Deus Café, Camperdown – Rating : 16/25

Deus Café

Deus café on Parramatta Road, Camperdown looks hardcore. Rows of motorcycles line the side of the building and leather clad men and women stride inside. While it helps to be a motorcycle enthusiast to shop at the store, the café next door is for everyone. The interior of the café is like a diner. Orders are taken at the counter and then you’re welcome to relax at large communal tables. There’s plenty to look at – display motorcycles are parked around the place, works of art hang from ceiling to floor and the plasma television shows black and white movies. Usually we detest televisions in cafés and restaurants however if they’re playing excellent films then we’ll cut them some slack.

Skim cappuccino

We order a skim cappuccino (price rubbed off blackboard). It satisfies our craving for coffee and as usual we want more. We also help ourselves to the self service water only to discover that they use disposable paper cups which is disappointing. We much prefer the environmentally friendly reusable option.

Strawberry milkshake

The strawberry milkshake ($6.50) has the right consistency and flavours. Served in the mixer as it should meant there’s a lot of milkshake for the price and they definitely don’t skimp on the ice cream!

Smoked trout and kipfler potato salad

The smoked trout and kipfler potato salad ($16) is part of the lunch time menu along with three other salads. Luckily the kitchen allowed us to order a salad seeing as it was already 11:30am. The potato salad consists of well cooked potatos (they are too often underdone) and a delicious mayonaise. The smoked trout is deboned but we found four escapes lurking in the depths of the salad. This is by no way a crime but it lowered our score somewhat. This is all topped with copious amounts of shaved celeriac and a warm poached egg and hollandaise sauce. The egg and hollandaise is prepared nicely and blended well with the trout and potatoes as we cut into it.

2 eggs and toast

Deus delivers the classics well. We ordered two eggs and toast ($8) (scrambled) which comes with plenty of egg, toast and butter. The bread wasn’t a jaw breaker and the eggs were a nice in between, neither runny nor dry.

Starberry crepes with lemon custard and burnt orange syrup

Strawberry crepes with lemon custard and burnt orange syrup

A must try dish is the Strawberry crepes with lemon custard and burnt orange syrup ($13). The syrup was the standout which we finished by licking off the plate at the end. The crepes were soft and delicious however we prefer less custard as it tended to overpower the rest of the flavours. We’d like to see more crepes on the menu. They work well as a brunch treat.

Deus Ex shop

Deus is situated away from the busy cafe strips of King Street, Newtown and Glebe Point Road, Glebe. However this lends the café a certain charm. It is large inside and can accommodate a crowd without being overwhelming. It is wheelchair and pram friendly however it doesn’t seem to attract families with little ones. We also noticed a number of patrons ordering beer with their meals which is perhaps an easier way to ease into Sunday afternoon. The only downside is the dim lighting. We hope the café does well enough to expand and offer an outdoor dining experience (as far away from Parramatta Road as possible of course).

After your meal we recommend strolling around the store and admiring the bikes on display. You’ll soon fall in love with some of them as they are real beauties.

Eggs: Free range

Bread: Nonna’s Bakery

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Overall Rating: 16/25