Estabar, Newcastle

After a few hours bobbing around like a cork at the lovely Newcastle Ocean Baths it was time to head back to our hotel, clean up and check out. This left me with a few hours to kill whilst The Boy finished up his water polo "stuff" over at the local pool.

I decided to wander around East Newcastle and check out more of the lovely houses that have me dreaming of packing up life in Sydney and becoming a Novacastrian.

After this I caught the bus over to Darby Street, a very hip young area bursting with cafes and cute boutiques like High Tea with Mrs Woo and Blackbird Corner.  I actually saw a Chat Thai on Darby Street with NO QUEUE at all and I thought I'd head there myself and have lunch for one.  The Boy thwarted those plans though and rung to say he'd meet me for lunch back at the hotel.

Determine NOT to eat at Elemental Cafe Deli for a fourth time, even though we loved it there, I suggested we check out Estabar cafe just opposite the beach.  I really liked the "vibe" of this cafe, a bit less mainstream than other cafes I'd see about and it also offered a host of healthy (but tasty) options.

We kick things off with drinks - no Chunky Monkey here so The Boy goes for the next best thing - a Gelato Milkshake ($6.50) with banana and local honey.  I can't seem to go past a Frappe ($6.50) when I see it on the menu and the mixture of Strawberry Apple and Mint was so refreshing.

I had my eye on a Quinoa Salad, but alas they had run out, so it was a Carrot and Chickpea Salad ($14.00) for me which was SO filling that I couldn't finish it (must be a first for me).  The salad was packed with lettuce, house made hummus, carrots, chickpeas, Tamari seeds. I enjoyed this so much I made it for my lunch during the week and of course it was so GROSS! Fail.

The Boy enjoyed a light lunch of English Cheddar Cheese with locally smoked Ham ($14.00).   The cheese had a fantastic flavour, and I'm told the ham was top notch.  The cheese and ham was served with a lovely Morpeth Sourdough and a little pot of Tomato Jam.

And with that we sadly say good-bye to Newcastle (via Elemental Cafe for a takeaway Chunky Monkey)!

Estabar is at 61 Shortland Esplanade, Newcastle.  You can phone them on (02) 4927 1222