Working from home has allowed us to build a greater appreciation for all the great local cafes and eateries in suburban Sydney, outside of the CBD. Last weekend we visited the beautifully decorated Plate Cafe in Sydney Olympic Park (@plate.cafe on Instagram), run by lovely owners and locals Marc and Celina, who opened the cafe in February 2020.

Location: Shop 2/11 Murray Rose Ave, Sydney Olympic Park NSW 2127
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Plate-Cafe-111775247190834/

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Melissa

We all shared the dishes, but my order was the boscaiola. It was very tasty, with the white wine and cream reduction the perfect balance of light creaminess. This went perfectly with the fresh mushrooms and the dish was topped with heavier ingredients such as the parmesan and bacon. What made it stand out to me was the green oil (potentially oil infused with bay leaf), which kept the sauce light and provided an extra layer of savoury flavour.

The garlic and prawn linguine I also enjoyed immensely. I am not chilli resistant at all, and this definitely had the heat and kick that was at the upper end of my tolerance (I know, I’m weak). Like the boscaiola, the sauce was thin, absorbing nicely into the spaghetti. Overall, a delicious pasta dish.

I had a couple bites of the Plate cheese burger – it hit the right spots for me, meat was cooked properly, tomato relish went well with the American cheese and the red onion added a tangy touch. It did not come with a heavy sauce, so this burger was light and did not leave me with the heavy food coma feeling. (On an earlier visit I also tried the Pork Katsu burger, which was delicious and had a lovely smoky, house made sauce. Highly recommend that dish as well).

I’m not usually someone who orders a salad (as you may know from the most frequently reviewed content on this blog), but the salad bowl at Plate definitely surprised me. Great textures going on in the dish, with the fish roe adding bursts of flavour, and it was balanced well and not overly salty or sweet.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the dishes at Plate Cafe. They have a great selection of lighter dishes and salads (also recommend the bibimbap bowl), as well as the heavier pastas if you are looking for a larger lunch. Special shout out to the coffee as well, definitely my go-to for takeaway coffee in the area (their beans are sourced from ONA in Marrickville).

James

I decided to step away from my usual ordering habits (trust me, I was eyeing the burgers) and instead went for the Chicken Salad Bowl. You can see from the images above how vibrant the dish looks and that comes from a great assortment of fresh ingredients; the kale, cabbage, edamame and the red onion certainly standing out. I’d be lying if I knew what grain salad freekeh is, but it gave the salad a nice crisp/crunch and tasted pretty good. Accompanying it was a roasted sesame sauce which I thought could have had more flavor and could have benefited with more quantity. Overall a solid dish with a balance of flavors that was surprisingly quite filling.

I also got to try the Linguine which I thought looked awesome on the plate and really enjoyed eating. I didn’t find it too spicy at all and thought it could have been even spicier (sorry Mel). The pasta was cooked well and full of sauce, and they were generous with 4-5 large prawns. The boscaiola was also enjoyable; I don’t often eat creamy pastas as I find they can get overpowering, but this one felt appropriately light and simple to eat. A good option for brunch when you don’t want to start the day feeling too heavy. If I had to pick from the two, I’d recommend the linguine!

Plate Cafe certainly hit the mark for me with their food menu – all 3 dishes I tried being pretty tasty and I’m keen to try their others in future like the burgers and the bibimbap. There’s a calm ambience about the cafe I really liked and you’ll notice how open and spacious the place is. I would recommend visiting Plate Cafe and tasting their food menu, especially if you want to avoid the hustle and bustle of your typical cafe areas and their crowds.

Thanks to Marc and Celina from Plate Cafe for inviting us to their cafe.

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