Oasis Fairfield Cafe & Grocer — Restaurant in Melbourne

Real score 3.3 out of 5.

We love Oasis on the other side of town. It’s a mighty place. We’re not sure the new Fairfield location works as well. It is a big bright and airy space here with sizeable cafe and grocery sections. The cafe layout is odd and people walking through to the grocery walk right through the people going to the cafe. The cross over has its challenges and doesn’t quite work. It was a very cold day today and far too cold and breezy inside. At times it was absolutely freezing and like most customers we kept our coats on inside, my partner in what she calls “double puff”, a puffy vest and a puffy coat, all carefully colour coordinated of course. Basically, either the heating wasn’t on or it wasn’t working well enough. Whatever it is, it’s a significant issue with winter one day away. It doesn’t feel like a relaxing place here either. There were a few screaming kids today and that added to the significant volume levels inside.

I ordered the big Lebanese breakfast. That was the dish I recall having at the Hugesdale store. It was the one I wanted to have again as it was so good there. Most of the dish was superb. The eggs were soft and fluffy. The soujouk and haloumi soft, delicious and flavoursome. The labne lovely and the chickpeas and fateh really good. The olives were super too, four different varieties, all delicious with very fresh tomato and cucumber. Beautiful, fresh and flavoursome. Bizarrely though, the pita was stale and quite hard. It was tough to eat. I’ve never had poor pita like this before. I’m too accommodating and I should have complained and got some fresh pita. Anyway, leave plenty of time for the big brekkie. It is very large meal.

My partner’s king salmon was a very pretty dish which was very attractively presented. She said it was a good rather than an outstanding dish though.

It’s a pass today. From our perspective, there’s a few unexpected issues here at present. We hope Oasis can...

GIVE MA BOY JACK DOGAN A RAISE.

BANANA WAFFLES Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl until frothy; add the buttermilk, mashed banana, 4 tablespoons of the butter and vanilla and stir to combine. Stir the wet mixture into the dry until just combined, taking care not to over mix. Cover with plastic wrap and let the mixture rest for 10 minutes. Preheat a waffle iron to medium-high. Preheat the oven to 200°F. Brush the inside of the iron evenly with some of the remaining butter. Pour in enough batter to lightly cover the surface of the iron, about 1/3 to 3/4 cup, depending on the size of the iron. (Take into consideration that the batter will spread once the lid is closed.) Cook until the waffles are crisp and golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Repeat with the remaining butter and batter, keeping the cooked waffles warm in the oven until ready to serve. Whisk the cream and confectioner's sugar in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Slice the remaining banana if using. Serve the waffles topped with the whipped cream, banana slices and walnuts and drizzled with maple syrup. Copyright 2013 Television Food Network, G.P. All...

Came here for a late lunch on a Sunday. New to Fairfield the two storey place is a Café/Restaurant, Bakery, Gourmet Supermarket and Food School all in one. The place was very busy, but after waiting for only a couple of minutes, we had a table for 5. Quite a small menu of mostly Lebanese/Middle Eastern food, but a lot to tempt us. We ended up ordering a whole lot of entré style dishes as share plates. They are licensed and have a very small list of alcoholic drinks plus some cocktails. Order and pay at the counter and it's served to the table by freindly, smiling staff after only a short wait. Food was delicious and I enjoyed mine with a Lebanese beer I'd never had before. Coffee was excellent and the cakes we had for dessert were only Ok, the Blueberry crumble Cheesecake being a bit dry and the flat Haloumi style cheesecake not really enjoyed by anyone as a dessert as it had no sweetness at all. Supermarket was interesting which although small is VERY densely packed with a wide range of interesting foodstuffs and novel spices. We definitely enjoyed our meals and will...