Outside In Café - Review

"Got some time to check out a new(ish) café?" I asked Mr P. one sunny lunchtime a few weeks ago.  He slammed down his laptop lid, grabbed the car keys, and we hotfooted it out the door.  I'd noticed that a local café had changed its name (well, in April), so we dropped by recently to try out the new incarnation.  It looks much the same as before; it's a bit Tardis-like, as it looks tiny at the front but it kinda goes on and on out the back.  Like most eating places these days, you either get pretty much the usual café suspects, or burgers.  This is 'the usual suspects', not that that's a bad thing:-)  

inside the Tardis:-)

Hubby went for the sweet corn and pumpkin fritters, while I chose potato cakes with smoked salmon and poached eggs.  He drank a white chocolate milkshake, and guess what I had?  Yep my usual - a cappuccino.  My coffee went down well - strong, with some cute artwork on top plus chocolate powder - winner!  Hubby's shake was "nice and cold", said he.  Always a bugbear with him, that the milk is never cold enough, as a good shake should be - but no worries here.   

cappuccino $4

white choc milkshake $6   (love that straw!)

Then came the fritters, and the potato cake (aka The Favourite on the menu).  The hash cake (makes me giggle every time I write that) was a little grainy, nicely herby and crispy-browned on the outside.  I wasn't sure of the overall flavour?  Mr P. thought it may have been blue cheese, but on checking the menu I see it was fetta and chive.  I was expecting something more like a rosti, but it came as a soft-textured mash/hash (as per the menu - my bad).  My eggs were nicely runny (just the way I like 'em); there was zucchini and spinach and a tasty (mustard?) sauce over the top.  All up, a fine and tasty lunch.

'The Favourite' with salmon $18

the actual potato hash cake

sweet corn and pumpkin fritters $18

Hubby loves fritters, and he loves his veg, so this was a winner for him.  He is okay with café fritters being more flour than veg, but I steer clear as I prefer the more veg to less flour ratio.  He was fine with this version, which had lots of crispy bacon, a cherry tomato, some lettuce leaves and a wee mound of smashed avocado.  He isn't much of a bacon eater, so I very happily devoured most of his crispy serve.  (He has just advised me that the fritters were not of the too floury kind.)    

let's do it again!:-)

And then a couple of weeks later ...  "Let's do lunch!", I urged Mr P. on one of his staffless days, so off we trotted to Outside In again.  Like every café these days, you order at the counter, and your food is then brought to your table.  You can grab yourself some water at the water station, and find your own seat.  I sometimes sigh for the good old days of service, but anyway, it is what it is, my friends.  Cappuccino again for me, while the hubster had a strawberry thickshake this time.  (And Mr P. reminded me here that the lady behind the counter did in fact bring us a carafe of water with glasses.)
    

cappuccino $4

strawberry thickshake $7

He went for the sweet potato cakes special, as per the chalkboard above.  I chose deluxe smashed avo, with beetroot hummus, bacon and fetta.  His dish had a generous amount of sliced avo, with two eggs and the dreaded kale.  Neither of us are fans of this leaf (cowfeed, my friends, cowfeed) but Mr P. said it was not too bad and he scoffed it all down.  The sweet potato cake looked a wee bit over-browned and over-crisped for me, but hubby was happy.  

sweet potato cakes $18

deluxe smashed avo $19.50

I loved the beetroot hummus - a little bit chunky/creamy/earthy and a delightful hot pink; eggs once again perfectly runny, nice and crispy bacon, plus smashed avo and dukkah!  Not sure what sort of bread it came on, but it did the job.  And I think you can say it is a pretty healthy and enjoyable lunch.

a page from the clipboard menu showing some of the healthy choices

They do have a beef burger, and a healthy salad, and a goodie bowl with quinoa so you can indulge in the healthy stuff too, if  you so desire.  You can add extras like smoked salmon, bacon, mushrooms or halloumi to your meals for $4 a pop.  And there's coffees, and frappés, and smoothies (spinach anyone?) and teas galore.  It has bike racks, and room for kids and dogs, so everyone is covered:-)   


(All meals paid for by Mr P. - tee hee - lucky me)


110 Maygar St.,
Windsor 4030 

Ph: 0414 832 146

Hours:  5:30 to 2:30 M to Sat
Sun  5am to 2pm