VICINITY DINING & BAR - ALEXANDRIA, SYDNEY

Vicinity Dining and Bar
90-96 Bourke Rd (Cnr Collins St)
Alexandria, Sydney

Vicinity Dining have added to their lunch and dinner options with a new breakfast menu designed by Renae Smith, a well known contestant on Masterchef in their 2014 season.

It's a big place but set out in several sections to avoid a cavernous feel - and there's outside seating as well.

There's a heavy emphasis on healthy fresh food but the choices are all packed with flavour. If you prefer gluten free, vegan or vegetarian then there are plenty of choices for you - but also plenty of other options as well!

I was at a Media Launch and I was joined by the Duke for breakfast - who's always great company and loves a healthy meal!

Probably my favourite dish of the day was the salmon stack. It looked spectacular and tasted just as great.

It was creme fraiche and very tasty smoked salmon piled high on sourdough and topped with capers and lemon myrtle salt.

The combination went so well together and it was a fresh and tangy start to the day.

The Vicinity take on French toast looked so colourful.

It had scattered half slices of toast garnished with fresh fruit. I have to confess to being a French toast fan and this light and fruity combination was great.

Their super bircher was also impressive (see middle picture above) but due to space limitations (my stomach space that is) I didn't get to try it.

Vicinity are using some quality and tasty ingredients supplied by the likes of The Protein Bread Company (the Duke already lives on and swears by this stuff) - founder Anna Hopkins was there, Charlies Balls (tasty healthy guilt free treats) - founder Charlie de Haas was there too, CoYo (makers of tasty coconut milk yoghurt) - Abe Hanara was there representing them, and of course Pepe Saya - who doesn't love their butter! The emphasis on fresh and quality shines through and it's tasty food. 

Anna Hopkins, Charlie de Haas and Abe Hanara

Renae Smith

Of course if you're desperately seeking a bacon and egg roll for you're starter then you won't be disappointed either.

This was delicious with maple bacon and the good dollop of house made tomato relish was another nice addition.

Another unique dish was the African baked beans.

They came in their own little copper saucepan - I grabbed one of these quickly and couldn't bring myself to share it.

There was so much food, and so many choices, it was a difficult exercise to know where to start or which ones to try. We did try to taste everything - but failed!

The big breakfast is exactly that - big! It has such a great range of different components as well - with eggs (of course), bacon, haloumi, mushrooms, tomatoes and onion jam. I grazed on this and sampled some of the eggs, mushrooms and haloumi. I wish I had saved more room to try a few other things from this plate!

Breakfast at Vicinity is certainly impressive.

THE GROUNDS OF ALEXANDRIA - ALEXANDRIA SYDNEY

The Grounds of Alexandria
Building 7A, 2 Huntley St
Alexandria

The Grounds of Alexandria is huge yet doesn't scream at you. In fact its not glaringly signposted and you could possibly miss it - even though its a really big place both indoors and outdoors. Inside you first see the take away counter with a huge array of very appealing cakes and pastries.

There are shelves acting as a barrier to some indoor seating but behind the servery there is more seating too.

You instantly notice that the place has a kind of warehouse/industrial feel to it without seeming cold or impersonal. You also notice that everything there has "The Grounds" printed on it - cups, bread boards,

staff - sit there to long and it may be on you! I didn't mind this though - it again wasn't in your face or gaudy.

The breakfast menu is brief but interesting. There were a few options that caught my eye but in the end the bacon and egg roll won out. It was described as having crispy bacon, two eggs and tomato relish on a
bun. It was huge, very tasty and came well presented on a bread board.This is a big roll and at only $9.00 I thought it was very good value.

The coffee here is good too - in fact its a passion of theirs. My coffee arrived very quickly after placing my order and was excellent.

As the coffee arrived so quickly I was surprised I wasn't asked if I wanted another one. I didn't want more - but may have said yes if asked! At $3.50 it again wasn't expensive.

Behind the rear indoor eating area is the real business end of the coffee side of their enterprise. You can see machines there behind a glass wall - a nice touch that's both interesting and impressive.

The Grounds of Alexandria is a busy place with good food, good coffee,

good decor and good service. The one downside is that parking is hard

to find but it still ticks all the boxes.