Eden Café, St Ives – Rating: 14/25

Eden Café

Nestled among a small collection of shops and restaurants on Mona Vale Road, Eden Café is the recipient of a lot of positive comments and reviews so when I was on my way north, I stopped in to see what they had to offer. Even on a Saturday morning, it was fairly quiet so we had our choice of plenty of tables inside and out.

Flat white

Cappuccino

The Campos coffee ($3.50) was reasonably well made both in presentation and composition. Slightly more milk than usual but we still enjoyed our cups.

T2 teas ($3.50) are available as well we milkshakes and smoothies ($6 each).

Eden’s big breakfast

Eden’s big breakfast ($19) comes with two eggs, bacon, hash brown, beef sausage, spinach, mushrooms, toasted tomato and toast. My guest asked for her bacon crispy and the kitchen was happy to oblige. The hash browns were of the frozen variety (which my guest enjoyed but they didn’t have much to offer to be honest). Meanwhile the eggs were prepared fine as were the mushrooms and spinach. Overall, everything was fine. Which is what one can often expect from a big breakfast and that may be exactly what you’re after.

Avocado and feta smash

The avocado and feta smash ($11.50) is quite good for the price. The smooth avocado was topped with cubes of feta and balsamic glaze as well as some cherry tomatoes and chilli flakes. This all reads well but once again, the dish made par and that was about it. I was having breakfast with two people who often join me for reviews and I could read the unimpressed looks on their faces.

Sicilian baked eggs

It was much the same for my Sicilian baked eggs ($17). This tomato-based baked dish contains spicy sausage, Spanish onions and sourdough on the side. I kept looking for more flavour within but other than the tomato base and some eggs that had been baked for too long, my search was fruitless.

Other dishes on the menu include haloumi stack (soy linseed toast with two fried eggs, sauteed spinach and mushrooms ($16), salmon, ricotta and avocado stack ($16) and pancakes (with banana $13, mixed berries compote $13, plain with maple syrup $12).

I wish there was more to say but as is abundantly apparent, the dishes didn’t impress. The hot items were simply ‘cooked’ and while simple can work, there was not enough flavour to encourage me to return.

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