Cheeses at Formaggi Ocello
Ultra long spaghetti at Formaggi Ocello
10 stops, 9 stomachs and the will to eat. That’s what sustains a gaggle of food bloggers one afternoon. After my Kingsford and Kensington tour Reem decided to take us all on a tour of her stomping ground, Surry Hills. I didn’t intend to blog it – I had a sore neck and was tired but a few stops in and my hand rested on my camera and then what do you know, the camera just came out and things just had to be blogged.
Stop 1: Thomas Dux
We met at the corner of Oxford and Crown Street and a camera toting excited bunch we were and in much bigger numbers than before. The first stop was Thomas Dux, a high end grocery chain owned by Woolworths which stocks all the stuff that we bloggers love to buy. Designer honeys not at your regular supermarket? No problem here. Droste Dutch Cocoa? Not a problem. And sampling is good here too with the counter staff calling us over to sample the platters. The stuffed peppers are particularly good. Alas I didn’t take photos here as I didn’t intend to blog it. But never fear, my state of petrification ended soon after.
Terry from Simply The Best Butchers
Stop 2: Simply The Best Butcher
Our next stop was Reem’s butcher Terry from Simply the Best Butchers. She tells us of how much she adores him and how he sharpens her knives for her and gives her great advice and is very reasonably priced but with high quality produce. He brings out a tray of freshly cooked sausages for us to try and our eyes light up. They’re deliciously meaty and true to flavour and we can guess what they are supposed to be just from the taste.
The lovely sausage sample pack from Simply The Best
The one that has us particularly excited is the idea of the Peking Duck sausage and being the lovely butcher that he is, he brings out sample trays for all of us to take home which include each of his award winning varieties: Lamb Merguez; Peking Duck; Spicy Italian; Irish Pork; Honey, Mint & Rosemary and Beef, Merlot and Cracked pepper. I can see why Reem loves him and I also buy a Free Range chicken for dinner (which is absolutely beautiful and tender and I vow to get all of my chicken from here from now on).
Formaggi Ocello
Stop 3: Formaggi Ocello
We walk a few doors down and go to Formaggi Ocello, a cheese shop with an abundance of all of that lovely creamy stuff. We had seen their stand at the Italian Festival so I was interested to see what their shop was like (and psst they stock some Zumbo tarts). They are very generous at samples without a keen pressure to sell which is nice and we try a few different cheeses there including an aged versus a new cheddar and some ash goat’s cheese. There’s even an adorable goat’s cheese that I spot towards the back of the fridge called La Petite Princesse as well as other Italian goodies like longer than long spaghetti.
Stop 4: Hudson’s Meats
Christopher’s Cake shop was going to be a visit but alas they were closed that day – no matter I’ve visited their other location before in Mascot. Our next stop ends up being Hudson’s Meats, a popular but expensive butcher that Reem takes us to but she tells us that she buys more often from Simply The Best due to the cost and service. It’s all very nice inside and it looks more like a cafe or homewares shop.
There is a display of cookbooks at the front and all sorts of lovely jars of items and reasonably priced vanilla beans although things are a bit hushed inside. “They don’t seem as friendly” someone says but then a voice booms “Hi how are you?”. There is a nice range of grass fed and Wagyu beef and they’re the same cuts as you would find at a restaurant so if you were looking to have a gorgeous restaurant quality steak, this is a good place to get it. We sample some chocolate and then go onto our next stop, Sparkle Cupcakery.
Stop 5: Sparkle Cupcakes
Sparkle has been around for some time and from all reports things are beautifuly merchandised. There were some comments amongst friends that said that the cupcakes were a bit on the dry side and some didn’t like that only the icing was flavoured but I tried one at the World Chef Showcase and it was lovely and moist inside and very pistachio-ey so I think things have improved and I was eager to give them a try.
