Grounds of Alexandria, Alexandria

Grounds of Alexandria has been out for a long time. It's a cafe place where one can rock up and have to wait an hour. That popular.

Wow... where do I start. Rollercoaster of an experience wouldn't even quite nail it. Definitely not your garden variety cafe. For one it's huge, like a good size food court. 

There's all these things happening, the cafe itself, a breakfast burger grill up stand, a florist, lemonade store, children's playground, coffee, a herb patch and a flipping piglet called Kevin Bacon and his feathered accomplices. 

Inside there's roasting classes and an open bread bakery. 

As well as tempting fresh baked treats on display. This place is ALIVE. 

Unfortunately so are the crowds that come in. Good luck finding a chair because I certainly didn't have any. I'm not sure how the place appears on a normal day (as opposed to a school holiday) but it seems like the place is experiencing a fairly large turn around so c'mon guys, it wouldn't hurt to buy a few more chairs.

Chicken Burger and Chips 13

Dry. God awfully dry. It had a good crunch going on, I didn't even mind that it was just impossible large to eat and even the additions of sultanas gave it a pleasant sweet edge but not enough mayo and over frying meant that the burger was just unbearably dry. Chips were nice and crunchy and are helped along with a bit of tomato sauce. Sads.

Falafel Wrap 9

In comparison the falafel wrap wasn't half bad. Big balls of fried falafel are wrapped with a bit of tart pickled cabbage, tomato, chilli and a bit of mint yoghurt. It seemed like the tahini was missing which would have helped the flavours but it wasn't bad. Still, it wasn't great either and I would prefer a chain joint's falafel kebab any day of the week.

Banana Smoothie 8.5

It's not able to redeem itself even with a crackingly good shake. At $8.50 a cup, it better damn well be and downing this is like the pick me up qualities equivalent of a good coffee. It's simple enough that you can taste all the elements (unlike ones which have 10+ miscellaneous ingredients); the natural sweetness of honey and banana, creamed up with a bit of yoghurt action and mint for more freshness. Sometimes the best things are the simple things done with care.

Despite what people say about all this hipster crap, the staff weren't 'pretentious' at all. In spite of being frantic, the staff were very friendly. In the end, however, food is where it falls and I was underwhelmed.  

Despite lightning quick service in the midst of a day on full throttle, you can't help but think that if they just took a little more time it would inevitably mean a little more care and a whole different experience. 

It's been pulling crowds for a long long while so they must be doing something right but I just didn't see it. Perhaps I just picked the wrong things or maybe I just fell into all the hype. I'll be back to test that.


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Posted in: burger, falafel, Fried Chicken