As some of you are aware, my last lunch on Pakington St didn’t have a happy ending. Last week I found myself on Pako St again doing some more shopping and facing yet another lunchtime. The lone worker at Burger Inc told us there’d be a 30 minute wait, so we trudged on. We ended up heading into a very busy Winter’s Cafe to have a look at the menu. Oops, no spare tables and we had no reservation… but not to worry, apparently there is room upstairs. We were the first table up there and had the huge room to ourselves. Some people might feel a bit weird about that, but there was lots of light coming in, colourful paintings hanging on the wall, tables set with fresh flowers, cutlery and menus. Plus there was noise coming from downstairs, so it didn’t seem like we were all alone. A few more tables joined us upstairs after about 10 minutes or so.
There were quite a number of breakfast dishes on the menu, which I assume are available all day. There’s also a salad section and lunch section and a variety of drinks on offer. The flavoured iced tea was refreshing and not packed with sugar, as can sometimes be the case.
We ordered the wagyu burger with beer battered chips and aioli and the Szechuan calamari salad.
Wagyu burger
Szechuan calamari salad
The food was presented really well and I loved how the burger came out. The burger got the thumbs up and the chips were amazing. The calamari salad had a black bean dressing and strong Asian flavours. The calamari tasted good and was tender, but I wasn’t picking up Szechuan flavours.
Winter’s Cafe was definitely the most popular lunch spot on the river end of Pakington St that day. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a relaxed place to have lunch. I’m sure the tables at the front of the cafe are highly sought after, so if you are after one of those then definitely make a booking. But if you head into Winter’s at the last minute and you do get placed upstairs – don’t panic. Our waitress was attentive and we certainly didn’t get shoved upstairs and forgotten about. I might check out the breakfast menu in a little more detail next time.
Details:
Winter’s Cafe
330 Pakington St, Newtown
Open: Monday-Sunday breakfast and lunch
