 When a gorgeous, olive-skinned girl delivers our coffee and apologies for the delay she is instantly forgiven. It is clear she has not been dallying. As usual, the hugely popular daytime café is packed and the dedicated barista's counter is humming. Coffee is always good here - some local businesspeople cannot function without their daily hit - and ours is delivered with a mile-wide smile and an exotic Brazilian accent.
Bypassing the blackboard and breakfast menus to ogle counter fare, we spot lovely sandwiches and intriguing-looking swirly-topped chicken and mushroom pies. The lamb wrap ($14.50) proves a perfect choice, well-stuffed with satisfyingly tender meat, hummus, tzatziki and tabbouleh, and served with a side salad.
With the queue growing behind us, there is not time to linger over the wine list - plenty of by the glass choices around the $7 mark - that is posted on the crowded counter.
Spectacular salads are a house specialty, and we're not talking those bland, leafy things created for dainty nibblers. Some kitchen genius creates at least half a dozen substantial, imaginative platters using high quality ingredients. The alluring Israeli couscous with chorizo has a pleasant kick, the haloumi, walnuts and mushrooms prove fine companions, and the fabulously moist smoked chicken salad comes with blue cheese aioli ($11.50 for three).
Having chosen a table near the street-front windows, we find ourselves staring at additional temptations. The café also sells take-home packs of fine smoked seasfood and cheeses, while corner shelves are stocked with extra virgin olive oils, coffee beans and cherry and vanilla jam.
We also have prime views of the grand old karaka tree shading a courtyard area that is usually crammed with tables. Today's bitter wind has driven diners inside the former Masonic Lodge building with its high ceilings; coloured cement floors and barn-like proportions. A smaller dining room at the rear of the café provides a slightly quieter respite.
Once dessert arrives - meals are ordered at the counter but delivered to tables - the surroundings blur as we focus on the task at hand; how to finish the fiendlishly large slice of gooey chocolate truffle cake ($5.50). We manage, of course, before discovering yet another reason to love this café. Ample parking means sated customers never have to waddle far to their car.
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