After the big refurbishment of the Garden City Mall, one of the major tweaks to it was the courtyard area adjacent to the cinema and before the main area of the mall. The area has much of a semi-rustic feel, going modest and is surrounded by a big fountain and is in a circular area. Perk's, itself, has not changed that much in appearance. It is still modest looking, got a simple and clean look to it.
After running an errand nearby, taking the opportunity in full force my dining buddy and I sought out a new place for coffee. That brought us to here. In all honesty, I had heard about Perk's for all these years but had not gotten to it yet. From the looks of it, this could well be at least a decent place to get a meal.
The service was not too bad, however I do have a major gripe with it. When my dining buddy and I were here, the whole order was just two coffees and a sweet. This took quite a bit longer than it needed to, probably about five to ten minutes. For a coffee, this is not too good since I have seen busy places pump out dozens of orders in this allotted amount of time. A bit of leeway since it looked like the barista was new, but she does need to pick up pace to truly deliver - in time. The general system, order at counter and find a table. When it is busier, they probably require you take a number.
The range on the menu at Perk's is more or a less a variation of standard cafe fare. They offer an all day breakfast, giving some simple options and mostly what would be expected, then lunch is a combination of salads, pastas, burgers and sandwiches along with a few light snacks. Dinner gets a bit more substantial, with big lots of meat as the focus making home-style meals that are well thought out, diverse and gastronomically suited. In a recent upgrade to the menu, they have gotten more diverse with the items, offering a general range of Modern Australian dishes - pasta, curry, steak, burger etc. More or less what would be expected.
If you're like my dining buddy and me, the thing that you really like to look out for at certain times is if they do good coffee and cake. Well, it can be said that they deliver. All the usual suspects for drinks at your regular, average cafe are available for ordering - milkshakes, tea, sodas, coffee et al. Seeing one sign for coffee made all the difference, and that was that it came from Campos. That is one of the best, maybe even top five, coffee blends in town - I still pique interest upon seeing its name.
The coffee order, as per usual, was a doppio. This coffee was very good. It proved again how well Campos is, especially when it is boiled down the basic espresso shot. Well extracted, smooth, decent crema and this blend had a bit of a fruity flavour to it. The coffee must have been very good, as my dining buddy mentioned that this cappuccino had the perfect texture in the foam.
As always, something sweet on the side for me. The one that I chose was an apple rhubarb crumble. Now this is what I am talking about. It was a pretty decent size, and could probably be shared as a dessert at the end of a meal. It was warm, crumbly and had a decent amount of sweet, stewed apples in the middle along with stewed rhubarb. On the side was a dollop of cream, and it went together fantastically. The chefs here definitely know their way around a good pudding.
As a whole, Perk's looks decent enough as a cafe. It ticks the boxes as needed. For the baseline of a coffee and cake, that was quite satisfying and both the menu and environment of the place should be pleasing to the crowd. This is the case where it is bound to be somebody's favourite, but for something outstanding to recommend - at the end of the day, it is just another decent cafe.
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