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: 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: Gauge



Gauge doesn't have any signage, which is how I usually start my posts, so here's some dinosaurs instead.

South Brisbane is an odd place. In between the bustling food scenes of South Bank and West End, South Brisbane is something of a dead zone. Or at least it was. In the last year or so, a revitalisation has come upon the locale with the opening of Fish Lane Bistro, Julius Pizza, Two Tree Café and probably many others that I can't think of right now. The latest to open is Gauge, a concealed little venue on Grey Street. The café has no signage, nor a website or phone number. However, you'll know you're there once you walk inside.

The cool, casual space.

The use of space is very clever, given the size of the café it has to be, with communal seating in the centre and intimate nooks by the walls. Together with the low-lit lighting, the space felt warm on a rainy day. The elevated kitchen gives the whole café a view of the serious business going on behind the pass. I was excited for our early morning breakfast at Gauge.

Amazing hand modelling.

As the first ones in, we had our choice of tables and we choose an intimately lit table for four. The music sounded like it came from my own playlist and with the warm feeling, the vibe was felt really comfortable. The waitress took our drink orders and since I don't drink coffee, I tried the hot chocolate for $4.50. For the price, it was a bit small but there was nothing wrong with it in terms of taste. For those who do drink it, the coffee ($4) was by reports superb.

The open kitchen.

One of the reasons I was so excited to try Gauge was their innovative menu. Two of the three chefs, Ollie Hansford and Rob Wood, are both ex-Stokehouse and the third, Cormac Bradfield, is head chef at Sourced Grocer. Their combined experience has created one of the most exciting breakfast menus I've ever seen.

Somewhat outshone by the other dishes, presentation wise. Just as delicious.

First up was the House Sourdough, Heritage Bacon & House BBQ Sauce ($9), which was simply a bacon sandwich. But oh what a sandwich. The sourdough is made in house and tastes so fresh. Sourdough how sourdough should taste. The BBQ sauce was tangy and the amount of bacon was generous.

Next, were two orders of Soft Eggs on House Sourdough with Heritage Breed PIG ($16). Not sure why pig is in capitals on the menu but maybe it just wants to shout. As one of the diners is gluten-intolerant, the chefs kindly put the bread for that dish on to a separate plate for me, as I was dying to try this amazing bread. The butter is obviously churned in house as well and there is nothing better than good bread and butter. I was like a PIG in mud.

Look at those eggs! Don't you just wanna break them open?!

The eggs on the dish were the chubbiest soft eggs, begging to be broken open. The bacon was generous again, personally I like my bacon done a touch more though. The dish looked so inviting and for that, I credit those eggs.

Art.

I was pretty tempted by the Cucumber Kimchi, House Seeded Bread, Soft Egg, Cured Pork Cheek, Skyr & Confit Heirloom Tomatoes for $18 and right now, typing that out, I can't believe I didn't get it. But I didn't lose out either. I ordered the Sourdough Waffle, Almond, Artichoke Custard, Bee Pollen & Freeze Dried Honey ($16). What was placed in front of me was a fine dining breakfast. It was a piece of art. It was like a landscape. And it tasted amazing. The almonds were candied and the waffle was crisp and sweet. The pairing of the custard and waffle was bliss. I really would have liked more of that custard. The freeze dried honey was not my thing and I found it inedible. With the rest of the meal being so wonderful, it was very forgivable.


Some delightful pastries in the morning sun.

At the moment, Gauge is open for breakfast and lunch (7am - 3pm). Given my experience at breakfast, I can't wait to try their lunch items and I'll be one of the first one in line when they open for dinner in the coming months.

Food: 4/5
Service: 4.5/5
Price: 3.5/5
Atmosphere: 4.5/5

REVIEW: Spring Food & Wine



Ahhh...expectations were high.

Since I've been blogging reviews, I've started to really take note of a lot more things when I eat out. I note the service and the little extra touches that restaurants do, and as such, I've just noticed that most places really try to do their best. I was thinking, maybe I'll never post a less than positive review! I have been as critical while remaining fair as I could but I just haven't had a bad experience...until now. 

