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: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: Paleo Cafe Bulimba

 

I think the cow should be in the centre, rather than the apple.

I'm pretty much always trying - and failing - to eat healthier. Given that I frequent restaurants regularly, I appreciate when there are lighter options. However, lighter options mean squat if it doesn't taste good. The paleo movement doesn't seem to be going anywhere either and with those two facts in mind, we decided to try Paleo Café.



The bright, industrial interior.

Paleo Café is local to us, sitting at the start of Oxford Street in a fairly new complex, The Avro. We visited one Saturday, and given the popularity of the Oxford Street Area, I expected the café to be a hive of activity with a line out the door. To the contrary, there were plenty of tables so we choose a table outside.

The smoothies, icy and not so icy.

Along with the coffees, we ordered a few cold drinks. The Signature Iced Chocolate ($8) sounded pretty appealing with cacao and honey syrup mixed with almond and coconut milk, but it felt like a berry sort of day. I went with the WOD Warrior smoothie for $8, made from strawberries, mango, granola and coconut milk. Mr Cakes ordered the Piña Colada smoothie for $9, a coconut, pineapple and lime concoction. Both smoothies were nice, I could have done with more ice in mine. I like my smoothies to be cold and icy.


Sweet Chilli Eggs, poached, with bacon.

For meals, two of us ordered the Sweet Chilli Eggs - Soft Poached Eggs Served on Savoury Bread with Fresh Spinach Leaves, Avocado, Crispy Bacon and Topped with a Sweet Chilli Capsicum Jam, Fresh Coriander Sprigs and Lime for $16.50. I ordered mine without bacon, as I'm cutting down on meat consumption and eggs fried, cos I hate undercooked whites. So often poached eggs are undercooked.

Damn you, slimy whites! Scourge of my breakfast days!

Unfortunately, ordering fried eggs did not allow me to escape my fate and the whites of my eggs were a little translucent. The bread was fairly unique, being paleo and made from coconut flour. It was not dissimilar to that of banana bread. Still, for a wheat free option, it was okay. Not sure I'd be running back to consume the bread. We both enjoyed the chilli jam and the avocado was nice and ripe. 

So much meat.

Not everyone is concerned about cutting down on meat so next up, we had the Caveman Big Breakfast - Free Range Eggs, Steak, Veal Sausage, Bacon, Mushrooms, Oven Roasted Tomato, Sautéed Baby Spinach, Savoury Bread and Chunky Tomato Relish ($22.50). And if that sounds like a lot, it was. The steak was a particularly nice steak, it appeared to a fillet of some sort. It was mostly meat and there was no "bread" with the meal. This makes it a very low carb option. Any committed meat eater would be very pleased with this choice, Mr Cakes was extremely jealous of the Caveman Breakfast.


I see you, yucky white bits! Nice yolk though.

Mr Cakes got what he felt was the consolation prize of the Bacon and Free Range Eggs - Free Range Eggs with Sautéed Baby Spinach, Savoury Bread, A Golden Sweet Potato Rosti and Double Smoked Bacon ($14.50). Even though he was very envious of the steak on the Caveman Breakfast, he did get a decen amount of bacon. The spinach couldn't really be called sautéed and looked more to be slightly wilted. The rosti was nice and very crispy. Mr Cakes was happy with the eggs too, but they looked similar to mine with a bit of the whites undercooked. That of course is just my opinion on eggs though. Mr Cakes was not the biggest fan of the bread either.

Paleo Café was pretty good, and a few of the things I didn't like about the food had to do with paleo food itself, not the café. Don't go to a paleo café if you want a big, doorstop piece of white sourdough. The staff were nice and the owner has a great passion for the lifestyle. It wasn't quite enough to turn me but I did leave feeling guilt free and satisfied.

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

SYDNEY REVIEW: Revolver



The outside of Revolver with a very active message board.

The last place I visited while in Sydney was the very trendy Revolver - a café in the lovely suburb of Annandale. We popped in while en route to the airport for me to fly back home. We had hoped to get to an ice cream shop in the city that I very badly wanted to visit but time was running out. We decided breakfast was a priority.


