Review: Mojo Rising – Lonsdale St Roasters, Braddon

What is it about a little cafe that draws people in and keeps them coming back, again and again?  Good food?  Good coffee?  A little bit of magic, or mojo, perhaps?  Whatever it is, there is something about Lonsdale St Roasters in Braddon.  This place is ultra-hip, ultra-cool and very, very trendy.

Every weekday morning I walk past Lonsdale St Roasters on my way to work, longingly looking inside as I go by.  I envy all those hip, trendy people inside who can luxuriate over breakfast and a coffee during the week, while the rest of us mere mortals have to be in the office by 9am. 

Every now and again, when I make a special effort to get going early, I manage to squeeze inside Lonsdale St Roasters (and some mornings it really is a squeeze, but the service is quick).  The heady aroma of roasting coffee beans jolts all my senses awake.  And I am glad, for the coffee is good and the coffee is strong! (So strong it will grow hairs on your chest!). It is the best coffee I’ve had in Canberra.

Every so often, I grab breakfast on the run from this tiny cafe.  I love the raisin toast with oh-so-sweet-and-delicious cinnamon butter served in a little tub on the side.  Once in a while, if I am lucky, on a weekend morning I can sit down and eat breakfast and drink coffee and hang out, just like all those trendy, hip things I have envied during the week.  Then it’s the gorgeous waffles with honey butter that make my heart sing.  The music box plays cool, sultry blues like Billie Holiday, melding with the coffee aroma like a couple embraced in a slow dance. The darkened cave-like room hums with energy and I just mellow out and relax, absorbing it all and recharging my tired soul.

Waffles with honey butter - $7

Once in a while, I also venture to Lonsdale St Roasters for lunch.  The energy buzzes as I catch up with good friends and family.   Packed to overflowing as usual with beautiful, trendy people, the little cafe opens its windows and the people all tumble onto the pavement, sitting in the sun on upturned milk crates and tiny stools, among all the bicycles parked out the front.  If only there could be proper chairs and tables and umbrellas!  I guess shabby-chic is part of the quirky charm, but still! 

The panini are a lunch-time specialty, and Lonsdale St Roasters has got them down to a fine art, along with the kitsch artwork on the walls.  Slow roasted meats with chilli and spice, cransky, chorizo and roasted portabello mushrooms are the stars, arriving in beautiful, crusty toasted bread rolls with other tasty fillings like rich, melted cheese and tasty relish.  However, while this food is good, it is very heavy going.  I would love to see some fresher, lighter meals as well.

Panini with roasted portabello mushrooms and melted gorgonzola cheese - $11

Panini with cransky and sauerkraut - $12

I walk by Lonsdale St Roasters on my way home again every evening.  The little cafe is dark and quiet now – it’s well past closing time.  I look through the window as I pass, thinking when I might come in again.  The mojo keeps drawing me back.  And the great coffee.

So tell me, what keeps you coming back to a place again and again?  And do you believe in mojo?

Post Script:
Lonsdale St Roasters now has umbrellas set up outside.  Yay!

Lonsdale St Roasters

7 Lonsdale St

Braddon  ACT

Open Monday – Sat for breakfast and lunch.  Closed on Sundays. L

Lonsdale St Roasters Facebook page

Review: Mutiny, Fish and Chips - The Fish Shack, Civic

Ever wanted to rock the boat, shake the tree, rattle the cage, stick it to 'the man'?  I am meek and mild at the best of times, but every now and again I like to stir the pot a bit and cause just a little bit of havoc, especially when food is at stake.  One day I even managed to cause a small mutiny in the office over fish and chips. You see, my boss wanted to have a bit of a team lunch  - a picnic in the park eating fish and chips.  A lovely idea, to be sure.  Only the plan was to get the food from a greasy old takeaway joint down the road - not so lovely after all - there were even threats of chiko rolls and deep fried Mars bars!  So I decided to take matters into my own hands and checked all those fabulous food blogs for a well-rated alternative.  And so I came across the Fish Shack.

The Fish Shack is a bright orange little shack in the middle of Civic.  Open for a few months now, it does a roaring trade and fresh take on the old favourites - beer battered fish, salt and pepper squid, tempura prawns, Thai fish cakes and much more (view the menu).  And they are pretty damn good - the fish is very fresh, the batter is light and crunchy and the chips are lovely and crisp.  At lunch time there can be a bit of a wait, so a hot tip is to ring your order in ahead of time so it's ready to collect when you arrive.

Tempura prawns and chips - $13.50

Salt and pepper squid and chips - $12.50

Premium beer battered classic fish and chips - medium size - $9.50

Back to the mutiny... I managed to convince all my work colleagues that we could do much, much better than the greasy old takeaway joint.  What could the boss do when the power of the people was against him?  All ended well, of course, and we had a beautiful hour in the sunshine eating our yummy Fish Shack food.  The boss still had the greasy old takeaway joint food, though. J

So tell me, where's your favourite fish and chips joint?  And what little revolutions have you started?

