Mother & Daughters at Old Man Drew Cafe

Sharlene and I have been talking about going to Old Man Drew, an outdoor cafe with a fairy garden setting for some time. I believe she found it through instagram (where she gets most of her travel ideas from these days!) and she had already been once with Mum. They both loved it and wanted to go again.

I initially said I'd go with them, but I secretly had some reservations. Mostly because, from my experience so far (which admittedly is not much), when I went to places I saw on Insta, it didn't pan out to live up to the hype. But I didn't want to pass this opportunity & experience with my sister and Mum, going to a place that they knew they loved, so I said yes.

I checked the cafe's menu the night before, and realised that they didn't have many vegan options. There was a veggie fritter, but I'm not big on deep fried veggie patties as they tend to be too oily/fatty and make my tummy upset usually. I also wasn't in the mood for it. Then there was a bircher muesli option, but again I wasn't keen on that because they usually tend to be on the sweeter side and I'm generally a savoury, warm food type of foodie. I was a bit put off by the limited options, so I decided to have breakfast at home before going to the cafe for lunch (our booking was for 12pm).

Unfortunately, I didn't plan it very smartly. Max and I had a late breakfast, as we usually do on Fridays and weekends. As a result, I was not very hungry when it came time for lunch. But mum and Sharlene were a bit sad that I wasn't going to order any food, so I eventually relented and ordered the bircher muesli. To my surprise, it was actually really nice. It wasn't too sweet at all; it was just the right about of sweet haha. I had a green juice to go with it, which was also nice and refreshing, and light.

Mum and Sharlene loved the place. The garden is cute and the weather was perfect. However, I couldn't help but notice the little cracks in the facade the cafe was trying to put up.

• First sign was the smell as we walked in. It smelt of something stale and off-putting.
• Then, the seating: it was cute, with a rustic, retro vibe and with plenty of space. The tables were set quite far apart and each had it's own setting/space. However, I noticed that the seat had torn upholstery (torn as in completly gone, with the yellow sponge showing). I didn't want to sit on the yellow inner sponge, so grabbed one of the huge cushions from the seat next to me.
• Mum wasn't feeling well so she needed to walk around a bit and then find the toilet. While walking around, we got a closer look at the decor. It had an abandoned feeling, which brought a kind of sadness to my heart. A lot of the tiny figurines were either broken or laying fallen on the floor. There was dust and it was just in a state of forlorn abandonment. Like someone had initially set it all up with love and then let it go. Like over time it had been forgotten and left to gather dust and rust.
• Finally, the food. It was tasty, as I mentioned before, but also sad. The bircher muesli is described on their menu as: "Overnight oats and chia seeds, with coconut yoghurt, mango, fresh berries, pumpkin seeds, and flaked almonds". While the oats itself was tasty, the mango pieces were over-ripe and there were only 4 slices of strawberries, a few blueberries and 1 lonely blackberry. For $21.50 I expected more, better quality and just....more lovingly made food.

On a more positive note, it was lovely to spend that time with my mum and sister, and make some cherished memories. We ate, talked, laughed and had a great time. Even though the place wasn't perfect, I happily overlooked the small imperfections and cracks in favour of the treasured time I got to spend with my mum and sister there.