The ornate antique bar.

Revolver is situated in a beautiful old building, built to be a pub but due to the protests of the local citizens back in the 1890's, functioned as a corner store instead before being transformed into it's current state of a contemporary and popular café. I've read online that there's a guaranteed wait to get a table on the weekends but we had our choice of tables on the Sunday morning we stopped in. After a little musical tables, we decided to sit inside.


The working fireplace.

All of the plates and crockery were mismatched vintage. Lovely.


The interior is very cool with mismatched tables and chairs as well as a working fireplace! The menu was extensive with lots of exciting options including a number of daily specials. The staff were efficient and once we'd ordered, drinks came out followed closely by our meals. For drinks, we ordered a fresh squeezed orange juice, fresh squeezed water melon (both $5.5), a coffee ($4.50) and for myself, a old fashioned caramel milkshake ($5.50). Both the juices were fresh, as promised, however there were a little warm and there was no ice to put in the juices. In summer, I think this would be a little more perturbing than it was in spring.


Both of the fresh squeezed juices.

The milkshake was really good and I absolutely smashed it. The flavour was good and there was a definitely quality caramel taste. As with most milkshakes, I wish it was a little thicker. I should have gone the extra $0.50 and gotten a thick shake but I didn't see that option til after I ordered.

The Eggs Benedict with that luscious hollandaise sauce.

The first meal to come out on a gorgeous vintage plate was the Eggs Benedict with Bacon instead of ham ($16.50). The bacon and eggs sat on a bed of baby spinach with a generous serve of hollandaise sauce on top. It was beautifully served, however another slice of sourdough to go with the second egg would have been welcome. As it was, it was still filling and delicious. 

The fritter is literally the size of a plate.

Next, on another lovely vintage plate, was the massive Haloumi and Carrot Fritter ($17.50). It came with smoked salmon, minted yoghurt, beetroot puree and wild rocket. This fritter was absolutely huge. The haloumi was cut up and cooked into the fritter, not on the side. It was absolutely delicious. I tried some and had a little bit of ordering envy. The beetroot puree and minted yoghurt both paired well with the carrot and haloumi. It was an inspired dish and good for something a little bit different.

Avo and eggs on a darling plate. Good fluffy eggs.

The Avo Eggs ($15.50) was a more classic option, with scrambled eggs, avocado, roast tomato, Danish fetta, rocket, salsa verde and sourdough toast. This was also very generous and eggs were cooked well. The tomato could have been cooked for a touch longer but it was not raw like some cafes sometimes serve. This was a simple dish, not mind-blowing but satisfying.

The amazing Brekkie Tagine.

I'm been pretty taken with the trend of breakfast tagines so couldn't go past the Brekkie Tagine ($17.50) from the specials board. This was a dish of slow roasted lamb, caramelised onion, baby spinach, Danish feta and baked eggs. It was presented on a large board in a cast-iron pan and it was huge. The lamb was tender and the saucy meat went well with the salty feta. It was all absolutely delicious with the yolks stirred in and melting cheese on crusty sour dough. I won the ordering game. Highly recommended if you visit. 

Look at this little guy! He wanted to know what was happening inside SO BAD!

Revolver is a great little café with friendly, efficient staff and a good mix of classic and new dishes. It has a great choice of indoor and outdoor seating in a nice, leafy location. Great for all day breakfast catch ups or on your way to go back home to Brisbane!  I had a great time, eating around Sydney with almost exclusively good experiences! Can't wait to go back!

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

REVIEW: The Rabbit Hole

The lovely little Rabbit Hole café.

I'm a little bit behind in posting my blogs since this review comes from a few weeks ago when we went out for breakfast on the Royal Brisbane Show holiday. I had a Entertainment Book voucher for The Rabbit Hole café at Seven Hills and had heard good things so decided me and Mr. Cakes would walk over and see for ourselves.

It was a bit of a walk but I thought it would be a good idea to make some room for what we were about to eat. The Rabbit Hole sits on The Corso at Seven Hills, nestled amongst a cluster of restaurants and cafés. We were lucky enough to have lovely weather and there was also a cat that let me pet him at the restaurant next door so things were definitely off to a good start. Admittedly, the cat was pretty indifferent to attention but he still let me pet him.

