My love affair with my new-ish neighborhood continues as I fall for yet another of its fabulous cafes. I've been meaning to share with you some of my regular haunts, but this one will do for now.
Cafe Mint is like Surry Hills' answer to Kazbah, but with its own unique character.
It operates as a cafe Friday to Sunday and a restaurant/bar Tuesday to Saturday. The menu is Middle-Eastern inspired and the desserts menu is to-die-for.
Here for breakfast, we start with coffee. My latte is divine - deliciously velvety as it should be. We're perched outside on this rare hot summer day, enjoying the light breeze and watching the world go by...
Ah, lazy Sundays, there aren't enough of them!
Zen has the breakfast hummus with lamb mince and pine nuts ($16.50). The hummus is deliciously creamy and fluffy, and the lamb mince is just so incredibly tender. But it's the spices and slight kick of heat that takes this dish up to another level.
Baked eggs ($16.50) are available with chackchouka or with beans and sucuk sausage. I naturally go for the one with beans, hoping for an exotic take on good ol' baked beans. It completely is! Runny egg yolk, strips of spicy sausage, hearty beans, and fragrant za'atar toast. There's nothing subtle about this breakfast; it is modest in size and the flavours are punchy.
I also really do adore anything with za'atar (a spice mix of oregano, thyme, sesame seeds, sumac and salt).
I'm noticing more cafes use these Tap water bottles too - what an awesome concept?
I'll definitely be returning to Mint Cafe sometime soon, although never again on a Sunday as they have a $2 per person Sunday surcharge... I strongly dislike additional charges on anything in particular:
- Extras on airfare
- Eateries that charge extra for sauce
- Shops that have a credit card fee
What about you? Are there any particular 'extra charges' that you can't stand?
Cafe Mint
579 Crown Street, Surry Hills, NSW
Phone: (02) 9319 0848
Web: cafemint.com.au
group booking commissions! why??? restos should be paying me a % for bringing a large group to them...considering all we get is usually a banquet option / limited menu... so why again am i being penalised for filling your resto, making life easier for your kitchen? good on fourinhand for not charging a penalty for large groups!
I completely agree!
Weekend and public holiday surcharges are awfully annoying, especially since they've been illegal since 2009 but restaurants and cafes still keep doing this!
Hi,
I love Cafe Mint. Their dinner menu is amazing and i agree the desserts are SOSOSO good!
Lola - The legislation was changed again on the weekend surcharge issue, and it is again legal. So they no longer need a seperate menu it can just be tacked on.
However i agree with kewpie, i am taking 30 people to a restaurant where they are doing us a set menu with shared plates and they have tacked on an 8% surchage.. it does get frustrating (and expensive!).
Thanks for a yummy post!
Melleemoo
Good points everyone I agree, why are you penalizing us?? Vote with your feet. I havent been to cafe mint but it looks really interesting.
Ahh that mince looks amazing. I'm a fan of mince on toast!
OMG no I want bakes eggs SO bad!