Paleo Cafe opens in Bondi Junction!

November 19, 2013

Last Wednesday saw the opening of the new Paleo Cafe in Bondi Junction. Paleo Cafe is a franchise (Paleo Cafe Cairns opened in October). It would be unfair to review a new cafe or restarant within the first month of opening while any (inevitable) teething problems are sorted out, so I'm just letting you know in this post that it's there and open for business on Oxford Street (midway between Just Organics and the mall) and to share with you what's on offer.

Ok, so there's breakfast from 7:30-11am and lunch is 11:30-3pm.

The lunch menu features soups ($9), curries ($17), shepherd's pie ($17), various salads ($14), grass fed steak ($22), a chicken dish ($22), salmon ($22), slow roasted pork belly ($18), desserts ($9). The caveman's big breakfast looks good for $20 and there's a separate kids menu. The drinks menu has some lovely sounding juices and bullet proof coffee (black coffee blended with MCT oil - which is an extract of coconut oil- and butter).

I ordered the Shepherds Pie which had sweet potato mash on top (served with green side salad) for $17 and a bullet proof coffee for $4.50. My friend ordered the chicken mango macadamia nut salad which looked awesome.

The menu is gluten-free, grain/legume-free, dairy-free, preservative-free and sugar-free.

Here are the pluses (bearing in mind I've only been once):

Pastured meats and eggs
The only oil used to cook with is coconut oil- no processed oils used
Staff were friendly, relaxed and happily took time out to chat and answer questions
The new Lady J cafe next door was empty whereas Paleo Cafe was full (a sign that this is filling a need in the community)
Lots of tables/space
Quick service
Paleo books and lifestyle products for sale
Bullet proof coffee is offered (great for those who can not consume lactose)
Prices reasonable for eastern suburbs
All food is available for takeaway

So the big question for me is going to be the provenance of the meat and eggs which wasn't something that the owner was able to go into when I asked him.

Clean wholefood places are hard to come by in the eastern suburbs so if I was in the Junction and looking for somewhere to eat, or wanted to catch up with someone over a meal or coffee, I would happily go back (and intend to!). Stay tuned for further updates on this one down the track. In the meantime check them out, share what you think, and kudos to Greg Sawyer for making this happen and bringing more wholefood choices to our doorsteps!

For more information call Paleo Cafe on 02 9386 0163.