CCU Undercover: Three Williams

CCU got off at the wrong bus stop. Typical. What else would you expect from a girl with a big reliance on google maps, a lack of direction and a stomach that had barely been fed since breakfast.

Huffing and puffing, but blowing down no houses, she marched up Elizabeth St. Then down it. Then up again… where was she going? Finally, her google maps gave her a little relief and started working again, leading her to the cafe.

Classically of course, she almost missed it. But that iconic symbol caught her thank GOD and she hustled her way down the steps and into the sweet smelling paradise.

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Thanks to Wasamedia, I was invited to a tasting  for a new Spring breakfast menu at one of Sydney’s most up and coming brunch locations – Three Williams Cafe. Well, I say up and coming, but it has already reached that peak since every trendy, up-to-date foodie has heard of it 😛

When you enter, it is buzzing with activity! Our awesome hostess, Alana, running the event, told us how hard it was to come at a time where food bloggers could relax, photograph and enjoy the food without hustle and bustle, as the cafe is swamped with customers most of the time!

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There is also a really homey feel to the cafe – it is considerably bigger on the inside (DOCTOR WHO REFERENCE, can I get a WOO WOO!) than how it appears on the outside, and the decor is mainly wooden with brown leather booths, with the occasional brick walling for textural affect.

Nothing too flashy at all.

I was SUPER pleasantly surprised to run into two food bloggers I ‘know’ which was brilliant! Firstly there was Alice from @Girl In A Food Frenzy, one of the most popular food vloggers (yeah, she one ups us all!) in Australia and whom I have been ‘talking’ to for almost 2 1/2 years!

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I also ran into Olivia from @Mademoiselle Mange A Sydney – Haven’t been talking to her as long but it was just as exciting because I am a BIG fan of her style! She is so sweet and super successful with all of her reviews all over Sydney 😀 And her accent? Best ever 😀

So while we all caught up and revelled in the surreal experience of meeting people we thought of as computer entities, we also refreshed ourselves with the multiple jugs of water and with their Seasonal House Made Soda – Lime & Raspberry ($5 per glass, $12 per jug).

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It was more bitter than I expected from the barbie-ish colour, but it went very well with all the dishes to come! The citrus in it was a little stronger than the pungent raspberry, but I preferred it this way (seeing as I drank about 5 glasses… :P)

When we actually walked in, we were offered tea or coffee as well – as tempted as I was for a hot chocolate, my large walk-run-non-fitness thing made me head straight for the refreshing soda! But Alice did have a Chai Latte which looked quite nice!

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The first breakfast dish we got to try was the Sautéed wild mushrooms, marinated ricotta, truffle balsamic & parmesan on toast ($17). Can I just say, before anything, that I hate eating mushrooms? That people in constant contact know to say when ordering vegetarian pizza ‘no mushrooms’? So when you put truffle and wild mushrooms in one dish, I was kind of nervous… 😛

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But I really didn’t need to be. The sautéed mushrooms did not have that rubbery texture (the reason for me hating mushrooms!), instead, being slick from the butter and herbs it was tossed in. It also went very well on the rustic style Italian loaf it was served on, texturally complimenting its crunchiness.

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The ball of ricotta sitting on top spread easily on the toast and was delicious, but I do wish there had been a touch more parmesan, because it was drowned by the mushroom flavour! As for that truffle balsamic – I love truffle oil so this balsamic really kicked up the flavour in a gourmet way 🙂

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Just a hint though – the serving (in all the dishes actually) were quite large, so I would definitely suggest sharing with another person!

While we were making our merry way through this breakfast, the next dish also came out – this was the Pan Baked eggs with spicy beans, cucumber salsa and feta ($16). Probably my favourite main dish of the whole brunch, the spicy beans were perfection.

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I can never understand why people eat beans from a can, when there are breakfast beans that taste like this! Not chewy and with a smell that reminded me of a barbecue almost, they melted in your mouth. The egg was also runny on the inside, so with a touch of yolk flavour, these beans really delivered.

