Breaking bread at Bread and Circus Wholefoods Canteen was a week of calling for my inner being.
Its crate-to-table concept models the simple approach to eating which I find inviting, just like its many quirky scattered pineapple fruit and quaint dainty pink plates beacon me to “tea time.” It’s that light and fresh touch to the day that picks you up and motivates a wave of goodness to eat food that’s wholesome like nature intended – wedged between two slices of fresh sourdough bread with butter (mmmm).
Tower of Juices – cold pressed of course
Food
Rating: ★★★★
Definitely the must-have on the menu. Their deconstructed sandwich boxes are better suited for your adult sensibilities than the open sandwich variety as it centers on the best part of its anatomy – the filling.
Like all sandwiches, there’s nothing too complicated about its components as all boxes are assembled with a basic salad of tomato, avocado slices, cucumber, grilled brussels sprouts and sometimes a pilaf mixture, with the sauce and meat differing. However, it’s definitely the quality of each element that makes it delightful to graze on since everything was well seasoned and marinated.
Digging in separately or pilled on together on bread, it was a joy to eat both ways!
Re-imagining the canteen setting as a semi industrial warehouse style kitchen cafe at Bread and Circus would make every school kid jelly to know what their canteen could look like with a little thought.
There’s plenty to look at full of quirky cool knick-knacks and fruit display center pieces scattered everywhere with various seating styles from low coffee tables, communal tables and booth seating options making dining entertaining. It’s super chilled and relax, what’s not to like for a perfect late weekend lunch?
Service
Rating: ★★★★
I really enjoyed the staff at Bread and Circus. The 2pm crowd was a bit quiet that day so it felt nice to see everyone so nice and welcoming to see if you were comfortable at your table and causally checking in on you from time to time. It reminded me of the customer service you would expect from the States which there is a certain lack thereof in Sydney’s attitude towards customer service generally…
Pricing and Value for Money
Rating: ★★★★
For the quality and portion size of our meals, it’s certainly affordable, if not a lot more reasonably priced than some of the lunch menus out there for these types of eating spots.
With options for side, regular and sharing sizes for some of their dishes, the menu is generous for choosing different eating styles so you can stretch your cash if you want a try of everything and share.
This month’s Greatly Terrific Food Outing features one of Sydney’s most popularly rising bars: Soda Factory. I don’t know what it is but I’m loving the hidden bar culture that is popping up all over Sydney – it just makes your bar experience all that more exciting.
You probably haven’t even realised it yet, but you’ve most likely walked past Soda Factory on numerous occasions. Located on the outskirts of Surry Hills, Soda Factory’s entrance is a black door located in a wall – it’s not even a fancy door or a door that kindly invites you inside. Taking a glance inside you’ll find a small room with a retro hotdog stand and coke fridge.
Hotdog stand to the left and the retro Coke fridge to the right.
But where’s the bar you say??
It’s behind the Coke Fridge!! #MINDBLOWN #OHNOSHEDIDNT (ps. Sora, I have used this photo without your permission. Talyssa xox). Now onto the review!
Setting and Atmosphere
Soda Factory’s interior is reminiscent of an American 1950s diner. It’s low lit atmosphere, pin-up styled waiters and waitresses, and music featuring old classics really help to add to this vibe. Soda Factory’s decor is cool, funky and vintage with it’s biggest downside being that there are never enough seats for the amount of people they allow inside. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself sitting on the floor!
You’ll often find live indie bands playing at various times during the night, but the best part about the place is their theme nights! You’ve got:
Movie Mondays: Soda Factory plays a collection of old school and recent movies from 8pm every Monday. It also includes free popcorn! Dollar Dogs: Every Tuesday Soda Factory has $1 hotdogs. I’ve got to admit that I’ve only ever been to Soda Factory on a Tuesday because of this… Fat Bubba’s chicken Wednesday: Featuring $1 buffalo wings and $10 buckets o’ chicken Soda Social:Thursday brings live music and $12 cocktails all night
Rating: ★★★★.5
Service
Service is the biggest negative about Soda Factory. The place gets so busy that depending on the time you arrive, you can be waiting up to 45 minutes (or longer) for your food. If you plan on going on a weekday, I recommend heading there straight after work (5:30pm). At this time you’ll get your food on time and also find a place to sit. Anything after 6:30pm you’re pretty much screwed. Wait staff are extremely friendly and also quite easy on the eye ;)
Rating: ★★.5
Food
Soda Factory’s American diner theme is complimented by it’s menu. You’ll find gourmet hotdogs, burgers, chilli cheese fries, fried chicken, milkshakes and so on. I’d have to say though, Soda Factory is most popular for it’s hotdogs, which I think are pretty delicious and definitely worth the $1 price on a Tuesday…paying the usual price of $10 for them on any other day however, it’s probably not worth it.
