Botanica Garden Cafe, Waverton

Botanica Garden Cafe s a gorgeously leafy cafe in a garden setting on Bay Road in Waverton on Sydney's north shore. With antique furniture and several areas to choose from there's also a cafe menu featuring their take on classics like Eggs Benedict, Pho beef soup and banh mis. Think cafe food with a Vietnamese twist.

As the ongoing COVID-19 2021 situation unfolds across Sydney and some areas are locked down, after this post I will switch to recommending takeaway businesses although I realise not all areas are affected. Please stay safe everyone and look after both your physical and mental health. We will get through this xxx

It was time for a doggy play date for Teddy Elliott and Teddy Roo as much as an excuse for Sammie and I to have lunch. We are in luck today - it is an unexpectedly sunny day, belying the season. I had booked a table and we had our choice in the sprawling cafe decked out in antique furniture. We go for the comfortable lounges bathed in the sunlight.

Sammie and I are so besotted by the light here that it takes us a good 20 minutes to decide what to order as we are busy taking photos. Teddy goes wandering around the cafe while Teddy Roo sits closer by. There's so many areas for them to explore and a water feature which he contemplates for a good minute or so. He's probably wondering if it is a) good to drink or b) good to go for a swim in. Finally Teddy settles down and chooses a spot in the sunshine next to me.

I start with a Vietnamese drip coffee and Sammie goes for an iced latte that they bring on a wooden board. I wait as the coffee drips through the filter into the cup with sweetened condensed milk below. The coffee is sweet and intensely strong and comes with ice cubes if you want to make it iced.

We decided on two main dishes plus a side. The eggs benedict has two poached eggs on a crispy corn fritter with green pea smash, smoked ham, beetroot puree and hollandaise. The fritter is really crisp and a bit dry and I think I would have loved this on soft muffins instead. The green pea smash is nice but I would have loved avocado smash instead and smoked salmon instead of ham but I'm changing a lot here.

There are three types of banh mis on the menu: a breakfast one, a lamb one and a pulled pork one which we choose. It is an 8 hour cooked pork shoulder with pickles, onion, lettuce, cucumber,shallot, coriander and sesame mayo. There is a very generous amount of sweet soy sauce braised pork but it needs a bit more moisture from the sesame mayo and salad. It also doesn't come with chilli, you have to ask for it (which we didn't do).

These aren't so much hash browns but more potato cakes crumbed and deep fried. They're soft and filled with mashed potato and come with a spiced tomato salsa.

I have a peek at the cake display and I spy a carrot cake which is always my first choice. It is a cute individual cake with cream cheese icing and ground pistachios. The cake is moist and the cream cheese is very, very lightly sweetened so that it doesn't taste very sweet at all.

As for the little boys, they have dried turkey and to graze on and are on their best behaviour, relaxing in the sunshine.

So tell me Dear Reader, what is your first choice for cakes? Do you take photos or selfies when you eat out?

This meal was independently paid for.

Botanica Garden Cafe

61A Bay Rd, Waverton NSW 2060

Open 7 days from 7:30am-3pm