Eating like a Hobbit at The Shire

We who love to indulge, are proud to call ourselves Hobbits of the Shire. Although, not really Middle Earth, but close enough is good enough right! 

The Sutherland Shire is blessed with lovely beaches, waterways, and a beautiful green leafy suburban environment. It had unfortunately been tainted by the Cronulla Riot about 10 years ago, however - it was not initiated by lovely Shire folks, leaving an unappealing stain to this beautiful spot in Sydney.

We were, however, here to eat. For me it is a long way away, having to cross two bridges to get there, but my friends from the Shire promised me it will be worth my while!

Today's first stop was the serene (but immensely popular) Hazelhurst Cafe/Gallery. We arrived in perfect time, just before the lazy brunch crowd. Easy order - one of each desserts on the menu - though drinks was more of a dilemma: do I go with a standard coffee, or a fresh juice mix, or a milkshake .... oh the choices!

When our sweet indulgences arrived, we were in awe. Sorry, my fellow Hobbits, you must wait for the food photographer/pesky blogger... we know how annoying we are.

Banana & cinnamon doughnuts, strawberry & rhubarb pavlova, white chocolate, kaffir lime cheese cake. We loved the colourful presentation of all the divine desserts - they are an art gallery and they know how to present food - and all these gorgeous things were delicious. Our unanimous favourite was the doughnuts - a surprise to all because none of us were particularly fond of doughnuts. The pavlova was delicious, although the meringue was a little sticky. We also adored that cheese cake, with a mouth-wateringly tangy yuzu curd.

Ah, lunch time already! Time flies when we're having fun!

I will refrain from posting the savoury items (GASP!) but, zucchini flower with a prawn filling, the crispy duck salad and the proscchiuto, and the fig and goats cheese bruschetta were all very delicious. Featured here the bruschetta... because figs are sweet....


Next stops - small patisseries dotted along Gymea mall. Purple Patisserie - small shop with a few tables, and two cabinets filled with simple but well made sweets such as our Mars bar cheese cake, Oreo mousse, banoffe tart, baked cheese cake with meringue. Fun little packets of indulgence. 

Because we were all over sugared and lethargic from the warm mid afternoon sun, the Portuguese Bakery was our final stop: Choc hazelnut, salted caramel, and traditional Portuguese tarts. All went down well, but our favourite was still the traditional tart - good o' classics!

That was the end of our sweet indulgence for the day. A few of us decided to go for a stroll along the coast, useful for burning off a few Calories, and to lower stress level. And we were greeted with a few playful whales in the distance - woohoo! 

CS