Injoy - Federation Square, Canberra

Injoy - Federation Square

Winter time in Canberra can provide some of the best eating experiences and some of the worst, so it was with trepidation that I sought the next venue towards the end of June.

Friends had recommended purely on popularity the Injoy Cafe off the Barton Highway so that is were I went.

First things first - order at the counter! Stepping through the large indoor area, you notice large tables with reserved signs for particular families and there is almost a feeling of expectation that the place is going to fill up very quickly. Nonetheless, order the Gold Creek all-day breakfast I did. Adding mushrooms to the mix, I also ordered the latte mug and the large orange juice.

Of note both turned up in under two minutes, and while the orange juice wasn't freshly squeezed, it was magnificently large with minimal ice. The coffee was fresh, un burnt, and just the right temperature to survive a seat on the deck. While only a small point, the cup not only matched the saucer but stayed in it's place! Gold.

No sooner had I got over the marvel of the cup and saucer, the big breakfast arrived. Sausage, two ring-fried eggs, hashbrown, bacon, mushrooms (extra), toast and half a fried tomato.

Let me start with the bacon. Rindless and almost endless, the bacon was cooked perfectly and covered to thirds of the plate, despite being stacked on itself. Things were looking good. But the the eggs came into view. If there is no yolk to play with, there is no need for toast! While they were not burnt, they were overdone and a little bit of an anticlimax. The toast, however, was generous and well buttered - just nothing to mop up!

The snag was a simple supermarket variety sausage and cooked they way it should be. Disappeared very quickly, leaving the 'shrooms and the hash brown. The mushrooms were a generous helping, but the small size and mixture of species indicated indifference of the cook and this transfered unnecessarily to the customer. Hash brown was from frozen stock but presented well.

The fried tomato was indeed a tomato and indeed fried! No herbs and nor was this necessary. And while on the subject of necessary, the garnishing of watercress resembled a small jib of lucerne hay, and despite being a farm boy long, long ago, the requirement for shrubberies on breakfast has never been deliberately sought after!

Let us talk ambience! By the time the tables filled up, myers cafeteria in Melbourne would have appeared meek and mild in comparison. This is not the place for quiet conversations or uninterupted news paper recitals. Even the piped music had taken leave! Despite this, Injoy is definately child-friendly and there is a playground just outside.

Good food but definately a group or family outing, perhaps as a start to a Cockington Green visit. Oh and make sure you book ahead!

Gus' Cafe - Civic

In a new city in a new country there's not that much that is old, except Gus' Cafe in town. It remains very much the centre piece of the City Cafe scene, and the standard of longevity by which all others are measured. Nonetheless, it's breakfast time and despite the heritage of the place, you need to know what the big breakfast here is all about.

Delight always appears on my face when the restaurant doesn't mix it's words and has the item 'big breakfast' on the menu. The only item required to add as an extra was for me the hash brown. Of note, smoked salmon and minute steaks were both options which I avoided with difficulty.

The mug of latte arrived in good time. The coffee was perfect, the waitress was polite and knew her menu very well.

When the breakfast arrived, there were immediately sounds of angels singing in choirs as I spied with my little eye the huge fresh mushrooms cooked with butter and some delicate herbs. Furthermore, the side order of hash brown arrived as three hash browns. Perfectly poached eggs with no bitterness on a light rye toast and the whole tomato in halves completed the meal. The bacon was cooked with tenderness keeping in all the right flavours and maintaining a texture that was only let down by a blunt knife. With the rind removed in kitchen, the bacon was first to go. The hash browns were lightly cooked which made them appear healthier, but this meant they fell apart on contact with the cutlery. However, still quite tasty. The sausages were a little disappointing particularly given the carnivorous nature of the menu item selected. Foo-foo nutmeat with a hint of minty freshness does not sit well with the remainder of the plate let alone my usually un-fussy stomach. All that said, they soon followed the bacon into oblivion!

Plate clean, it is time for the usual desert of breakfasts, the freshly squeezed ojay. Very nice but a little too much space taken up with ice.

Ambience, well what do you expect from such a cosmopolitan little cafe. I must say though, despite it's reputation in Canberra, it does attract those who are still learning how to dress and I don't mean children. Big ladies should not wear white let alone in the style of bicycle clothes for Olympians. But I'm not here for the fashion...well not today!

The proximity of the other restaurants near by gives you a sense of being on a yatch at the start of the Sydney to Hobart yatch race with everyone looking into someone else's world right next to them, wondering how they will each fare. Well worth the reputation Gus' enjoys, this is a can't-lose choice for the big breakfast, just pick the sausage of your choice!

Caph's Bar and Restaurant

Having been to Manuka more often at night than in the morning, I was tempted to find a breakfast to remember for no other reason than being really hungry. As my appetite has always been rather large-ish, my choice of menu items was going to be equally large-ish.
I was initially disappointed looking at the menu as there was nothing jumping out at me suggesting size did matter.

Eggs, bacon and cheese served on Turkish toast eventually struck a cord as I noticed the long list of side orders available. As I sat down at a well shaded table, a polite young waitress was there within the minute and took my order. The mug of latte turned up almost instantaneously and not five minutes later the meal arrived. Happiness has yet another dimension: Time.

The side orders of baked beans, mushrooms and sausages turned the plate into a magnificent 'big breakfast' and again I was suitably impressed.

Now, while I'm not the world's biggest fan of spring onions, I won't hold that against the cook. Besides, I have become an expert in surgically removing the offending vegetable from most items of delight - including the prized pile of mushrooms now in front of me.

The egg, bacon and cheese in the Turkish toast was superb. It even looked healthy! The light Turkish bread makes such a difference. Mind you it was not long on the plate. Two large sausages complete with their own dish of sauce were certainly worth their price and thank goodness they tasted like good old sausages, not some namby-pamby tofu-ridden, skinless, meatless, tasteless homebrand excuse for nutmeat.

Two thirds of my way through to feeling full, the latte ran out and there was a need for more liquid. Part of the test has to be the freshly squeezed orange juice, so without so much as a glance towards the waitress, I had the said juice, sparkling in front of me. Although the sign of a good juice is having trouble fitting the flesh through the straw, I do prefer the wider straw, but I am often known for my inherent ability to eat for speed so this won't affect everyone.

Despite this restaurant cheating and having me arrive on one of the sweetest summer mornings Canberra can offer, the ambience was quiet but surprisingly homely. No loud music, no busy kitchen noises, just the casual and sometimes passionate discussion from the Roman forum perched just inside the restaurant next to the bar. All part of the effect.
I can honestly say this was a surprise package for breakfast as the place certainly holds it's own of an evening. The food is generous, the waitress is both easy on the eye and almost classically trained in her service which is so refreshing. I will be hard pressed to find better but, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

Thank you Caphs.