I must REALLY love Smokey O's BBQ and smokey meats as I got up EXTRA early to be at the cafe before work...that's like SUPER early considering I have to be in the office around 9am!
You never know what you're going to get with a Smokey O pop-up and that's why it's wise to go to as many of his events as you can...to try everything on offer. I opted for the apple-smoked maple bacon with fried eggs on "texas toast" (which I think means BIG toast, which makes sense seeing as everything in Texas is BIG). That's my breakfast there on the left. My friend choose the field mushrooms (also giant so maybe also from Texas) with melted cheddar, char grilled capsicum on Texas toast.
I really like the vibe of this cafe - it feels very homely and comfortable with lots of pre-loved furniture and eclectic nick-nacks on the shelves. It sort of feels like my lounge room actually and I knew I wanted to come back....soon.
...and, it's not long before I'm back for a big brunch party to meet the newly-born daughter of one of my fellow food bloggers. We toast the new arrival with coffees expertly brewed by cafe owner, and barista, Dave. An iced coffee for me and a flat white for The Boy. The Rag Land also offers "suspended coffees" which I think are great - customers can donate the cost of a cup of a coffee which then goes to providing a cuppa for someone who's not cashed up enough to afford their own fine brew. Nice, isn't it?
I was pretty hungry on this visit and wanted something substantial and the pea fritters + poached egg with rocket and tomato chutney came highly recommended to me by Dave (the cafe owner slash barista, not Dave my husband). He also suggested I add a side of pork belly which I did and it was DELICIOUS - sweet and savoury with a hint of Asian flavours! As you can see they know how to poach an egg here and it was a really good breakfast that totally hit the spot.
If you guessed that The Boy would order a Big Breakfast then you'd be right. He liked the "build your own" concept and went for toast, mushrooms, tomato, pork belly and poached eggs.
Because this was a celebration brunch we needed to order some cake. The cafe has the cakes, cupcakes and slices baked for them by budding bakers and the snickers cupcake there on the right is baked by our very own blogger friend, Love Swah. Her baked goods are at The Rag Land each weekend and they are GOOD! The cupcake looked kinda lonely on its own so The Boy grabbed a slice of the very large lamington cake.
The Rag Land Cafe is at 129 Ragland Street, Redfern/Waterloo.
