REVIEW: Dandelion & Driftwood

The lovely northside cafe, Dandelion & Driftwood

Guess who's back! Back again! Cassie's back! Tell your friends! I am not an Eminem fan or even a hip hop...or rap?...that-genre-of-music fan, but those sentiments are fitting as I am back. Where did I go? Well, no where but I was without a laptop to blog on for a long time and if Cassie have no telly, Cassie no bloggy. Did you miss me? You did!? You like me! You really like me!

Anyway, I'm back and I have a pretty exciting recipe post coming up but I just can't keep you waiting any longer so I've got a review to warm up the engine for me. I rarely get over to the Northside and then to the Northside that isn't Paddington...fuggedaboutit! So when the chance to eat at Dandelion & Driftwood in Hendra, I couldn't pass the opportunity to expand my reviewing horizon.

The side entrance to the Tea Garden.

We found Driftwood & Dandelion amongst the pretty backstreets, nestled at the end of a small row of shopfronts. Even on a workday, a park was not available close by as Driftwood & Dandelion as well as the cafe close by were very busy with almost all the tables taken. But not all. We snagged a table in the unexpected courtyard of Driftwood & Dandelion. The cafe was small with a compact kitchen but the owners have utilised every spare inch and have fit in a lot of tables. The cafe does feel full but not unpleasantly...just very cosy.

Wonderful selection of baked goods.

The menu was extensive with a great selection of all day breakfast items as well as baked goods and sandwiches. The coffee menu was equally as detailed with explanations on the different blends and roasts available. My caffeine connoisseur friend indulged in the very cutely named Piccolo Tasting Plate which was a choice of two of the piccolos for $6. She went with the house recommendations - the Dandelion Blend and the Driftwood Blend. Each came with a laminated information sheet about the coffee. Absolutely charming!

The piccolo "tasting plate". More of a pair of piccolos, but a lovely name nonetheless.

As a non-coffee drinker, there wasn't much on that list to interest me but fear not - there were juices, teas, hot chocolates and milkshakes too. Can you guess what I ordered? If you guessed a caramel milkshake, you would be correct. The milkshake came in a big, frosty steel canister, which is the best way to serve a milkshake. There was a definite taste of vanilla ice cream and there was a lovely frothy top. The texture was a little thin and I think the caramel flavour could be a little stronger but overall, solid effort. See where this milkshake ranks in the Cassie Cakes Milkbar.
 

Nice froth and cute straw!

The breakfast menu is pretty extensive with some of the more uniques breakfasts getting around. We decided on The Dandy Man ($18.50) to share and the Popeye the Bagel Man bagel ($13.50). The florentine bagel was topped with spinach (which may lend the bagel it's name), bacon, free range fried egg, tasty cheddar cheese, hollandaise and tomato relish. The staff were really helpful and the bacon on the side for our sole carnivorous diner. The bagel was toasted well and the hollandaise tasted like homemade. As bagels are, it was a little chewy and dense but bagel is as bagel does. For a breakfast on the smaller side, the cheese and sauces helped the bagel pack a punch.

In New York, they pronouce it bag-elle. o_0

The Dandy Man was the second meal which we ordered to share between two. It consisted of traditional corn and zucchini fritters with fluffy scrambled eggs, avocado, rocket, toasted pinenuts, sweet chilli jam and cream cheese. There were two decent sized fritters which were delicious with the avo, jam and cream cheese but I need to tell you about these eggs. They were the lightest, fluffiest eggs I've ever had. Ever. They were like a delightful, pale yellow cumulonimbus cloud on the end of my fork. How did you do it, Dandelion and Driftwood? Tell me. They were fantastic.


BEST EGGS EVER!

The northside is an unexplored treasure trove for me, I only wish the Northside roads made more sense and people didn't park in the left lane of what was a main road until 10 metres ago. I think if all the cafes are as nice as Dandelion and Driftwood, I might just be able to put up with that too.

Food: 3.5/5
Service: 4/5
Price: 4/5
Atmosphere: 4/5