Urban Pantry

Name: Urban Pantry
Type: Cafe/Restaurant
Location: Manuka
Meal: Brunch
Food et: Pancakes with banana, honey and ricotta

Keeping up with my urban theme (see last post) - some friends and I decided to meet up at Urban Pantry in Manuka for a late Brunch/extremely early lunch on a sunny Sunday morning.

The whole "Manuka Green" area was buzzing and everyone was out enjoying the fresh air. Thankfully, I'd had the hindsight to book beforehand - cos the place was packed.

Urban Pantry is nestled on the corner of the green, close to Bougainville Street, and has a good mixture of indoor and outdoor seating. The restaurant is simple and elegant, with a large bar/coffee counter the centre of the action.

We took our seats and ordered drinks (tea for me, thank you very much) and perused the menu while discussing some future holiday plans. It took us a long time to actually focus and read the menu, and the staff were quite obliging of our lack of concentration and came back a few times until we were ready to order.

I chose the Cinnamon toast with whipped coconut butter & maple syrup. However, having recently been diagnosed with a sulphur allergy (boo! hiss!), I had to ask the waitress if she knew whether they used real maple syrup, or "maple flavoured syrup" - she didn't know, but ran off to the kitchen to find out for me. Apparently they use the fake stuff, or as I like to call it - the rubbish stuff (it's full of preservatives - unlike real maple syrup, which only has the one ingredient).

I had to change my order and went for the Pancakes with banana, honey and ricotta.

The pancakes were light and fluffy, almost undercooked (you know when they go a little gooey) - but they were tasty. The bananas probably could have been cooked a little longer, to make them a little mushier - but that's a personal preference. The ricotta went well and cut through the sweetness. I was a little disappointed in the amount of honey on the pancakes, though, there really wasn't much. And I like to slop my pancakes in syrup, so I was even more depressed.

M ordered plain old eggs and toast and got...plain old eggs and toast. Although, the toast was a yummy sourdough - and I rate that.

J ordered Sweet corn & zucchini fritters with rocket, avocado, tomato salsa and sour cream. Definitely the best looking dish of the meal.

The service at Urban Pantry is good, the staff were very helpful and attentive - but not pushy or annoying. The atmosphere of the place is great, very chilled out and trendy.

Verdict: Reliable and good, but not amazing....which is some times all you need and some times all you want.

Rating: 3.5/*****