Brunch Review: Ona Coffee, Manuka

How exciting, I can now report that I have a new cafe to add to my list of brunch favourites in Canberra. Ona Cafe in Manuka is a laid back cafe located in the grassed terrace area (diagonally opposite Urban Pantry). It's great because the kids can run around on the grass while you enjoy a mostly uninterrupted meal.

 Picnic rugs and milk crates to sit on- very Melbourne, no?

Good coffee

 

My breakfast - homemade baked beans and fried eggs on toast.

The Scoring

Menu variety / creativity: 7.5/10. A wide range of savoury options. Less sweet options but they do have quite a unique sounding rice pudding which is apparently very popular.

Taste: 7.5/10. The beans were nice, with a smoky BBQ flavour. I liked how they came with fried eggs, a good combination.

Coffee: 8/10. A good brew, and lots of options for coffees made in different ways. Serving was a tiny but too small for my liking, I’d order a bigger mug next time.

Setting / location: 8/10. A lovely casual setting with space for the kids to run around outside. I don’t think it would be very nice on a rainy day though – the inside is very small, and somewhat dark.

Service: 8/10. Friendly and efficient, always a nice surprise in Canberra.

Price: 7.5/10. Average for Canberra, you’re looking at $15-$22 for a breakfast and around $3.50 for a small coffee.

Verdict: Added to the favourites list!

Brunch review: Zucherro, Manuka

We picked this cafe for a relaxing Sunday brunch because the cakes and tarts in the cabinet looked amazing. I doubt that they're made on site (the kitchen is teeny tiny, and I recognised a distinctively decorated mousse as the same one I had at Bittersweet Cafe in Kingston) but they showed good taste in sweets none the less. This was somewhat ironic because neither of us ended up having anything sweet, but I'd like to return and sample some in-cabinet deliciousness.

The Scoring

Menu variety/creativity: 7/10. Plenty of options, including a few sweet ones.

Taste: 6.5/10. I had Zucherro's beans, which was a pot of beans with chorizo and poached eggs on toast. The bean mix was flavoursome and tasty, and they poached the eggs properly (hooray!).

Coffee: 4/10. A little disappointing, although the coffee itself tasted okay, I don't think whoever made it knows how to froth milk.

Setting/location: 6/10. Nice on a sunny day to sit outside, and there is some undercover seating too... but no indoor seating, so unless they have outdoor heating in winter this would be a no-go.

Service: 3/10. This is unfortunate, because it’s where this place really fell down. We waited for 1 hour and 15 minutes for 2 breakfast dishes, which I do not deem to be acceptable. They did apologise for the delay but didn’t offer any explanation, so I can only assume that their cook is incompetent and that these sorts of delays are the norm there. They were not unusually busy and seemed to have plenty of waiters on duty, if they had been doing their job. The staff, although friendly, were more interested in having fun than serving customers – when I had to go and ask for water (it wasn’t brought to our table as we requested), I stood around waiting to be served while the staff laughed and joked and ignored me. The only lady who was doing work had to eventually yell at the young waiters to come and serve me. The same thing happened when I returned to ask where the restrooms were. Maybe the manager was absent and the staff were taking advantage of it? Who knows…

 Verdict: I wouldn't return for brunch, but the cakes (or tarts) looked yummy so I'd like to come here for afternoon tea. The coffee wasn't great but it also wasn't so bad that I'd avoid the place.

 Here are the meals:

Brunch Review: Urban Pantry

Last weekend I had brunch at Urban Pantry in Manuka. I had heard a lot about the great food here and the not-so-great service (because apparently they're "so popular" that they "don't care about service") so I was intrigued, and looking forward to checking it out.

English Kedgeree w/ spiced jasmine, poached salmon, cherry tomatoes, topped w/ poached eggs, on toasted rye - $19

Omelette w/ prosciutto, capsicum, olives, vintage cheddar & rocket, served w/ chilli jam & toast - $18

The Scoring

Menu variety / creativity: 6/10. While there were a few creative options (we chose just about the only two), I would have liked more variety and a more inspiring sweet option.

Taste: 6/10. The English kedegree was tasty, but not taste bud popping spectacular. It was a little oily, and I don't think the rice went well with stodgy rye.

Coffee: 6/10. Mine was more warm than hot and the taste wasn't spectacular.

Setting / location: 9/10. Lovely decor inside, and if you sit outside (as we did), it's warm and dry if the weather is wet (with plastic sheeting and outdoor heaters) or sunny and fresh if the weather is fine (as it was on our visit!).

Service: 6.5/10. Staff were disorganised and kept bringing us the wrong items, asking if they belonged to our table. We always had to attract someone's attention to get our orders taken but there were plenty of staff around. Not particularly friendly or smiley service, but not rude either. No mistakes with our orders, and they came out together and quickly.

Final score: 33.5/50 = 67%

Verdict: I'd like to return to sample the lunch or dinner menu, but I probably wouldn't return for brunch.