This place is famous for one thing, and one thing only: tella ball shakes. What are they, we hear you ask? Trust us – you already know what they look like, if you don’t already know their name. Inspired by the so-called ‘freak shakes’ from Canberra café Pâtissez that have been clogging up your Instagram feed for months, they are milkshakes topped with doughnuts, which in turn are filled with Sydney’s (and the world’s) current obsession, Nutella.
Like a sugary high, let’s cut to the chase – how do they taste? When we go in, there are a few options on offer. We go for a Nutella milkshake topped with a Nutella stuffed cruffin (it’s a muffin made from croissant dough for those uninitiated in the world of combo-foods) and a salted caramel milkshake topped with a salted caramel-filled doughnut. The pastries are all made in-house, so that’s a start, but these still aren’t the best examples of pastry you’ve ever had.
No matter, they taste exactly what you think they are going to taste like. The Nutella milkshake is sweet and not very thick, its cruffin garnish layered and fun to eat, if a little dry. The salted caramel is similarly sweet, and not very salty, with its accompanying doughnut sugar-dusted, fluffy but still dense. It’s all very sweet, very Instagram-worthy (yes, we Instagrammed it) and very, very over the top.
There are plenty of savoury options here too. The lamb salad is actually rather nice – the lamb is slow cooked for 12-hours and tops a light salad of mixed leaves, creamy marinated feta, salty olives, tomatoes and cucumber, with a simple dressing of peppery olive oil and lemon. It’s served with some dark rye so you can make a sandwich of it.
The meatball sandwich is less exciting: just average meatballs in tomato sauce stuffed into a roll with some (not enough) provolone cheese. It needs salad, rather than just the accompanying beer battered chips (which, for the record, are actually rather good). The flat white coffee is pretty good: rich and creamy, with a robust chocolaty finish.
The service is rushed but competent, if not warm (the success of the shakes means that this places is crammed at 12.30pm on a Tuesday). The interior is pleasing, with murals and an open kitchen, and there are tonnes of outdoor tables, which is perfect as summer gets closer. But it’s really all about the shakes, isn’t it? Not the taste really, but the way they look on your feed. And if that will send you out to Erskineville, then why the hell not?