REVIEW: Morning After

So cool.

Morning After is the relative new comer to the West End dining scene and a darling amongst bloggers. It's easy to see why with it's chic interiors, precast concrete furnishings and hanging plants, it's crying out to be snapped and uploaded with a Valencia filter. However, even though Morning After has all the trappings of an ultra cool café, it's still welcoming with a down to earth vibe and friendly staff. The first thing I thought when I entered was what a great place to bring friends to show off your knowledge of the hippest Brisbane cafes. 

So Instagramable.

We choose a table along the wall, with a bench seat covered in AstroTurf coloured upholstery. The open and breezy interior was the perfect location for our midweek brunch and heightened my anticipation for our meals. 

So vanilla.

We started with some drinks or as Morning After calls them, Elixirs. The chai was served in a very pretty vintage style cup with a generous sprinkle of cinnamon on top. The chai was a little underwhelming with the traditional spices tasting under-brewed and muted. Although there wasn't a traditional milkshake on the menu, there was a blend called simply Vanilla, made up of vanilla bean, spiced syrup, ice cream and milk ($8).  Don't order this drink expecting a milkshake, but it was a nice vanilla milk drink.

So pretty.

Having seen Morning After pop up in my Instagram frequently, I knew the croquettes and the pakora were the signature dishes. Firstly, the Sweet Potato and Poppy Seed Croquettes with Mixed Mushrooms, Manchego and a 63 degree egg ($18). The crust of the croquettes was delicious and gave way to the soft, flavoursome spiced sweet potato mash. In the centre of the plate was a small pile of chorizo and mushrooms with the 63 degree egg balanced on top, with it's yolk ready to spill forth.

So hashbrown no filter.

Our second choice was the Sweet Corn Pakora, Fried Egg, Haloumi, Avocado, Smoked Corn and Watercress ($16) with an . The pakora themselves had a great flavour punctuated by the pieces of sweet corn. However the batter of the pakora were a bit dense and thick. Everything else on the plate was delightful, especially the cobs of corn. Obviously avocado goes with everything and hashbrowns are always a good idea.

So chic.

Morning After is not perfect, the drinks were lacking and the pakora were little floury however the staff were attentive and all other food on the plates worked wonderfully. And with interiors and presentation worthy of your Insta followers, it's also worthy of your custom.

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

REVIEW: Apples on Ainsworth

An organic café without being obnoxious.

There was a time when doors turned into tables and rickety chairs was just shabby instead of shabby chic. The tides have certainly changed and some of my most favourite cafes (namely the groovy hole in the wall, Southside Tea Room) have adopted this decorating style. There's something comforting about repurposed furniture, old items that otherwise would have been disposed of are given a new life. But in their new life, they bring with them their history and there's a warmth in the history of old things. And there's warmth to this café, Apples on Ainsworth, which comes not only from it's worn and mismatched furniture but from the welcoming staff as well.

These cups of coffee need a pool fence and a CPR poster.

Not far back from Kessels Road, Apples on Ainsworth sits on it's namesake street in suburban Salisbury and I'm not sure I would have found it if it had not been recommended to me by a friend. We met with my parents for a Sunday breakfast. The café was fairly busy, but there was a table (made from a door, of course) available outside in the mild sun.

Looks like someone took a big old sip of my milkshake...that's my trick!

We ordered at the counter and drinks arrived soon after at our door-table. The coffees were big enough to drown in! And they were served in vintage crockery, consistent with the rest of the café. As I did spot that the milkshake flavourings were the old Cottees pump bottles, I went with a chocolate milkshake instead of my favourite breakfast milkshake, trusty caramel. I find that the caramel flavourings out of a bottle tend to be too sweet and don't give the true caramel hit I desire. The chocolate ones are passable though. This milkshake came in a steel canister which is always a good sign, but it had cream on top, which I don't like and I would have liked it if I were asked if I wanted it on there, as I didn't see it stated on the menu. Also, it wasn't filled up all the way, and was a even a fair way from the top. It was okay in flavor though. See where it ranks on the Milkbar!