Bobby’s Bogan DogBuffalo Bill. My number one favorite hotdog at Soda Factory!Tequila Sunrise. The bar is pretty standard and you can order most alcoholic drinks available at any bar. I love the extra detail they put with their red and white striped paper straws!
Rating: ★★★.5 – Not all hotdogs are as amazing as the Buffalo Bill.
Pricing and Value for Money
On an ordinary night, I would say pricing at Soda Factory is a bit overpriced – $10 for a hotdog is way too much, especially since they are smaller than usual sized hotdogs. Luckily enough, Soda Factory’s plentiful theme nights and specials, means you can indulge in the menu at a much more affordable price!
Here is part 2 of our Themed Cafes and Restaurants Post. For the restaurants please read Part One here.
Now onto the cafes! Korea is filled with cafes and all of them are so lovely!
I have never really been a cafe type person one, because I don’t really like coffee and two, the idea just never really appealed to me. That is, until I went to Korea. In Korea, it seems as if every cafe as its own little vibe going on which is so welcoming, so calming, so cozy and so comfy. I love the atmosphere that each cafe seems to be able to create. Cafes in Korea are the best places to chillax with friends and the best part of all – you only ever have to order one drink and you can stay there as long as you like – seriously – people do work on their laptops for hours! You never get that “can you leave now?” vibe from the waiters!
Unfortunately, I’m yet to find a cafe in Sydney that has quite the charm of a Korean cafe! But I intend to keep searching~
One of the first cafes we went to in Korea really captures this charm and vibe that all Korean cafes seem to have in common.
See this is what I mean, what would you call this vibe?? I just love it so much!! It’s so homely!Message walls/trees seem to also be a common feature of the Korean cafe culture. They are basically a collection of photos, drawings and hand written messages that people stick up on a wall or hang up on a tree in the cafe.You might be thinking…why is this photo here?? Well, another common trait in Korean cafes is the presence of notebooks whereby people use to draw, leave messages or play games with friends. Most amazingly, you wont see one penis, curse word or sexual image in these books!! Can you just imagine what kind of things would be in these books if a cafe were to include them in Australia…? Yeah…let’s not even go there..Some more cafe decor!
One of the many cafes Siree and I stumbled across was actually a couple cafe! We walked in not realising, and it was filled with couples! None the less it was a really amazing cafe. I loved it and it’s vibe! It totally lived out those Christmas scenes in Hollywood movies where its snowing and cold outside but the stars of the movie are cuddled up inside their immaculately Christmas decorated homes, by the fireplace…*sigh*…so lovely.
Yum!!
Some delicious food and drinks commonly sold in Korean cafes, which are not sold or easily found in Australia include:
Pumpkin Lattes – seriously delish!
Chestnut Lattes
Green tea lattes
A variety of teas – floral, fruity, herbal, traditional – sometimes there are mixes of all of these.
Waffles, sweet breads, parfaits
Tips:
If your looking for cool cafes, majority of them are located up in the second level of buildings, so when searching don’t just look for places on ground level, look up!
Hardcore Themed Cafes!
Unlike the general Korean cafe vibe, there are numerous cafes in Korea that go ALL out!! Here are some of our experiences:
Hello Kitty Cafe
Wow. Always in my life I have wanted to visit one of the notably famous Hello Kitty cafes. I have always been jealous of seeing my friends photos and finally, I was able to experience it myself.
If there was one word to describe the Hello Kitty Cafe it would definitely be PINK OVERLOAD. Okay two words! So much so that it kinda makes things hard to see, the lighting on your face is terribly unflattering (would not recommend for first dates! haha) and the photos didn’t turn out so nicely because of the light! But it does keep with the vibe so all’s good!
