Cowbell 808, Surry Hills

If cafes with quirky names which don't really seem to mean anything related to the cafe itself are your thing, then check out Cowbell 808. If it's not really your thing, check it out anyway, because the food is great!

It's another one of those dreaded exam periods again, and to make things a little more exciting, I made a study date with a friend at uni with a lunch at Cowbell 808 to energise us for a long day of hard work. It's a short 10 minute bus ride from uni, and quite easy to get to, though not exactly close, but it was good to get away from uni for a bit.

Mocha $4

The cafe was pretty much empty when we got there, perhaps from being on the quieter end of Bourke Street, Service was very friendly and efficient- we ordered coffees as soon as we got down and they were brought over before we'd even gotten through the whole menu! I'm not a coffee drinker so no comments on the coffee as such, but the mocha I ordered was extremely chocolatey- definitely the most chocolate I've ever had in a mocha, just the way I like it!

Vegetarian Baked Eggs $18

I was torn between choosing the baked eggs or the ricotta pancakes with bacon ice cream, but in the end I decided that I wanted something a little more substantial than pancakes for lunch. And the vegetarian baked eggs that I ordered were very substantial indeed, with a large serving of baked eggplants, tomato, chickpeas and kale bubbling beneath the beautifully baked eggs and cheese. Served with their house made soft flat bread which was much larger than I'd anticipated, I can guarantee that you'll have a hard time finishing it :)

The 808 Burger

And how can one resist ordering the burger named after the restaurant? My friend's order of the 808 burger is like your typical burger- meat patty, lettuce, tomato, pickles, moist sweet onions and a mesmerising blanket of melted cheese sandwiched between a soft brioche bun. Each component is perfect, and together, they make a tasty, juicy burger. The beer battered chips served alongside are nice and crunchy too.

The only problem with it was that it was quite difficult to eat, but then again, burgers are meant to be messy right? ;)

And because the lunch was a lot more filling that we had anticipated, we walked back to USYD to burn some of it off. It takes some 30+ minutes if you walk fast, but hey, at least that's my exercise done for the day ;)