Me and that toast could be related, we're both pretty pale.

We didn't have to wait long for the meals to come out. The first of the three dishes was the old classic, Bacon & Eggs ($12), a piece of organic sourdough with scrambled eggs, bacon and a side of halloumi ($3). The bacon was blissfully well-done, so often bacon is pale and undercooked, so it was nice to see it cooked through and the fat rendered. The eggs were also well cooked, a yellow, fluffy cloud of morning goodness. The halloumi was a little chewy, it would have fare well with a squeeze of lemon. And although the bacon was well cooked, the toast could have used a minute or two longer in the toaster. But considering the price, it was pretty decent.

Yum. Population: this dish.

I love the current trend of baked or Mediterranean eggs or whatever they want to call the tomato-y medley that is usually served in some sort of earthen ware. And at Apples on Ainsworth, they call is Spanish Eggs ($10), Baked Eggs in a Spanish Salsa mixed with homemade house mix beans & organic mince, served with organic sourdough cheese fingers, with bacon ($3). The toast served with the Spanish Eggs were little solider fingers of toasted cheese sandwich, which was so cute. The side of bacon was generous and also well cooked.

So healthy.

I went with a veggo option, the delightfully named Mushroom Boat ($12), Organic grilled mushrooms served on a bed of spinach with avocado and halloumi topped with a sunny side up egg and dressed with pesto. This was a lovely dish, very fresh and light...maybe too light for my cavernous stomach. If you're anything like me, order a bit of toast on the side. The milkshake did go a fair way to filling to void.

So much stuff.

All in all, Apples on Ainsworth is a suburban gem with great service and decent food. With the authentic vintage feel, the ambience feels like a visit to grandma's kitchen...not my grandmother, her kitchen is rather contemporary but perhaps a TV grandmother or your grandmother or the nice lady down the road who doesn't have any children but is just a really nice, older lady.

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

REVIEW: Moray Cafe

Straight off, I'll tell you this post guest stars the cutest dog ever.

In Queensland, there seems to be some confusion as to when our public holidays should be. One political party puts Labor Day one place, the other party puts it back and now we're all so confused as to where it's supposed to be. But a curious thing happened to the Queens Birthday holiday. It used to be in June and so it was for years and years. I know this because the Queens Birthday weekend was also MY birthday weekend. Some may suggest that the logical connection is that since the celebration is for a queen and my birthday is that weekend, that I am in fact a queen. A fact I can neither confirm or deny but I will say that I have grey hair, am 89 years old, was born in Mayfair and I look bloody good in a crown.


Oh my days, will you get a load of those eyes?

In any case, they took my holiday away and now it's sometime in October where Labor Day is and Labor Day is going to May. Confused? Me too. Take home message: we went out to breakfast and this is my review. We were meeting friends and discussed places to eat, we thought about Bitter Suite as I haven't tried their breakfast but they only served breakfast to 11am and I do not need that sort of negativity in my life. ALL DAY BREAKFAST OR NOTHING. So Moray Café it was.


Not even sorry about the number of photos of Stompy in a food review. SORRY, NOT SORRY!

Moray Café sits on a pretty corner, a couple of blocks back from the river. I did a quick search online to see if they were dog friendly and they seemed to be so we decided to take along the hairy wrecking ball herself, Stompypants aka Puppy Cakes. A place can be dog friendly, but it's another matter if our dog is place friendly. When we arrived, our friends had snagged a great spot inside but for some strange reason, places generally don't want a 37.5 kilo German Shepherd in narrow spots. After a small wait, the kindly staff arranged a spot for us outside. The whole time we were there, the staff we so nice about us having our dog there.

Right, this is a food blog...not a puppy appreciation blog...why not have both?

We sat outside a caught a lovely breeze coming off the river. The café sits on a pretty corner with a great big Moreton bay fig lending it's shade. We started with some coffees, juices and a caramel milkshake for me. It came in a sort of mason jar hybrid that is popular in many places. The flavour of the milkshake was fairly mild, it tasted a bit like bought caramel. The texture was fine, a bit thin. So all in all, it was okay and will probably hover towards the lower half of the Cassie Cakes Milkshake Bar.

