It's not just the excellent pun of a name which makes Cafe Wrapture a winner; their food is kind of delicious. Wrapture began as a market store at the Davies Park Markets but eventually left the markets for greener (or less green actually) pastures in the form of an actual cafe on Russell St in West End. Back in my early market-ing days, I regularly ate at the markets for breakfast and a Wrapture wrap was my favourite option. With a primary focus on Greek-style flavours (think haloumi, lamb kofta, lemon and herb chicken), Wrapture excels in wrapping delicious fillings in yiros-style wraps. They make their own wraps and I think they are really the star of the wrap. Unfortunately I can't eat their standard ones but they make a fantastic gluten-free version which is truly almost as good.


The market menu that Wrapture initially used to offer included a large range of meat and vegetarian options as well as some sweet options. Their new cafe offers all of the original savoury ones plus more, including a specific breakfast range which include eggs and bacon as well as non-wrap options. Although the breakfast menu doesn't technically include most of the non-bacon meat options, it's possible to get them as well.

It had been a while since C and I had visited Wrapture so we chose it as our post-market breakfast option last Saturday. It's not a far ride from Davies Park so we made it to Russell St within five minutes and locked our bikes to railings in a nearby carpark. When we arrived around 8:30am, it was already filling up but there were still several tables available so we chose one of the outside ones to enjoy the sunny morning. It's a nice, relaxed spot and the simplest way to describe the vibe is 'hippie' (not to be confused by 'hipster') or 'new age'. Think salt crystal lamps, Indian furnishings and Hindu god statues.

The all-day wrap menu

When it comes to ordering at Wrapture, I always try to go for something different but I really can't go past the Faloumi ($12) with warm falafel balls (not GF as I once was warned), grilled haloumi, tahini sauce, hommus, minted yoghurt, tabouli, salads. C prefers the meatier options and this time chose the Kofta ($10) with ground lamb cigars, fresh lemon, tahini sauce, minted yoghurt, tabouli and salads. The range is vast including several Asian inspired types like the Zen Tofu with teriyaki tofu and wasabi mayo as well as bacon and egg options for breakfast only. There are some non-wrap menu options as well but I well and truly come to Wrapture for their wraps only. For the non-wrap-fans there is an extensive menu including Nasi Goreng and Kedgeree for something different, or there's muesli and French toast for the sweet tooths out there. The gluten-free pita wraps are $1 extra and you can add haloumi to any for an additional $3 (which you would because haloumi is amazing). I'd already had a coffee at the markets so went without but they do decent coffee at Wrapture, as well as tea, hot and iced chocolates and house-made mango lassi and iced tea.

It's counter service for ordering but food and coffee is brought out to you. Water is available in bottles for you to grab out of the self-service drinks fridge. At least I think it is - it's possible we just do that before they have time to bring it out to us...The wraps are wrapped in paper and delivered in a paper bag, the same as the takeaway option. It didn't take long for them to arrive and we ripped into the bags eagerly. My Faloumi was as good as I remembered with several thick slices of gooey salty haloumi and several balls of crunchy warm falafel balls. The lettuce, cabbage, cucumber and tomato added freshness and there was plenty of hommus, tahini and yoghurt to bring it altogether. Each bite was a delicious flavour explosion in my mouth and the combination of flavours and textures was perfect. I polished it off in about five minutes. C reacted similarly to his lamb kofta but I managed to get a bite in before he finished it. The lamb kofta were tasty and juicy and worked well with the rest of the components but I still love the Faloumi more.

The Faloumi on GF pita ($13)

We sat around and enjoyed to sunshine for a little while longer before heading off for the warm ride home. Now that Summer is getting closer, biking breakfasts are bound to get earlier!

Bikeability

http://www.cafewrapture.com.au/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cafe-Wrapture/

Additional wraps available at breakfast

The wrap-free breakfast men

The Kofta ($10)