We forced brought along two of our male Korean friends to this restaurant and upon entry, they instantly commented on their masculinity decreasing …! However, being the good hosts they were, they swallowed their pride and joined in as enthusiastically as they possibly could haha. We appreciated the effort..
Wow, it looks so majestic! Haha any man would be scared of this buildingInterior decor! Pretty cool right. I mean they have Hello Kitty shaped chairs!!!The food is also Hello Kitty themed!Our drinks :) So cute!Our entire order!
If I’m to be really honest, the food here is only mediocre, but then again you don’t really visit the Hello Kitty cafe to eat spectacularly good food. You visit for the vibe and novelty, and judging by that aspect, visiting The Hello Kitty Cafe is worth it.
Directions:
Follow the pink line on the map
Original map from Visit Korea website.
From exit 9 out of Hongik Station, walk straight along yanghwa – ro and turn left into Hongik – ro. Turn right into the third street on your right. The Hello Kitty cafe is hidden up a little alley street, so keep an eye out on your left. The cafe is clearly visible when looking up into the alley.
Cats Living – Cat Cafe
Right next to the Hello Kitty Cafe, is Cats Living – a fully fledged cat cafe with real cats running around!! I’d only ever seen cat cafes whilst watching my favourite KPOP stars visiting them in Korean Variety shows, so naturally I always wanted to visit one myself – after all I love animals!!
But I have to admit, it was not exactly what I was expecting…I guess TV really does put a glossy shiny bubble of shazaam over everything, making it look extra spiffy that you tend to forget about the possible negatives of such a cafe. I mean the cafe looked nice and some of the cats were kinda cute too (SOME WERE SERIOUSLY EVIL)…but the smellwas terrible!! I was honestly not expecting that at all! I don’t know what part of my brain put together the fact that a place with 12+ cats all in one room would not smell, but I was so shocked that I actually remember saying to Siree “I don’t want to do this anymore..” I don’t know I guess the thought of eating and drinking in a place with such a smell was kinda off putting…
Nevertheless, it was a very unique experience and I’m glad I did go even though I felt highly uncomfortable…
And I guess after a while you do get over the smell…
The front!Cute signage! I love this aspect of Korean cafes and their use of signs and drawings. Also I may be mistaken here…but I think they spelt “open” wrong haha. Konglish! Love it!Some of the cute cats! I like the ears on the one of the left hahaThe cat on the left was so cutely tragic. Poor thing was so old and I felt sorry for its eyes!!The decor was also very fitting. I though this idea was really cute.More of the interior. I really liked that cage chair!Nawww. Siree and I couldn’t tell how many cats were bundled in here – I’d say 3? Maybe just two lol!
Directions
Follow the pink line on the map
Original map from Visit Korea
From exit 9 out of Hongik Station, walk straight along yanghwa – ro and turn left into Hongik – ro. Turn right into the third street on your right. Cats Living is located right next to the Hello Kitty Cafe so keep an eye out for that in an alley on your left ( Cats Living is not visible when you look into the alley way only the Hello Kitty Cafe is). As you walk towards the Hello Kitty cafe you will see Cats Living.
Price
The entry fee to the cafe is 8,000 won which includes a drink. The drinks provided here are the standard drinks you might find at Starbucks, so they aren’t that great but its better than nothing. Again though, you visit for the cats not for the food/drinks.
Tips
When you enter Cats Living there is a protocol foreigners may not be aware of.
Upon entry, you are required to take off your shoes. Your shoes can be locked away in a locker and you will be provided with slippers.
Sanitize your hands at the door.
Charlie Brown Cafe
I think out of all the themed cafes, Charlie Brown was my favourite. Maybe because I really love Charlie Brown – I think the drawing style of the characters is super cute! Also I remember watching the cartoon series when I was younger – it was so cute and hilarious!
The front of the cafe! It looks so cute! Charlie is soooo cute!!One thing I really liked about the Charlie Brown Cafe was that they actually served your drinks in actual Charlie Brown mugs, whereas the Hello Kitty Cafe and Cats Living served their drinks in paper/plastic cups.More of our drinks! Snoopy and Charlie Brown dusted chocolate.Cuteee!I liked all the figurines that decorated the cafe! Especially seeing the way Snoopy’s character has changed through the decades.Our buzzers were too cool!Cool lighting!