Yep, thems some eggs.

The breakfast menu has a good mix of classics and a few adventurous dishes. Though despite my pleadings, no one would order the Fried Chicken and Sweet Waffle - $20.50. We stuck with the classics. First up, was the Smashed Avocado with House Marinated Feta, Crushed Pistachios, Poached Eggs & Preserved Lemon on Dark Rye for $17.50. The rye bread looked under toasted and was dry, but this was remedied with extra butter. The avocado was a little on the shy side but the feta was creamy and generous. The eggs were slightly overdone.

And thems some more eggs. Yeah, they were okay. :/

Next was the Scrambled Eggs and Bacon with Turkish Toast, Streaky Bacon, Dukka Roast Tomato & Tomato Relish, $15. The bacon was cooked well with crispy edges. The Turkish toast also benefitted from the butter we requested. The dukkah tomato was nicely roasted - often they seem to be almost raw so it was nice to see it cooked through. The scrambled eggs were the same as the smashed avocado eggs, dry and overcooked.

 

More scrambled eggs! Man, people love eggs scrambled.

Obviously there were some fans of the old scrambled eggs, me included as I ordered the Haloumi Stack with Mushrooms, Avocado, Poached Eggs, Smashed Hash Cake, Fresh Spinach & Roast Tomato for $16.50, swapping the poached eggs for scrambled. This could have been a mistake as I too was underwhelmed by the eggs. The haloumi was nice, if a little cold. The hash cake didn't blow me away, it was all a little bit bland. Not terrible, but not memorable either.

This Turkish toast is very sun conscious, big on the SPF.

Eggs were not having their moment this day. The Poached Eggs & Bacon with Turkish Toast, Streaky Bacon, Dukka Roast Tomato & Tomato Relish - same as the scrambled eggs and bacon dish $15 - was not great with the poached eggs being overdone too. The Turkish toast on the other hand looked very pale. It was as though the meals got cooked but then the toast was forgotten about and everything had to wait while it cooked. Most of the eggs on this dish went uneaten.

On the other hand, these sausages look like a gold coast housewife who suns for hours every day.

Finally, never one to stray from a breakfast, with generous proportions - he likes his breakfasts like he likes his lady! - Mr Cakes ordered the Moray Big Breakfast with Poached Eggs, Turkish Toast, Streaky Bacon, Sautéed Spinach & Mushrooms, Kransky, Bacon & Cheese Potato Hash Cake & Dukka Roast Tomato for $20.50. And no one was denying that the breakfast was indeed big. The bacon was again cooked well and the mushrooms were garlicky. Other than that, this was more miss than hit. The Turkish toast benefited from butter and the hash cake was a bit soft and flavourless. The sausages looked like they were cooked before the rest of the meal was ready. It wasn't bad, it was just a bit...meh.

Stompy approves of this message.

And unfortunately, that was the how we all felt about our food. The staff were lovely and accommodating but as much I wanted the meal to be great so I could write a glowing review, it was all a touch disappointing. No flavours punched through and the elements of the meals seemed poorly timed, bits were cold and others were over cooked. With such a lovely spot and happy friendly staff, I hope we just visited on an off day. Moray Café has been around forever and there must be a reason.

Food: 2.5/5
Service: 4/5
Price: 3/5
Atmosphere: 4.5/5

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
 

REVIEW:Southside Tea Room



REPRESENT, SOUTHSIDERS! Southside born and bred, yo.

You'll have to forgive my somewhat lax blog post frequency. Our laptop has finally packed it in so I have to use our home theatre computer to do all my blogging. In theory, you'd think it would be awesome. Blogging on the big screen. But it's not as good as it seems. When you get home of a night, you feel like watching a bit of Bob's Burgers or True Detective while you do your blog. But with the television tied up with quality shows, there's no where to blog. I'm sure you're all hanging out for my every post (hi mum!) but please bear with me during my technical difficulties.


