The Monkey Bar Cafe

Came here with a friend with kid, so is awesome to have a park just next to the cafe. us there having coffee and the kids just drain their energy out. didn't really try the food here.

At the time going here, it was a few weeks until the nieces were bound to arrive. What this means is that the places the two of us are able to go to should start to cater well to little kids. No longer being called "the baby", the eldest niece is now going to be much more active and require places to be active and play. Being the uncle and grandpa, sometimes there will be supervision mixed with playtime and the bonus of coffee (for us). There has already been a couple of good places nearby that cater well to this, however having a good number can still help. Enter the Monkey Bar Cafe. My dining buddy and I went out to test this place out, and for all the necessary aspects for the aforementioned situation - a place for the little girl to play, a semi-decent coffee (plus some food), local, and easy to get to. The results coming back from there are that both of us are looking forward to this place being an option for child minding.

The Monkey Bar Cafe finds itself located at the Annerely Junior Football Club, being dished out of what I presume is their canteen. Its whole set up is like that of the sports canteens of old, complete with free water and kids lining up to get snacks. They have done quite well in transforming it, making it look a combination of having some effort put into the aesthetics along with getting the area familiar. From the bench that my dining buddy and I were from, a soccer game was being played in the field. Word is definitely out about the Monkey Bar Cafe, as there was plenty of people here - namely parents with young 'uns.

Service is appropriately friendly as well. It has that usual counter service, going up, placing the order then paying. Following that up, the food arrives at your table. It is all really, and fits in to the atmosphere.

Plenty of food gets served here, and it is mostly wholesome stuff - nothing that is swanky or for hipsters in any way. They have an all-day breakfast with all the old favourites - eggs benedict, avocado on toast, huevos rancheros et al. The old favourite snack jaffles are a plenty with fillings galore, and the cabinet is filled with several kinds of sweets to partner with a coffee. Getting to lunch time, it is basic stuff again with burgers, salads and sandwiches, and the kids have their own little menu to choose from. Concerning the beverages, as well as coffee and tea, on offer are milkshakes, smoothies, iced beverages and all sorts of bottled drinks.

Let's start getting to it, that is the coffee. As per usual, the drink that I got was a doppio. The coffee that they use comes from Genovese, which I found to often be one of the most forgiving and reliable blends to get a decent cup of coffee to drink. The coffee was not too bad here, but for one from Genovese it was not up to scratch for other places. That's not to say that it was bad, as I still enjoyed it. The extraction was good enough. Just something about it felt less bold than the usual roast that Genovese is able to put out.

When it came to getting a meal here, I decided to get an order of corn fritters. These came with bacon, avocado and a rocket salad. For a bit extra, a couple of eggs could be added onto the side. That option I up took. This meal was half decent. Maybe the eggs might have needed a bit better cooking - a lot of times I have asked for runny yolk, and upon pricking it immediately the yolk seeped out like lava. Here it was still a bit soft, but definitely not runny. Also, the eggs might have been a bit hard as well. The fritters were sweet and crunchy, and the avocado was creamy. As for the bacon, I also felt it could have been cooked a bit more - I am one that likes it quite crispy. All round, it definitely shows some potential as a cafe if this is an indication for it.

With a whole heap of good planning, this is definitely one of the best places around the south side for the family - especially when it involves little kids. It really is what it is, and for accommodating just as much to the parents and guardians as the kids, they have managed to find a happy medium that suits the family at a short order.

An amazing place with fantastic coffee, big and delicious breakfasts and the banana bread is to die for !!!!

The only place I've been to that makes your skinny cap FLUFFY! Can't go wrong with the chunky avo and feta on sourdough. Such a great place to chill under the trees with friends.

Service was great and the location is great especially if you have little ones with the play area nice and close I ordered poached eggs they looked great when they were served until I put my knife into the eggs expecting nice runny eggs but they were over cooked. Coffee was great.