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There was also a generous crumbling of feta, and if you took a little of each element and put it on the brown roll, it became a little like a gourmet sandwich – very tasty! I didn’t really taste the salsa as it was overpowered by the warm elements of this dish, but it gave a lot of colour at least 🙂

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This next dish was not vegetarian (though I was pleased to see that the majority of dishes we were served were) – it was the Corn fritters, bacon, nuremberg sausages, tomato and capsicum salsa, crushed roasted potatoes and sour cream ($18). I tried a potato from the side and it was crunchy and golden, but all I could hear people raving about were the corn fritters.

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One guy on our table proclaimed that he would buy a dish of just corn fritters and devour them if he could. That’s quite a claim 🙂 The sausages were also a hit but mainly, all I heard was “Munch munch, corn fritters, munch munch, so good!” 😛

The heart loves what the heart loves right?

We took a little break here, heaving stomachs set aside, and a few different sides came out as well as this Super Smoothie – kale, apricot, apple, LSA (linseeds, sunflower seeds and almonds), banana, ginger and cinnamon ($8 per glass). This was a vegan drink and despite being such a healthy drink, it was surprisingly sweet! It was also quite heavy so after 1 glass, I knew I couldn’t have anymore if I still wanted to eat 🙂

Matching my nail polish :)

Matching my nail polish 🙂

As part of the sides, firstly, some Crispy School Prawns ($8). Apparently these were a seafood lovers dream, since it was the perfect mix of chips meet prawns. They were crunchy and addictive according to the table.

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But I was cool with not being able to try them becauseeeee… Three Williams is known for their Beer Battered Chips ($7).

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You know me, I would like to think of myself as a bit of a connoisseur for chips 😉 – These were thick and crispy, and generously served in a large bowl. The aioli was probably the best dip I have ever tasted with chips, having a little sweet-sour kick behind it.

Dat dip shot!

Dat dip shot!

We actually got so many that I was able to take some home – I can attest for the fact that they stayed crunchy for around 3-4 hours after take-away, despite being cold!

Now we move on to the Narnies. Narnies are Three Williams‘ specialty, they are known for having some of the best! If you type Narnies into google, the first search that comes up is ‘Three Williams Signature Narnies’ – that is some reputation!

Basically a filling wrapped in almost a thick, Malaysian roti bread, it is a mix of burger meets open-ended wrap. Really new to me! The first version to come out was the Herb rubbed free range roast duck with roast pears, rocket apple balsamic and aioli ($16).

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Apparently everyone was quite surprised and delighted at how well the fruity flavours went with the duck – especially the roasted pears! I have heard of plum sauce with meats before so I suppose fruits and meat have an affinity that Three Williams captured really well 🙂

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The vegetarian version of this was the narnie filled with Wild mushrooms, baby spinach, truffle balsamic, stracchino cheese sauce and parmesan ($15). Basically a narnie-d version of our first breakfast dish 🙂

That cheese sauce made this narnie work – it was definitely the binding ingredient, and added to the already quite juicy mushroom’s flavour. I really liked the bread as well, being slightly chewy! This was quite a heavy, but still fresh dish but honestly, I felt that the hardest part was eating this 😛

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What’s life if you can’t get a little messy at the table right?

Finally, with love handles sticking out all over the place, we get to dessert. Finally, we got to try the incredibly famous Crunchy Brioche French toast with caramel bananas, hazelnuts & melted Belgian chocolate ($16). 

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Phew. I had been waiting forever to try this dessert-brunch-breakfast! As sweet as all the ingredients sound, this was actually quite non-tooth-decaying, and was crunchy on the outside but SO soft on the inside. The chocolate was almost mousse-ice cream like, and sat in generous globs on top of the dish!

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Despite hazelnuts being in shortage (heard about the latest Nutella crisis?), they were scattered generously around the plate. I couldn’t get enough of this dish, thought without a doubt, the caramelised banana was my favourite part with the toast. It was soft, almost mushy, but was flavoured really well!

