The Picnic

The Picnic is a cafe set in a municipal park laid out with 60’s style flower beds and palm trees and housed in an old style kiosk. The main part of the cafe is a huge tented pagoda open to the elements with floral garlands and vintage picnic baskets hanging on high. The feel is sort of like a wedding tent and I’m sure the occasional reception will be held there!

But on a day to day basis it’s a busy cafe perfect for families with restless kids who need to run around in tight circles before settling down to eat something. There is a lawn beside it and a playground on hand and better still you can order at the takeaway counter and chase your kids in tight circles whilst you sip your coffee and settle down to eat away from other diners if you need to.

The food is the usual cafe fare, burgers, sandwiches etc but there are other dishes and platters with a middle eastern twist, such as shakshuka eggs served with labne and meguez sausages ($17.90) or the intriguingly named, ‘Lamb Garden’ a slow cooked lamb dish with almonds, kale, roasted beetroot, sweet potato and aged manchengo chèvre ($19.90)

There is a kid’s menu too, again with fun names like, ‘The Bear’ a bear shaped French toast with blueberries, peanut butter and banana ($5.90) or ‘The Picnic’ another variation on French toast but this time with raspberries, nutella and blueberries in the shape of a face ($8.90) plus the standard burgers and chips, pasta and Neapolitan sauce in child sized portions.

Look out for the daily specials too, such as Mediterranean vegetable soup served with parmesan toast ($14) and served in a cast iron fry pan. The drinks are unusual too, including volcanic shakes such as the ‘Pancake’ a super rich concoction of vanilla, pikelets and vanilla ice cream ($12) as well as regular shakes ($6)

The Picnic is a cafe seeking opportunities for dishes that cry out to be instagramed, and there is always something novel to look at on the plate. It’s wildly popular on weekends for brunch and with the Westfield shoppers, escaping the high rise. So be prepared to wait for a table. Or get in line at the takeaway section and grab a rug and sit on the grass away from it all.