I've really had trouble finding any information on this cafe because it's not listed as a cafe anywhere. But the location is the Dymocks city book store on George St, and the cafe is on the top floor inside the bookshop (you'll see it, and smell it too).
This has been my hiding hole for the past couple of months. It's a Sunday morning ritual for me to do brunch here because of the secludedness and non-hustle/bustleness. It's a little treasure in the CBD. The serving sizes and prices are quite reasonable, and the menu is reminiscent of home-cooked meals.
I love the herbed chicken schnitzel (lunch version, not in a sandwich) as pictured above - and the potato mash served alongside is simply devine - not too greasy, creamy or overpowering with condiments. It is just consistent, light and a true potato mash (au naturel).
I've also tried the beef pot pie - something different. It's a beef stew served in a ramekin-style pot, with a sesame-seeded bread bun top. The bread is quite complimentary to the beef stew as it is a sweet bread rather than plain white. Definitely complimentary and brings out the best in both flavours (sweet vs. savoury).
Below: Fruit Whip (non-dairy as far as I'm concerned) is a good start to the day - cranberry juice, raspberries, strawberry, apple juice, watermelon, orange and possibly some other fruity goodness. All the seeds act as extra fibre and digestive to move everything right along...
I've tried the club sandwich there, but I wasn't overly impressed because a) it was open, therefore not a true sandwich and b) the ingredients were a mish mash and sprawled all over the plate. So unless you like your sandwiches open, I suggest you don't go there.
The Chicken Burger (as pictured above) with its crusty sesame seeded bun, homemade herbed mayo and panfried (a tad on the dry side) breast fillet, cheese, tomato, beetroot and carrot filling was a delight.
Chicken Schnitzel Sandwich (above) is fantabulous! I've now established that all the sandwiches are open-style i.e. sprawl all the ingredients on a plate and hope for the best. For the club sandwich, I'd say its a miss. But the Chicken Schnitzel Sandwich is made with triangular slices of buttered, toasted bread, cheese, tomato, avocado, marinated char-grilled? vegetables, chicken breast schnitzel, a swirl of tangy cream dressing (could be herbed mayonnaise or something more exotic, like tahini or tsaziki) - served with their token carrot, rocket, cucumber, capsicum salad. The marinated vegetables (zucchini, capsicum, sundried tomatoes, eggplant, mushroom) on the schnitzel is an intoxicating synergy of flavours.
Above: Lamb meatballs have a tomato-based "casserole-esque" sauce.Below: BBQ Chicken - pan-fried pieces of breast meat, hash brown, toast & the usual.
All in all, its a nice, friendly place. They put effort in the display of their dishes, and the sides are complimentary. Great for a relaxing meal before/after a hard day shopping in the city.
