Haven Specialty Coffee, Surry Hills

After two weeks living off mi goreng and having wifi only every few days, I can happily say I am back to the luxuries of a home after spending my days camping in the South Island of New Zealand. Plus, I can finally write about a wonderful blogger meetup I went to a few weeks ago at Haven Specialty Coffee thanks to the FCBA!

Although I’ve been to Haven to try their unique coffee,  I had never eaten there so I was definitely excited to try out their delicious-sounding dishes! Listening to the idea behind Haven gave a great insight into the concept of tailoring coffee, with the host striving to make coffee tailoring as regular as asking how one likes their eggs.

The coffee is definitely no joke here, with the cafe filled with equipment designed to heighten the way we drink our coffee. My first coffee wasn’t tailored, being my usual Soy Piccolo, as the host advised that I start with my usual and start tailoring from then on. The coffee was spot on, accompanied by some raisins to provide extra sweetness which I loved!

After mingling and getting to know the fellow bloggers, we finally tucked into the food menu – one that was definitely difficult to choose from! The cafe also has a droolworthy range of baked goods that were seriously making me hungry!

I decided to order the Baked Polenta – in the mood for something savoury on a Sunday morning. The polenta was amazingly crunchy on the outside, accompanied by mushrooms, poached eggs, tomato kasundi and shaved parmesan. The kasundi and the polenta were definitely highlights of the dish, providing an interesting hint of spices. I lapped it up, but I have to say it was quite a large portion and I was definitely stuffed by the end of it (not a bad thing)!

These were a few of the other dishes enjoyed by the fellow food bloggers, including the Rose Infused Sticky Black Rice Pudding and the Soba Noodles in Miso, Earl Grey and Lavender Broth.

My next coffee! This was quite strong like most filter coffees I’ve had, but was delightful! The host tailored this one for me, so I’m not entirely sure what it was but it was great!

The definite highlight of the day was the Masfogato – Dark Chocolate Brownie with Frozen Mascarpone and a Shot of House Blend Espresso. The frozen mascarpone really made a difference with this dish, differentiating itself from the usual brownie and ice-cream. The shot was definitely strong and provided an incredible kick to this already amazing dish!

Thank you again to Erica, the FCBA team and the Haven team for hosting an incredible meetup and tasting of the menu. After trying the unique dishes and exceptional coffee at Haven, I can say I will definitely be back for more!

Haven Specialty Coffee
30-34 Chalmers Street
Hours: Monday to Friday 7am-4pm, Saturday to Sunday 8am-4pm
Price: $$