We stare at the coloured dots (which are a doppelganger to the Sprinkles Cupcake chain in the U.S.) and as a bunch of girls, we make the only decision we can possibly make given the choices “We’ll take one of everything!” we say “and can we have some knives?” but before you guffaw at our gluttony, it was to share amongst us giving us 1/8 of each cucpake per person. The flavours we sampled were Morning Glory (a cinnamon cake with a very slight hint of apple dusted with cinnamon sugar); Lemon Squeeze (a delicious citrusy cupcake); Green tea and Bubbles (matcha cake filled with tapioca and lime frosting-sadly I couldn’t really discern any tapioca bubbles here); Pistachio and Cardamon (lovely and aromatic); Lavender and Honey (lavender cake with creamy honey frosting, which is pleasingly strong in flavour).
We also bought the Oriental Flower (a lychee and rose cake with sweet rose petal topping which I didn’t get to try); Espresso (with arabica beans, one that I felt was dry); Banana Toffee (banana cake filled with toffee and caramel frosting which was gorgeous); Milk Chocolate (belgian milk chocolate cake and frosting which again I felt was too dry especially after I inhaled some chocolate flakes); Pure Sparkle (vanilla cake made with what they say is the “world’s best vanilla bean and extract which wasn’t bad but wasn’t as exciting as others and probably my favourite apart from the Pistachio and Cardamon: the Coconut Ice which Trina and I discussed before eating. We both either love or hate coconut and so we approached this with light trepidation but it ended up being gorgeously moist and rich with coconut cream (not drying dessicated or shredded coconut). The owner Kathryn comes over and says hello mistaking us for some sort of tour group (which we are really).
Drinks $4.50 each
Our drinks are lovely cold pressed juices by Preshafruit who cold press their fruit and there are three flavours: Apple & Pear, Pink Lady Apple and Apple & Pomegranate. The pick is definitely the Apple & Pear which is strong in pear whilst the Apple and Pomegranate reminds me of Apple & Blackcurrant.
Bourke Street Bakery
Stop 6: Bourke Street Bakery
Sweet tooth sated our bodies are yearning for some savouries so we swing by Bourke Street Bakery and join their perennially winding queue outside. We make our purcahses – for me, a veal, olive & beef sausage roll; a goat’s cheese and mushroom quiche and a ginger brulee tart for Mr NQN later. We sit in the park opposite and try our goodies. My sausage roll is rather nice and unusual with the olive inside it although I still prefer the lamb sausage roll and I don’t have any sauce with mine (and I can’t have a pie without sauce). The tart isn’t as exciting as I woud have hoped and the goat’s cheese isn’t very strong but the ginger brulee tart is gorgeous with a crunchy top and dark baked crust.
Pomegranate Seed Powder $2.95
Stop 7 & 8: The Book Kitchen & New Shalimar Movies & Spices
There’s a little stop at The Book Kitchen where we go in to check out their book selection. I’ve dined here before so I didn’t take any photos. We make a little stop at an Indian grocery store on Crown Street and take a peek at everything in there. The spices smell gorgeous and group purchase lovely aromatics at a fraction of the price from other ships and Trina buys a Pomegranate seed powder which we are both curious about as we were hoping that it would be something like Pom Wonderful but in powder form. She later tells me that in the packet it resembled a chilli powder but it tasted like a plum or prune juice with a hint of stale oil perhaps from the oil from the crushed seeds and it was also full of seed grit.
Lamb Pide $13
Sucuklu Pide $13
Stop 9: Erciyes
Despite distended tummies, we walk into Erciyes Turkish restaurant and take a seat. We decide to split two pides as our stomachs doth protest if we order more. “Could we have each cut into 8 pieces?” and the waitress eyes us a little warily “Okaaay so you just want two?” she asks doubtfully. We choose the lamb with tomato, onion, parsley, capsicum and spices and the Sucuklu which is the table’s favourite after of course the essential squeeze of lemon on top. The Sucuklu is a gorgeously spicy Turkish sausage with egg, cheese and spices. My apple tea has a hair in it which I send back. Both are $13 each and it is after eating my piece that my white flag of surrender goes up.