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As our final dessert, we also tried the Homemade Cakes – Lime & Coconut ($6 per slice) that Three Williams has recently introduced. The cake was very dense, despite looking deceivingly fluffy and light.

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The flavour was very strong and despite being too full to move, it had a certain addiction that kept me eating it 🙂

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And thus ended our story as well all descended into a food coma. To be brutally honest, I don’t even know HOW we managed to extricate ourselves from the table and actually leave the restaurant. All I can say is that I was SO glad I didn’t have to catch public transport back.

I probably would have broken the bus down with my newly acquired weight 😛

Have you wonderful people been so full you couldn’t move? Of course you have, tell me all about it in the comments below! 

General Information

Notes:

  • Despite being considerably busy (even if peak lunch time traffic was coming to an end) the staff was super friendly and relaxed, cracking jokes and enjoying themselves
  • Waters were refilled not just on our table, but everywhere vigilantly
  • We got fresh plates and cutlery pre-dessert (big plus!)
  • Bit more expensive than most but makes up for it with gourmet ingredients and large portion sizes
  • Focus on seasonal produce being used in their dishes which is innovative
Can I tempt you to take a bite? :)

Can I tempt you to take a bite? 🙂

Rating: 8.5/10

Address: 613a Elizabeth St,
Redfern NSW 2016

Phone Number: 9698 1111

Three Williams on Urbanspoon

Websites:

Disclaimer: Go Bake Yourself attended this event as guests of Wasamedia and Three Williams. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are honest and her own.

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63 Comments

  1. viveka says:

    Herb rubbed free range roast duck with roast pears, rocket apple balsamic and aioli plus a big glass of that soda …. would suit me for lunch today. The green smoothie, am I sure I can be without. Mostly because of the kale. Great shots again.

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  4. Pingback: “Too Much Fun” Hangover | Go Bake Yourself

  15. Jennifer Eloff says:

    Hmmm, you made me very hungry with your exciting descriptions and photos, Uru. Lovely that you got to meet those women you admire. The dense cake….oh my….love dense cake. $6 a slice is quite expensive.

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  17. hotlyspiced says:

    I love how the smoothie matches your nail polish! Getting off the bus at the wrong stop is the sort of thing I do. I love how the servings are very generous and I’d love to try that mushroom dish – looks fantastic xx

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  20. My Kitchen Stories says:

    What a great breakfast. Glad you found your way there there is nothing worse than being late for a special presentation. You must have been very full. I’d love that brioche chocolate toast it looks decadent

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  24. shenANNAgans says:

    Ooooooo I am so jelly! What a fabio experience. And you got to meet Alice… I cant wait to meet her. Looks like you had one heck of a tasty adventure. Have a good long weekend little buddy! 🙂

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  25. wallflourgirl says:

    Fun fun fun and funner! You make me sad I’m not in Sydney to join in the good times, hehe. And awesome that you got to meet some other fun bloggers there too–what an awesome community! Glad you’re sharing it with us deprived folk so we can eat vicariously through the screen 😀

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  26. Nami | Just One Cookbook says:

    What a fun AND delicious time! Food looks good throughout but when I see the lime and coconut cake, I just drooled. I love the combination and I know I’ll finish the enter cake there. Looks good, and I need a cup of good coffee! 😀

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  43. Edible Celebrations (@lavesta) says:

    The entire time I was reading this post I kept thinking to myself, oh my I hope she doesn’t have to take the bus home. With all that food, she may not fit! Thankfully, you answered the question, lol…Everything sounds terrific Uru but I must admit, I could never, ever ever eat so much food and actually enjoy it all.

    So cool that you met up with other food bloggers. It’s a small world after all:)

    Thank you so much for sharing…

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  45. sweetpea2love says:

    Oh my goodness… I want to jump on a plane right now and visit this restaurant. Every thing in your pictures looks heavenly and I loved your blog telling us all about your experience.. Take care and Happy Blogging to ya..

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