In Short: Regiment CBD is one of Sydney’s best looking cafes, with a strong focus on coffee and supporting cast of delicious food. A standout was their crispy smoked pork belly. The flat white and cappuccinos are consistently brilliant.
Just occasionally a café opens, and there’s an instant magnetism that draws hordes of coffee lovers from all over the city to its digs. One of the shining examples of that magnetism has been the opening of Regiment. It really has captured the imagination of city folk and is one is of the coolest spots in the city. If you think you can waltz in at 10:30am and sneak a cheeky coffee alone, think again, as the traffic in and out is persistent. The fit-out is sublime with brass accents, marble and blondish hues of the Byron blackbutt. I adore the the cute little circular share tables that wrap around the front of the café It is intimate, popular, and there’s nothing like humans that instantly attract other humans to come check out what’s going on. What’s good then? Well, everything really!
We’ve gathered most of the Coco and Vine team together to see if we can put a real dent in the menu. I start off with the smashed avo, whey rye, slow eggs, goats curd, beetroot and yuzu sesame. It’s not your standard take on smashed avocado, and I love it. The beetroot is outstanding, both jam-like in texture, and in taste. It’s sweet and not at all heavy, with the traditional earthiness associated with beetroot. Yuzu sesame adds a citrus and textural element to the smooth avocado. Slow eggs are soft, sloppy and gooey and break apart over a unique whey rye. It’s a darker slice of bread with a creamy texture.
Regiment pride themselves with their coffee. You only need to walk in and see the bespoke Synesso machines lining the front counter to know how serious they are about their coffee. My first choice? Yes, you guessed it, it’s one of those dual coffee visits with their filter coffee from the SP 9 Marco machine. A single origin Colombian from Five Senses, it’s a dark coffee with bold, bright flavours of berry. It’s clean yet spritely in its flavour profile. Deep, rich and long lasting.
With a great coffee consumed, it was time to raid some bowls and do a little tasting on what my buddies had ordered up. A classic breakfast dish of pear ginger-spiced muesli, sweet yoghurt, forest fruit and almond milk. There’s unmistakable play between the crunchy texture of muesli with soft yoghurt. Freshness and tartness are themes that run through each mouthful. There’s a stain of red compote that runs through the yoghurt and generous amounts of almond milk providing its mellow nutty flavour.
For the health focused, turmeric is the latest wonder food, and at Regiment there’s a golden elixir of turmeric latte that is expertly crafted. It looks the part too, with a roll of cinnamon perched on top of the mug, and a sip reveals gentle spice notes. There’s cinammon and cardamon and, of course, tumeric. It has a creamy texture with almond milk being used to give it a pleasing lightness. If you need an immune boosting start to your day, this is your drink!
For pure food porn, there’s no going past the crispy smoked pork belly, eggs sunny side up, pickled onion, smokey tomato relish and milk bun. This is not your standard b&e roll. There’s the richness of the pork belly that is sliced quite thin, rather than being too chunky. It goes oh-so-well with the smokey relish and to cut through the richness in the punchy, pickled onion. Sunny side up eggs ooze all over, and those soft milk buns make mopping every last bit of the dish just pure joy!
Continuing with the healthy run of “good for you” teas, is an on-tap kombucha. Regiment’s take on the kombucha is light and delightful. You’re not walloped with that strong fermented flavour of the scoby. There’s a light fizz and refreshing flavour. It’s the type of Kombucha you could introduce to someone who’s not had it before and they won’t give you a funny face on their first sip.
With an epic display of treats on the front counter, we couldn’t depart Regiment without at least tasting one of them. Butterbing sandwich looked just divine. It’s the best kind of sandwich, with two circular discs of dense, gooey almost cake-like brownie cookie and a perfectly formed layer of peanut butter in the centre. If, like me, you are a peanut butter lover, this is one dessert that will definitely do it for you. With each bite, there was an explosion of rich creamy peanut butter flavour and a deep rich chocolate finish. Get a few of them on your visit for the team, and you will be elevated to the cookie legend in your organisation!
Rounding off the visit, I just had to finish with a milk coffee. The flat white from the Synesso, is sublime. There’s that instant caffeine hit and flavour with the first sip and a nice chocolatey finish. Milk work is superb with the temperature perfect and texture, deliciously creamy.
Zach Hiotis has created an amazing space and attracted instant following not with just a pretty café, but a café with an emphasis on quality output, both on the coffee and food front. There’s an exciting vibe and it’s little wonder that in such a short time, it’s been recognised as one of the best 20 cafes in Sydney by the Goodfood team.
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