The Stables Cafe, Surry Hills

Shopping invariably ends up with a desperate hunt for coffee, so why wouldn't you combine the two in the same place? That's part of the concept behind The Stables D.S. Co-Op, already installed in Bondi's Gould Street and now expanding to Bourke Street in Surry Hills.

The retail store is still a couple of weeks away, and will feature a curated collection of clothes, accessories and handbags from Australia and European designers fit for even the most discerning hipster. Happily the cafe is already trading, tucked down on Hill Street, opposite the Beresford Hotel.


Balcony seating

The shiny black tiled wall behind the service counter - with a floor to ceiling menu neatly scribed in white -  is a stark contrast to the blonde timber stools and tables in the dining room. Eventually a sliding door to the retail section will allow traffic to pass between the two areas, but for now, we're happily focussed on the food.


Roast vegetable, rocket and goats cheese sandwich $10

At breakfast you can fuel up on bircher muesli ($8), granola ($8), ham and provolone cheese croissants ($7) or a herb-scrambled egg on brioche with bacon ($8). The afternoon offerings shift to sandwiches and salads.


Almond croissant

All breads and pastries are sourced from Luxe Bakery with a parade of sweet things arranged artfully on the glass counter.


Orange almond cake, chocolate brownie and salted caramel chocolate tarts


Poached chicken, avocado, aioli and provolone cheese toasted sandwich $10

We stick with the sandwiches, although the salads ($10) look generously portioned, piled into a cavernous bowl and delivered to a table nearby.


Roast vegetable, rocket and goats cheese toasted sandwich $10

Staff will happily toast your sandwich on request, and the Luxe soy and linseed bread holds up well with its chewy sustenance. The poached chicken is mercifully succulent, made even tastier with provolone cheese, aioli and a generous slather of avocado.

The roast vegetable sandwich yields thick slabs of sweet potato, grilled eggplant, rocket and a creamy goats cheese.


Cortado - Spanish half latte $3.50

Coffee beans are by Five Senses with single origins also available. They also do pour overs and Aeropress coffees, plus a Espresso flight - a two drink journey of a single shot espresso and a cappuccino for $6.

We're excited to find the cortado, an espresso cut with an equal amount of milk (in Spanish, cortar means to cut). It's a robust shot of caffeine, tempered with the addition of milk. In Cuba they call it a cortadito; French call it a noisette; in America it's known as a Gibraltar.


Double shot flat white $4

The coffees are commendable and tea drinkers aren't forgotten either. You can relax over a pot of earl grey blueflower, oolong, white peony, silver jasmine or licorice and fennel tea. The hot chocolates are made with Venezuelan cocoa.

Almond croissant

For dessert we dig into the almond croissant, quite unlike the sickly sweet versions you find elsewhere. Luxe's version is stuffed with a nutty almond frangipane, draped with flaked almonds and dusted with a snowstorm of icing sugar.


Salted caramel chocolate tart $5

And I couldn't resist the salted caramel chocolate tart, a sinister shade of deep brown until you stab it open to release a heavy puddle of salted caramel within.


Salted caramel chocolate tart oozing innards

Opening hours are still transitioning but should settle once the retail store opens in two weeks.




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The Stables Cafe [facebook page]
352 Bourke Street, Surry Hills, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9365 3272

Opening hours (may vary over the first few weeks or so):
Monday to Friday 7am - 3pm


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