The Rag Land Cafe, Redfern

I was first lured to The Rag Land Cafe in Redfern by a pop-up that BBQ aficionado and pop-up master Smokey O was doing at the cafe a few months ago.

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.

Appetitie Cafe, Redfern

Earlier in the week the BFF and I met up for lunch in our half way meeting place, Redfern (fancy name “Waterloo”).  

As we’d already been to the one place in Redfern I know about a quick Google search turned up our next haunt, Appetite Café.

To be honest I didn’t have high hopes about this place and expected a dodgy café with fluro lighting and chicko rolls slowly going cold in a bain-marie. I’m not sure why I thought this, but I just felt it in my waters.

How wrong was I? Very!

I was so pleasantly surprised to find a comfortable, retro looking café with wooden floorboards, groovy lighting, great big wooden tables and these amazing retro kitchen chairs that I covet for my own kitchen.  This place is totally laid-back and as unpretentious as they come.

Groovy Baby

As I ooooh and ahhhh about how groovy this place is the BFF rolls his eyes and shuffles me towards a table. 

A quick squizz at the menu and I’m torn between the Love It Burger ($11.90), which comes topped with Blue Cheese - drool) and the Grilled Haloumi Salad ($14.50).  I don’t know what to order as my two cheese loves are vying for my tummy’s attention.

The BFF, proving he is both a Best Friend Forever and my Best Foodie Friend, suggests we get both and go halves.  This is a stellar idea so I hastily agree.  We also agree that a burger without fries is just sad, so add in a side order of herb fries ($6.00) to the mix. 

The burger arrives and we promptly cut it in half and tuck in.  

Where fore art thou Blue Cheese?

The marinated lamb pattie is juicy and the beetroot relish is wonderfully fresh (lucky neither of us drop any on our work clothes). I’m having trouble tasting any blue cheese however and as I pick apart my half of the burger I can’t see any either. The BFF and I come to the conclusion that the blue cheese must be INSIDE the pattie mix. Strange.  

Next up is the HUGE Grilled Haloumi Salad.

Heavenly Haloumi Salad

In retrospect, it’s funny that I actually order this salad as it has quite a few ingredients that I really loathed as a child. Broad beans (blech) and hard boiled eggs (blech) are foods that I think were personally developed by some evil Mary Poppins to make my childhood an eating misery. And of course I came from a household where you couldn’t leave the table until EVERYTHING was gone from the plate. How I hated you broad beans (but not as much as brussel sprouts)!

I’m pleased to report that this salad was a winner. 

The broad beans plump and fresh, not the soggy frozen kind that my mother used to torture me with.  The asparagus was lovely and crisp, and the egg a nice accompaniment to all of the greens on my plate. The haloumi was AWESOME, but that really goes without saying doesn’t it? The walnuts provided a nice crunchy texture to the salad.  

I would definitely want to order this again, however the $14.90 price tag does make me balk a bit as it’s not a cheap lunch option.

When we go up to pay I ask the cook about the blue cheese.  He says he melts a big hunk of it on top of the pattie so it’s obviously quite a strong flavour.  He then looks off into space and says that maybe he forgot to put it on our burger and gives us both a cheeky grin.

Appetite Café is at 82c Regent Street, Redfern (or Waterloo).