Ricardo's Cafe - Jamison, Canberra

In case you've been wondering, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! (Work, uni, social life etc have all been crying out for attention lately.) But I have exciting news...I've been working on a new website for the blog! Hooray! You will be the first to know when it's up and running.

Enough rambling, back to more important matters.

 

Ricardo's Cafe is one of my favourite cafes in Canberra and I highly recommend it! Located in Jamison Centre, Ricardo's is perfect for a casual brunch, a cake and a coffee, or something fancier like high tea. And don't get me started on their macarons...

Order the eggs benedict when you go for breakfast, you won't regret it. Poached free-range eggs with deliciously creamy hollandaise sauce, smoked salmon and spinach balanced atop squares of toasted focaccia brushed with butter. Perfection on a plate.

Of course, the cake display was annoyingly distracting...

So I decided to round up some recruits and come back for high tea ($35 per person).

 

The tower of goodies included an assortment of different-flavoured macarons – bubblegum, jaffa, chocolate, salted caramel, cherry ripe, pistachio, lemon, blueberry, strawberry, and peanut. Someone in the kitchen needs a calculator though, as unfortunately, two in our group missed out on a macaron each. (Wouldn't want a macaron-induced kerfuffle to break out in the middle of the cafe, now would we??)

Chocolate sponge, coconut dacquoise, chocolate ganache and mocha cream made up the opera cake below. The sponge could have been a bit more moist but I loved the coconut dacquoise layer.

 

The swan was a French choux pastry filled with cream patisserie, custard and strawberries. The custard was silky and delicious...

The shape of the apple cheesecake is adorable! And the apple and cinnamon crumble centre gave a surprising texture element to the cake.

The gold mousse cake (chocolate mousse, pistachio and raspberry cream wrapped in gold nuts) was particularly memorable due to the unique flavour of the cream, which may not be suited to all tastebuds.

The caramel praline mousse cake was my favourite. The delightful hazelnut-flavoured mousse was wrapped in almond sponge, and topped with almond praline. The mousse had body, but managed to be light and fluffy as well.

The blueberry scones were served with delicious strawberry jam and cream in mini cappucino mugs.

The smoked salmon sandwich had generous slices of the key ingredient. The cucumber slices were nice and crunchy, and the smear of cream cheese was just enough, not overpowering.

The egg salad sandwich was made with free-range egg mayonnaise, and the alfalfa sprouts lent freshness to the sandwich. I did, unfortunately, find a small piece of eggshell in one of my sandwiches!

Two rounds of tea or coffee are included in the high tea package. I ordered the Gorgeous Geisha tea (strong and sweet tea with a hint of strawberries) and I wasn't disappointed.

The service during high tea was friendly and our waiter introduced the items on the stands one by one. But our drinks didn't come out quite fast enough, with some waiting a fair while.

Ricardo’s requires you to provide final numbers 48 hours in advance. As the cakes are made specially to order, if there are any no shows on the day, you may get charged for that person (as the food has already been prepared).

For more food porn, check out Ricardo's gallery of photos on their website.