Sassafras of Paddington — Restaurant in Brisbane City

After a relatively bad experience. We decided to give it another go after the owner and I had exchanged a few emails. Here are some updates.

The second time around, the service was okay but there was still room for improvements. Also, instead of paper-based menu, we were introduced to their new online ordering system, which was straightforward and easy to read.

The menu was alright, we ordered a smoked mushroom and eggplant with 2 coffees and one slice of cheesecake. My partner added a hash brown to his smoked mushroom and I added a poached egg and a serving of hollandaise on the side. I did wish there had been more options on the menu. I thought the smoked eggplant was really beautiful and so tasty. It is a very tricky ingredient to work with but they really nailed it. It wasn’t undercooked and was very flavorful. It wasn’t mushy either. It still held its shape and the texture remained. Not too salty either, which I really appreciated. And the pomegranate scattered on top was a really good idea. It really spiced up the whole dish. In general, that dish was executed really well. As for the smoked mushroom, my partner really loved it. I had a little bit of the dish and thought it was nice. I specially liked the sourdough and thought it tasted really organic, the feeling you get when you have real sourdough. The tangy sensation. He also really appreciated the fact that the mushrooms were smoked for real instead of liquid smoke, which gave it a natural and very faint smoky taste to it. There were other dishes I would like to try next time we go, the corn fritters and hot cakes. I didn’t order the corn fritters as the pic on the menu threw me off a bit and didn’t look as nice as the real thing. So I missed the chance. The hash brown was just gorgeous, prob the best I have ever had. It came out really fresh and crispy and in a fairly good portion.It wasn’t too greasy either, which I really loved. And it was seasoned just right. The cheesecake was heavenly. I am a big fan of baked cheesecakes and I thought it was really well done. The rhubarb was a really nice touch and elevated the flavor and taste of the cake. The cake was light and not overly sweet. The skinny cappuccino I ordered was awesome. I LOVED the chocolate on top. I was actually a bit disappointed when it was served at first because I didn’t see any real chocolate until I had the first sip. Oh man, that was prob one the best skinny caps I have had.

In general, it was a pleasant experience and we really enjoyed the food and coffee. We would love to come back again to try other dishes...

I’m not quite sure what has happened to Sassafras. We used to love this place and the tasty menu. We haven’t dined here for some time… and today we felt disappointed. The menu has changed and there weren’t too many items that felt particularly appealing.

We arrived around 1pm. We were greeted inside by a staff member standing at a table positioned at the front. We decided to go through to the back undercover area to dine. There were only about four tables with customers dining, and the rest of the tables were empty, most with dirty uncleared plates on them…. which didn’t feel nice. There were a few staff wandering around that didn’t appear to be busy, but never cleared the tables the entire time we were there. This felt uncomfortable and left me with the realisation that the customers who had dined here before us today, never had their plates cleared before leaving. 😬

We almost decided to leave and find another place to eat, but because my son was so hungry we decided to stay. I ordered the Roast Vegetable Salad, which was quite tasty (6/10)… and my son had the Ricotta Hotcakes with icecream and organic maple syrup. He gave them a mid rating. (5/10) I had a soy turmeric latte, and he had an iced chocolate, which felt very overpriced for what he received. We also ordered the house sparkling water. The glasses and bottle didn’t look completely clean, which was pretty disappointing.

When we finished our meal there were no patrons left in the cafe except for us. We sat with our empty plates in front of us for a good 15 minutes while a staff member finally came and cleared all the dirty tables around us, but not ours! 🤦🏼‍♀️So we moved our dirties to another table, and then decided to leave.

As we left I asked the staff member if there had been a change of ownership, as the place seemed so different to what I’d experienced previously. He told me it was still the same owners, they were just trying something different.

Sassafras looked and felt tired. It didn’t have the same upbeat vibe and great food as previously. The attention to detail wasn’t there. The cutlery holders on each table were missing serviettes and other components, and the staff didn’t seem too motivated.

Super disappointing experience for a place that used to be one of the best little cafes...

We decided to have an early (around 8.30am) breakfast at Sassafras on a Sunday morning. The facade of the venue as well as the inside decor is very homely, and feels as though you were walking through your neighbour’s house, the indoor seating looked a bit cramped and loud so we opted for backyard seating which was very comfortable and quiet.

We were greeted swiftly upon arrival, given seating options as well as food and drinks menus. We ordered drinks first, from a menu with a lot of variety, including juices, smoothies, shakes, non-caffeinated hot drinks and classic coffee options. We picked the cold drip, shot of espresso, and a turmeric latte. All drinks came relatively quickly and were very well made, the cold drip was not bitter, had great flavour, and the turmeric latte had a good amount of spices and heat.

Shortly before receiving our drinks we had ordered our food, the menu selection for breakfast was very appetising, and there was a wide range of options of varying dietary restrictions. We noticed there was a specials’ board hanging on the wall, though unfortunately that was not brought to our attention by our server. After much deliberation we finally decided to share two plates: the corn fritters with extra smoked mushrooms and the ricotta hotcakes, with extra banana and maple syrup.

The food arrived promptly and piping hot. Everything looked house-made and of great quality, well presented with a good amount on each plate. The corn fritters were quenelled then deep fried, which was a great twist on the usual pancake-style pan fried version, and tasted great, all the flavours paired together on the plate worked impeccably well together. The ricotta hot cakes were some of the best executed we have had in the past, a very rich dish with ricotta throughout the batter mix, the honey butter which topped it all off complemented it perfectly and made for a very filling and gourmand breakfast.

By the time we were ready to leave, the venue had become bustling with customers and we were thankful to have come in early. We had an overall great experience at Sassafras, and we would highly recommend it for a delicious breakfast, though be sure to get in early or book your table to avoid crowds on a weekend.

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