Bspoke cafe and bar

It would be by complete luck and nerdy reasons that I found Bspoke cafe and bar out in Fyshwick.

TimmyC had rushed into MSY for computer parts, leaving me in the car (with the air con on) to reply to messages but after I was done I turned my head to notice a cute cafe that I had never seen before and in true foodie fashion, I locked the car and went straight in to explore.If you’re somehow not tempted by their extensive cabinet, there is a small menu to choose from.Bspoke is actually inside the Pushys bike store. They have a cute small bar to one side, an open cafe next to it and plenty of seating which extended to an outside courtyard. It looked like there was  limited menu and not a single piece of bacon in sight but it still intrigued me. I wasn’t really hungry as I just ate my weight in popcorn but my eyes lit up when I saw home-made pies in the cabinet. I messaged TimmyC to come next door to meet me.

Smoothie of the day mango honey and coconut ($8.00). This was really light in texture, not all foam but frothed into light fluffy texture which made this very easy to drink. It didn’t have a strong flavour overall but you could still taste the mango, honey and coconut.Flat white medium coffee ($4.00). TimmyC said it was a decent coffee but it wasn’t good enough to just come just for their coffee.Homemade pepper steak pie ($9.00). I am the first to admit that 9 bucks for a small pie is a bit steep but I loved the outer pattern of the pie and I’m a sucker for pepper steak. The pastry was golden brown which encased big chunky pieces of tender steak with a good dousing of pepper. It was served with a side of delicious sweet tangy chutney but it could have done with some simple green leaves to make the plate more complete.I really liked the huge tender chunks of steak inside the pie.If my friend or partner wanted to shop for bike bits, I would definitely appreciate this oasis with a laid back atmosphere as they shopped on the other side of the store. I found the service to be very friendly and efficient.

Venue: Bspoke cafe and bar

Address: 79 Collie street, Fyshwick, ACT

Phone: (02) 6280 4984

Opening hours:

Monday – Friday 6:30am – 5:30pm

Saturday 8:30am – 4:00pm

Sunday 10:00am – 3:00pm

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Bean and Grain – new owners

The clock ticks over another minute, my eyes dart between the time and the road in front of us. TimmyC promised me breakfast from Bean and Grain and I wasn’t going to miss out, it was the only reason why I got up so (relatively) early out of bed that morning. We were cutting it fine to make it for the breakfast menu but I remained hopeful.

Great! We get a park relatively quickly and we jump out of the car dodging an older woman, pram and trolleys. It was like the world was deliberately trying to sabotage my breakfast plans. “Are you still doing breakfast!?” I asked with a hopeful look in my eye. “Yes breakfast is on until midday” the guy behind the register replied. “Oh I thought breakfast ended at 11:30am?”. We were then informed that the previous owners had gone under receivership and now there were new owners with a renovation. I was secretly hoping that it was the same people and that the shut down period was just a slight delay before they got back on their feet. Let’s see how the new owners are going.

I looked around, there were a lot of changes mixed in with some familiarity. Gone is the big wooden bench outside, coffee roaster, sausage rolls and pies, the seats were different and sadly the previous owners took their frozen yoghurt machine with them. Noooo!  

The new chairs are super uncomfortable if you have any hips at all.

Even all the beautiful pottery plates, cups etc were gone.

Belgian waffles with whipped butter and maple syrup ($16.00). They ran out of whipped butter but offered me alternatives, I ended up choosing ice-cream. When I saw this, the first thing I thought was ‘oh no, the previous owners took their waffle iron too!’, my second thought was then ‘is this from the Breville waffle iron?” . Comparatively, these waffles were terrible (see waffle porn here) and upon first bite they could have easily been mistake for McDonald’s hotcakes. No crispness to them, barely a dash of  syrup and it tasted like cheap watery ice-cream. Disappointing if you didn’t know any better (i.e. never had the waffles from here before) but satisfying enough if you’re a kid and you don’t really mind the soft texture to your waffle.

Classic Eggs Benedict 2 poached eggs on house made sourdough with wilted spinach and freshly made hollandaise sauce ($15.00, ham was additional cost). This was much better than the waffles, although switching between dishes you start to notice that the spinach and ham are rather salty. The hollandaise sauce itself was a bit vinegary but was masked when you had a fork full of everything together. I really liked their sourdough bread.

The egg yolk wasn’t runny but still molten.

Sadly, I’m going to have to take this off my ‘favourite’ listing in Urbanspoon. All my favourite meals and added bonuses (like the rosti and smoothie shots) have all been taken away and replaced by mediocrity. I wouldn’t get up out of bed and rush here again any time soon. I hope they improve.

Getting my fruit intake #canberra #flute #galette #pear #food #foodies #foodblog #breakfast

Hi Quizabel, this is from one of my favourite bakeries in Canberra- The Flute bakery in Fyshwick across from the new Good guys location near Bunnings. They are open 8 – 3 Monday to Fridays. Cash only. Definitely worth a visit.