I was particularly interested in checking out Town Bike Pitstop as it combines a casual style cafe with a cute bike shop/bicycle workshop. I bought a pushbike for myself over the Christmas break and I've ridden it about 10 times which totally qualifies me to pull up a stool in this bicycle cafe like a true cyclist...or not (I don't own any Lycra bike shorts FYI). Whilst I've not ridden my bike since being back at work I like that I can admire other bikes whilst stuffing my face during my lunch break...exercise by proxy.
On my first visit I'm keen to try the Ei, Salmon + Hass ($13.50) - a sensational Dutch version of baked eggs that is super cheesy, a little salty from the salmon and super tasty. The owners are not Dutch but they've spent some time living over there and I'm glad they've brought this delicious dish to our fair shores as it really is something different.
They don't do iced-coffees here (I'm guessing that they don't have a freezer for the ice) but they do make a mean coffee milkshake. They very agreeably made me a half serve as too much milkshake makes me feel a bit...frothy on the inside and that's not good.
On my next visit I'm in the midst of #meatFreeWeek so need something vegetarian. They have a bunch of sandwiches on their menu board but nothing without meat. Nevermind as they happily whip me up a baconless BLT and add a schmear of avocado to the mix - DIY ALT ($7.50), perfect! The sandwich comes with a healthy dollop of garlic aoili which is a nice change from plain old mayonnaise.
I forgo the coffee milkshake this time in favour of a refreshing ginger "Mojo Kombucha" - an organic soft drink bursting with pro-biotics. It sounds a bit hippy-dippy but it's really light and doesn't taste at all like the mainstream sugary soft drinks that haunt some many cafes.
My kombucha drink had me feeling so virtuous and healthy that it felt only right to undo any good work the drink had done by having a little something sweet. The Stroopwafel (what a funny name - ah, the Dutch) is a biscuit made from two wafer-thin waffles which sandwich a sweet, sticky syrup that tastes like caramel. It's only a small sweet indulgence but it's deadly sweet...in a good way.
Town Bike Pitstop is a cute little neighbourhood cafe that serves simple food made by the friendly cafe owenrs. I love that there seems be unique little cafes popping up all around Sydney. Perhaps they'll open up some cafes with car washes soon, that'd be great. Oh wait...have they don't that already?
Town Bike Pitstop is at 156 Abercrombie Street, Darlington/Redfern. Phone them on 9699 0096.
