Foraging

Goal of the day: Try a new place for lunch

Strategy: With a myriad of choices, there is little strategy involved. Any monkey can follow the smell of food to the source. So I decided to use my intellectual skills and look it up in the entertainment book. The Sydney Mint Cafe seemed like an interesting place and scored bonus points for being close to work.

So it was decided. I called up to make a booking because I read it oftenly gets booked out for lunch. This was a smart decision on two levels.
a) There were only 7 tables in the whole cafe
b) These tables were along a veranda overlooking some of the city and I'm guessing since I made a booking, I had the best view.

I had some expectations going in as eatability rated it a 7. It was a nice sunny day, so combined with the view, the atmosphere was great. My expectations were rising. Eventhough I had made a booking, the service was average but sufficient (1 waiter, 2 chefs). The menu was extremely limited. Of the 5 mains on the menu, I chose the pork cutlet with sage dauphinoise and baked apple. The food was just above average with extra points for creativity. The baked apple was a full cored apple that had sultanas in the middle.

Overall, value for money was a 3. The food was slightly disappointing, as was the service. Eventhough the cafe did have some strong points such as the rustic atmosphere you can only get from a 200 year old and heritage listed building, alfresco dining on the veranda with moderate city views, I would still make the call that it is overpriced.

That's blown my lunch budget. Looks like it'll be canned tuna and bread for the rest of the week.