COODE STREET CAFE, Mt Lawley
by JENNY D’ANGER:
The Coode Street Cafe is tucked away in the back bits of Bayswater’s slice of Mt Lawley but the secret has been well and truly out for years now.
On a rainy Thursday lunchtime the place was heaving with customers. And little wonder, with the cafe groaning under the weight of a slew of “best breakfast” awards collected since 2007.
Breakfast, lunch, coffee and cake: Coode Street does it all brilliantly.
Take one look at the food cabinets with the contents glistening like Crown jewels and promising a sweet or savoury gem, and it’s no wonder.
The range of cakes immediately caught my attention: Too vast to mention, but suffice to say I wasn’t going to overdo the savouries.
Lit up like a Broadway play there were plenty of these on display too, including chicken pies, bacon and leek tarts, smoked salmon, goats cheese and asparagus tarts and quiches.
Apart from a couple of sweet things everything is made on the premises, owner Terry Burgon told the Voice.
The cafe started as a deli 20 years ago and “converted” from there, he says, adding it’s been a long process.
Getting down to business I pointed to the sweet potato and spinach tart ($15.50).
The mix of sweet potato and the sharpness of feta, with a perfectly cooked pastry case was great, as was the homemade beetroot and pumpkin salad it came with.
It was “buyer beware” for Dave, who’d ordered the tuna patty ($15.50) without reading the fine print.
They were delicious but, with feta mixed through, weren’t a suitable choice for my cheese-allergy afflicted man.
The waiter was a delight, whipping away the patty and in no time returning with a couple of free-range poached eggs on toast.
“Creamy,” hubby declared, his happy smile restored.
The lemon zingers ($7.50) we washed our food down with were terrific, the sharpness of the lemon winning out over the sweetness of the apple, and a pleasing ginger “zing” after taste.
Time to revisit the cake cabinet. “It’s like a Cherry Ripe,” the waiter said as I eyed off a slice of the lovebite ($7.50).
One of the few cakes not made at the cafe, it came from North Fremantle sweeties Rawsome.
Based on the Paleo diet they’re raw, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, egg-free, sugar-free—and one would think taste-free, but how wrong one would be. A Cherry Ripe it was, on steroids, a rich chocolate delight, topped with shredded coconut. If this is good for you, sign me up.
D’Angerous went for the lemon meringue ($7), and reckoned it could have been sharper but that didn’t stop him eating the lot.
Two hours passed in a flash as we talked, ate and watched the rain fall gently over the tree-lined street from the warmth of our window seat. Blissful.
Coode Street Cafe
http://www.coodestreetcafe.com.au
Corner Coode St and Third Ave, Mt Lawley
Open 7 days 7am–5pm
9371 9900
