Side Room

Overview

Sydney's latest culinary collaboration comes from the minds behind two homegrown favourites: cosy Kings Cross cafe Room 10 and the pokè masters at Fishbowl.

Aptly dubbed Side Room, this newcomer has settled into the tiny Campbell Parade space once home to the original Fishbowl, before it upgraded to bigger digs next door. Now, the 20-seater is rocking a sleek, minimalist look, complete with stainless steel wall and custom-made powder-coated furniture, as the owners bring to life their long-held plans for a new-school smoothie and salad bar.

The schtick here is fast, fresh and flavour-packed food, with an emphasis on Aussie ingredients and elements crafted in-house. All smoothie options star at least one native addition, from the Fireball — blending quangdong with banana, mango, coconut meat, turmeric and cayenne — to the Bondi favourite Green Fairy, featuring lemon myrtle. Try yours as a standard smoothie, or in a bowl, decked out with toppings like fresh fruit, house-made macadamia butter and granola.

Even heartier are the savoury 'whole bowls', crafted around Side Room's own native herb mix and your choice of protein — perhaps the punchy chilli chicken with shredded apple and walnut, or the eight-hour slow-cooked beef in master stock. And for a carb infusion, get any of these same combinations sandwiched between Brickfields' soy linseed, or Noni's seriously good gluten-free bread. Don't forget to help yourself to a generous slug of the house-made fermented chilli, before you eat in, or take away.

A careful curation of Mecca coffee, pressed juices and PS40 sodas round out the offering, which should make for a good post-swim pit-stop or a healthy take away lunch by the beach.