Zonuts - The Beautiful Love Child of Croissants and Donuts

As promised, a blog on zonuts!

For those of you who don't know about zonuts (or cronuts), they are one of the yummiest and dangerous inventions to come to life. They're the beautiful love child of croissants and donuts conceived at the Zumbo Patisseries. Each week the dessert mastermind, Adriano Zumbo, comes up with a set of creative and mouthwatering new flavours of zonuts. In case you can't tell ...i'm a self-proclaimed dessert junky.

So what makes zonuts different to any ordinary donut? It has the flaky pastry layers of a croissant, with the deep fried goodness and shape of a donut. It's a creation that words don't justify, and one that is so simple in concept that I'm surprised nobody thought of it earlier.

Here are some of the flavours I've had before (not including the future flavours I plan to demolish):

Cookies and Cream (on the right)

Exactly like its name, it has a chocolate cream filling with cookie crums sprinkled over the top. Not overly sweet, and perfect with a cup of tea.

Raspberry Rose and Marshmallow

Interesting flavour combination, although after a while the marshmallow filling turned into a bit of a weird texture ..almost like gum which has been left out for a while? Best eaten straight away. 

Strawberry Mascarpone (below left)

This would have to be my overall favourite! The mascarpone is absolutely delicious, and together with the pastry it's not too sweet. Hopefully Mr Zumbo, will bring this one back.

Caramelised Mango (on the right)
It was yummy at first, but after a few bites and deciding I preferred the strawberry mascarpone one ..the mango one quickly became neglected. It's not a strong mango flavour, and you do taste that it has been "caramelised". To be honest, I think I would've preferred a fresh mango flavour instead.

All I can say is, no matter how weird and eccentric the flavour combo may sound, just go for it! Zumbo has this unique way of making odd things work.

This weeks flavour of the week is Caramelised Salted Popcorn, give it a try and let me know what it's like. 

Quick fact before I leave! The original cronuts are actually in the process of being trademarked, so keep an eye out for creative twists on the name.

Now excuse me as I roll away with new found double chin haha, ciao!

The Grounds of Alexandria

Hi all!

It’s Saturday afternoon and what better to do than write a review :)

I finished uni early the other day and decided to go on a mini food adventure and see what all the hype was about at *drum roll* …The Grounds of Alexandria. I feel as though, with all the hype surrounding this place that it should be in  bold, underlined and size 16 font. We arrived at the place and immediately you feel like you’ve entered a mini escape and a friendly face and whisks you away to the table. I was a little disappointed at how the menus were presented.. just normal A4 paper folded in half, and they weren’t even binded in any form.

Looking through the menu I instantly gravitated towards the Lamb Ragu Pappardelle with Peas ($17), although the Comfit Duck and Pear salad ($17) did look very tempting. My partner went for the Grounds burger ($19). As we were waiting for our food, we just took in the rustic/industrial/modern feel of the place and simply how nice it was to finally try it out. Surprisingly, the food didn’t take long at all to come out.

  

 

I’m not too sure how I felt about the presentation. It kinda looked as though it was just flipped onto a plate with a heap of Parmesan thrown on top. Oh well, that and the Zonuts I had earlier (blog to come soon) wasn't going to stop me from digging in! A twirl of the fork and a blink later, I was analyzing the flavours in my mouth. Perfectly cooked pasta, check. Flavour, check. Soft, tender lamb, check. Although.. for something with the word "peas" in the name I was expecting more peas, and something a little lighter and refreshing in flavour. I was also a little disappointed at how tiny the carrots were cut up - you could barely taste them! I know that might sound really picky, but I imagined this place as a place which showcases fresh produce. 

I also had a bite of the burger, and immediately the smell reminded me of maccas burgers, and one bite confirmed it. We were both really disappointed with the burger. It tasted like something you'd get from a fast food joint but with fancier bread. He didn't even finish it, and he always finishes his burgers. The chips and aioli were really good though! Nice and crispy without tasting greasy. Mmm.. i could go for some more right now!

Overall, really nice atmosphere, which is reflected in the over hyped and overpriced food.. Still a cool place, and will come back another time but for brunch and during the markets they hold during the weekends. ..but yea, i don't think that'll be for a while. A dose for my curiosity should keep me satisfied for quite some time.

The Big 5:

Food - 7

Value - 6.5

Service - 6

Atmosphere - 7.5

Overall - 7.5

Until next time, adios amigos!

Hellooo ..is anybody out there?

Well, well, well.. I don't even know where to begin.

Normally, I'm the person on the other side of the screen constantly reading reviews of places, or items before I make the commitment, but now, what may start off as part of a social re-branding assignment, might just turn into my new obsession!

I guess I should tell you a little about me..  I'm your typical uni student from Sydney, Australia who is one semester away from having a degree in Business (yay!). I love food, reading about food, just food, food, food. As weird as this sounds, sometimes I simply enjoy reading reviews. You get to live an experience vicariously through another blogger at the comfort of your own home. Basically, I've decided to jump into this rabbit hole and have a go at the "other side". My partner always criticizes me for taking photos before we eat, so why not put it to good use? I'll mainly focus on food reviews, but don't be surprised if I throw in some beauty reviews, experience reviews, or if I just feel like talking to myself haha..

Anyways, I've never been good at describing myself, so I guess we'll just have to get to know each other along the way.

So leave a comment below, say hello, give me recommendations, requests, just anything really!