Stop 10: Maya Indian Sweets
We make one last stop at Maya Indian Sweets but as I’ve tried pretty much every sweet from here and I know my body will stage a coup on me I give it a miss. I do try a small pinch off the end of Leona’s hundreds and thousands Burfi which is soft and crumbly which puts my stomach’s already precarious footing over the ledge. Although I can say that it’s a rather pleasant way to go.
Thanks to Reem for the tour of her suburb! The other happy stomachs that came along were: Betty, Karen, Leona, Lis, Lisa, Steph and Trina.
Stop 1 – Thomas Dux Grocer
Shop 1, 285A Crown St, Surry Hills NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 8354 0388
Stop 2 – Simply The Best Butcher
415 Bourke St, Surry Hills NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 8021 0159
Stop 3 – Formaggi Ocello
425 Bourke Street, Surry Hills
Tel: +61 (02) 9357 7878
Stop 4 – Hudson Meats
410 Crown Street, Surry Hills NSW
Tel +61 (02) 9332 4454
Stop 5 – Sparkle Cupcakery
132 Foveaux St, Surry Hills NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9361 0690
Stop 6 – Bourke Street Bakery
633 Bourke St, Surry Hills NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9699 1011
Stop 7 The Book Kitchen
255 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills
Tel: +61 (02) 9310 1003
Stop 8 – New Shalimar Movies and Spices
642 Crown St, Surry Hills
Tel: 0410 457 749
Stop 9 – Erciyes Turkish Restaurant
409 Cleveland St, Surry Hills NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9319 1309
Stop 10 – Maya Sweets
468-472 Cleveland St, Surry Hills
Tel: +61 (02) 9699 8663
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48 Comments | Add your own
That looks like a perfect day!
We love the Morning Glory cupcake at Sparkles. We pretend it’s a homage to our business – Morning Copy and we love apple pie ice cream too.
Haha you couldn’t resist taking photos! I would be the same! I’m so bummed that I had to miss out
Looks like an awesome day out, love the pic of the BSB goodies on the grass 
Do you organise these types of tours all the time? Looks lovely. I would like to send my mum on one!
Lots of lovely little foodie pit-stops- looks like a great day
I loved working in Surry Hills – don’t think it had all of these places 5 years ago though! Looks fab – I want to pack up and go now. Thomas Dux looks especially fun.
oooh- the lavender and honey cupcakes look delish esp with that well crafted frosting!
Whenever I see pictures of various cheeses….no words are required. Just look at my face.
You guys looked like you had a ball.
What a fun tour! I’d like to do go on this! Anything to do with food suits me just fine…
m loving the pretty parkling cupcakes
great place!
cheers!!
I live on Crown street and i love Surry Hills! Next time you can try Crown Street Grocer, they have really good cheese and prosciutto and they’re lovely.
If i move i don’t know how i will survive without the pork&fennel sausage roll from the Bourke street bakery!
Yay Terry the butcher was the best. The bourke st bakery brulee tarts make me weak at the knees, they are SO GOOD! Excellent wrap-up Lorraine
this all looks delish!
i have to say i’ve had a really dreadful experience at erciyes so i doubt i’d ever be heading back.
and agreed – can’t go past the the lamb and harissa sausage roll from bourke st bakery.
What a lovely selection! I think our next excursion will be to Surry Hills.
Wow, look at all of that fun food, I would have been like a kid in a candy store. I like that idea of that sausage sample pack. Thanks for the post and all the great pictures.
This looks like the best way I can imagine to spend a day! And what better way to familiarize yourself with an area than to get to know it’s food?! Everything looks fabulous…the cheese, the sparkle cupcakes, the pide…and that peking duck sausage sounds incredible!
NQN:
You have me thinking if it has been the right decision to leave the East and go North! Ocello is my cheese temple i visit them almost every week! They also do markets during the week.
I work right in Surry Hills – I love it, such an awesome little food strip. I really like to go to Hudson meats if i’m looking for an impressive piece of meat for a sunday roast with friends.
I really want a pide, right now, for breakfast! I haven’t heard of the Sucuklu one before but it looks very good.