The Fish Shack
Petrie Plaza (off Bunda St)
Civic  ACT
ph. 6248 5885
Open for lunch Mon - Sat, dinner Tues - Fri
http://www.thefishshack.com.au/

Review: The Great Breakfast Debacle

We have a lovely little ritual on Saturday mornings.   You will usually find Mr D. and me enjoying brunch at Debacle in Braddon.  This place is our ‘local’ and we love it - we just have to stumble out of bed and wander down the road to get our fix of good coffee and yummy food. 

Debacle is wonderfully laid back and relaxed, and a great place to meet up with friends, although mostly it’s just Mr D. and me doing our own thing.  We’re usually able to walk straight in and find a cosy table just for the two of us, even on a busy Saturday morning.  The service is always friendly and efficient, which is what we want for a hassle- free start to the weekend.

Our favourite dish is the crepes with lemon curd and fresh lemon wedges to squeeze all over them.  The crepes are always light and fresh, although I tend to scrape most of the huge dollop of rich, buttery curd to one side.



French crepes with lemon butter and icing sugar- $11.90



The pancakes with pear, berry compote and ricotta are a close second for me.  They are so dense and satisfying, loaded with all that creamy ricotta, I can only ever get through half.  I’m also a big fan of the freshly squeezed juices on offer – the apple and ginger juice is a particularly spicy and delicious pick-me-up!

Pancakes with grated pear, wide berry compote and ricotta - $13.90

Mr D. and I like to take our time on such lazy weekend mornings.  Seated across from each other, Mr D. will engross himself in his favourite newspaper on his i-pad, while I become absorbed by the latest postings from my favourite food blogs on my i-phone.  Neither of us will say a word, simply just enjoying each other’s company.  Bliss!

Debacle definitely doesn’t live up to its name for a great weekend breakfast experience. J

Debacle

30 Lonsdale St

Braddon  ACT

Open 7 days for breakfast, lunch and dinner

http://www.outincanberra.com.au/debacle

So tell me, do you have a favourite food ritual?

Review: Wilbur's at Hackett Shops

Canberra is a funny town.  Sometimes the best places to eat are tucked away in little suburban shopping centres.  It’s only the locals that have this special knowledge, and they usually don’t let on.  So, it was armed with local knowledge that we headed down to Wilbur's at Hackett shops for a relaxed Saturday family lunch.  

Family gatherings are always a rather loud, noisy affair, expecially for my family.  So you can imagine the poor staff when in I walked and asked for a table of eight for lunch, right then and there, no booking.  The friendly waitress blanched for a millisecond and then said, sure no problem, of course they could fit us in.  Then mum, little sister, her baby boy, little brother, uncle and auntie, grandmother and Mr D. piled in - pram and all.

Wilbur's is a reasonably cosy little place, with bright red leather seats placed around a slow combustion fire place and small tables tucked into corners. Nice for a lazy coffee and newspaper reading afternoon (and the coffee is good). Of course, the eight of us were seated in a long row, hastily rearranged just for us and the pram.

Mr D. and I were hungry - a tasty margherita pizza and garlic pizza bread to share between the two of us sounded like a good idea.  We thought we would get a couple of small pizzas to share.   What came out was huge! The two pizzas were large enough to feed a small army (or at least six people).  This turned out to be a good thing, as the pizzas were delicious and I was rather greedy.  So much so, that I only thought to photograph the food half-way through devouring it.  I won’t tell you how many slices I ate. J

The margherita pizza had lots of tasty, fresh tomato topping with melted bocconcini and basil, the crust was crisp on the bottom as it should be - very, very good as far as pizzas go. The garlic pizza was covered in melted mozzarella and parmesan and was pungently garlicy – a definite thumbs up.

Wilbur's margherita pizza - $17.50

Wilbur's garlic pizza

Sharing food brings my family together – along with lots of joking, poking fun, teasing, fighting and laughing.  This is something that the newest member of our family is discovering.   My three month old baby nephew is very cute and the centre of attention at the moment.  He’s not quite at the grabbing stage yet, but it won’t be long before we have to move all the sugars and cups of coffee and cutlery out of the way when we take him out.  I can’t wait!

No doubt we'll all be coming back to Wilbur's.

Wilbur's

Hackett shops

14 Hackett Place

Hackett   ACT

Open Tues-Sun for breakfast and lunch, Tues-Sat for dinner

http://www.outincanberra.com.au/articles/newhackettcafebringsshopstolife
http://wilburscafebar.blogspot.com/

So tell me, are you greedy too when it comes to good pizza? And do you have a large family that loves to get together to eat?