Court Jester Cafe - 15 Breese St, Brunswick

And so, the story begins…

In ancient times from a land far away, there lived a lonesome beast. Known only by a select few, the secret of the 'Jester' has been kept secure and hidden from a world that was not quite ready for it.(taken from http://www.courtjestercafe.com.au/)

Until now…

The story goes on that the Jester eventually escaped a life of captivity into a world of freedom, escaping a life of bland, uninspiring food into a world of filled with choices in ingredients, tastes and textures…

The eventual partnership between Jester and ‘Maxcat’ brings together food, with all its different tastes and textures and art, with its unique textures and complex philosophies.

At Court Jester Café, the two work so well together, each enhancing the experience of the other. The moment we walked in, we were greeted by colourful work of arts and a mild, woody and pleasantly smoky aroma from the kitchen. The menu, as we were told was written on the wall that’s been made into a big chalkboard set amidst works of art by local artists. A large communal table sits in the middle of this warehouse convert with a few chairs and tables out front and in the small courtyard behind.

Court Jester Café serves none of the mild, traditional breakfasts of jam on toast or croissants or muesli. Rather, it has a very unique and interesting menu that looks very German to me. I was told it was Eastern European but perhaps, Central European is more accurate??

Anyway, after spending 10minutes craning our necks and staring at a menu that’s full of, ‘I want to try this’, ‘this sounds interesting’, ‘should we order this as well? No, that’ll be too much…’, we finally decided on the Creamy Casper (baked eggs) and Golapki (polish style cabbage rolls). We had our usual, chai latte for Mr A and long black with side of soy for me.

The drinks took a while to arrive but when they did, they arrived in cute saucers that reminded me of my grandma’s treasures. The chai was pretty decent though honestly, I thought the long black was a bit too bitter for me.

Whilst we were waiting for our food, I noticed some chisels left out on the table and realized that patrons are actually encouraged to ‘do some arts’ whilst waiting, so without any further encouragement, I started carving my name into the table (I’ll think of something more original for my next wait).

When the food eventually arrived, it looked so impressive that the wait was forgiven. The baked eggs were done to perfection, crisp topping with beautifully baked gruyere cheese. It tasted fantastic too, each ingredient not overpowering the other. It also did not taste greasy but rather, the gruyere cheese gave it a sweet and slightly salty but definitely creamy taste and texture.

My cabbage rolls with sauerkraut was done beautifully. I’ve found traditional sauerkraut to be too sour for my taste and generally do not like them but these ones were definitely not sour but rather, I found them slightly sweet and complemented the golapkis very well. Maybe they're not as fermented??

The bread that I had was quite unique as well. Apart from the smokiness from the wood fire over, it had a mild fragrance that was fruity as well as flowery. It was puzzling enough that I spent the whole time trying to figure the taste out…and still figuring (cause I forgot to ask!! Oo well, just have to return again…but i think it's rye with some ground spices...the way the germans like it?!?)

All in all, it was an absolute pleasure to have dined here (though good coffee would have made it absolutely, wonderfully fantastic) and I could not stop raving about it for the rest of the day. Will definitely be back to try the rest of the menu.