Youeni Foodstore Castle Hill

Youeni Foodstore has been on my eat hit list since I read in Short Black that a new cafe/store was opening in the Hills. I recall reading this in the then Good Living liftout sometime last year.

Well, after all these months, I finally had some down time to check out this cafe. I can honestly say that I did have high expectations when I first visited it a few weeks ago. Suffice to say I was very surprised at how much smaller it was in reality compared to what I envisaged when I checked out their website.

All in all, I had 3 separate meals there just so I could have a good feel of their food and service. And boy do I have some stories to tell.

My first visit was on a Saturday afternoon for a late lunch. When I was seated I politely asked the waitress if it would be okay for me to take some photos of the cafe (note that this is a question I normally ask when wanting to take photos of restaurants, cafes, bakeries or patisseries). This question was raised after I had placed my order with her. She indicated that she would have to ask the manager. There were seriously long minutes of awkwardness as I could see the conversation happening between the two of the them. The body language said it all! Obviously the manager was not keen on me wanting to take photos and I think they were trying to work out how to politely say no to me.

She eventually came back and was extremely non committal. The manager then strolled over and I politely asked what was the problem and if there was one I was more than happy not to take any photos of the cafe. I explained that it was intended for my blog but I was happy to refrain. But he reluctantly said it was alright. However after that I felt very uncomfortable throughout my stay. I just didn't feel welcome. To top it off, the waitress misheard me and my order of Lamb Sambo turned out to be Ham Sambo. Fortunately the Ham Sambo was quite delicious.

My second visit was a week later on a Saturday morning. I think the manager recognised me but didn't actually say anything about the previous visit. This time I sat at the counter and watched the baristas and cooks hard at work. Boy the place was packed!!! I had the French Toast with poached bananas, ricotta, honey and cinnamon. It was delicious! I loved the poached bananas on the French toast. This time I decided to have the filtered coffee, a rather large cup but I got through it.

Smoky O's BBQ Pop Up at The Baron (Castle Hill)

I initially found out through Twitter about this upcoming pop up event at The Baron in Castle Hill but didn't jump on the bandwagon to get a ticket. Don't ask me why but I must have been having a lazy day that day. Next thing I know, I found out a couple of days later, through Twitter, the event was sold out! Bummer!!! :-(

When I was at MiCasa-SuCasa's supper club last week, they were talking about going for breakfast at the Smoky O's BBQ pop up at The Rag Land. That perked my interest but alas it was held on a Monday and Tuesday and I just couldn't get there because of work.

Miss Piggy and MiCasa-SuCasa went for the brekkie. I was salivating looking at the pictures through their twitter feeds! Then Miss Piggy tweeted me telling how delicious the food was and that I should go for the pop up at The Baron. At her prompting, I tweeted the Baron and asked if they had room for 'one'. After an hour or so, I got in!!!!! Yippee, yay, yay!

This is my first time attending a pop up restaurant. Let me just say that I hope to go to many more in the future.

Tim Odom, better known as Smoky O's BBQ, cooked everything we were served (except the mini buns).  To start we had popcorn to whet our appetites. Popcorn you say?!?!? Yes! And how good were they? They were served in brown bags and were cooked with bacon, bourbon and caramel. There was the sweet, there was the savoury and there was finger licking deliciousness.....!!

Then we had the Beef short ribs which had been smoked with apple beech wood and cooked on the BBQ for about 6 hours. This dish was served with dill pickles. It was yummy, melt in your mouth but still had a beautiful bite to the meat. There was a bottle of Tim's BBQ sauce on the table but I didn't need it. The meat stood out in its own right, a lovely smoky flavour but not overwhelmingly smoky. Delicious to the max!

The Baron (Small Bar and Coffee Shop)

Who would have thought there would be a cool, hip and grungy cafe in the midst of the Hills area! Hurray, cool is in town!!!!

The Baron is located in the heart of Castle Hill's shopping area and has only been opened since last December. I drive pass this little strip every time I head to Castle Tower's parking lot and yet I did not even notice this place. Duh!!!!

Look at the fridge and wooden board wall! 

Anyway, I heard about it from some friends and thought it was time to check it out. I love the deco, such a cool and retro/grunge feel to it. We got there at almost 12 noon and it was already filled with people.

I love that there is a large communal table and I got to see what was ordered by others. I ordered their New Southern Pulled Pork Roll served with Red cabbage slaw and my friend ordered the Bacon and Egg Roll served with avocado, homemade aioli and tomato relish.