Devon Cafe Review

I don't know about you but when fellow brunchers post and snap about this mysterious 'Aphrodite's Bowl' from Devon Cafe in Surry Hills, something ignites in me - a curiosity (duh) and part that likes 'pretty things'.

100% sure I was eating Happiness in a bowl....

With the havoc of uni exams and assignments forcing you to compromise with quick dodgy mascara, el-DAG attires and cycling between the same three shoes.... the time had come to finally 'feel pretty' hehe. (Not endorsing that this bowl has supernatural powers capable of solving all our issues - I wish)

Disclaimer: The sis had not finished exams yet so was not allowed to celebrate despite it being a 'Government Politics' unit.

So us superior second years went and brunched in style. Devon is one of those cafes that kinda surprise you the way it looks cause all you see from other bloggers and Instagram is table + food + beverages. But we loved the seating at the back - very courtyard garden-y minus actual foliage.

The only non-food picture evidence of actual Devon interior
since we were waay too engrossed with snapshoting our food
(I mean hello, Aphrodite's own bowl was in front of me)!

We ordered two 'Naked Bruschetta' (didn't come with diced tomatoes for all you tomato lovers out there!). But the goats cheese was juuuuust right (I swear cafes always get it right here - never too salty!) and don't we all love roasted beetroots with avo? Also- shout out to the egg (always the egg) and thinly roasted slices of beetroot and radish (yum yum in my tum tum).

While there were other items on the menu - in this episode I was again  'girl on a mission'. In a nutshell (description totally not doing it justice here) it's a rice pudding garnished with rose petals, pistachio and crunchy honeycomb with a dollop of chia jam. I think rose water may come into the equation somewhere but my senses don't tingle as well as Spidey's.

Please excuse the bruschetta at the back looking
like a dark star :P

 The ratio of rice to actually pudding-ness (I'm sorry if I'm politically incorrect) was a little low for my liking if I think of rice pudding past times. But with this said, garnishes on point! They add the right chew and crunch (and at the right time too- magical?) so you can be assured you're not just having bby food. Tops to Devon on their chia jam too, went great with each pudding spoonful! So Aphrodite's Bowl did deliver and now I literally want a little elf or something preparing me this every morning for breakfast in bed as I catch up on the newest GoT.

"Naked Bruschetta" with hiding walnut bread
- Sorry for the dark photo :( 

I don't go to Surry Hills enough but it's always been the best!
We learned the hard way that Devon doesn't get cronuts delivered from its other store during weekdays. So we jumped on the first train to Brewtown and also learnt the hard way (again) that brewnuts go like (literally) 'hot cakes' with this chick before us ordering 'one of each' - what a cruel, cruel world!

Somehow we always end up in Newtown?! Coincidence? I think not! :)

Three Word Summary: Bright, Modern, Cronuts
Ambience 4/5
Fare $$
Service 5/5
Foodwise 4/5


Ciao for now!
MVPD xo

Diary #2 The Beginning, the End or Both?

I have graduated from high school.

Personally I hold it as a personal achievement that remnants of my high school orientation day still exist in my memory. I remember being conscious of the fact that these year 6 girls would be the ones to fill my life for the next 6 years. And as I recall this memory, I remember the day before the first day of high school when I was contacting my exercise books under the air-conditioner of my living room, I was anxious about changing myself. To change or not to change? Presenting to the world a new me. Or maybe even the real me- the one I've repressed. From personal experience in the education system- I believe that primary school contained  whole lot more peer pressure than high school. I sometimes think about the things I had done and cringe and have a little chuckle. Although I am so inherently ashamed of young Michelle but kind of proud that I can feel ashamed at that- It just highlights how far I've com since then. However parents, teachers, mentors, significant people tell children that its ok to be unique, and to deviate from the majority.

But here comes the paradox. Oh man is it a big one.

How is it that peer pressure exist then? That we confine ourselves to some prescribed ideology or expectation. When we relinquish our true selves (if I may say) to the majority. I tell you now friend, when you find yourself in such a dark place, think about your future, past the inky cloud that is suffocating you at the present, strain for the open air behind it- it is beckoning to you. Don't hide or cower. I know it is easier said than done- I understand it so, because I too have been there.

It will feel so unnatural even painful at first, but make a habit of exerting Yourself and it will begin to feel so natural. 

I recently had an email from Sydney University- the most prestigious university in Australia, probably listed among the big guns of the world- inviting me to an interview for a Combined Law degree I was applying for. I can honestly say I cannot remember what or how I answered the questions they asked- considering it was me vs. three academics, only the fact that I was outside in the waiting room re-reading my prepared answers (that would subsequently not be asked) and of course walking out of that beautiful and eerily intimidating Law faculty, dressed in my mother’s business suit. 

Why did I just tell you that? Well it was such a profound moment that I realised the future was dawning. It was blinding my eyes, it's rays burning my skin. But really, isn’t the future always upon us? Just around the bend of the road, the next foot step, the next thought?  

Life is so infinitely mysterious and uncertain. *dramatic hand poised about forehead and back slightly bent back.* 

I’ll leave you with this serendipitous photo I took on the final day of high school, a few hours before the graduation ceremony. My phone lens opened at just this particular moment and this angle to capture this beautiful sunset.