My reviews are piling up and I am not finding the time or energy to write them but here’s one! A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go to Chatswood and by coincidence, I came across one of Not Quite Nigella’s articles 5 places in Sydney that are serving beautiful food and one of the places mentioned was CHIMICHURI.
Overall design and decor is very quirky and rustic. A few tables and chairs in the cafe, a communal table and bar stools in the middle and also a few more tables in the courtyard outside the cafe. One thing I noticed is that this cafe is dog-friendly. I saw 2 super cute dogs while I was there which was awesome.
Fresh juice $7
Orange
All green – Spinach, Apple, Kale, Celery, Lemon
Specialty Red Velvet Latte $4.50
This was a bit on the sweet side but tasted true to flavour. Literally cake mix in drink form plus it looks super pretty!
Red velvet & regular latte.
Their signature brunch item – The Black Benedict $22.50
Soft shell crab, poached eggs, salmon roe, house black hollandaise served on brioche.
This is one of their most popular dishes and the reason why many foodies like myself go to CHIMICHURI. Although it looks all sorts of glorious, weird and interesting, I am sad to say it did disappoint in flavour. It did not help that it was served cold. Cold may be a slight exaggeration. Maybe room temperature but definitely not piping hot from the fryer.
The hollandaise was not creamy nor had much flavour at all. The bun was dry as well as the slaw under the crab. I ate it because I was hungry (I had starved myself to have this meal but alas…). To top it all off, the black bun makes your lips/teeth all black so maybe don’t order this on your first date… Lol
Light batter calamari rings, battered chips, pesto mayo sauce $17
Green bowl $17 Extra mushrooms $3
Quinoa, avocado, spinach, kale, halloumi, poached eggs, orange & olive oil dressing.
The salad tasted just how it looks. Sad.
Another signature dish – Coconut & cherry hot cake $19
Cherry compote, toasted coconut flakes, glazed cherries, vanilla ice cream, lindt dark chocolate sauce.
When we ordered the hot cake after our meal, we were told we would have to wait 20 minutes as they were baking it fresh.
It was pleasant but not the best. The texture and taste of the cake itself was underwhelming. There was merely not enough cherry compote to include cherry in the name of the dish. The only redeeming factor was that it was hot.
Left – Our flower vase when we arrived.
Right – Our flower vase just before we left lol
Don’t ask me how or why but I think they received their delivery late from the florist.
I realise now why the name of the article is “… serving beautiful food” and not “… serving beautiful and delicious food” hahaha… The food is definitely camera-worthy but is it worth gaining a few pounds over? Definitely not.
