John Smith Cafe

The introduction of the cronut took foodies around the world into a frenzy, who would of thought to combine two of my favorite things to make one magical innovation! The cronut is a croissant- doughnut pastry invented by Chef Dominique Ansel (Dominque Ansel Bakery in New York City). The pastry is made by frying a laminated dough in a canola fryer oil and the fried pastry is then sugared, filled and glazed (thanks Wikipedia!). The first place I tried a cronut, now known as Brewnut, was at Brewtown Newtown (http://take-eat.weebly.com/food/brewtown-newtown) and this is also the place where John Smith Cafe gets their cronuts from. I definitely loved the whole concept of a cronut and I thought it was the best thing ever, even though my hips didn't think so :P Some of my friends think it is a bit too oily but it just depends on where you get it from.
Sydney cafes never cease to amaze me with their innovative dishes and with the introduction of cronuts there was no doubt that chefs would not use this to create something different. The first time I tried a savoury style cronut was Brewtown Newtown and the cronut basically tasted like an oily doughnut, not really my cup of tea but it was different. Being on social media a lot, especially Instagram, I saw a lot of posts on John Smith Cafe and the pictures of the food were making me salivate so I knew I had to go and try it out for myself. A few days leading up to my visit to John Smith Cafe, I saw that they had a new special on the menu- smoke trout cronut or pulled pork cronut. I instantly knew what I was going to order.
John Smith Cafe is located in Waterloo, it is tucked among residential buildings and there is ample limit (1 or 2 hrs) parking around it. My friend and I arrived around 10:30am on a Wednesday morning and there was only a few people in the cafe, so we were lucky to get a seat instantly. I heard on the weekend the line and wait is huge! (so get in early!) The cafe is not large but they do have bigger booth tables that can sit around 6 people. After looking at the menu my friend revealed to me that she had never tried a cronut before and with the help of one of the lovely staff we explained to her what a cronut was. It took me a while to decide whether to get the smoke trout or pulled pork cronut, my friend really wanted the pulled pork eggs benedict so I ended up ordering the smoke trout cronut (more on the taste and verdict below :P)

Smoked trout cronut | w/ dill and caviar | $18.00

The smoked trout cronut is definitely one photogenic dish and Instagram worthy! It is a small dish packed full of flavor. I'm surprised they used a glazed cronut instead of a cinnamon or plain cronut, like Brewtown Newtown with their Elvis Burger, because the combination of sweet and savoury is not everyone's cup of tea. This dish is definitely an acquired taste, you either love it or hate it. For me, I can't really say I loved it in terms of taste but presentation wise I think it was spot on. I'm usually alright with eating sweet and savoury ingredients together but I felt that this combination was not this best because the sugar glazed cronut was extremely sweet. The staff did tell us that this dish was an acquired dish and it might not be for everyone. This dish is also a little bit too heavy for breakfast, I did read some reviews from other bloggers that they enjoyed it more for lunch. Overall, I think this dish is very creative and I can see many more different combinations being created. As for taste, I think if they used a more plain cronut it would of been more enjoyable. 

Pulled pork eggs benedict | w/ poached eggs and hollandaise sauce | $17.00

You can never ever go wrong with pulled pork, or eggs benedict and when you put them both together you get a fire cracker of a dish! I definitely preferred this dish over the smoke trout cronut, this is because of the familiar flavours in this dish. The pulled pork was tender and moist and was complemented very well with the hollandaise sauce. My friend really enjoyed this dish and happily ate her half in a few minutes :P
Overall, I loved the whole dining experience at John Smith Cafe. The food is very innovative and I'm very excited to see what they have in store next. The staff are extremely nice and we had a nice little conversation with them over cronuts :P I will definitely be back to try their other dishes, I may even give the pulled pork cronut (if it is still on the menu) a try! 
Happy eating x