The Grounds of Alexandria

A few weeks ago, my friend Alyssa and I went to The Grounds of Alexandria for breakfast. It is situated in a converted warehouse in Alexandria (hence the name) which used to be a pie factory.The Grounds incorporates a cafe, coffee research and testing facility (sounds scientific!), an outdoor courtyard and garden complete with fresh herbs and vegetables used on the cafe's menu, a chicken coop (for the eggs, of course) and a bakery. 

Since opening earlier in 2012 it has become the talk of the town among Sydney coffee connoisseurs, hipsters and families alike. Since I apparently fall into one of those categories (guess which one!?), it was only natural that I was eager to visit. Like many trendy joints in Sydney these days, the cafe does not take bookings for groups under six people and I had heard the wait was often up to an hour. With this in mind, I met Alyssa around 11am on a warm Sunday. We put our names down, went to the bar next door for a cool drink and before we knew it our buzzer was going off. I'd say it was only about a 20 minute wait for us, so we were stoked.

I ordered the turkish eggs and a cappuccino. I was impressed with how quickly the food arrived despite how busy they were that day. I wouldn't say it was the best breakfast I've ever had (maybe because I burnt my tongue on the beans) but it was still tasty and the coffee was good enough for me (by now you're probably guessing I don't fall into the coffee connoisseur category!). 

We enjoyed having a wander through the gardens, inspecting the chooks and veggies before we left. On weekends, they also have different 'pop-up' market style food stalls selling the likes of egg and bacon rolls or homemade lemonade and the pictured boxes of delicious mangos. I'm currently investigating their options for larger groups as my birthday is coming up and I'm planning a brunch. Something in the garden might be nice!