After 30 years, the owner and designer of Wheel and Dollbaby, with their shopfront on Crown Street, decided to call it quits, and suddenly there’s a new cafe selling extremely healthy looking meals, and some interesting hot drinks.
Surry Hills is the third location of Bare Naked Bowls (the others are in Manly and Coogee), and as “favourite superfood cafes specializing in serving delicious Acai Bowls, Superfood Smoothies, Breakfast Bowls, Cold Pressed Juices, Organic Coffee, Kombucha and Raw Treats”, I’m predicting success, so long as the trend for this style of healthy food continues (and I think it will). Combining the promise of nudity, health and the current trend for putting food in bowls (how did this become a trend?), the design of this cafe is wood, wood, wood (three times, see?).
We stopped by for an English Breakfast tea (D’s go-to drink, unless they’re out of English Breakfast, in which case Irish Breakfast might do), and while I was tempted by my usual latte, I decided to go with one of their unusual superfood hot drinks. And what would be more unusual than a blue latte made from blue-green algae? It was tasty, and served up in an attractive ceramic cup, I found it so appealing that I’d ordered it again. It tasted like an interesting, savoury, coffee substitute, not herbal or medicine, sort of earthy, and pleasant tasting (I had mine with almond milk, so perhaps that was the predominant flavour, the slight sweetness matched with a lovely creaminess). And blue!
Stopped by at a later time and had lunch with a friend. I thought the waitresses were sweet, sort of hovering over us to make sure we got the right food and liked it; he found them annoying.
I was impressed with the food, which was instagrammable and very tasty. My friend’s annoyance gave way to telling me it was definitely an above-average avocado on toast. I thought my oatmeal bowl was delectable. 
My post about finding high-quality men’s designer resale clothes in Paris is one of my most viewed sites on my blog. So, I thought I’d do a similar one for Rome, but only being there for a few days (in July 2018), I didn’t get a big sense of what was possible. But what I sense, is that their vintage shops are somewhat different than the ones in Paris and Amsterdam and while they will have the same selection of Hawaiian shirts, flannel shirts with cut-off sleeves, Levis 501s, and army gear, they also might have some high-quality cast-off designer clothes, perhaps because Romans dress so well.
If you’re inclined, I think it IS worth it to do a little treasure hunting yourself. I went to two major outlet malls while in Italy, and boy were clothes expensive! Discounting from full prices by 20% or 30% still doesn’t make something cheap when they’re expensive to start with.
Happily, I got my used menswear fix from their 
As I really needed something to wear on the bottom half of my body, so I wouldn’t get arrested, I was happy to find a casual pair of shorts that fit. There were some jeans I might have considered, but I’ve got too many jeans as it is. So, an Italian brand, Piazza Italian, a bargain brand, I think: these shorts would have been about 15 euros new, and I got them for 3 euros. But better, I got to pair them with this fun fabric belt from Dirk Bikkembergs, a Belgian designer I’ve always been obsessed with, and who manufactures his clothes in Italy. 5 euros, and that makes me happy. And I donated the ripped pants to the slightly-confused-looking cashier, who indicated that they probably do do repairs and could sell it.
And then I got a casual black t-shirt, of cotton but slightly shiny and an interesting detail on the sleeves… from Kenzo, a Paris brand that I also love. 9 euros. A steal (photos above). All up, 17 euros for a casual summer tourist outfit. Hurrah.
We both had lunch specials, string hoppers (these are the patties of rice noodles) with beef brisket (me) and curry chicken (him) ($14 each). We had sides of eggplant chips ($11), lentil patties ($8.50) which they nicely gave us 6 instead of 5 so that we didn’t have to divide one, and two mango lassis ($9).
D thought the food was really, really tasty, and I have to agree. I missed having the delicious coconut sambal that I’d tried at the Tramsheds. I loved the hoppers; delicate and interesting, with a nice curry and condiments. The sides were crispy and delicious. The lassi was suitably creamy and sweet. In all, I found the food slightly different than other cuisines I’ve tried, and with some great combination of textures, and nicely savoury, but not too spicy. In fact, even with the deep-fried goodness, the dishes here tasted light, in a good way.
But I was reminded of my first experience with really slow service. There is still an air of confusion. I received a plate in front of me that wasn’t the right order at all, so had to send it back. This is the wrong dish: looks tasty though.
I think, if possible, that you should serve both people at the same time. The mains took a while to get to us. And I did find the prices a bit high.
I’d definitely recommend the food, but I think the service is going to need to be tightened up in this tough marketplace that is Surry Hills. Maybe I’ll report back more after I’ve tried it for dinner.
So, I’ve been meaning to get to the Tramsheds for a while, even though I had no idea where it was or what it really looked like. What a cool space. Chock-full of tempting restaurants and apparently, as my expert friend informs me, a good grocery and liquor shop.
So, hoppers. Yum. Basically. We split a traditional string hopper with chicken. I loved the texture of the noodles. The chicken was perfect and crispy. And the dahl for dipping the hopper into was delicious. And the coconut sambal. Wow, that is divine.
So, no complaints food-wise. The service, on a Friday lunchtime, was surprisingly slow in terms of getting the food out. We washed it down with ginger beer, and it’s a nice, casual and open place to sit and catch up with a friend. I’d be happy to come back here!