This kitchen is pretty cute hey. Imagine having that in your house!

I'd been hanging out to go to Spring for literally over a year. The menu looks so good and the website makes it sound fresh and spectacular, with organic food and farm to table eating. Unfortunately, I did not have the spectacular experience that I thought was all but guaranteed.


A nice coffee. The coffee must have been good cos the coffee drinkers went back for more!

We arrived at Spring early on a Wednesday morning for a girls catch up before work. I was so excited and when I walked in, I was simply chuffed with the interior. It is so French, provincial and charming. We were seated with the rest of our party and perused the menu. Everything sounded pretty good and we were quickly decided on what we would get.


I don't have the guts to go for green juices. Like, they look so healthy and people love them but why go green when you can go pink! Pink juice is where it's at.

When I caught the attention of the waiter and asked to order, he told me that drinks were first. This kind of perturbed me as it was obvious we were all dressed to go to work and you would think on a work day, efficiency would be key. Whatever, we ordered drinks and were left to wait to order our food.


A slightly blurry photo of the watermelon special. Looks a bit like a Halloween drink. It was really nice though.

For drinks, we ordered a Watermelon Special juice which is apple, watermelon, mint and lime, a Miss Berry juice of mixed berries, apple and orange, a Sweet Green juice of cucumber, spinach, celery, kale and watermelon as well as a couple of coffees. All the juices were $7.50. There was a big juicing machine in the kitchen and they were all very fresh.


And this is my drink! The pink beauty.

Once the waiter had deigned to take our order with his most least interested face on, the Farmhouse Breakfast ($22) proved to be most popular with 3 orders with Smashed Avocado on home-baked sourdough toast ($10) a close runner up with two of us ordering the dish. The Farmhouse Breakfast looked decent  and came with all the expected trappings of a big breakfast with eggs, bacon, tomato, sausages, mushrooms, spinach and toast. A gluten free order had the sourdough swapped with gluten free bread. My fellow diners said the bacon was very well cooked. The sausages also looked fat and plump.


The Farmhouse Breakfast and you can see the gluten free farmhouse with the gluten free bread. I tried some of that bread and it was alright. Poor gluten free people.

I was less impressed with the avocado on toast. The presentation was quite poor. I ordered a side of mushrooms for $5 and received four pretty sad looking mushrooms on the side. I guess the avocado on toast was on the cheaper side for breakfast at$10 but I was pretty disappointed with the mushrooms. Way over priced. And I didn't think the bread was all that good compared with the bread I had at Chester Street Bakery.


Those mushrooms look miserable. They need Xanax or something. It's like avosadco on toast.

My fellow avocado on toaster ordered a side of haloumi for $5 and I thought it looked equally depressed. As there was no salt on the table, I asked the waiter for some salt and was given an empty shaker. That's not enough really to upset me but when I asked for a different one, I was given instructions on how to use the shaker and told it wasn't really empty in a manner I found rude. After negotiating the release of a different salt shaker like the release of a hostage from Fallujah, I finished my meal with a sour taste in my mouth from the dismissive and unhelpful waiter.


That haloumi is trying to hide under the toast. It can't even.

I found the food at Spring pretty average but it was the service that really stuck in my craw. The waitress who rung up our bill at the end was actually really lovely and perhaps if she'd been our server the whole time, I might be back to Spring to see if they were having an off day.


The coffee must be good! Look at that line up for takeaways.

However, with the attitude of the man who did serve us, I think I'll try somewhere else next time. There are so many great places opening every week in Brisbane, I really don't have to put up with bad service. 
 
Food: 2/5
Service: 1/5
Price: 3/5
Atmosphere: 3/5

 

REVIEW: Our Haus

Here's the sign for Our Haus...not the greatest photo but anyway. Now you've seen the sign,

Last weekend, we woke up and got out of bed before 9 which is a bit of an accomplishment. We were due at breakfast with Mr. Cakes' lovely family. We walked the short distance to Bungalow 4171 to meet our fellow diners with 6 of us planning to eat. Unfortunately, when everyone arrived, we were told it would at least be 20 minutes until they would be able to seat us and that there were few tables large enough to accommodate us. It was a bit of a shame as I hadn't been to Bungalow 4171 for a while and was keen to try their new menu.

