Intrigued by the vibrant cuisine of the Mediterranean on our recent honeymoon away, we swung by Café Mint to relive some of the exotic flavours we had encountered. A charming gem of a café off the very busy Cleveland Street, the place was full of hungry Sydneysiders and staff who were run off their feet during peak brunch hour.
We ordered two dishes to share between me and the boy, but there was a bit of a wait before they finally came out. First up we had the Baked Eggs with Chackchouka from Cafe Mint’s all day breakfast offering, which is a strongly flavoured North African dish of eggs baked with capsicum, onion and tomato, all enhanced with a bouquet of exotic spices. We had the added feta sprinkled on top and eggplant mixed throughout which soaked up all the juices in the tasty sauce. The dish was accompanied by some Turkish za’atar toast, which was essentially flat bread with a large dose of spices. Pulling off pieces of the fresh bread, we enjoyed scooping up bits of chackchouka with it for a satisfying mouthful.
Baked Eggs with Chackchouka, $16.90
The Seafood Tagine we ordered was from their lunch menu and it was huge! Packed full of prawns, shellfish, squid and fish fillet with chermoula tomato sauce and saffron potatoes – we looked at each other wondering how we were going to finish the whole dish. We were soon drawn into the well-seasoned, hearty seafood broth which was much needed on a chilly autumn’s day. We liked the freshness of the seafood, the generous serving size and how the the whole dish was very easy to share.
Seafood Tagine, $28.50
Cafe Mint serves up some quality dishes inspired by Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flavours at brunch time and decent coffee too (bonus: their mocha comes with extra lashings of chocolate!) The warm wooden décor and the Turkish ceramic tile magnets decorating their bar makes it a welcoming place, but be prepared to wait during their busy brunch hour like we did for service.
Excuse Me Waiter dined as guests of Cafe Mint
Cafe Mint
579 Crown Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010
Phone:(02) 9319 0848
Alex and Vanessa went and couldn’t stop raving about the food!! The chackchouka definitely looks like one of the better one’s I’ve seen!!
Bianca
It was sooo tasty! You need to get over there, can’t believe Alex/Vanessa didn’t bring you!