Haven Tailoring Coffee Joyously | Surry Hills

It's been a while since I've last blogged, nor been to a nice cafe and taken nice pictures, but luckily exams are finally over, which means HOLIDAYS! Hurray! I can finally get my head back in to the clouds, watch a few tv shows, read, catch up with friends, LIVE A LITTLE! It's also been QUITE a while since I've been on a date with X as well so there's been a lot of anticipation leading up to it. Therefore, in celebration of my birthday and the end of exams, we went to try a cafe I've been meaning to go to for a long time, Haven.

X and I were surprised to find out that Haven is actually really close to central station, it's literally right next to the station, close to Devon. The restaurant, I'm not sure if it's new or something, but I've walked past this area heaps of times but have never really noticed it, so X and I were astonished by it's location. Furthermore, the interior of the restaurant is so pretty, very clean and hipster. It wasn't even crowded despite X and I going at around 12:30pm on a Saturday. The atmosphere is great, and the service is top notch, very attentive and kind to customers needs. I'm so keen that I'm already sure that I'll be coming back just to try the tea infused menu.

For today, we decided on Haven's Classic Heroes; the Pork Belly Kimcheese Burger  with Kimchi, bocconcini, Kale and Sesame Omelette ($19). For X, he has the Baked Polenta with Mushroom, Poached Egg, Tomato Kasundi & Shaved Parmesan ($15) and a cappuccino ($4).

The Pork Belly Kimcheese Burger | The Baked Polenta | Cappuccino 

X's dish, the Baked Polenta, was relatively nice but for me personally, I don't think I'd purchase it myself. The Tomato Kasundi DEFINITELY packed a punch in terms of flavour, as it had a lot of spices, and balanced well with the relatively plain polenta and poached egg. I would say it has an indian type of spicy flavour, but not chilli kind of spicy, but was relatively good. The poached egg was of course poached to perfection, and X absolutely LOVED the mushroom so much, he ate it before I could have any for myself. Overall, he really enjoyed the dish, whereas I thought it was nice, but not something I'd ever come back for unless you really enjoy dishes that contain a multitude of spices.

The Baked Polenta with Mushroom, Poached Egg, Tomato Kasundi and Shaved Parmesan ($15)

It's not very obvious in the pictures, but there is a half cut mushroom under the pile of greens.

My dish, the Pork Belly Kimcheese Burger looked really burnt honestly. Luckily, it didn't taste burnt but the pork was definitely over cooked as the meat was quite dry and there were some slices of just pure fat to which X gladly ate for me. Overall, this dish had a lot of flavour which mostly came from the Kimchi. I really love kimchi, and the kimchi was just perfect to me as a lot of places tend to make it either too sour, or too salty, but this place made it just right. The kale was also extremely fresh, delicious and it went well altogether in combination with all the other elements. The sesame omelette didn't taste any different from a normal omelette, and was more like just a nice filler. I have to say though, it was a bit like Korean bbq all within a burger, which is something I also really love to eat, and this really satisfied my cravings for it even though the pork belly wasn't exactly fried, or at least that wasn't the only method of cooking they used to cook the pork belly. Overall, I'd definitely recommend this dish if you're a meat lover like me as it hit all the right spots.

Pork Belly Kimcheese Burger with Kimchi, Bocconcini Cheese, Kale & Sesame Omelette ($19)

Haven | Tailoring Coffee Joyously

The coffee came out really quickly, and surprisingly it came with a little bowl of raisins. It was good coffee, a little bit more milky than a typical cappuccino, but they say that a quality coffee doesn't require any sugar due to the natural sweetness coming from the beans. X and I liked it quite a bit, and the raisins were normal, which was a really nice addition. He didn't add it to the coffee or anything, which I'm not sure if you're meant to, but we yeah, maybe next time we'll try to add it to the coffee to try it out. 

Cappuccino & Raisins ($4)

Overall, X and I are extremely sure we'll be back again and would definitely recommend this place as the service, ambience and food were honestly top notch! Completely not overhyped like I thought it might have been, and the food is really pretty too! Cannot wait to come back, and it's so convenient to get to, would really love to try the Soba Noodles in Miso, Early Grey & Lavender ($16).