Israeli food? Now that’s something of a missing cuisine here in Sydney insofar as restaurants or cafes go. Shenkin is a family business with five brothers, two of whom work here and one brother who owns the Max Brenner franchise (yes the Max Brenner franchise). As befits a family business their father bakes all of the cakes and pastries himself and the breads are home made too. One of the brothers tells us that their grandparents owns a bakery in Israel that is still operating now under the helm of their grandmother now that their grandfather has passed. And as for the name? Shenkin is named after the famous Shenkin Street in Tel Aviv and a photograph of it sits in prime position above the pastry display.

Making siphon coffee

A picture of Shenkin Street above the pastries

Given a renovation merely a week ago I was put onto it by the lovely @InnerWestMumma. The space is airy and welcoming and there is a window that opens up to the street so that patrons can order coffee from outside which also acts to open up the room and give it a breeziness on this hot, stifling Sydney weekend. There are also two other sections in the back and on in the side on the outside where diners can sit.

While we are waiting for our food I find myself lured to the pastry display (what’s new right?) and a friendly voice asks if I need any help. Service here is uniformly friendly and warm and there’s not a single snippy one in the bunch. The waitress talks me through all of the cakes but I think I have my heart set on the Napoleon. I am a vanilla slice freak from young and this one looks heavenly. “I’ll be back for you later!” I whisper to it under my breath giving it a sidelong glance.

Lemon and mint frappe $5.50

When we sat down one of the brothers (who later introduces himself as Din) asks us what we would like to order to drink. “Something refreshing? Do you want me to choose?” he asks and we nod. He ends up bringing the two drinks we had our eye on on the menu. The lemon and mint frappe is refreshingly sweet and tart with the freshness of mint and a scoop of lemon sorbet. Like an icey cold lemonade but better.

Pina Colada frappe $5.50

The alcohol free Pina Colada frappe is gorgeous with a perfect blend of coconut and little pieces of pineapple and is refreshingly tropical. Both drinks are perfect for this sweltering Sydney day.

Shakshuka $14.50 with labne $2.50

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The saying goes “When in Rome do as  the Romans do“. Mr NQN gives the phrase a special twist for the Nepalese restaurant we are in. “When in Nepal, eat goat” he sagely advises when we’re dithering over the menu at Sherpa Kitchen. It’s Good Friday and the dining choices are limited and we’re taking The AssMan (a vegetarian) out for dinner and we want to make sure that he has enough choice. We chose here as there is a whole section for vegetarian (and plenty of choices for vegan or gluten free). From our experience it’s similar to Indian food but less creamy which may be why there are so many vegan options.

Complimentary pappadums

We busy ourselves with the menu and the basket of complimentary pappadums which have a spicy yogurt dipping sauce. Our waiter suggests the banquet and from doing the calculations it’s a pretty good idea but as the AssMan is a vegetarian and we wanted to try the goat so we weren’t able to do that option.

Mohi Strawberry and Mango $5.50 each

we start with drinks-Mohis to be exact which are similar to a lassi. The pick of the two is the mango one whilst the strawberry one tastes like it is flavoured with strawberry jam.

Momocha $8.50

There are four dumplings per serve and we had opted for the vegetarian version. They’re similar to Chinese dumplings but with a chive and garlic filling. They’re not bad although we could easily devour more than four. It comes with a spicy, creamy yogurt sauce.

Sherpa Surprise $8.50

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“Have you been to Cafe Giulia?” Mel asks and when I say no but I’ve heard good things about it, she swings her Mini Cooper across a few lanes and zips up some side streets. “That was very naughty to do that” she says half seriously. Within a few minutes we’ve stopped near Cafe Giulia, famous around Sydney for their meals. “Why exactly is it so famous?” I ask Mel and she replies “The serves are huuuge and the service is wonderful and unpretentious, and that’s from everyone there”. A minor miracle has just occured and I check the ground for signs that hell has frozen over.

Housed in a renovated corner Butcher shop, it’s a large and long space with room out the back for a little courtyard. We’re greeted by a gigantic chalkboard menu and Mel goes through what is good. I have a feeling this a regular haunt of hers and I decide on the Breakfast Special (as a late riser, I love an all day breakfast). Juices are also said to be good so I order one of those. We order and pay at the counter and the staff are friendly – as the sticker on the chalkboard menu says “Campbelltown is for Lovers”.

Beetroot, orange, pineapple and passionfruit juice (left), Pineapple, mint, apple & ginger juice (right) $5.90

Our juices arrive and mine is sweet and delicious. Thankfully ice free and just full of fantastically fresh flavours and it’s a huge, fresh, frothy serve.

Breakfast Special $17.90

My breakfast special arrives and it’s a stack of three corn fritters, poached eggs, bacon, avocado, beetroot & onion jam and a yogurt sauce. The corn fritters are lukewarm (not because of excessive photo taking!) which is a bit disappointing (I like freshly fried corn fritters) and they more pikelety than other corn fritters I’ve had before. The rest of it is very filling though and there’s a lot of bacon and I particularly like the beetroot and onion jam.

Chips $4

The Rosemary and Sea salt chip serving is huge and they’re a tad more cooked that I like and a result a bit dry although this doesn’t stop me from polishing quite a few off.

Burger with bacon and egg $8.90

I don’t try any of Mel’s burger but she has trouble finishing it even though the bun goes untouched. A testament to it’s size methinks. It’s not fancy food, hell sometimes it’s cold, but with such friendly service and fantastic prices and ginormous serves I see why it has become such a hit.

So tell me Dear Reader, what is your weekend morning routine?

Cafe Guilia, Chippendale

92 Abercrombie Street, Chippendale NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9698 4424
Open Tuesday to Friday 6.30am-4pm
Saturday and Sunday 8am-3pm
Closed Mondays and Public Holidays