Healthy Hub Cafe, 100 Bridge Mall, Ballarat

Lila Cafe Review Articles 20 February 20192 April 2019cafe review, cafe reviews Ballarat

Healthy Hub Cafe, 100 Bridge Mall, Ballarat

This fabulous little café is a brilliant addition to Ballarat’s growing healthy food culture. Everything is organic and gluten free. Beautiful breakfasts, healthy lunches, daily specials, and a diverse range of beverages keep me coming back.

Promoting recycling and sustainability, the café encourages keep cups, uses no plastic, and even features pre-loved furniture (not all of it comfortable). The beer and wine is organic and preservative free, and I’ve been working my way through the speciality alternative coffees – mushroom latte and beetroot latte being favourites.

There’s also a wellness centre upstairs which offers classes, massage, and natural therapy.

The food servings are generous and everything is prepared fresh on-site. I like the Buddha bowls where you can choose salads and protein to suit from the daily options. I’ll definitely be back regularly to support this great café, and everyone I’ve introduced to it so far has loved it. The only down side is it seems to attracts mums with young children. But if prams and noisy kids are going to bother you, grab some take-away (bringing your own cup and container, of course), sit outside, and people-watch.

http://www.thehealthyhubballarat.com.au/

I Made It Creative Café, 113 Albert Street, Sebastopol

Lila Cafe Review Articles 5 February 20192 April 2019cafe reviews, cafe reviews Ballarat

I made it creative cafe Sebastopol cafe review

I Made It, Creative Café, 113 Albert Street, Sebastopol, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

This is a tricky one to review, particularly as I haven’t actually eaten here yet. I’ve driven past a number of times and wondered what it was all about, and a few days ago I found out, and was so impressed I want to add my support to those who have known about this little gem for ages.

Go for the food, not the location or ambiance. It’s basic, and frequented by the demographic of the area. But it gives locals somewhere to go which is welcoming, has great food, hearty serves, at reasonable prices. It’s a wonderful place, and full marks for the owners for thinking of it and getting it going. Even though I’ll have to wear my flannel shirt and trackies to visit, I’m definitely going to make an effort, because it’s the sort of simple, home-style cooking that everyone loves and craves every now and then. They cater for special diets (the owner reeled off a long list of gluten-free options which far surpasses most of the ‘trendy’ cafes in town). And it’s the sort of non-pretentious place where you know you’ll be greeted warmly and will roll out of with a satisfied and very full stomach. Stay tuned for an actual review of the food.

And – a follow-up review for the I Made It Café……

I took two work colleagues there for lunch a few days ago – warning them beforehand that it was a down-market venue and to not have high expectations, although the food should be good. Despite my warning, they were still surprised at where I’d dragged them. One colleague had apricot chicken on rice, and said it was very good, and he’d come back again (if it was in a more convenient location). His food tastes are very basic so I was sure he’d enjoy the meal. The other colleague ordered sweet and sour pork, which came without anything else, and when rice was requested, a mushy spoonful was added to the plate with the words “that’s all that was left in the pot”. Hhhmmmm. My roast lamb with vegies and chips was delicious. We then followed up, unnecessarily, with huge slabs of the spectacular looking passion-fruit sponge, which was perfectly nice, considering I’ve never liked sponge. There were lots of gluten-free options, and overall I think we enjoyed the food. None of us would go back in a hurry, mainly because of the venue itself, and in my case, the simplicity of the food. I like to eat things I couldn’t (or wouldn’t) make at home. But it was cheap and good and the serves were perfectly sized for lunch.

Prospects, Federation Uni SMB Campus, Lydiard St South, Ballarat

Lila Cafe Review Articles 27 September 20182 April 2019cafe reviews, cafe reviews Ballarat, local cafe review

Those who haven’t tried dining at a hospitality training restaurant are missing out. Not just for the opportunity to help the students practice their cooking, waiting and sommelier skills, but also to eat food which is gourmet standard, beautifully presented, and great value. Lunches, while casual, are generous – a three course lunch for $15 can’t be turned down, nor can a 3 course fine-dining dinner experience for $35. It’s not open regularly, as hours are dictated by student availability.

A work colleague and I tried the special diets menu last week (and we’re going back this week, and again next week). Starter was a ploughman’s platter to share – an unusual choice for special diets, given it contained cheese, crumbed arancini, and non-gluten free soda bread. When asked, no gluten free bread was available. But there were plenty of other things on the platter to eat, and knowing it was only the first course didn’t make the unavailability of bread a problem.

There was a choice of four options for main – I had the Vietnamese Beef Pho, which was delicious, and very filling. My colleague had the Soy Poached Chicken, served on brown rice and, while delicious, looked rather stodgy as there were no vegetables or salad. I’m going to try the Mexican Sweet Potato this week, and the Fish Tacos next week.

Dessert was a tasting platter with orange and rosemary polenta cake (divine), vegan chocolate tart (delicious, but very rich), and a raspberry ruffle bar (which looked like a chocolate and tasted oddly of something artificial).

While this particular lunch review is not overly positive, the overall dining experience was great, and the fact that we’re going back again shows we’re up for giving it another try and seeing if our feedback has made any difference to the menu.

Either way, the value, quality of food, and opportunity to help the students means I’ll keep going back whenever the limited opening hours allow.

Prospects – follow-up

I had the pleasure of a three-course dinner at Prospects this week. The menu offered a choice of three entrees, three mains, and two desserts. The only unfortunate thing was that my friend and I ordered the same things, limiting our tasting options. We started with grilled aubergine with bocconcini and basil pesto – delicious. Main course was scotch fillet with seared asparagus and béarnaise sauce – the fillet was perfectly cooked, the meal was simple, but each element was done perfectly. And we finished with a honeycomb semifreddo. I licked the plate. I highly recommend this dining experience as a chance to not only support the hospitality students, but to have a stupendous meal at a very reasonable cost.