I had a course in North Canberra that required a very early Saturday morning start of 8am. One of the few perks of the course is my meals will be reimbursed. Whereas I'd ordinarily have a mixed bowl of Carman's and 247 muesli before dashing off, I decided it was as good as reason as any to find a North side early morning breakfast.
Options that were open on a Saturday by 7am came down to Mocan & Green Grout, Autolyse, Lonsdale Street Eatery and Good Brother. Autolyse has by far the most interesting food menu with Mocan & Green Grout second (taking into account LSE doesn't have an online menu) and I recall the two times I've sampled Autolyse sourdough were happy moments.
Whilst waiting for my order I couldn't help but observe the mesmerising baker rolling out pastry in the machine then systemically cutting, rolling, decorating and egging various items to place them in the baking queue. I also couldn't help but notice the queue of people who then starting lining up for meals and coffee which remained 5 deep for all of 730-8am. I wonder why everyone is awake so early on a Saturday.
- Soy Chai Latte ($5 small) - mild sweetness with hints of cinnamon and cloves served in a lovely red pot. Fresh ingredients and no syrupiness. If they ever read this, I'd suggest experimenting with added ginger too;
- White Bean, Tomato, Chorizo Cassoulet with Baked Egg ($16.9) - a nice hot baked egg protecting slices of mild chorizo, large beans and tomato pieces. The prevailing flavour was tomato rather than salt which was great for first thing in the morning. It came with an unexpected large half-loaf of sourdough which had beautiful crispy shell, soft (minimally sour however) inside and complemented the dish perfectly.
The cassoulet is an excellent satisfying and warming meal that would have been perfect if I had given myself more time. It took about 25mins to come out and such I had about 5-10mins to eat. I'll go back on a less rushed morning (probably at a later time) to have that, other options (including an ox heart salad which I was impressed to see) and/or bakery items again.