Directions
Follow the green line on the map
Original map from Visit Korea
From Hongik station, exit via exit 9 and continue walking straight along Yanghwa -ro. Turn left into Hongik – ro and walk straight until you reach Honik University’s front gates. Facing the gates, turn right down Wausan -ro and turn into the second street on your right (it should be after a small park). Continue walking straight down that street, down the length of the small park.
Get ready to get salivating because these next series of posts are all about the unique food experiences on our Korean Trip.
Whilst the entire trip was filled with amazingly grand and ultra delightful banquets of delicious foods…
You jelly????
….there are just wayyyyy too many photos and experiences for us to show all of them in one blog post. So I’m going to focus on those places that went that extra step further…to the level of themed restaurants and cafes!!
We would be lying if we said that everyday of our Korea trip we were all outgoing and did adventurous Korean things, completely immersing ourselves into the culture. Bu alas, some days we reserved entirely for eating. Yes eating. Whilst inside Siree lies a little piggy that enjoys her food….inside Talyssa the mammoth of all little piggy’s lays dormant, only to be epic-ly released during meal times. In fact I actually LOST weight in Korea because Siree couldn’t handle eating 3 meals a day + snacks. Level up Siree, level up!
Onto the restaurants~
Whilst we saw many themed restaurants in Korea, there are just so many places that look amazing to eat at, that we really only visited one themed restaurant (cafes are another story…).
We were guided by some Korean friends to a restaurant named Flying Chicken – a military themed restaurant in Hongdae. When Koreans do a theme, they go all out. The chairs, to the tables, to the utensils/drinking glasses, to the entire interior design was military themed. We even got served these crackers/biscuits, which our Korean friends kindly let us know that they were a typical snack they ate whilst doing their compulsory military service.
We went to Flying chicken at night – I don’t think it’s open during the day. It is located above the Bar “Vinyl” which is popular for its robot shop front and for serving alcoholic beverages in zip-lock bags!!The interior decor! It really does have a military vibe!Even the lighting has a military vibe!Here you can see the beer served in the military container. Our Korean friends told us they drank from these shaped containers whilst doing military service. You can also see the ‘military biscuits’ we were served.Spicy chicken!! Sooo yummy!Can I just say, that I am so thankful we came here with Korean friends. Amongst our side dishes was some rice wrapped in seaweed and a boiled egg – If we had come here by ourselves Siree and I would have had no idea what to do with it or that we were suppose to mix it in with our chicken! haha
Food Specialty:
Spicy chicken dishes.
Directions:
Follow the blue line on the map.
Original map from Visit Korea
The map makes the restaurant look really far away, but its not actually that far. From exit 9 of Hongik Station, continue walking straight on the road you are on (Yanghwa – ro) and turn left into Hongik – ro. Follow the road all the way up until you get to the front gates of Hongik University. Facing the front gates of Hongik University, turn right and walk down Wausan – ro. Flying Chicken is located next to a 7-11 and above the popular bar “Vinyl.”
Address:
411-1, Seokyo-dong, Mapo-gu.
Side Note – Korean Bars
This isn’t technically a themed restaurant, but I thought it was an interesting cultural aspect to include…especially since I thought these places were just another type of restaurant…turns out they are actually Korean style bars! Unlike bars in Sydney, which are more of a social event amongst randoms, a Korean bar is completely friendship group orientated, with the seating being confined to separated booth spaces. Why I decided to include this here, is because the bar we went to was decorated all cool – like!
So cool!One thing I love about Korean drinking culture is that when you buy a drink, boy do you get value for money!! Not only is the drink significantly huge (check out the beer above!) but you can actually taste the alcohol inside, for example, mixed alcoholic beverages like Vodka lemonades!! Alcohol in Korea is affordable and non stingy, which seems to be the opposite of Sydney – over priced with zero alcohol! The picture on the right shows the anju we ordered. When drinking at Korean bars, it is customary to order some food snacks with your drinks. You must always do this!!
Location:
This particular bar was located near where we were staying in Gaebong. Korean bars however are practically everywhere in Korea and easy to find.
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