452 New St, Brighton 3186 ph (03) 9596 6577
Thanks to Mini Me's schooling adventures I got the opportunity to spend a whole day in Brighton recently. Not being familiar with the bayside, I asked for suggestions for places to visit via twitter, and Fatboo's Fakegf suggested I check out his post on The Little Ox. I had forgotten that this little gem was in Brighton and I jumped at the chance to visit with Macaron Monster and Bubs.
We started out sitting outside while we waited for a table inside the cafe. It was a bit of a chilly winter afternoon, but it gave Macaron Monster and I a bit of time to play with taking pictures and snuggling up while a rugged up Bubs dozed in the pram. My usual mocha and a lovely and rich hot chocolate made just warm as not to burn the little one's mouth kept us warm and cosy.
After about 15 minutes a table became available inside, where it was warm and inviting. The interior was decorated with pretty paintings, fresh picked flowers on the table, and a bookshelf filled with books and knick knacks in the corner made it feel almost homely.
I had a hard time NOT picking the corn fritters, but decided to try the beetroot cured salmon gravlax, with pickle, roesti and poached egg ($19). It was almost too pretty to cut into! I loved the beetroot flavour with the salmon, and the thick roesti gave this otherwise light dish a warm, filling element.
I was a little disappointed that the poached egg was overdone. Macaron Monster didn't mind though, and we certainly had no problems polishing the whole thing off!
After that we wandered over to the dessert cabinet and checked out the pretty cakes and goodies.
We picked the rhubarb and apple crumble ($5) which the staff served to us warm.
Spoonfuls of delicious tangy apple and earthy rhubarb went well with the healthy grainy crumble, all topped off with the smooth quenelle of cream.
We had a lovely little lunch at The Little Ox. (Thanks Fakegf for the recommendation!) The staff and the patrons were friendly and welcoming, and went out of their way to help me manoeuvre Bubs in the pram through the door and to our seats inside. It was so nice to feel welcomed when I dined with little ones, as opposed to our misadventure at Ora (again not the cafe's fault!) What a lovely little cafe, and I can't wait to go back again when the weather is warmer and we can wander down towards the beach after a coffee and brunch!
Toilet - yes, and spacious enough to fit the pram!
High chair - yes
