The Armory Wharf Cafe - An escape from the world

        I know my loyal fans are probably getting annoyed at me for not blogging. Time seems to be something that we're all so short of! I've also just been too mentally exhausted to write anything. The eating, cooking and photos havn't stopped though which makes it an even harder task to choose what to blog about. I thought I would blog about this place that allowed me to escape from the world for a little bit. And I can say we couldn't have found a better place.

        I'd read about The Armory Wharf Cafe somewhere and it also came up in a search I did when Ryan asked me "What's a good place to go to for breakfast?". It was on the back of my mind as a place to go to "one day". As it was a "timeout day" for me, and Ryan had pushed aside his plans for the day to spend time with me, I thought it was a perfect chance to go as it wasn't too far from Ryan's place. So we drive to Newington and headed to Blaxland Riverside Park in search of this cafe. We drove around and around but couldn't really see it anywhere, and couldn't see any signs pointing to it. I got Ryan to park the car and we walked to the Armory in search of the cafe, it was only when we turned around to head back to the car that I saw it! It's situated right next to the river and the road is on a higher platform than the cafe, so as you drive down the hill towards the Armory/wharf you can't really see it so it's very easy to miss.

        It was quite busy for a weekday, we were asked if we had a reservation which suprised me a bit, but luckily they had tables available. I wasn't really knowing what to expect and was quite pleasantly suprised when we walked in. The staff were well uniformed and service was good, not something I expected from a "cafe". There's inside and outside seating but on such a gorgeous day of course we wanted to be outside.

        Looking at the drink selections this caught my attention "FRUIT SODAS — SHARE A JUG OF ONE OF THE FOLLOWING UNIQUE FRUIT SODAS Pink lady & raspberry, Apple & Ginger, Pear & Blueberry, Blood orange & cardamom". We choose the Blood orange & cardamom, though I end up drinking the majority as Ryan reminds me he's a soft drink free at the moment but will have a "little bit" to try.

        I guess you can say this cafe has water views. There was a Rivercat that went up the river towards Parramatta while we were there and the people would wave as the boat passed by. As we both hadn't had breakfast (we both slept in keke) we were pretty hungry and couldn't wait to it.

        Ryan chose the "Seared yellowfin tuna w/ avocado panzanella and WA kalamata olives drizzle". It was either this or what I had but I talked him into getting the Tuna, the boy does need a bit more sustenance for his first meal of the day. (Haha the boy is sitting there with his arms folded, as soon as I pointed the camera at his plate he put his arms up and folded them in protest though last night he said to me he's learning to be patient now when we eat out. I'm usually pretty good only taking one or two shots as to not keep him waiting). The tuna was well cooked, the avocado panzenella was also nice and the olives "drizzle" was more like a tepanade spread on top of the tuna steak. All elements tasted good but we were both a little confused as to how all 3 worked together as one dish.

        I chose the "Corn Cakes served with Smoked salmon w/ dill yoghurt sauce, avocado and tomato salsa, roquette". All the elements worked well in this dish though I found the corn cakes a little on the dry side but this was helped by the yoghurt sauce and the salsa. I enjoyed every mouthful of corn cake, salmon, yoghurt sauce and salsa together, the sweetness from the corn was enhanced by the smooth texture of the salsa and the tartness from the tomato and then a hint of savouryness from the smoked salmon. I actually had a suspicion that my salsa and what was under Ryan's tuna were one of the same thing though reading the menu now it says that they shouldn't really have been. I guess because they both had avocado and tomato they ended up tasting very similar.

        We walked around a bit because I wanted to go "exploring". This is the back view of the cafe.

        There really isn't much to the place on a weekday but I can see this place abuzz on the weekends. There's bbq areas nearby and bike tracks and activities which are offered by the Armory.

        One of the old buildings on the grounds of the Armory as we walk back towards the car. Overall Ryan and I were both very happy with this place and our dishes that we received and definately wouldn't mind coming back again, possibly on another weekday when we get the chance. I am sure that this place is a hit on the weekends. Price wise we thought that it was definately value for money for the quality of food that was received. I look forward to my next visit!