After a long week which I both wished would be over as soon as possible and hoped wasn't coming to an end due to the sheer amount of things I needed to do, I was very much looking forward to my Saturday morning ritual of Davies Park Markets and breakfast. Unfortunately C hasn't been feeling well for the last few weeks and this week the ride was beyond his capabilities so I rode solo to the markets. It was a lovely sunny morning but the weather has stopped being unbearably hot so it was a pleasant ride! My enjoyment of the morning was somewhat hampered when I realised when going to purchase my lemons that sometime in the last five minutes I had misplaced my wallet. After asking all of the nearby stall owners and calling on site management, I couldn't locate it and still haven't so that's another fun thing to deal with this week!

Anyway, I was still hungry and breakfast was a must. I had recently received an email from Mondo Organics that they had a new breakfast menu and that it included gluten-free zucchini besan fritters. A teaser photo of them on Mondo's Facebook page was all I needed to push Mondo as today's breakfast location. Generally I class Mondo Organics as a more expensive breakfast option so isn't generally a standard and I am not always sold on their menu options (which is seasonal and regularly changes) but I love fritters and they are rarely made gluten-free. What I do love about Mondo Organics is that I can count on them to use high quality produce and have a lot of wheat/gluten/dairy/meat-free options. They put a strong emphasis on whole foods which I like.


We arrived just after 8:30am, their opening time, to an empty restaurant causing us to wonder if they were open. After standing outside for a minute, we were acknowledged and told we could sit wherever we liked. We chose one of the outside seats with comfy looking benches for C. After five minutes no one had brought us any water or menus so finally we asked one of the waitresses setting another table for them. Likely it was due to arriving so close to opening time but I was a little surprised by the lack of service initially. However for the rest of the morning we were attentively waited upon.

The new menu also includes buckwheat pancakes with sous vide apricots, preserved ginger ricotta and rapadura syrup ($16), which C chose. It was an unusual choice for C has he tends to go for savoury options but was feeling like something sweet this morning which I was happy about as that would have been my choice had the zucchini besan fritters, feta and dill with herb and lemon labna ($16) with a poached egg ($2.50) not been an option. C also decided to order to Immunity Boost juice [orange, lemon, carrot, ginger,turmeric] ($8.50), given the state of his immune system, and I ordered the Detox [carrot, beetroot, apple, ginger] ($7).


After about 15 minutes, our juices arrived. Colourful concoctions in tall glasses with foamy surfaces, they were as delicious as they were no doubt good for us. Even C commented it was an attractive looking drink! Not long afterwards our meals arrived. The pancakes included three overlapping and topped with large dollops of ginger ricotta with the sous vide apricots scattered around the dish and was topped with some crunchy toasted nuts.

Buckwheat pancakes w sous vide apricots, preserved ginger ricotts & rapadura syrup

My fritters were presented as a set of five atop the labna with scattered micro herbs on a paddle board. The poached egg was nestled between a few of them. The fritters were perfectly cooked, crispy on the outside, full of zucchini and not at all doughy. They were perfectly matched with the zingy, dill feta and labna. I was hesitant to break the poached egg on the bread board and mixing it with the labna. Eventually I did and it was a perfectly poached egg but the yolk was too runny for the dish. Had it been a more gooey, set yolk it would have matched perfectly but it did run into the labna and ruin the crispiness of the fritter. So in retrospect, I would have skipped the add-on! I had a bit of C's pancakes and they were equally delicious. The ricotta was perfectly flavoured and not overly sweet and the buckwheat pancakes had a great slightly earthy flavour as buckwheat tends to. The apricots was surprisingly firm and C commented that he would have preferred them to be poached so that they were softer and could be 'mushed in on top'. I felt that they were possibly left crunchier intentionally to create contrast with the soft pancakes and ricotta but agreed either texture would work.

Zucchini besan fritters, feta & dill w dill yoghurt & poached egg

Overall we had a fantastic breakfast at Mondo Organics and I will definitely be returning (and possibly re-order the fritters although sans egg). The enjoyment of breakfast did help soothe the pain of losing my wallet plus C paid for breakfast!

BIKEABILITY

Ease of access: 9/10 
(Bicentennial Bikeway, Go Between Bridge, Montague Rd)
Parking: 8/10 
(No bike racks but a few signposts to lock your bike to)






http://www.mondo-organics.com.au/