“A city hipster taking to the beach with aplomb”.Graton casino poker cash games. €77.20 (including coffees, minerals, wines, desserts, excluding tip) Off season: Saturday, 12pm-9pm Sunday, 12pm-7pm

Otherwise I’ll be the very happy more occasional diner, swathed in quilts, wrapped around the stove. Now beach-ready, I may be no younger but I’m infinitely brighter and, should we get a heatwave, I’ll become a permanent fixture in The Puffin Cafe. The former is Debbie delicious the latter, a tad drier than the original Grace ever was or will be, but it is chocolate - with excellent coffees to wash it down, nothing remains. The filling, though, is timidly under-spiced, in need of a serious kick up the autobahn to lift this conglomerate of carbs above the merely comforting.Ī Doug E Fresh salad of Rocket, Parmesan, Toasted Pine Nuts presents well, though I strongly suspect rather dull leaves are imported, inferior to fresh and local, a trick missed on an otherwise top notch menu.Ī short sharp wine list is eminently praiseworthy: we have two organic Italians by the glass my Costadoro Rosso is supple, fruity and fresh MHD’s Costadoro Bianco is apple-bright and creamy.Īny meal that ends with a double whammy of Debbie Harry (apple pie) and Grace Jones (choc fudge brownie) is alright by me, especially when smothered in gelato. This leaner, meaner rendition is also quite the edible triumph though I’d imagine even nicer with sweet onion and salty feta.Ī dedicated professional, I ignore my preference (Furious Five: prosciutto, peaches, blue cheese, balsamic syrup, basil leaves) and roam the menu on the reader’s behalf, opting for The Kraftwerk, a Calzone (pizza base folded over into a ‘pasty’ parcel) of Curried Potatoes, Spinach & Chickpeas, a samosa with an Italian accent. To give the progeny their due, they have reasonably Catholic tastes, unafraid to experiment, but when it comes to pizza, they remain fundamentalist to the core, favouring a select few toppings, rarely if ever allowing them to mingle, so a Jazzy Jay (Chorizo, Red Peppers, Carmelised Red Onion, Feta) is stripped back to peppers and meat. So 5 stars, even though I didnt care for the taste - but thats me, not. My tastes dont match the spiciness but others will enjoy the New Orleans style. The base is burnished to a reddish-brown, blistered with air bubbles, and tastes as good as it looks, crisp, chewy, a fine bed for succulent prawns swimming in creamy mozzarella. A little gem and a ray of sunshine in the otherwise dismal world of eateries in the Camougal region. The Bambaataa (Chilli Prawns, Roasted Red Peppers, Salsa Verde) arrives for My Heart’s Delight. Still, the great thing about my gloriously dysfunctional relationship with pizza is an infinite capacity to forgive even the most heinous transgressions, wipe the slate clean and start all over again.Įach pizza is named for an iconic performer or act, including a posse of hip hop heroes from back when Jimmy Cagney was still the ‘original gangsta’, a spot of cultural carbon dating reassuring for one of my vintage. Then I discover we are perusing the off-season offering of pizzas only, no bagels or toasties, a disappointing prospect as we recover from a tragic encounter with a supposedly upmarket pizza emporium two days previously. We retain hats and coats, trusting hot food will soon stoke inner furnaces. It soon becomes apparent this stove is where we need to be for the cafe has just opened for the first time in 2017 and despite the addition of several electric radiators, the room is draughty and ‘fresh’. Modernist white tables contrast with recycled wood counter, against the far gable wall is a solid-fuel stove.

Inside, impressive virtue has been made of base simplicity: walls are white, currently adorned with a delightful exhibition of contemporary lace work, by Lily Corcoran the entire ceiling, a ‘puffa’ jacket of silver insulation. We arrive on a Sunday in late January, the sky crystalline blue, our extremities bluer still in the bracing cold and decide to eat first, ‘beach’ later. Spencer Treacy doesnt hold back from lathering on the mustard when it comes to making a fiery Brick Lane, with salt beef.

Puffin cafe