Reviews Lady Brock

Go way up the quiet side street from main Logan Road, and get past the library, get past the huge retirement center, and eventually you find one of the quirkiest places in this part of town. Right next to the post office, is a boutique clothing shop which manages to cram everything into an are the size of a small bedroom. Mostly what they focus on are all sorts of clothings, and cards, and jewelery and..... I don't care about fashion, and I am not the target audience in that regard. It is merely happenstance to me, I am here for the coffee.

Well, with getting here - it was in conjunction to another task. Getting late into the afternoon, there was a task that needed to be done - but first, as always, coffee time. Finding a new place for coffee. Vaguely remembering about this place, I showed my dining buddy it and off we went to Our Lady Brock.

Well, the interior of the store certainly is bright and characteristic. It even has a bit of an African feel to it, what with some animal prints and what not. Nevertheless, while it would be hard to swing your arms and not touch something it still isn't cramped. For the cafe part of the establishment, it faces directly onto the pavement. Walk in this side, and there is a small strip to move in to view what there is on offer. Most of the tables are outside, and it is low key dining.

It is run by one of the most cheerful ladies that I have seen in a while. She was multi-tasking with clientele on both sides of the shop, and still managed to get efficient conversation in. This is essentially good service. Modest, and it has much of the makings to become "the local" for the residents on the nearby and adjacent streets. Heck, to the extent that the little ones will be most welcome.

The fare that they serve here is more or less the basic cafe options. For the morning part of the day, they have a few breakfast options - mostly what you would expect, and a cabinet that is full of all kinds of sweets. All the basic expected drinks are present for a cafe. At the base line, it is a base line cafe - good enough for a meeting and a local watering hole.

So, the coffee here is from the Establishment. This is one that has been seen around the city recently, such as in the past year or two. It is a first time for my dining buddy. If you like your coffee to be really strong, and have a dark taste then this is one of the best ones that I can recommend for you; I know a bit more because there is still that impulsive person in me who likes coffee for the buzz. So, in other words this is purely objective but it is among the ones I might get more excited about when compared to others.

The coffee that they do here is adequate, but it might have one or two issues. The craft is there, but maybe the coffee is served a little too hot. It was not quite burnt, the flavour sort of numbed what notes could be brought out. In time though, I think she could make a good cup that people would cross many suburbs for.

Getting a couple of sweets to split, my dining buddy went for the carrot cake and I got a cherry tart. The carrot cake good and sweet, with a cream cheese topping that was coloured orange. It was soft, crumbly and filled with all kinds of goodness. As for the cherry tart, this was a pretty big sweet (I didn't even see it at first, and was called "greedy" by my dining buddy - jokingly, and I fully know well) that took up most of the size of the plate. The pastry was good, soft and pulled apart easily. They didn't skimp on any of the filling - the cherry mixture was all the way through. It was a combination of sweet and tart, and a filling number. They certainly have a nack here.

As far as a boutique shop goes, they do not need to worry at all as they appear to be going strong after more than 20 years. Going on from that, the coffee place has managed to carve its own niche as well. Come for the clothing, stay for the coffee - or as the two of us did, both aspects for the coffee. In all seriousness, given a bit more due care (and they are off to a good start with social media and whatnot) this place could get a bit more recognition.