There are some seriously good-sounding brownies in this case.

So a few Fridays ago, I had the day off and so did Mr Cakes. He had been fasting for a blood test and after, we planned to get something to eat. Turns out, he had fasted for too long which we both didn't know was possible and was told that it had to be 12 hours precisely. What's a person to do but to break the fast...with breakfast!


That dolphin gives me the creeps. He looks like a sex offender.

Southside Tea Room is so close to us, it's embarrassing that we hadn't been before. I feel like I say that about a lot of places. I'm the worst foodie. Anyway, we walked down to the café, which sits on the very busy Wynnum Road. Southside Tea Room isn't in the prettiest of places but it does a roaring trade. I'm sure this is in no small part to it's cool factor. Owned by Patience and John of Brisbane band The Grates gives this café a serious dose street cred. Side note: I attended a house warming thrown by Patience and her housemates in Norman Park a long time ago. Am I cool yet? Totes.

Also creepy.

When we visited, not many other cafes on the strip had patronage. But the Tea Room only had a table or two spare. I thought this meant the cool factor was working, and hopefully, the food here is good. The décor at the Tea Room is something that has to be remarked upon. To say that the walls are adorned with eclectic items might be a bit of a stretch. It's more like the walls have shit that you would find on the street during a kerbside collection hung on them. And there was a large table of impressively cool young teens who looked they just stepped by on their way to a Woodstock re-enactment. But...it all works. It's a hip hole in the wall, a neighbourhood secret.

Why would anyone drink coffee when milkshakes exist I'll never know.

We sat down and after a quick perusal, made our choices. Mr Cakes has gone all coffee crazy lately so he ordered a long black ($3.70). I noticed that the coffee is from Dramanti (the 19-20-20 blend to be precise) whose café is near my work and all the coffee drinkers at my work are very positive in their appraisal of Dramanti blends. Mr Cakes was equally impressed and said it was  good, strong flavour. Southside Tea Room milkshakes often appear in discussions of the best milkshakes in Brisbane and y'all know me, I just can't pass up a milkshake. There are some very exciting sounding milkshakes on the menu, including Oreo, Strawberries & Cream and Nutella, but I like to stick to the classic Salted Carmel ($7.50).

Will you look at this thing?! Isn't it awesome?!

The waitress did make the wrong one and bought over an Oreo milkshake and oh my days, I had order regret. It looked amazing with mini Oreos on top. But she soon bought the salted caramel one over and it looked pretty exciting too. I'm not one for whipped cream but this whipped cream had 100's & 1000's sprinkles on top which made it a delight to scoop up with the long spoon. Plus there was a marshmallow on top! Presentation was really A+. The caramel flavour of the milkshake was good too with a good thickness. And I definitely tasted flakes of salt, which I love. But where does it rank on the Milk Bar? Check it out.


He can eat like a lumberjack but if I find an extra large pair of high heels, suspenders and a bra in his work bag, we might have an issue.

For mains, Mr Cakes ordered the Lumberjack ($22), which fitting as his face is hairy like a flannel wearing mountain man. The Lumberjack is two fried eggs, bacon, smokey BBQ beans, hot sausage, avocado and fried tomato on toast. He also got an extra side of haloumi ($4) which was a generous 3 bits, cooked really well. The meal was a big portion. Indeed fit for a axe wielding woodsmen. And I don't know where they get their sausage from but it was delicious, spiced and moreish. I got told off for stealing more than a taste.

Yum.

\I ordered to Huevos Rancheros ($16), which is corn tortillas, fried eggs, house black beans, salsa, avocado and queso fresco. Everything on the plate was just so good. And as a chilli addict, I appreciated the good quality hot sauce on the table and used lashings of it. The corn tortillas have to be homemade, they were rustic, soft and amazing. I broke up the eggs and avocado, roughly folded it all together on the plate then invited it all to the party in my mouth. Also, on both dishes, the eggs were cooked just how I like them with none of the whites undercooked and translucent but with the yolks still wonderfully runny. Well done.


My sombrero wearing friend.


