Right in the middle of suburbia, in a place where it is good to be seen and it can be seen, is another in a lot of examples for great dining out on the weekend. The housemate's daughter was up from Sydney, with some really big news going to come her way during the weekend stay. It was mid-morning one time, and waking up she was hungry as per normal. Best way is to get something for her to eat, and my dining buddy (also my housemate) knew quickly to find the nearest, most potential place and it was Little Sista, just a small drive away. It's not that much use to go out of the way to find something special or really good with her - it just is not.
There are many places around the suburbs that act as local cafes, and it is becoming like an endemic of weeds for the south side (slower to progress..... and here come the predictable jokes). However, it is rare that they consider catering to one of the best or biggest potential demographics - young children, or at least parents and caretakers with young children. This is one place that must do well with the children, as there were plenty of them dining here that day. It is laid back, the al fresco dining makes it feel wide open outside and it is a back street so traffic is not that much of an issue if the children wish to play while waiting.
Even when a restaurant or cafe has a lot of space, if it becomes popular enough in time it will get pretty crowded. This was the case with Little Sista. The sidewalk was chock full of tables, and there were a few still available so a walk-in was not too much of a gamble just yet. One table sort of around the corner from the counter was free, with a bench against the wall - that was taken as quickly as possible. The feeling is both relaxed and comfortable. They manage to dial it down with aesthetics and go for a more simple, clean look. In a past life, I could have seen that this was a corner store.
Service was very good, really quick and has a kinetic energy with all of the movement. The general demographic is more of a youthful one, and use iPads to take the order. They are very friendly in spite of everything going on, and an efficient meal is all the more possible here because of it. Just take your desired table, they come for table service and you pay later. This does have more relaxed feeling to it.
Little Sista more or less is a modern Australian cafe. Hopping on board the all day breakfast hype, they have a good breakfast menu which I will give a few credits points to. It is not completely copy-paste, and has a few of its own creations and takes on classic dishes. Lunch dips into the mundane selection - just a few burgers, some salads and all that. Then at dinner time, they get to shine again with a good selection of meals, appeasing to most appetites.
Listen here, the coffee is from Campos. You have already won me the instant that I saw the umbrellas. Additionally, when there is no confusion about the term "doppio" when I place a request - then that elevates my mood just that bit more about it. Either it gets ordered a lot, or they can speak coffee. Whatever the case, this bodes well with me already.
And much to the consistency of Campos, this was a good lot of coffee. It was perfectly extracted, really strong and had a slightly honey-like note underneath the regular flavour. Just how I like it, it woke me up. That's all a good doppio needs, though no residue at the bottom helps as well - which there wasn't this time.
For my breakfast, I went for the "Peanut Butter French Toast". This was made with a thick slice of brioche, and topped with a combination chocolate-peanut butter sauce, then a finish of a peanut and coconut brioche crumb, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a generous serving of (crispy) bacon on the side. As an extra, even if it wasn't on the menu per se, I saw if I could get some banana as well. No worries there, and it was apparent what style I was going for (10 points to the first correct answer in comments).
Now this is what I call French toast. It goes above and beyond, being experimental with it as a fresh change of pace. The serving size was generous and robust. The bits of bread were cut really thick, and thus soaked up a lot more eggy mixture making it moist and more susceptible to cooking. The crumb on top of it was delicious and crunchy, with enough of both flavours to create a unique flavour that went well together. Topping on top of that was a thick sauce, that was rich and didn't have too much of a dominant peanut butter flavour; it tasted less than a Reece's cup and more like combining peanuts into melted chocolate - delicious.
On the side of it, they chose a good quality brand of ice cream. This was smooth in texture, quite pleasant in flavour and was surprisingly not melting too much. Additionally, they were generous with both the bacon, and - notably - the banana. For the bacon, it was really crispy and delicious without a whole lot of fat to be put to the side (only maybe a teaspoon at best). It appeased the bacon loving part of me. As for the banana, this was just beautiful. It could have been two or three of them, well caramalised on the side seeping out a semi-sweet taste which went perfectly with the rest of the items.
Neither one of the other diners seemed that impressed by the place, which surprised me as what I got was really good; albeit, both did concede that from the looks of it I chose well. To possibly repeat a cliche, this is the kind of food that I await when going out - inventive, wholesome and substantial.
So, Little Sista is better than average. It has a character to its own, the service is really fast yet relaxed, they have carved a good and convenient niche in the suburban streets and given a focus on family. For me, this was one of the most enjoyable breakfasts out, even just basing it on the food in itself.
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