I remember they promoted wholefoods and all things good for you. I also vaguely remember the last (and only other) time I was there over 1.5 years ago they sold quite a few products on the benches which were now gone.
I ended up at Maple & Clove more by coincidence, with the final nights in Canberra being spent at the lovely 5* Hotel Realm whilst the apartment was being cleaned. It's a nice area with the patrons tending to be business people and the standard mothers with prams.
Choc almond smoothie (almond milk, dates, banana, activated almonds, coffee & cocoa) $9 kicked things off. The dates didn't make the drink overly sweet and there was a nice blend of flavours and grainy texture. I do wonder if activating nuts makes a discernible difference to either taste or health benefits.
- Maple Whole Waffle (wholemeal spelt, zucchini & sweet corn waffles served with smoked King salmon, confit tomato & slow cooked egg) $20 - an interesting waffle that was certainly different to usual. It had a strong corn flavour which I always enjoy;
- Sweet potato hashbrown (with gypsy ham, scrambled egg, dukkah, rocket & mint) $18 - I can't resist a good hashing of potatoes. This one was fine but nothing that particularly excited me.
It's a small menu and I do prefer other cafes in Canberra so this was more a meal of convenience than anything else.
The meals seemed a little small compared to the standard (or maybe I'm just greedy). Wholefoods are always more expensive I suppose but the quality is meant to be better? Maybe I'm just reminded of Wholefoods in NYC and London which was always a nice place to wander through and dream of spending that much on groceries...