Cream Restaurant Civic

22 August 2010

On a cold and windy Canberra morning, any restaurant would be a good port in a storm. But today, Cream managed to lure me in despite the incredible throng that surely indicates good food, not just being seen, no?

Bench seat looking out onto Canberra's finest winter fashion, and not surprisingly, there are magnificent variations on how not to wear Lycra. Nonetheless I am not here for the scenery.

Within a minute of sitting down, my mug of latte appeared. Perfect temperature and great taste! The electronic wireless communications certainly add to the speed of delivery. Menu says big breakfast so no issues so far.

The atmosphere here suggests at any moment the lights will dim and the music will find a few more decibels, despite being 10 o'clock in the morning. Very Sydney. I say Sydney because if it was Melbourne, the place would need to be a whole lot darker!

But wait, here comes breakfast! Five minutes flat. Now, on first appearances, this is not the biggest breakfast. Two poached eggs on one piece of thick toast, mushrooms, diced fried potato pieces, bacon, half a sausage and two tomato halves. But then the fun starts.

The mushrooms were small button mushrooms cooked in butter but I suppose any time the mushies are good, there's never enough of them. The sausage, although only a half, was a rich and flavorsome slice of meaty meatness with a hint of meat! Could have had two of those! Having the sausage before the bacon was probably a mistake as the flavor of the bacon never really had a chance. Don't get me wrong, the bacon was ample with no mistakes, but the sausage was excellent.

Let's get the tomatoes out of the way. You know by now texture overrides flavour and these two halves were a little like soup in a skin. Probably tasted superb, but...

I looked not once at the fried potato pieces before they were gone. Great choice and a little more healthier than the hash brown - nice touch. And then there were the eggs. They were poached to perfection but what made them even more memorable was the bread. Thick toast with light crunch on the crust but soft and fresh in the centre. A delightful piece to finish on! Would consider asking for four eggs next time just to enjoy it twice.

For the usual desert I was surprised at the time taken from ordering to receiving, given their previous record. But then when the orange juice turned up, wow! Large is large. Freshly squeezed and just amazing. Probably blended a little too long as the tell-tale fruit flesh was not as prominent. Still a refreshing surprise.

Well, the noise and the flow-through of clientele has not abated, but it is not a painful noise. Great coffee, fast AND efficient service, and good food to boot! A very enjoyable experience.