02 October 2012

Grandma's Little Bakery: Home-styled cooking, Alexandria (30 Sept 2012)

42 O'Riordan Street, Alexandria NSW 2015


Homely offerings at Grandma's

“A home-styled cooking and baking concept, bringing together flavours and loved recipes from real Grandma's and Grandpa's from all over the world.”

You know a place is kid friendly when you see a designated play area for kids. I didn't get to check the toilets but I'm hoping they also provide change tables. Grandma seems to be quite tech-savvy with the menu provided on iPads. At first it was a bit foreign for me to use as I actually don't use an iPad but after a short time it was quite fun to flick through the pages with the added feature of preview pics of the dishes. I had now idea what shakshuka was so this became very handy to see. Grandma's Haya Spinach and Feta Borekas Vegetarian ($11.50) looked pretty much like it did on the menu with nice pastry and fresh salad although the salad needed a more interesting dressing for my liking than just olive oil. It also seemed to have some sort of dukkha mix sprinkled over it which made it rather gritty on the palate and not particularly pleasing to eat in my books. 

My Vanilla Milkshake ($6.50) was more milky than vanilla in taste and I would have loved to have white chocolate shavings to spoon off the top for extra flavour. The Chai Latte ($4.50) had better depth of flavour and thought it would make for a great milkshake flavour option. My Classic Shakshuka Vegetarian ($14.50) came with 2 free range eggs, roast capsicum, tomato and onion with a side of soft bread which came in handy for mopping up the flavours. I couldn't stop thinking of wanting some chorizo or minced lamb in the mix for extra flavour like you find in the Breakfast Tagine Lamb Mince at Kazbah but as a vegetarian dish it was enjoyable. The snow ball cookie in the Grandma's Mix Cookies ($4.90) was a favourite for me which are available in the shop. Hot Chocolate ($4) had a decent amount of chocolate flavour and I really enjoyed the Traditional Apple Strudel ($6.90) mostly because it came with a decent amount of vanilla icecream. The pastry had a nice amount of caramelisation and was served slightly warm although keep in mind it's a small serving.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Interesting menu, Tempting products in the shop, Kid friendly, iPad menu shows a preview of dishes
CONS: Some products in the shop seem quite pricey, They don't leave the iPad menu with you so you'll need to ask for it back in case you need to check it again to order something else
MUST TRY: Apple strudel, Snow Ball Cookie, Revisiting to maybe try the Breakfast Buffet for only $20
VERDICT: A relaxed cafe with shop and bakery full of tempting products that I only wish was closer to home
Grandma's Haya Spinach and Feta Borekas Vegetarian ($11.50)

Salad was fresh but needed a more interesting dressing than just olive oil 

iPad menu preview

Vanilla Milkshake ($6.50); Chai Latte ($4.50)

Milkshake comes with a straw/spoon utensil

Classic Shakshuka Vegetarian: 2 free range eggs, roast capsicum, tomato and onion ($14.50)


iPad menu preview

Grandma's Mix Cookies ($4.90) — snow ball cookie was my favourite

Long Macchiato ($3.50), Hot Chocolate ($4)

Traditional Apple Strudel ($6.90) 
WORTH TRYING :-)

iPad menu preview

iPad menu










Bill $55.80 for 2



Homely and interesting table decor









Kid friendly high chairs available

Breakfast Buffet on Saturdays — sounds pretty tempting




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Grandma's Little Bakery on Urbanspoon

5 comments:

Christine @ Cooking Crusade said...

love that the menu is on iPads! hahah that is sooo cool. how cute is the table decor as well.. and a breakfast buffet.. yum. don't know many restos that do that!

cityhippyfarmgirl said...

I'm intrigued by this place. Kid friendly for me is a plus too. There seems to be so many great little cafes in the Alexandria area these days.

joey@forkingaroundsydney said...

What a cute place.

Chompchomp said...

What an adorable little cafe. I love shashouka but you are right...they ARE more tasty with some chorizo! The eggs look gorgeously gooey though.

Simon Leong said...

hi christine, i loved the table decor too. so homely. breakfast buffet seemed very reasonably priced but haven't tried it as yet.

hi cityhippyfarmgirl, kid friendly for me is a plus for me too these days.

hi joey, it's funny how it's so 'grandma' looking but they have modern ipads for the menu hehe

hi chompchomp, maybe they'll introduce a more meatier version in the future, hope so anyway.

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