The Famous Berry Donut Van - Berry - South Coast, Australia.

A trip to Berry is not complete without a visit to The Famous Berry Donut Van. The name says it all.

After lunch at the Sourdough Cafe, we took a stroll along the main strip of Berry to explore the little specialty shops. Once we walked a bit, it was off to the van to get the much raved about cinnamon donuts. The smell of these fried goodies could be smelt from a distance away. Made fresh on the spot, these donuts are cooked to order and freshness is guaranteed.

I missed it the last time I was in Berry and have wanted to try it ever since. Give me a piping hot cinnamon donut over those gourmet ones any day.

We ordered the '6 Donuts ($9.00)' to share. These hot donuts are deep fried giving it a crispy outer crust and fluffy inside. Coated with the right amount of cinnamon sugar, they were scrumptious. Oh so good!

What makes these donuts different to those sold by the franchises? It's cooked by hand and not by a machine. They aren't perfectly round and might be irregular sized but they sure do taste great. Though they are larger than the standard sized cinnamon donuts. Yay, more for us.

A must stop when driving to the South Coast.

Where?
73 Queen St
Berry NSW 2535

Opening Hours
Monday to Thursday
9:00am - 6:00pm
Friday - Saturday
9:00am - 9:30pm
Sunday
9:00am - 6:00pm

Website
Visit their Facebook Page

Berry Sourdough Cafe - Berry - South Coast, Australia

The weather today was perfect for a day trip to the small town of Berry, located in the South Coast of NSW, an hour and a half drive from Sutherland. My best friends and I have wanted to go for some time now but have had to cancel due to the wet weather previously. I went on a family trip many years ago and really enjoyed the time there. It's nice going out of Sydney once in a while to just relax and unwind.

There a number of cafes and restaurants in Berry with good reviews to choose from. Our cafe of choice was the Berry Sourdough Cafe. We actually planned to have brunch there after perusing their menu online, only to have missed it by 20 minutes, leaving us a bit disappointed. Shy 10 minutes of 12pm, we waited for lunch service to start.

A lovely and cosy standalone cafe with a bakery in house, they pride themselves on using local produce and that's definitely something I highly regard. Support local business!

The pastries and breads on display looked delicious. If only we had more stomach space we would have had desserts too. We were saving ourselves for the cinnamon doughnuts from the famous Berry Doughnut van for later.

I guess it was a calling. Initially, I was going to order the chicken dish below, but changed my mind last minute. The 'Rigatoni ($20.00)' with Spanish pork sausage, roast fennel and sofrito was all sorts of amazing. On initial bite of the al dente pasta, the tomato based sauce was exploding with flavour from the aromatic ingredients used. I ate every last bit on the plate. Superb! It comes with dollops of mascarpone but I asked for it to be excluded.

From their specials board, The 'Roasted Chicken Maryland ($24.00)' is a simple and hearty home-style dish. The chicken was well seasoned and the chicken meat was moist. The side of kipfler potatoes, and the apple and cabbage is a refreshing accompaniment.

'Matcha Latte ($4.00)' is a surprising item on the menu. We didn't expect to see it in Berry. It had a decent amount of matcha powder in it and I really enjoyed the frothiness. Unfortunately the cinnamon powder on the top gave it a strange taste, more like a chai latte.

The 'Cappucino ($4.00)' here is a good cup of coffee. The beans are strong and punchy without giving the bitter aftertaste.

Service was great, the staff were really friendly and attentive. Most importantly, the food was excellent and the freshness of the ingredients used showed in their dishes . What more could one ask for?

*Credits to my best friend Anny for her sign photo. Do visit her blog at http://anythingandsomethings.blogspot.com.au/. It's an interesting read on her life and previous work secondments to Amsterdam and San Francisco.

Where?
23 Prince Alfred St
Berry NSW 2535
Australia

Phone no: 02 4464 1617

Opening Hours
Breakfast
Wednesday to Sunday: 8:00am - 11:30am
Lunch
Wednesday to Sunday: 12:00pm - 3:00pm

Website
www.berrysourdoughcafe.com.au

Taste of the Country - Hunter Valley Gardens Village - Pokolbin, Australia.

Taste of the Country

 

A wedding in the Hunter Valley!?! I hear the sounds of great wine and delicious desserts. Couldn't contain my excitement as this was my first time to the Hunter Valley.

A good high school friend of ours got married in the Hunter Valley and  the ceremony was held at the Hunter Valley Gardens Chapel within the Mercure Resort. The couple looked so happy and it was such a sweet ceremony.

After the ceremony at the Chapel, we were all so hungry, especially me on a empty stomach, so we thought it was best to just stay within the village and have something there. A number of options were on offer within the village but the word 'country' in 'Taste of the Country' captured our attention. I was expecting home-style food packed with flavour.

 

Once you walk in, you can't help but notice the number of clocks on one side of the wall. The interior and pastel blue walls reminded me of being at home.

An extensive menu and an all day breakfast menu is available.