A selection of the treats available at the front counter.

 

It was pretty busy at the café but we got a table straight away in the sun up on the patio area. I fretted about being too warm and eyed off a table in the shade but Mr. Cakes fretted about getting cold and reckoned I was just a little warm because of the walk. We stayed put.

The service at The Rabbit Hole is counter service so I made my way inside to order and was very impressed with the efficiency of the girls behind the counter. Coffees were being made and going out to tables quickly, which I thought boded well. The lady who took my order was very friendly and also displayed the same efficiency.

Efficient service like a well oiled...cake tin. A buttered and floured cake tin.

Mr. Cakes ordered the Big Breaky with fried eggs, bacon, chipolata sausages, hash browns, sautéed mushrooms, grilled tomatoes and home made chutney ($25)  with a side of haloumi ($6) and a Pina Colada frappe ($9.50) which was coconut water, pineapple, banana, lime and coconut flakes. I agonized over my choice, whether to get the Haloumi Bruschetta or the Potato Hash cakes which both sounded amazing but ended up going with the Classic Pancakes with maple syrup and ice cream ($19). The pancakes can come with bacon or strawberries and I went with strawberries as well as a side of hash browns ($5). And for a drink, I got a caramel milkshake ($7.50). All prices had a 15% public holiday surcharge on them. You could probably figure out what the normal prices are but I'm bad at maths so I'll leave that up to you.

My non-caramel caramel milkshake

My milkshake came out quickly. The texture was good, and it tasted really ice-creamy which is also good but I think that there was a mistake because it didn't really taste like caramel. It tasted like there was no syrup in it at all, just milk and ice cream. I still drank it all.

For some reason I didn't get a photo of Mr. Cakes' frappe so here's another photo of the milkshake.

After a short delay, Mr. Cakes frappe came out and the waitress was very apologetic for the short delay which I think is really nice. We weren't bothered and the delay wouldn't have even been worth mentioning except for the fact that it was nice to see that they were aware of timings. The two girls serving the patio area were really nice and one of them had the most infectious laugh! Service at The Rabbit Hole was certainly a standout.

The amazing pancakes! The hash browns look a little out of place but I sorted that out. I ate them.

Our breakfasts came out really quickly too and oh my god. These pancakes! They were some of the best I've had outside of Mr. Cakes' pancakes. They tasted so sweet and I could really taste the vanilla in them. And they came with cream AND ice cream. And it was real, quality maple syrup. I destroyed them. And I'm still thinking about them. They were fluffy and sweet and awesome. I love them. If you go, you have to get them. Or get someone at the table to get them so you can steal some. The hash browns I got on the side were really crispy too and didn't taste like oil which they sometimes can. They were crunchy and delightful.

Look at that fluffiness. That's good texture.

I was so impressed with my pancakes that I am tempted to lie about what Mr. Cakes said about his Big Breaky. He said it was "okay" and "ordinary". However, I offer to you the following mitigating circumstances about his critique: 1. look for yourself at the photo of the Big Breaky, it looks awesome! It was huge and the portion sizes were really generous so there can't be any complaints there and 2. he said the following when we were walking home - "I'm not going to go out for breakfast anymore, it's all the same.". Does that sound like someone whose judgement of breakfast you want to trust? No. I think it looked amazing and the bits I stole tasted really good so from now on, I'll ignore him and ensure I eat some of his to give you an honest opinion. He's really bad at sharing so that should be amusing as well.

The controversial Big Breaky. Looks pretty amazing to me! And look! It's an action shot! Salt.

So I really liked The Rabbit Hole. The service was quick but they didn't rush us, everyone who worked there was smiling and friendly, the pancakes were AMAZING, portions were generous and I left very content. All the meals that came out of the kitchen looked good and our dining neighbours got the Potato Hash cakes and next time I go, I will definitely be ordering that! They looked really good! And since I forgot to use my aforementioned voucher, I have another reason to return!

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