All posts tagged: cafe

Cafe Love: Folk, Byron Bay

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Set in the leafy, sleepy outskirts of Byron Bay, Folk Cafe has all the ingredients of a great Northern NSW establishment – laid back vibe, organic + locally sourced food, a timber-roofed front porch, tasty coffee and smiling long-haired staff. But it’s the extra touches – like biodynamic ingredients, flower-garnished sodas, and woodcut balcony panels – that make this cafe, well…perfect. We started with much needed post-journey (from Sydney) coffees, and tried one of the ‘folk house brews’ – in this case a Vanilla Kefir probiotic creaming soda – which in addition to being delicious, was also served on a cool wood board with a description of both the beverage’s background and benefits. The menu puts any question of this being a cafe using local, organic ingredients to rest. We ordered the summer poached eggs on light rye sourdough with organic pea, lemon + mint smash, avocado, zucchini ribbons, fresh local greens, pesto + zataar and also the Folk burrito with spiced biodynamic brown rice + quinoa, organic black beans, relish, roast pumpkin, charred corn, …

Cafe Love: Sari Organik, Ubud

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Part of the joy of this little thatched-roof cafe, set overlooking a rice field in Ubud, is the journey there. You turn off the main road (Jalan Raya) up an unpaved driveway, wander into a narrow laneway – sidestepping motorbikes and potholes – and down a path lined with palm trees and set alongside some of the prettiest rice paddies you ever did see. There is plenty along the path to tempt you out of the heat – yoga studios, sari stalls, aromatherapy and massage clinics – but if you go the distance to Sari Organik you will be rewarded with fresh watermelon juice and simple organic meals using produce grown on the property. And what a lush, peaceful little property it is…. Want more? Check out my Wanderlust on Bondi Beach Radio Bali Special, which includes loads of great interviews from this trip to Bali and an accompanying soundtrack!

Cafe Love: Neptune, Kiama

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Kiama is a a little coastal township 120 kilometers south of Sydney. It’s easy to bypass it on the way down to the many splendid getaways that lay further down the map, but with the Kiama Coast Walk on the agenda over the summer break, it was time to discover what delights it had to offer…and I was pleasantly surprised, especially when I happened upon Neptune Cafe down on the harbourfront. Everything about the interiors in this seafaring-themed gem is on point. From images of Neptune’s trident, to old diving helmets, to nautical glass floats and shanty poems inscribed on the window slats. It has books, it has comfy old-world couches, and it also has super friendly staff. The bubbly owner Stephanie was all smiles and helped us decide which nearby beaches are the best for a snorkel or a swim and told us details about the locally sourced coffee. But let me tell you about the coffee. The coffee the coffee the coffee. It is a contender for the best mocha I have had …

Pilgrims Vegetarian Cafe, Cronulla

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On a sunny Saturday morning, prior to jumping the ferry to Bundeena, my friend Jules and I decided to first fuel up at Pigrims Vegetarian Cafe in Cronulla. With a second floor vantage over the park at South Cronulla, Pilgrims was all blue sky and coastal pines peeking in through the large windows lining the beach-facing walls of this bright cafe. With interiors of rustic wooden furniture, white and blue/grey walls and pops of colour from the likes of pot plants and  milkshake cups. All the surrounding large mugs of creamy caffeine had me ordering a soy latte, which was as satisfying as it sounds. Detoxing Jules got a green tea. I made a note to order one of the many juices next time, such as Bob’s Reef (carrot, orange, ginger), Black Rock (orange, apple, strawberry, banana), Green Island (grapefruit, apple, celery) or Bombie (carrot, apple, beetroot, celery, ginger) – all the tried-and-tested favourites with cool coastal names. If I was to come later in the day, however, I may reach for a sangria or …