Poor tummy, the things we put the through
Sounds like a pretty perfect foodie day!
I’ve never understood the cupcakes thing. They’re popular in the US right now too, but to me they always taste dry and boring. Give me a good cheesecake or a slice of carrot cake any day of the week
I went to college in Waterloo, so Surry Hills was a student’s favourite suburb…unfortunately, being a Sydney student (living with parents, and not living in student accomodation), I didn’t get to experience a lot of what Surry Hills has to offer. Bourke St Bakery is one place I really wanna go to! And Sparkle Cupcakes…and, well, I’d probably go to all the places except Erciyes – not a fan of pides (my stomach doesn’t agree with them).
Thanks for the rundown on Surry Hills, Lorraine
it was a great tour i loved it thank you Reem hehe
i missed out of pide and maya sweets aw i would of loved both more than the rest we went too booo
might make a visit to billu’s in parra soon then
Oh what an absolutely wonderful tour! The only thing missing was me! lol
Fondly, Carrie
lots of good choices there. well done. so much to see and eat in surry hills these days. the place where many small bars are opening too.
That sounds like a great way to spend a day on the weekend.
I have never been to Stop 8, 9 and 10. The pide looks good. And I love the Thomas Dux cuz they always have some yummy samples
Next time your in town head down to Single Origin Roasters, and we will sort you out with some freshly roasted coffee and and a house made organic pork Sausage roll straight from the oven..see ya next time…
Did I actually see the words “Peking duck sausage” up there?!? Goodness me, that sounds fab!
And I love the idea of a lavender and honey cupcake!
I would happily live in that 3 block radius…
You have to take Matt up on that offer… I’ve just moved from Surry Hills to London and the thing that I am missing the most at the moment is Single Origin ristretto! (and their sausage rolls are pretty damn good too!)
Hahaha, spoken and acted like a true food blogger…this is just one of the things I love so much about you!
Oh, wow…what a great and fun day!!!
Terry sounds like an excellent butcher – hard to find these days!!
I always feel full after reading one of these food tours! What a wonderful place Sydney is. I noticed that Ocello has Berthaut’s Epoisse – highly recommended!
Ooohh Surry Hills Meet My Suburb! It just keeps getting better and better hey?
I’m thinking for my suburb… Flemington restaurants and shops and waddyaknow… PADDY’S MARKETS! It’s a massive effort though… ahh we’ll see
You’re suburb looks nice! I’ll move in there if I’ll move to Australien.
Feel full now… just looking at your great pics!
pack o’ sausage? yes please. banana cake filled with toffee and caramel frosting? i want it, i need it, i must have it.
hahaha you managed to do some decent coverage on the area – good work!
Sounds like a fun adventure. I loved shopping in Sydney! I would visit again just to have the chocolate strawberries at David Hall!
I’ve tried the Preshafruit juices before and they are totally delish although you can get them for a dollar or two less at Woolworths supermarkets.
Also, for anyone that likes Bourke St Bakery and lives Westward there’s a great one in Russell St Sydenham
Great account of the day Lorraine. Really enjoyed Terry’s sausages (so generous!) and the dips I got from Erciyes were excellent as usual (particularly the parsley one). Nom nom nom! But yes, I won’t be trying that pomegranate seed juice again. Blegh.
I’m so glad you ended up posting about Surry Hills tour!
He’s a lucky man!
I’ve been to a couple of these places so I’m happy to know I’m not the only one who thinks Sparkle Cupcakes is dry and disappointing.
I love how you always buy Mr NQN something…it’s really sweet that you think of him even when you are not with him
Oooh went to Sparkle cupcakery last time we were in Sydney (we stayed at Medina on Crown) so it was tres close! Yummy cupcakes, though I reckon my sisters are better
. Love Surry Hills! That is where I would live if we lived in Sydney (I wish!).
Hahaha! I KNEW you’d be involved in the group of people we saw outside Bourke St Bakery on Sunday! Thanks to you singing the praises of their sausage rolls, we had our 2nd trip there last week, and wandered around the block several times waiting for the pork & fennel beauties to be ready. Worth the wait. And we’re now addicted to the Mr Potato Head bread (hey, I’m Irish, potatoes are my thing!).
