitresses, who know most of my family by name and are some of the warmest, most genuine waitstaff in Port.

The iced coffee at Bitter Sweet is one of the best I have tasted. I find other drinks there - like lattes and cappuccinos - a bit bitter, but something happens when they make an iced coffee (maybe the sugar and ice cream balance the bitterness out). Whatever it is, their iced coffee is smooth and deliciously creamy.

Of course, Bitter Sweet doesn't only deal with coffee and patisserie goods: they have lovely summer menus for breakfast and lunch, with the items I have so far sampled being quite decent.

Just a warning though, the inside area can get a bit loud, with people walking through the middle of the cafe to place orders and grab their takeaway coffees, then there's the purring of the coffee machine to consider. I recommend you visit on a nice sunny day to laze about in the outdoor area. But even then, the view isn't the best. Sure, you're overlooking the pristine Lighthouse Beach, but you're also situated in the middle of a car park. Bitter Sweet does their best to hide this fact with gorgeous little flowers dotting the outdoor area and tables.

Bitter Sweet Cafe, 48 Watonga St, Port Macquarie

Pasticceria Papa, Haberfield

If you haven't gone to Haberfield's renowned Pasticceria Papa, you haven't lived. As simple as that.

This patisserie is ah-maze-ing. There's so much to choose from, everything is just so cheap and the food (or the sweets) are just divine. I'm a bit behind on posts, and thus have forgotten the pricing of the above items but the gelato was deceptively large and came in at four dollars something, the jam donuts and cannoli at around the $2.50 mark and the gelato thickshake was five something dollars.

Everything was more than worth the price.

I had the vanilla cannoli and hazelnut gelato thickshake. If you haven't had one, I highly recommend said drink. The nutty flavours, the creaminess - oh oh oh. I had walked into the patisserie in search only of a delicious drink. I was trying to be "healthy" but, needless to say, I condemned myself to an impossible task given my location. This was the first time I had tried cannoli, it was so tasty, the vanilla custard velvety and delicious and contrasting excellently with the crisp pastry tube.

I also had some of my friend's strawberry gelato. He couldn't finish it. It had a very similar texture to sorbet and real fruit was easily identifiable in the flavour. He also had a jam donut (I brought one home for Nathan). Both were smitten.

My only wish: that I had heard of Pasticceria Papa's reputation for having a stunning baked ricotta cheesecake before I ventured out there. Next time!

Pasticceria Papa, 145 Ramsay St, Haberfield

Pasticceria Papa, Haberfield

 Coffee panacotta

Chocolate eclair

Last Sunday morning, before the sickness that has plagued me all week set in, I visited Pasticceria Papa for morning tea with a friend. I had all intentions of eating healthy but upon being confronted with a vast display of fresh cakes and pastries, I was never going to be able to refrain my sweet tooth. 

The Italian patisserie offers everything you can think of; cannoli, cornettos, custard donuts, ricotta tarts and vanilla slice being some of the offerings. And everything was so cheap! My gorgeous panacotta, which was so finely decorated and had a lovely coffee crumb amid the velvety custard, cost a mere $6. My friend's eclair was $2.50!

Apart from the display cabinet, the decor itself is a bit dull, as is with most cafes and patisseries of its size. I guess such places worry not so much about decoration as having enough seats for the swarms of people that visit each day.

The service was prompt but not very friendly. Again, the waitstaff were kept on their feet by the hungry Sunday morning crowds. 

Anyway, if you love Italian desserts this is definitely the place to go. The coffee is also decent and they serve gelato, if that's what tickles your fancy.

Pasticceria Papa, 145 Ramsay St, Haberfield

Adriano Zumbo Patissier, Balmain

Butter up Mrs Palmer: Burnt butter castriano and caramelised palm sugar creme legere, palm sugar almond crunch with caramelised puff pastry ($9)

Adriano Zumbo... patisserie genius and Balmaniac largely brought to the public's attention via MasterChef. The now renowned chef has been in the media a lot this week, with a break in and theft in his Balmain Patisserie and his culinary creation going to test Alana and Kate on MasterChef later tonight.  It was such attention given to Adriano- not specifically these events but the general media frenzy surrounding the new figurehead for all things sweet- that led me to his Balmain patisserie last week. I was not alone in seeing what this phenomenon was all about- the patisserie was packed and you literally had to push past people.

To no surprise however, the queue and the crowds are definitely worth the wait. I ordered "butter up mrs palmer" which was not only quite cheap in comparison to similar sweet treats from Guylian and Lindt cafe but filled with exciting and unique flavours that were just a joy to try. And not only did my little baby taste tantalising, its design was creative and daring as well (but not so much in comparison to the other treats in the display cabinet). You may not have the same opinion from the photo, perhaps because I accidentally dropped the cardboard box that packaged the exquisite pastry.

Adriano Zumbo Patissier, 296 Darling St Balmain

Bitter Sweet, Port Macquarie

Again at Bitter Sweet Cafe but this time for lunch...

 I had the salt and pepper squid salad with avocado, roma tomatos, crispy noodles and a raspberry vinaigrette while mum had the lamb burger with feta, tzatziki and sweet potato crisps.

We ate this meal over a week ago now on a dreary, wet Saturday. Mum had her doubts about going to Bitter Sweet for lunch given that visits to the cafe are most suited to a warm, sunny day where one can relax outdoors among the gorgeous flower decorations. Sitting indoors usually means being surrounded by customers offering take-away coffee and having your ears drilled with the noise of the coffee machine and other customers getting carried away in conversation. Needless to say, any slight negatives are cancelled out by the tasty cafe food or simply amazing patisserie delights.

Salt and pepper squid as long been one of my favourite lunch time meals and this, by no means, changed my preference. The squid was cooked perfectly and showed no signs of rubber; the accompanying salad was fresh and made exciting by the raspberry vinaigrette and, like always, the presentation was to die for and left hardly any room for photographs. Mum said of the lamb burger that it was packed with flavour and an excellent way to momentarily forget the drab weather outside. She offered me some of her sweet potato crisps which were unarguably delicious.

Bitter Sweet Cafe, 48 Watonga Street Port Macquarie

Bitter Sweet, Port Macquarie

Bitter Sweet Cafe's sticky date pudding and latte

I had a delightfully sweet experience at Bitter Sweet Cafe earlier this week. I also ate there yesterday and will be again tomorrow morning so there is more praise to come.

My friend and I went out on Wednesday night, got home at an unearthly hour and decided in the morning that nothing could wake us up better than a scrumptious dessert at this incredibly busy (for good reason) patisserie. 

We both chose the deliciously rich and moist sticky date pudding ($7.50), served with ice-cream, caramelised dates and a smooth and tantalising caramel sauce.

Eating dessert for breakfast is completely normal at Bitter Sweet. With a display cabinet full of treats to suit anyone and everyone, it is really hard NOT to develop an overpowering sweet-tooth.

On a less positive note, I do not fancy Belaroma coffee. While the coffee always meets standards for that drink- may it be a cappuccino, latte, ristretto, affogato etc- it is bitter and fails to compete with other blends available at Port Macquarie restaurants and cafes (my favourites are Campos, Peak and Merlo).

Bitter Sweet Cafe, 48 Watonga Street Port Macquarie