Hideout

Walking back from a meeting, my colleague suggested popping in to Hideout for a coffee. It was a glorious warm afternoon and not being in any hurry to get back to the office, I agreed. Hideout wasn’t high on my ‘to visit’ list – they don’t have a large food offering, so it really is all about the coffee, which I don’t drink – but on this day I was more than happy to go along. The staff were very friendly and the service was impressive – we ordered at the counter (flat white for my colleague, soy hot chocolate for me), and our drinks came to the table in the blink of an eye. We took a seat next to the impressive bookshelf wall full of second-hand volumes, and when it arrived my hot chocolate was impressively tasty, with a lovely rich froth on the top. There are very few places in Canberra that can make soy taste good (experiences have ranged from ‘can’t taste any chocolate’ to ‘tastes like cardboard’), but for Canberra Hideout does well. It also came with two marshmellows, which was a nice bonus. The verdict? Cozy, tasty and inviting.  Hideout is aptly named.

Hideout, 6 National Circuit, Barton ACT                         http://www.hideoutcoffee.com.au

Old Parliament House

There’s not a lot on offer to eat in the Parliamentary Triangle, so when an opportunity to try something different arises, it ‘s pretty exciting. When my friend and I saw that the cafe at Old Parliament House was offering high tea, we booked in quick smart and prepared for an unusually indulgent lunch break. As with most high teas, we started with finger sandwiches – my friend is vegetarian and they happily provided cucumber and egg sandwiches for her, while I enjoyed the smoked salmon (always my favourite). We then progressed to the scones, where there were strangely three scones when we’d booked for two people. The scones were not as risen as some I’ve had but there was a good amount of jam and cream and they weren’t too heavy. The dessert tier at the top of the tray was the highlight, with five different pieces each! We sampled mini raspberry friands (beautifully buttery and tart), custard tarts, a nut brownie, a light, layered caramel slice and a handmade nougat. By then we’d had a bit of sweet overdose, but it was a fantastic selection with unusual choices, proving that it’s always worth trying something new.

Old Parliament House, 18 King George Terrace, Parkes, ACT     http://moadoph.gov.au/visiting/cafe/

Honeycomb

Honeycomb is the kind of place I wish was my local cafe. Set on a corner at a roundabout in Darlinghurst, it’s a great people-watching spot with fresh, modern decor with a yellow theme. This is carried through their chairs and table flowers with an elegant simplicity. Needless to say I was pretty excited to try the food. On weekends, Honeycomb does all day breakfast, so when we arrived for lunch at 12:30, I could still order poached eggs – it’s great to eat somewhere that caters to what you feel like eating. The eggs were perfectly poached, and the avocado with za’atar was a fantastic mix of textures. Unfortunately the bread was very crusty and hard to cut, but the egg softened it a little. After brunch, we ordered a plate of doughnuts with dulce du leche, which were little bites of happiness – the doughnuts were small spheres dusted in plenty of cinnamon sugar, which were truly decadent with the addition of the sweet dulce de leche. The only downside of the whole experience was that you had to leer awkwardly across the tables sitting in front of the specials menu blackboard wall to see the options. Apart from that, another #cometocanberra campaign needed.

Honeycomb, 354 Liverpool St, Darlinghurst, Sydney NSW http://www.honeycombrestaurant.com.au/

ETC

If there was one place that can claim to have started my love of breakfast, it is this one. ETC (East Terrace Continental, for non-Adelaideans) is one of the first places I went to for breakfast back in 2008, when a friend of mine and I started going on ‘breakfast adventures’ in the city. Since then it hasn’t changed a bit – they’re still serving breakfast all day and doing it superbly well. ETC has a cozy feel to it – wooden floors, tables and chairs make it inviting in both summer when the doors are opened and winter when it’s windy outside. They offer both breakfast and lunch, as well as a specials board which often includes the best bits. Whilst their eggs benedict is my usual staple, this time I decided to try their ‘chill bar’, a traditional Turkish breakfast with poached eggs, garlic yoghurt, paprika butter, mushrooms and toast. As always, the eggs were perfectly poached and oozed into the yoghurt/butter bowl. The mushrooms had a little bit of bite to them; the toast had just the right amount of crisp and tasted of sesame (yum). ETC is a go-to for reliably good food and atmosphere, any time of year.

ETC, 6 East Terrace, Adelaide SA                                              http://etccafe.com.au/

Double Drummer

Given the number of people who work in the Parliamentary Triangle, you would think that someone would have come up with a concept like Double Drummer before. Essentially, it’s a lovely large cafeteria with practical but fun style (e.g. green flamingo upholstery), serving home-style meals at very good prices (for Canberra) to large numbers of office workers, and it has only been around since mid-2014. I must admit, this is another place where I end up always ordering the same thing – how can you go past a golden, crispy chicken schnitzel? The schnitzel is offered with a choice of two sides, which is food for thought when lining up at the counter (there’s always a line at lunchtime). My favourites are the chips and Caesar – the chips are crispy on the outside and fluffy inside, whilst the Caesar has nicely sized pieces of lettuce with just the right amount of dressing and croutons. The schnitzel itself is the stuff of food comas – a huge piece of tender chicken coated in a crispy deep-fried shell. The menu stretches from sandwiches to soups though, so I might have to be more adventurous next time…

Double Drummer, Ground Floor Courtyard, 4 National Circuit, Barton ACT   http://thedoubledrummer.com.au/

Wharf One

I was pretty excited to discover that Wharf One did breakfast – I’d had icecream there on the waterfront and admired the view, thinking, this would be a great breakfast place. They were way ahead of me. I came back the next day and ordered the ‘broken eggs’, not entirely sure what that meant but excited to have avocado, and a classic banana smoothie. The smoothie came out first, while we sat enjoying the sunshine and light breeze, and it was exactly what you want a banana smoothie to be – sweet and obviously full of fresh bananas. Mmm. When the broken eggs arrived I was intruigued by the colour – the egg white seemed more cooked than the yolk, making it something in between scrambled and poached. It was actually just the right consistency, and when combined with the avocado served on another piece of toast it was one of the best breakfasts I’ve had in a long time. The seats are nicely spaced apart for privacy and the open structure is designed to allow maximum enjoyment of the weather and the view, both of which were just as lovely as the food!

Wharf One, Wharf Street, Cairns QLD, no website

Berkelouw Books

I was pretty sad to hear that Berkelouw had closed their Newtown store, it was a lovely place full of books and food. But never fear, they haven’t gone for good. Yes, it has a different vibe, but the outpost at Westfield Hornsby still has books and food, although no kitchen, sadly. Shelves line the long corridor overlooking the fountain, with books you can sit in armchairs and read while sipping a coffee, or, as I did, chowing down on a piece of cake. The cake selection was pretty good, with several full-sized cakes for slices and a range of cookies and smaller treats. I went for the apple flan, which had a beautiful almond cake underneath the layers of apple doused in that scrumptious sweet glaze that makes cakes shiny and delicious. The serve was enough to keep me going, and it was lovely to sit in the corridor on an armchair (complete with rug underneath!) and flick through the second hand volumes. Walking through the book store afterwards was fun too, so many lovely editions and new things to add to my ‘to read’ list.

Berkelouw Books:

Shop B30-33, Level 3 (on the link bridge), Westfield Shopping Centre, Pacific Highway, Hornsby, Sydney, NSW

http://berkelouw.com.au/stores/hornsby