Cafe on Johnston | Annandale
Cafe on Johnson is a lovely homely cafe serving delicious middle eastern cuisine with some cafe classics as well. It's inviting, warm and a clear crowd favourite for many locals! We met one of the owners, Suzanne who on that day happened to know almost every single customer walking into the restaurant. It was buzzing with people for lunch on Saturday and for good reason because the food here is not only homely and substantial.. but DAMN it is good.
Shakshuka
When shakshuka is prepared right, there isn't another dish that comes close to ticking off all the boxes. Warm, filling and exciting on your taste buds and for this reason Cafe on Johnston's authentic shakshuka is by far the best breakfast/brunch option for winter! Consisting of two free range poached eggs in a hot pot of homemade tomato and capsicum salsa with a very strong capsicum flavour. Served on the side is a generous portion of warm Lebanese bread mixed with pieces that have been fried and extremely delicious hommus (which we will touch on in a second). This is usually served with toasted sourdough in your standard cafe's, but we are glad that we got to taste something new!
Mix Skewer Plate
The mixed skewer plate is full of protein, consisting of Kafta, chicken and lamb fillet. Each piece was as juicy as the next, cooked well and perfectly seasoned. This plate is made to be eaten in union with the side serving of tabbouleh, hummus, babaganoush, on top of warm flatbread. The dips are all house made and soon to be made and supplied online. If you are unable to visit Annandale we STRONGLY recommend ordering some online as this rocked our world. We loved the consistency of the hummus and the bold, citrus flavours of the babaganoush. So much that we asked to take some home (and finished them the same day!). When assembled together with the flatbread, hummus and tabbouleh, it was perfection in your hands.
House made baked beans
Suzanne mentioned that she would be showcasing the house made baked beans and we both looked at each other thinking.. uhoh. It might not sound like the most appealing menu item, especially when the vast majority of people likely think of the canned "Heinz" baked beans at first thought. Well! No canned beans business here, these are the real deal. What makes them special is that it uses the shakshuka sauce as the base, so all the bold capsicum flavours we described above are present. Aside from the main star, there is a lot going on with this dish.. spicy potato cakes, poached eggs, avocado, bacon and bread to finish. The best way to describe this dish is a deconstructed shakshuka!
Suzanne mentioned that she would be showcasing the house made baked beans and we both looked at each other thinking.. uhoh. It might not sound like the most appealing menu item, especially when the vast majority of people likely think of the canned "Heinz" baked beans at first thought. Well! No canned beans business here, these are the real deal. What makes them special is that it uses the shakshuka sauce as the base, so all the bold capsicum flavours we described above are present. Aside from the main star, there is a lot going on with this dish.. spicy potato cakes, poached eggs, avocado, bacon and bread to finish. The best way to describe this dish is a deconstructed shakshuka!
Tasmanian Smoked Salmon Benedict
We didn't end up tasting this dish because Suzanne had treated us to an absolute feast! We had all the intentions to taste the dish but couldn't in the end. What we did do was poke the poached eggs to see the yolk flow onto the salmon and bread.
French Toast Delight
WHELP., this was unexpected.
French toast now days is all about the presentation. I feel like very little thought these days goes into the actual taste and in most cases we generally can't finish the whole plate.
This was the complete opposite, we actually finished the whole plate for once - even after the plates of food before us. To our surprise the french toast delight was delightful. The ricotta, berry compote and fresh berries (which were nice and sweet) were the perfect sides for this dish and the bacon was the perfect way to finish. A good balance of sweet and salty!
WHELP., this was unexpected.
French toast now days is all about the presentation. I feel like very little thought these days goes into the actual taste and in most cases we generally can't finish the whole plate.
This was the complete opposite, we actually finished the whole plate for once - even after the plates of food before us. To our surprise the french toast delight was delightful. The ricotta, berry compote and fresh berries (which were nice and sweet) were the perfect sides for this dish and the bacon was the perfect way to finish. A good balance of sweet and salty!