So instead we went to Our Haus on Riding road. We've been to Our Haus so many times as it's so close to us and we're always satisfied, especially with their serving sizes. They have recently changed owners in the last few months, so I was curious to see if things have changed. We were seated straight away and had menus as well as water for the table promptly. The services is always very attentive.


Our table in the lovely winter sun.

We were seated in a pleasant seat in the dappled winter sun and drinks were ordered! For drinks, we ordered one pineapple juice ($4.50), two Haus Frappes Fusions both for $6.50, two cappuccinos ($4 each) and for me...can you guess? Yep! A large caramel milkshake ($5.90).


The pineapple juice being all ananas-y.

The pineapple juice is from a bottle, not freshly juiced so it's nothing extra special but pineapple juice is pretty special anyway, right? One of the frappes was Mango Lime and the other was a rather exciting sounding Copacabana, which is pineapple, lime and mint. By reports, they were very good! The Copacabana looked particularly good.

The Copacabana on the left and mango lime on the right. Look at that pineapple juice in the background, pulling focus. YOU'VE HAD YOUR TURN, PINEAPPLE JUICE!

The coffees were good and nicely presented. They did look a tad small to me but I don't even drink coffee so I'm not sure how much of a right I have to judge.

A pretty little coffee. Is that called crema on the top? It's good looking froth anyway.

Now, down to the serious business. My milkshake. You should know I take dairy VERY seriously. Ice cream, and ice cream derivatives of which milkshakes are one, is my jam! They're my bae! They're my BFFs! And I ain't even joking.

It is a nice looking milkshake, I have to give it that. Ohh I see you pineapple juice! Go home, you're drunk!

So this milkshake...I gotta say. Meh. It's flavour was alright, I can't complain but it didn't knock my socks off. It was okay. The texture though? Mmm. Not that great. I couldn't even say it was like thick milk. It was like milk. And I would have liked a bigger one,(that's what he said!) but I think I might say that about every milkshake. So I don't know, overall, milkshake was meh.



That is a big Big Breakfast hey!

The milkshake did not ruin my experience though! Because here came breakfast! First up was the big breakfast at $21.90 It came with the standard big breakfast items - bacon, eggs, toast, mushrooms, wilted spinach, hash browns, grilled tomatoes and sausages. The usual suspects. But then there was a steak! A nice bit of steak! I don't think I've seen that outside a country pub and I think it was very much appreciated! It was just that little bit extra. Good work, Our Haus.

This is the Eggs Benedict with the extra haloumi and the second one is there in the left corner too!

Next up were two Eggs Benedict with bacon ($18.90) and one with an extra side of haloumi ($6). The eggs benedict at Our Haus also comes with avocado as standard too, which is another nice touch. The hollandaise sauce was tasty and the eggs were poached very well. The side of bacon was very generous and I have to say I got a little bit of bacon-envy. Happens. The haloumi was cooked well and not greasy as it can be. Both of the eggs benedict were well received.



The healthy breakfast option - The Gym Junkie!

Two servings of the Gym Junkies ($18) were ordered, with the Gym Junkie being an egg white omelette with mushroom and sweet potato served with rocket and spinach on top with a extra side of toast ($4). I didn't see any rocket on the plate though, even though its stated on the menu. I don't think that was particularly devastating. It was cooked well and the sweet potato went well with the omelette. It's nice to see such a healthy option on a menu that is also a hot dish.



Looks good hey! I like the little pumpkin crisp.

Finally, I had Eggs Riding ($16) with a side of hash browns ($4). One of my hash browns was pilfered by Mr. Cakes but since I'm so good at sharing, I didn't mind. I really liked the dish, with pumpkin and wilted spinach and I swapped out poached eggs for scrambled. It all worked well together and presented nicely. The tomato compete and little pumpkin crisp on top was a nice touch too!

