Cafe Simple, Darlington

 As the name suggests, Café Simple [74-80 Boundary Street (Corner of Boundary Street & Ivy Lane), Darlington is easy going, relaxed and so far, under the café radar hotspot. Tucked behind the Adina apartment hotel complex, and in the former location of 'a little on the side', Café Simple only opened its doors last week with locals already customising themselves as regulars and flocking in for coffee.

 

 

 

 

 Café Simple utilises beans from 'Red Fairy' boutique coffee roasters and their loose tea leaves are sourced from Ronnefeldt. They make the most out of their smallish open kitchen and deliver some very refined breakfast and lunch dishes.

Ronnefeldt Tea Selection

 Here is most of the menu at the moment minus a few baked goods that come from down the road at Brickfields (which is super delicious, but we'll save that for another blog post). I'm almost certain that the menu will be tweaked as they receive feedback from customers about their dishes!

Breakfast (8am-Noon):

Simple Crepe

Diced Banana & Strawberry in Yoghurt with Maple Syrup

Puffy Omelette

Eumundi Smokehouse Salmon & Dill / Mushroom & Parsley / Garlic, Roasted Tomato & South Coast Vintage Cheese

 

Kedgeree

Organic Long Grain Rice, Pan Fried with Fresh Herbs, Mild Spices, Eumundi Smokehouse Salmon with Poached Eggs, Fresh Cucumber & Lemon

Simple Bubble Muesli

Poached Cinnamon Pear & Country Valley Yoghurt

Simple Tradition

Eumundi Smokehouse Bacon, Lemon Braised Mushroom & Blanched Spinach with Eggs of choice on Brickfields' Sourdough

 

Huevos Rancheros

Eumundi Smokehouse Chorizo Sausage, with Roasted Potato Wedges, Green Ratatouille & Roasted Tomato with Eggs of choice on Brickfields' Sourdough

Simple Fiasco

Eumundi Smokehouse Bacon Pieces, Onion Rings & Blanched Spinach with Eggs of choice on Brickfields' Sourdough

Lunch (Noon-3pm):

Pasta

Three Mushroom & Walnut Pasta Gallery Ravioli in a Country Valley Cream & Mushroom Sauce

or

Eggplant, Onion & Roasted Almonds Pasta Gallery Ravioli in a White Wine & Roasted Tomato Sauce

Simple Burger

Open Lamb, Onion & Coriander Burger with Hot House Relish, Yoghurt & Fresh Cucumber, Tomato & Mescal Salad on Brickfields' Sourdough

Simple Pumpkin Bake

Organic Long Grain Brown Rice, Grilled Eggplant, Zucchini & Mushroom, topped with Roasted Pumpkin & Tahini Crust - served with Mescal

Black Mussels

with Garlic, Coriander, Chilli, Tomato, Onion & White Wine Sauce - served with Brickfields' Sourdough Crouton

Barramundi Fillet

with Red & White Sweet Potato Julienne Chips, Lemon Mayo& amp; Mescal Salad

Lamb Cutlets

with Polenta & Mushroom Chips, Blanched Spinach & Mushroom Jus

T-Bone Steak

with Roasted Kumera & Pumpkin Salad or Kumera Julienne Chips& amp; Mescal
 

Menu Holders

Menu

 

Kitchen Area

  Breakfast Tart

Shortcrust Pastry, Eumundi Smokehouse Bacon, Roast Tomato & Egg

 We seated ourselves on the covered porch area but there were also a handful of seats inside along with some stools and benches facing the street through the open windows.

 

Coffee Machine

Flat White

Piccolo

 Andrew orders the 'Puffy Omelette' for our brunch date and to be honest, I think we were all expecting a lot more from this dish. We had in our minds, an extravagant half fried, bubbly omelette with mushrooms occupying each air pocket. Instead, Andrew's $16 only provided a handful of thinly sliced button mushrooms on a regular omelette topped with parsley. Surely a dish like this one would be easier made at home without having to break into your life savings. Ultimately however, it was well made and quite tasty but it's a shame it ended up being a standard omelette rather than something being drawn from the carton of creativity.

  Puffy Omelette

Mushrooms & Parsley

 Patty's pick was the 'Huevos Rancheros' and this was a dish with its own little twists and turns. Not often do you see roasted potatoes and tomato combined with ratatouille in a breakfast dish but all the flavours worked well together. With the addition of free-styled poached eggs (which takes some confidence to achieve and were done to yolky perfection) and bits of chorizo sausage it had all the elements for an ultimate breakfast.

  Huevos Rancheros

 Eumundi Smokehouse Chorizo Sausage, with Roasted

Potato Wedges, Green Ratatouille & Roasted Tomato

 with Eggs of choice on Brickfields' Sourdough

 

 For my 'Simple Fiasco', the onion rings in the description immediately lit up the light bulb in my head as I imagined the crunchy, golden batter that screamed cholesterol enhancer, but more importantly, deliciousness. But then again, as I thought about it, it seemed quite farfetched to have fried onion rings for breakfast. Anyhow, after forking and knifing my way back to reality by digging into the not so dramatic onion rings it ended up being a very refined and tasty dish. Essentially a baked eggs served on a plate, the combination of onion, spinach and bacon went down especially well with some yolk and sourdough. The Eumundi Smokehouse bacon pieces turned chunks was the real winner for me, yum.

Simple Fiasco

Eumundi Smokehouse Bacon Pieces, Onion Rings &

Blanched Spinach with Eggs of choice on Brickfields' Sourdough

 Being only a short walk from the engineering faculty in Sydney Uni, this café is bound to become a hit with students looking for some variety with their coffee. Café Simple to me, screams potential and I'm sure that there will be changes within the café every week as they finds their feet within its new surroundings. Maybe it was the three of us sitting on the porch together for a Saturday brunch, or the honesty of the café once you walk in, but there seems to be something unique at Café Simple and so I'd definitely recommend a visit. We'll be back soon to see what's changed!

Bunny Rating-

Category: Café