The Tiny Giant | Petersham
We took the camera on a bit of a journey through Sydney's Inner West today, visiting the tiny cafe with a big heart which the locals are absolutely loving. We first found out about this cafe through Instagram, where our wall was blasted day after day with photos of their brioche or waffle combination, featuring a sweet serving of vibrant pink Persian pashmak. It looked incredible, so much that we just had to see what it tasted like for ourselves!
The Tiny Giant is located in Petersham and only a 5 minute walk from the train station. We encourage you to visit but be warned as it can be quite busy, with lines forming around the corner during peak times. The above photo was taken at 10:30am and the cafe was already at capacity!
We were seated right next to the kitchen doorway, on stools that were too tall for the table. So not only did we receive a couple of nudges from time to time, Matt was basically hunched over the whole time trying to eat which really dampened the experience. We feel sorry for the wait staff who need to weave in and out of the compact tables and serve food. This might be why both the waitresses were quite rude and abrupt on that day, but either way it's not really an excuse to show poor etiquette to customers. We are just hoping at this point that the food is mind blowing-ly great.
Vietnamese Iced Coffee
Started out the morning with a strong coffee, but this time it's a twist to our usual cappuccino. The Vietnamese Coffee tasted quite authentic, which was really surprising considering we were in the Inner West and not the South West. It was very strong and once the ice melted it tamed the bitterness and was exactly what Matt wanted needed!
Baked Hotpot (with added chorizo)
This dish is known by many different names, Shakshuka is namely the most common. First lets just start with the presentation and how incredibly drool-worthy it looked as it arrived to our table. With the washed grain backdrop, this made for a truly impressive dish we couldn't wait to photograph.
Inside the cast-iron pan is a mixture of slow cooked tomato sugo, common mushrooms, onion, danish feta and two free range eggs. There is also the option to add either chorizo or avocado to the mix which we highly recommend adding the chorizo to enhance the flavours and really give your taste buds a kick first thing in the morning. This was an incredible start to the meal. The tomato sugo presented a very rich and sweet edge, and when combined with the danish feta and chorizo it was a match made in heaven. Needless to say, we loved everything this dish brought to the table!
Belgium Waffles
No word of a lie, almost every table had either a belgium waffle or brioche toast. It is amazing how much influence Instagram has in determining the decisions people make, but when something looks this perfect how could you order anything else? The belgium waffles is what The Tiny Giant is most famously known for. Listed under the "Something Sweet" header on the menu, it combines a mixture of fresh berries, Canadian maple, salted caramel, pistachio and Persian pashmak... and yes it is most definitely sweet. When ordering this dish, it might be best to order it as a side dish to share, or perhaps a dessert for later. It's not a dish you would like to challenge on your own because after the first waffle, the sweetness overload factor hits your smack bang in the face!
The Tiny Giant served up some amazing food and overall we scored them above average. The drawbacks were the prices (~$18 a dish) and the service.
Disclaimer: Snapshots of Food dined as guests of CPM Online Marketing and The Tiny Giant Petersham