It is the last day of Movember for 2009 today, people. For those of you who don’t know what Movember is (and can I just say: FAIL. Fail to you), it’s a month where guys grow mos, money for prostate cancer and men’s depression is raised, and awareness is spread about these two issues. It’s also the month where you seem to embark on a lot of foolish fund raising activities-like the Mousdash. What’s the Mousdash? It’s a 10.5km fun run up and down Mt Coot-tha.
It’s also something that makes you a hungry little sucker. A couple of weeks ago, my Mousdash teammates and I went to Sassafras for a post-Mousdash breakfast. I needed FOOD, and man was I glad we booked-Sassafras is notorious for being packed for breakfast on the weekend; make sure you book at least the day before!
“Carb load!” D and I squealed to each other when we arrived, rubbing our sweaty little hands in glee. We ordered some drinks to whet our appetite. Who am I kidding, we were starving, no one else was there yet, and it seemed more polite than going ahead and ordering our meals. D got a Mango Smoothie, and I grabbed a Mango, Coconut and Banana Frappe (both $6). I was worried my frappe would be little more than an icy mess with a touch of sweetness, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was creamy, very thick, and very fruity. It was so much better than the smoothie-in fact, the smoothie kind of sucked. It was very thin, and didn’t have a strong mango flavour. But my frappe was seriously awesome.
I’ve posted before about how D and I tend to gravitate towards Eggs Benedict and muesli respectively on breakfast menus. Yeah, we did it again at Sassafras. It was slightly harder this time though-I was eyeing off the Ricotta Hotcakes with Honeycomb Butter and Maple Syrup ($14.20), and a workmate was raving about the Grilled Banana and Walnut Bread with Brown Sugar Butter ($7.20). But predictable ol’ me went with the Organic Muesli ($9.20), and boring fuddy duddy D got the Eggs Benedict with Salmon ($16.90).
I was surprised at first when my muesli came out. I was expecting it to be already layered with yogurt and fruit, as is often the case, but instead a huge serve of dry muesli was accompanied with a little dish of Greek Yogurt, a sachet of honey, and a little jug of milk. This was quite ideal, as often muesli in cafes is not as ‘light’ as it seems-giant, fruit-filled serves, mixed with lashings of full fat yogurt and dollops of honey means that the humble cereal is transformed into something more suited for dessert.
D was also enjoying his Eggs Benedict. There was a generous serving of salmon, and the hollandaise sauce had a nice lemon flavour. It threatened to show the beginnings of that scary ‘sauce skin’ thing though.
Sassafras Muesli
Sassafras Outside
Sassafras Frappe
Sassafras has an ideal breakfast menu; all the basics are there, but they’re given a twist. They can also prepare any meal to be gluten free, and they have a kiddies breakfast menu too (although let’s face it, when we were kids we ate more than our parents. Am I right?)
It’s a very casual and relaxed space to dine in; there are small rooms crammed with antique furniture; little nooks around the side with benches; and a large outdoor area surrounded by trees. Prices aren’t exactly cheap, but the servings are large and everyone at our table enjoyed their meals. Despite the creativity that some dishes have taken (think Chilli Corn Cakes with Hummus, Spinach, Crispy Bacon & Tomato Relish, $15.20), it’s still a very casual and pretty basic deli/cafe. You can get food in a ‘fancier’ place for virtually the same price, but Sassafras is a very relaxing place that’s ideal for groups.
There were a tonne of goodies in their display cabinet too-I think I’m going to have to make a return trip just for their blondies or fresh sandwiches. And I may not even wait for the next time I sweat a year’s supply of beer out of my pores.
Sassafras
Cafe & Catering
88 Latrobe Terrace
Paddington
(07) 3369 0600
http://www.sassafrasfoods.com.au
The cookie was packed with corn flakes, peanuts, raisins, and covered in a layer of chocolate. It was tasty-in a way, a Florentine isn’t a cookie per se as it’s very crunchy and hearty. It’s a bit like a muesli bar in round, cookie-shaped form.
Now, if you’re not retarded about such trivial things like I am, then go get yourself a Floretine, or any of Blue Lotus’ other sweet treats-the Melting Moments look buttery and rich, and the Banana Bread is enormous. Plus, the coffee is always good-my Merl0-blend skim cappuccino ($3.30) on this visit was so creamy I questioned whether there was a mistake and it was in fact full cream milk. Nup, just good coffee.