The 'Banana Pancakes ($16.00)' were much smaller than anticipated. A stack of pancakes, more like pikelets, were served as a stack and topped with banana, strawberries and maple syrup with a side of cream. Unfortunately, the pancakes were dense and not fluffy like how they should be. Nevertheless, I was still hungry so finished it all.

 

The 'Beef Burger ($16.00)' was huge. A large party of beef mince enclosed in Turkish bread together with beetroot, tomato, lettuce, onion and cheese. JJ struggled to eat it, cutting it up into four messy portions. She found it mediocre and it actually looked better than how it tasted. The addition of shallots was odd.

The 'Fruit and Nut Delight ($11.00)' was the best value of the lot. A heap of banana and strawberries on top of a toasted fruit bread and then drizzled with maple syrup. Lulu found it nice at first but then it became sickening and a bit too much for her.

'Large Soya Latte ($5.50)' came with a Tiny Teddy. Liked this little addition.

 

Service was decent and wait time for the food wasn't too long as we did go during non-peak lunch hour. Was expecting better for a first lunch in the Hunter Valley but this turned out to be quite disappointing. An average lunch overall but had a great time catching up with my lovely friends.

Where?
Shop 11, Hunter Valley Gardens,
Broke Rd,
Pokolbin NSW 2320
Australia

Phone no: 02 49986605

Opening Hours

Monday - Thursday: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Friday - Sunday: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Website
http://www.tasteofthecountry.com.au
 

Zen Oasis Vegetarian Restaurant - Berrima - Southern Highlands, NSW.

Zen Oasis Vegetarian Restaurant

Ms Sassy asked Toto and I if we were interested in a vegetarian buffet in Berrima. She said it was a one and an half hour drive away from the south and south-west side of Sydney. One and an half hour drive for vegetarian?!? Toto and I weren’t very interested at first, given that it was so far and she loves her meat. But our parents, specifically, our mums, quite like vegetarian food and this would be a great opportunity to try it out.

A few messages later, a date was set and last weekend we had a huge family trip to Berrima. We made our separate ways there as I live in the south and the rest of my relatives live in the south-west but coincidentally we reached our destination within a few minutes of each other.  

A nice scenic drive through the pristine highlands with mountains, lush greenery, and trees in the back drop is just beautiful. Too bad the weather wasn’t so good but the rain did hold and it didn’t pour luckily.  

I really do miss these family gatherings and events. As everyone is getting older and have commitments and priorities of their own, we’re finding it harder to meet up as a family. I’m glad we were able to meet up on this occasion as everyone had a lot of fun.

 The restaurant is remotely located on farm land and if you were to drive past here, you wouldn’t actually know such a place existed within.  Once you drive in, you’ll notice that there is a nice little cottage surrounded by natural landscape and a man-made lake.  Very calm and peaceful surroundings with a whiff of fresh air like the country side.

 

Unfortunately, they are only open on the weekends and booking appear to be a must, as it was a full house on the weekend I went. Also, they only have two seatings per day, one is from 11:30am to 1:30pm and the other from 2:00pm to 3:40pm which is closed for functions and If you have a group over 20 people, you get a 3 dollar discount for adults and an one dollar discount for children from their usual cost of $31.00 per adult and $16.00 per child (4 – 11 years).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Zen Oasis Vegetarian Restaurant serves vegetarian, buffet style food with over 30 different types of foods.  An assortment of fried goodies, mock meat dishes, sushi, soup, desserts and many more are on offer depending on the week. Beverages including water, iced tea and orange juice are also available.

 

 

 The fried goodies were very popular as once the doors opened and people took their seats, most scrambled towards this area grabbing what they could. Vegetables and mock tofu of sorts coated in a batter then fried to a golden brown. The mini spring rolls were really good and highly addictive. The curry puff was drenched in oil and that scared me off it.

 I was in search of vegetarian fried rice and to my dismay there was no fried rice on the day! I had a bit of the mock chicken curry instead, which had a nice sauce but the chicken tasted artificial unfortunately. The fried mock fish actually tasted like fish and had that fishy taste to it; amazing technique. 

 

 

 

 Wide selections of desserts were on offer, all homemade in house and fresh. I really liked the mocha ball with a mung bean filling and coating with coconut cream. That was delicious.

Aren't those two little Pug’s so cute?

A bit on the pricey side, so you would have to eat a bit to get your money’s worth.  But well worth the experience and just the feeling of being away from the busy city, in the middle of nowhere, is great.

An excellent dining experience, though different from the usual buffets we get back at home in Sydney. Food was re-filled quickly and service was very efficient.

 

Everyone had so much fun chatting and catching up over the two hours we had there.  Then some went into to shop and look around as there was a Sunday market on and the rest took the long drive home back to Sydney.

Thanks Ms Sassy for organising.

Where?

230 Medway Road

Berrima NSW 2577

Australia

Phone no: 02 4877 1285

Opening Hours

Saturday and Sunday

11:30am – 1:30pm (1^st Seating)

2:00pm – 3:40pm (2^nd Seating – Groups over 50 people)

Website

www.zen-oasis.com