That’s right, you read that correctly. Burwood. If you’re running out of places to go eat in the area, time to treat yourself with a visit to this new trendy joint.
Located smack bang in the middle of Burwood park (the big one right opposite the shopping centre), you really can’t get more beautiful and convenient. With a decor akin to that of the Grounds of Alexandria, The Picnic is certainly a cute place. Push bikes on display, nice outdoor chairs for relaxing and of course, the feeling of being outside.
Of course with it only opening 2 weeks ago, the place was no doubt busy with a wait of about 10 minutes for a table. Not bad for such a prime located cafe if you ask me. First impressions? Service was friendly and the place? Very cute. The menu had items similar to what you’d expect to have at a picnic (good job on the theme concurrence!) and the tables and tent really gave it that park-dining feel. Also, look at the damn watering cans as bottles, how cool is that?
Continuing from that, the menu itself is short and sweet with both breakfast and lunch options. In terms of pricing, this place is on the expensive side for cafes with a meal averaging $25-$35 and smoothies for about $10 (too pricey if you ask me).
Being the glorious day it was, we got icy drinks all round.
Lemon & Mint / Watermelon & Lychee / Iced Mocha
The drinks itself were again, pricey, but damn good. On a hot summer’s day like it was, they are seriously the best things ever. The slushees were super refreshing and gave off that satisfying “ahh”. Fresh ingredients are always the best.
As for food, we got ourselves some salmon, lamb and a sandwich. Pricing to value, again, questionable.
The Lamb Garden – $19.90
Quinoa Wild Rice with Salmon – $21
The Picnic Sandwich – $18.90
Ingredients were undoubtedly fresh and of great quality. The slow-cooked lamb was moist, tender and very rich in flavour. Paired with a simple quinoa and lentil salad with roasted kale, it was a very nice and balanced dish. As for the salmon, it was well cooked without it going dry and the subtle sweetness by the goji berries really took the dish to another level. Finally, the picnic sandwich was a simple combination of figs, serrano, truffle salami, haloumi and a jalapeno aioli. A bit too large to be eaten cleanly (which isn’t exactly a problem :P) but the meats themselves with the haloumi were overpowering in salt content and a lot of conflicting flavours between the two cured meats.
The verdict? Overall, The Picnic is an great new joint. It’s somewhere refreshing and new and exactly what Burwood needed. The biggest factors which have let the place down though comes down to 2 things.
1) They seriously need to deal with the fly problem. It’s not only unhygienic but I found myself waving them off more than actually eating.
2) The pricing is just a bit too much for what it is at this stage. The menu items are small and the flavours are nothing exceptional for a more-than-average cafe pricing scheme. Also, the wait for the food was very long but again, it is a new place so I will give them that.
I will however definitely myself back here and am excited to follow them as they grow as a cafe in the future.
Fight The Craving 