PIÑA
I came for the strawberry matcha but ended up having brunch in the cold Sydney downpour after waiting an hour on a Saturday morning for brunch... is Pina worth the wait or just another over-hyped Tik-tok famous foodie joint in the infamously hipster Potts Point? Let’s find out. .
Photo credit: @pinapottspoint
Piña is the latest hipster laneway cafe that’s gathering the Sydney foodie crowds every weekend with signature dishes such as their chilli oil-infused scrambled eggs and sourdough pancakes or the trending strawberry matcha on the menu. Piña is Room Ten’s hipster sister cafe that’s chockablock by 9a.m on the weekends with waits of up to an hour or more when it’s brunch o’clock. Judging by the queues you would think there’s a celebrity in town, does it live up to the hype or is it just riding the TikTok viral wave? Come find out with me.
Iced strawberry matcha
Iced strawberry matcha, $13
The magic of TikTok is that the most mundane things can blow up overnight, like the viral “strawberry matcha” which is now a staple in the cold drinks section of Sydney cafes. I was curious to try this innovation but at $13 a pop, it took a lot of convincing from friends for me to order this iced strawberry matcha. The concept is simple - layer the bottom of the glass with strawberry puree then fill with iced matcha.
Did this taste delicious? YES - I enjoyed the sweet fruity aftertaste of the strawberry puree when mixed with the slightly bitter yet aromatic iced matcha, there is no question that Piña used quality matcha powder for this drink.
Is it worth it? NO - this drink is probably worth $7/$8 at best and you can easily recreate this at home, or maybe I’m just missing the hype or secret ingredient that goes into this strawberry matcha but I wouldn’t be re-ordering this on my next visit.
Sides - Fries and Corn ribs
Corn ribs with calabrian chilli, lime and manchego ($13) and Fries with onion salt ($7)
One of the green flags I look for in friends is when they entertain and actively participate in my love of ‘over-ordering for the table’ because how else will we try these delicious sides from the menu.
Let’s start with the corn ribs bathed in the chilli, lime, and manchego dressing. Is there any better combination than perfectly grilled corn ribs coated in a manchego cheese with that hit of lime and chili for a bit of kick. I love sauce (refer to the “Where is the sauce” meme from Manu in My Kitchen Rules). If your preferred spice tolerance is salt and pepper, stay away from this dish and practice your chilli tolerance because bland is probably not how you want to live out your life.
The chips were a crowd-pleaser and the onion salt stole the spotlight. Once you reached for one chip coated in the umami onion salt you can’t resist having another one and another; we were nibbling on this bowl of chips throughout the meal even after we had worked through our mains and were quite full. If you visit Piña please do yourself a favour and try this - trust me, you’ll thank me later.
Breakfast curry omelette and thick toast
Breakfast curry omelette and thick toast, $27
Curry is the ultimate comfort food for me, my go-to is Japanese or Thai curry, due to the wet weather, I was immediately drawn to the breakfast curry omelette. (fun side story: we finally got seated after an hour’s wait although our table was half sheltered so the rain was coming in from all sides, cue an additional 5-10 minute wait for another table so we could eat without our food getting drenched. Bit dramatic but at least we were finally seated with a heater so I’ll count it as a win)
This curry omelette is the perfect winter warmer - I love the fluffy and perfectly scrambled eggs paired with a generous scoop of curry that was well-seasoned and coated with each bite of the eggs. The juicy truss tomatoes were a nice touch and almost made up for the sourdough bread, I would have preferred either Turkish or wholemeal bread.
Overall I would still recommend this dish as it’s heartwarming and a comfort dish for the cooler months.
“Seri” sourdough pancake
“Seri” sourdough pancake served with berries and maple syrup (savoury option available with bacon), $24
Time Out’s article on Piña says “Save room for Piña’s signature sourdough pancake, which comes savoury with bacon or sweet with berries and maple syrup “ but I will have to respectfully agree to disagree as this was my least favourite dish on the menu and I have a huge sweet tooth.
There are two reasons why I would pass on the sourdough pancake if I were to revisit Piña:
The pancake was served with two huge slabs of butter which did not melt into the pancake (maybe due to weather reasons), this made eating awkward as nobody likes having a cold stick of butter on their dessert (unless it’s the butter inside a pineapple bun)
The pancake’s texture was quite tough and chewy (at least to me) and not even the fresh berries sprinkled on top could save the texture - I prefer my pancakes to be cloud-like, soft, and fluffy (think Japanese Soufflé pancakes)
I think the above may be due to weather conditions and maybe the kitchen was busy and didn’t make the pancakes to the usual quality and consistency as other friends have told me they would go back just to try these pancakes again. The above is just my personal opinion during the time of my visit so take it with a grain of salt.
Overall rating: 7.5/10
It may have been the weather or ending the meal on a sour note with my disappointment in the sourdough pancakes, but my final verdict is Piña is a decent local cafe no one dish made it stand out from the rest. Sydney’s brunch scene is oversaturated with new cafe or restaurants so if the signature sourdough pancakes were a letdown and the potato rosti was sold out (on my visit) there’s really not much to differentiate Piña from other cafes in the inner west/Surry Hills (think Happyfield, Tento, Kurumac) or other Potts Point establishments (Theeca, Another place cafe).
In saying that I think my visit was dampened by the wet weather and long wait times, if you wait until the hype down to visit I think it will be a much more enjoyable experience.
Address: 4/29 Orwell St, Potts Point NSW 2011
Opening Hours: 7a.m - 3p.m daily
Instagram: @pinapottspoint
Website: https://order.pinapottspoint.com.au/