If a café is cool but don't have the substance to back it up, people clue on and they soon close. Southside Tea Room has the hip factor, they are trendy in their undone, haphazard décor but the service is good, the food is delicious and the price is right. Maybe gravity won't get you high, but Southside Tea Room is certainly intoxicating.

Food: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Price: 4/5
Atmosphere: 3/5
 

REVIEW: The Book Kitchen

See the black dog on the left there? He's a groodle and his name is Gus and he's a good boy.

Oops! How can it be two weeks since my last post? I'll tell you how. I went to Sydney! And then I got sick. But...I went to Sydney! For my birthday! And I had one of the best birthdays of my 20 something years. That's right, 20 something. That gives you an indication of how old I might be, since I'm not willing to say outright what something in the 20's I am. But you shush your mouth! I'm 20 something, goddamn it!

The wonderful industrial yet cosy interiors.

As far as chronology goes, this is the second restaurant I have to review from my Sydney jaunt but I wanted to do this one first. The morning after the night before, we were a touch shady and boy, was I looking forward to breakfast. Hold up..."boy"? What am I, a mid-western choirgirl? Um, no. Anyway, moving on.

Book lined walls.

My lovely friend who lives in Sydney took me to one of my favourite Sydney suburbs, Surry Hills. Alliteration for the win! Surry Hills is full of so many lovely cafes with a great food scene and this little café was no exception. The Book Kitchen sits on Devonshire Street, which is pleasantly busy, making it great for people watching from the tables outside. A table inside also seemed a great place to sit, with the book lined walls and great bustling atmosphere but on this sunny Saturday, we nabbed a seat in the cool winter sun.

Action shot.

Service was prompt with water and menus delivered quickly and drink orders taken swiftly. We ordered a hot chocolate ($4) and a pot of TBK Chai Leaf Tea ($5.50). There were tragically no marshmallows for my hot chocolate and after Felix, few other hot chocolates please me without marshmallows. What's the bloody point. Still, it wasn't horrid and it did the job. The chai tea was delightful - wonderfully spiced, milky and sweet - it hit the spot.

Looks the goods...wasn't the goods.

After drinking our hot drinks, we were ready to order. The waitress was so accommodating and thoroughly knew the menu. There were many tempting choices with lots of vegetarian options, which I'm really learning to notice as I move away from such meatcentric eating. We ordered two dishes and decided to share. There was a caramel milkshake on the menu however the kitchen was heartbreakingly out of caramel, so I got a chocolate milkshake ($7). The texture was very thin and the flavour was not very strong but the canister was cold and the serving was big. Check out where it ranks on The Cassie Cakes Milk Bar.

The meals arrived quickly and together and were presented invitingly! First, the Trio Corn Fritters - Poached Edd, Avo Salsa, Rocket with Roast Tomato ($20), plus we got extra Haloumi ($6). The haloumi was good and I'm glad we ordered it, but it was nothing on the Greek Festival haloumi. But for café haloumi, very good. Maybe the haloumi tempted comparison but the fritters...stand aside! No comparison came close. These fritters were so tasty, the corn was juicy and sweet, they were friend well and along with the avocado salsa and egg poached to perfection...mouth party. Please get the fritters if you come to The Book Kitchen.

For our second meal, we ordered the Slow Cooked Greek Beans - Rich Tomato Sauce, Poached Eggs, Salsa Verde, Pancetta and Sourdough for $19. The waitress kindly got our beans sans pancetta. The beans were tasty and firm to the bite, as though al dente. The toast was delightfully buttery, scooping up the beans with a hunk of buttery sourdough was an absolute treat. The eggs were also stellar and as with the Corn Fritter, just perfect. I love a well poached egg - the whites firm and the yolk runny.

The food at The Book Kitchen was top, everything was well cooked and well seasoned, balanced and tasty. The drinks were okay, not the best milkshake or hot chocolate but the chai tea was spot on. With such great food, backed by friendly and quick service, The Book Kitchen is really a wonderful brunch spot. It was such a pleasant café. Highly recommended.

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