I like Our Haus because it can always be relied upon for a decent breakfast. The restaurant achieves what it sets out to: it's a nice, simple suburban café. It's not a place for fancy, haute cuisine but it doesn't want to be. It's my neighbourhood café where we can rock up and get a table pretty much straight away.

Food: 3/5
Service: 3.5/5
Price: 4/5
Atmosphere: 3/5

REVIEW: Chester Street Bakery

This place is on Chester Street, would you have guessed?

After the markets on Saturday, even though I'd had a chocolate croissant and half a brownie, mum and I decided to go get some breakfast. I've been wanting to try Au Cirque for just about as long as I can remember but once again, they were just too dang busy for our timeframes. Instead I found myself driving through New Farm into Newstead, searching for inspiration (and a car park), we ended up on Chester Street.


It's a pretty smart use of decorations in what used to be an office.

I've been to Chester Street Bakery and was confident we'd get a good feed. Maybe it was due to the overcast weather, with a fair portion  of Chester Street's seating being outside, but we had a choice of tables. We chose a table right in the centre of the patio and perused the menu.


Drool.

Chester Street has counter service which gives a great opportunity to scout out all the baked goods, which are...amazing.


This is where the magic happens.

The  service was really quick and even though there was a mix-up with the table number - both our drinks taken on a tour of the restaurant before they found us - we were happy with their efficiency.


These charming cans were used as cutlery holders, which mum tells me would have been simply unacceptable some years ago.

The love of my life (besides Mr. Cakes and Puppy Cakes) is ice-cream. I also have a thing for ice-creams brother, milkshakes...actually, ice-creams brother is gelato. Milkshakes are the son and ice cream is the dad and milk is the mum. Anyway, now that I've explained the genealogy of ice-cream, I can tell you I ordered the caramel milkshake ($6.50) and mum got a large cappuccino. 


I don't drink coffee but that looks pretty good! Good size too.

I don't want to toot my own horn (TOOT!) but I think I know a thing or a gajillion about milkshakes, as I think I just displayed by my breakdown of the ice-cream family tree. So I can tell you with confidence, that this was not the best milkshake I've ever had but it was pretty good. My biggest problem with it was the thickness. I like my milkshakes to be thicker than milk. What's the point of shaking it if it's not gonna be thick? Leave it alone. You're just being mean. And I could have done with a bit more too, but then, I'm a milkshake guts ache. I will tell you that this milkshake had a superb caramel flavour. There were little black dots in it and dare I say they were real flecks of vanilla? Cos if they were, bravo. The flavour really pulled this milkshake up by the britches.


I'm going to give you a makeover...

...Ahhh beautiful!



To eat, I got the Field Mushrooms ($16.90). Again, the service was quick and meals came out in not much time at all. My field mushrooms were really tasty and provolone cheese was melted, gooey and just so damn good. The big pile of rocket really went well with the mushrooms and cut through the cheese. The whole thing was good ingredients, prepared simply. Which is a win in my mind. The star of the show was the bread, which to be honest, another piece of it would have been welcome. The bread was real sourdough with the distinct sour flavour and fantastic, chewy and crisp crust.

Will you look at that cheese please? Hey, I'm a poet!

For her brekkie, mum got the Eggs, poached ($13.90) with a side of Grilled Tomatoes ($4) and she found the same thing with her meal. Quality ingredients which are allowed to have their moment on the plate. The tomatoes were well done and not chalky at all, which can often be the case. The eggs were expertly poached and garnished with torn herbs. And the bread! I was a little jealous of her two slices! Pro tip: If you like bread, order another slice for only $2.50! If you don't like bread, we can't be friends.


Dang, those tomatoes look good. And they know it.

So overall, I was happy with ending up at Chester Street! It's a solid little place with speedy service and simple food, done well. And by the way, you can get the cake to go! Yessssss....

Food: 4/5
Service: 3.5/5
Price: 3.5/5
Atmosphere: 3/5