You can actually see the back of my husband (in the checked shirt & cap) in your photo!
Next time, I’ll be braver and say hi!
Wooohaaaaa!
I often work in Surry hills, but I realised how much stuff I’ve been missing out! Now that I’m free from all these log hours and late nights, I shall go discover surry hills!
if u have time, few other places to try in Surry Hills
Maltese Café, 310 Crown St. After school, I used to buy the pastizzi there, only 5cents!
the price has gone up alot since then, but is still nice.
CafeIsh in Albion, nice place to hang out for lunch, esp their coffee. btw, they shut at 2pm.
love ur blog.
cheers,
Hi Blond Duck-It was !
Hi Christie-Haha of course!
Hi Betty-I so didn’t mean to but then I did
Yes what a shame you couldn’t make it! 
Hi Mardi-We do do them from time to time! Why don’t you email me
hi sandra-Thanks so much!
Hi Cakelaw-There’s so much that’s new all the time there!
Hi Adrian-Yes that frosting is very well crafted indeed! Haha we did!
Hi Helen-Haha yes if it involves food, I’m there!
Hi nora-It was very chic in there!
Hi Julia-Ahh cool thanks for the tip!
Yes that’s a great sausage roll!
Hi Steph-He was so lovely and the chicken I got from him was par excellence!
Thankyou! 
Hi A Girl Called E-Oh no, that’s no good!
Yes it’s always a toss up what to get there 
Hi Sisko-Wonderful! I hope you have lots of fun!
Hi Lea Ann-Haha that’s how it felt
You’re welcome! 
Hi Faith-Yes you just can’t beat it can you?
Yes oh yes that sausage was delicious! 
Hi Bubble-Ahh well you can always go back and visit and shop!
Hi Sarah-Yes they looked like they had some great meats there and some restaurant quality cuts
Hi Conor-Oh that one was so good I’m drooling thinking about it!
Hi 5 Star Foodie-It was!
Hi BritinBangkok-Oh really? I find them gorgeous but nothing beats a homemade one
Hi Liv-Yes and it changes so much too! Oh no, well there are plenty of other lovely places to go to. You’re welcome!
Hi Betty-Reem was an awesome tour guide!
Such a shame you had to leave!
Hi Carrie- Haha true!
Hi Simon-Yes it’s a great place to shop and eat!
Hi Anita-It definitely was!
Hi Ja-Oh you should!
Yes they’re so generous aren’t they!
Hi matt-Ahh sure, sounds like a very nice invitation!
Hi Midge-Yup! I know, I think we all got very excited!
Hi food.4.two-Me too!
Hi andrea-I will for sure!
Hi Sophia-Aww shucks thankyou! It was so much fun
Hi Gab*-Yes he’s old school and I love that!
Hi Moya-Hehe yes I felt very full after doing it too!
Hi Trisha-Haha you should do it!
HI Viktoria-I wish it were my suburb!
Hi Tina-Thankyou so much!
Hi grace-I know! How good was that? You need to come to Sydney!
Hi Lex-We tried!
Hi Barbara-OH yes I love those too! I always pick some up when I go there
Hi Mel-You’re right, I saw them today for $3 at the supermarket!
Oh cool thanks for the tip!
Hi Forager-Thanks! It was so much fun wasn’t it! I should have bought a dip but I was just so full by that stage
Thanks for letting us know and being the guinea pig! 
Hi Brenda-I think they’re improving although nothing really beats home made and I prefer the flavour to be throughout the whole cake. Thankyou! I love to feed him
Hi Madelin-Yes homemade are always so special aren’t they! Good choice!
Hi Diane-Haha how funny!
I can see him! And I must try the Mr Potato Head bread! 
Definitely do say hi! 
Hi Yas-Yes now you are freeeee!
Hi Jason-Oh yes I remember the Maltese cafe, I think we bought some pastizzis from there for my 21st birthday! Thanks so much!
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