Today my wife and I decided to wake up early in the morning
and make trek out to Alexandria to try one of Sydney’s most popular cafes in
Grounds of Alexandria. The Grounds have transformed an industrial warehouse
into a large space for people to experience coffee and food in a relaxing
environment. We were already loving this place even before we walked into the café.
There is also a coffee school, a fountain and a mini-farm, and a large
courtyard.
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| Big tall chimney |
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| The Grounds |
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| Happy 1st birthday, Grounds of Alexandria, your first of many to come! |
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| Dog parking? |
We got to The Grounds just after 7.30 in the morning and it
was already starting to fill up. By 7.45am, the whole café was full. So if
anyone wants to have breakfast or lunch here, you either need to get here early
or be prepared to wait a long time in the queue. The Grounds’ was also
celebrating their one year anniversary so I was going to be a long, busy day
today! The festivities were only just starting as they were setting up the area
for an Easter Egg hunt and the market stalls.
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| Baristas in action |
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| Funky apparatus in background, cold drip coffee |
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| Menu |
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| Cappuccino |
We both ordered cappuccinos. They roast their own beans. The
coffees are great, one of the better ones in Sydney. The cappuccino was smooth
and there was a good balance of flavour with no bitter after taste.
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| House Cured Ocean Trout |
I ordered the ocean trout, which I enjoyed very much. The
ocean trout was delicious and was house cured. It was a very light and
refreshing breakfast with the cucumbers and the wonderful dressing. The eggs
were beautifully cooked, with soft white and runny yolk. Perfect with some
sourdough bread.
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| Za'atar Pita |
My wife had the za’atar pita. Za’atar is a Middle Eastern
mixture of herbs and spices, such as
thyme, sumac and sesame seeds. This was another great breakfast dish.
Everything goes so well together. Pita bread was fresh and was soft . The za’atar
was amazing. Salty feta cheese. The heirloom tomatoes and of course the soft
poached eggs with warm oozing yolk.
After a highly satisfying meal, we walked over to Salt Meats
Cheese, which is situated in another warehouse. This is another great place to
check out if you’re at the Grounds. They do exactly what the name suggests and
they do it well: Salt, Meats, Cheese. We ended up buying some porcini salt (at
$120 a kilo, obviously we only bought a little bit). It just smelt amazing. Can’t
wait to use it to finish off my pasta and risottos! Here are some photos of the
great products at SMC.
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| Salt Meats Cheese |
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| Multi coloured pasta |
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| Black and whte ribbon pasta |
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| More multi coloured pasta |
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| Selection of weird and wonderful salts |
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| Block of Himalayan pink salt |
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| Selection of tea |
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| Big chunk of cured meat |
Verdict
Highlight: The entire experience really. Love the décor.
Love the coffee. Love the buzzing atmosphere. Love the breakfast served here.
Lowlight: It can get very busy here so be prepared to wait
a while.
Overall: People from all walks of life gather here to relax
and enjoy great reasonably priced breakfast and lunch. In my opinion, this is
one of the best places in Sydney for breakfast. The service is friendly and laid back. Can’t wait to come back here to try other things on the breakfast
menu and also the lunch menu. 7.5/10 (Great)
