Joe Frank has taken over residence. That’s right, where Ashburton’s The Resident Café used to reside, newly opened Joe Frank café is serving up to a crowd with excellent coffee and interesting meals.
The space is similar to what it used to be: bright light from the large front window, modern furniture, the counter and espresso machine to the centre left.
The menu is a small selection of brunch faves. Vegetarian options are the Rawnola, house made crumpets, smashed avo with grilled asparagus, Panzanella with buffalo mozzarella, roasted veggie toastie and the Nonno’s Garden. You can also have eggs on toast with your choice of sides.
It was a cool day and I wanted something healthy. Nonno’s garden was perfect – a warm salad made with beetroot, salty babaganoush, sweet pumpkin, creamy soft goats’ curd, shaved crunchy fennel, crispy chickpeas, beetroot, halved mushrooms and soft roasted red capsicum. All the ingredients were soft and flavoursome (giving the impression that it was slow cooked) except for the fennel and chickpeas which gave a balanced crunch. It was exactly what I felt like, and was a healthy vitamin hit, as well as delicious.
It struck me that there were many staff working on this weekday morning. But somehow they had coordinated to all serve each table with efficiency and without repetition. The gender balance of the staff also made me smile – a rare thing even in cafes these days.
The coffee was delicious – strong, rich, with a thick foam (maybe just a little too much foam for a flat white), not bitter or newspappery. (Why is it that some coffees just taste like newspaper to me? Anyone else suffer from this?) The coffee at Joe Frank is exactly how I like my coffee to taste.
As the late morning approached, the café was soon busy, without the hassle of a queue. Next time I will order exactly the same. Both the Nonno’s Garden and coffee were delicious. I could also be tempted by their house made sweets.
Joe Frank
246 High Street
Ashburton 3147
03 9193 0169
Website
Opening hours:
Weekdays 7:00am to 3:30pm
Weekends 8:00am to 3:00pm
The space is similar to what it used to be: bright light from the large front window, modern furniture, the counter and espresso machine to the centre left.
The menu is a small selection of brunch faves. Vegetarian options are the Rawnola, house made crumpets, smashed avo with grilled asparagus, Panzanella with buffalo mozzarella, roasted veggie toastie and the Nonno’s Garden. You can also have eggs on toast with your choice of sides.
It was a cool day and I wanted something healthy. Nonno’s garden was perfect – a warm salad made with beetroot, salty babaganoush, sweet pumpkin, creamy soft goats’ curd, shaved crunchy fennel, crispy chickpeas, beetroot, halved mushrooms and soft roasted red capsicum. All the ingredients were soft and flavoursome (giving the impression that it was slow cooked) except for the fennel and chickpeas which gave a balanced crunch. It was exactly what I felt like, and was a healthy vitamin hit, as well as delicious.
It struck me that there were many staff working on this weekday morning. But somehow they had coordinated to all serve each table with efficiency and without repetition. The gender balance of the staff also made me smile – a rare thing even in cafes these days.
The coffee was delicious – strong, rich, with a thick foam (maybe just a little too much foam for a flat white), not bitter or newspappery. (Why is it that some coffees just taste like newspaper to me? Anyone else suffer from this?) The coffee at Joe Frank is exactly how I like my coffee to taste.
As the late morning approached, the café was soon busy, without the hassle of a queue. Next time I will order exactly the same. Both the Nonno’s Garden and coffee were delicious. I could also be tempted by their house made sweets.
Joe Frank
246 High Street
Ashburton 3147
03 9193 0169
Website
Opening hours:
Weekdays 7:00am to 3:30pm
Weekends 8:00am to 3:00pm