Soho Brown's

We were rather sad to see the Magnetix magazine store closed down.  So were interested to see what Soho Brown's was all about and what they would do with the space.

Today we went to Soho's for lunch to find it almost full at 12.30pm on their sixth day of opening.  The place had been well fitted out with plenty of tables that were well spaced to allow for plenty of diners. It seems there is still a market for a sandwich, lamington and a cup of tea or coffee.  It certainly will be a welcome sight for the type of clientele who get a little confused by all the talk of focaccia and macchiatos.

We weren't completely sold on the books wallpaper.  Preferring to see the real thing, as they had done on one pillar.

I suspect some of the staff had been enjoying a little too much of the staff coffee.  The manager was rather entertaining to watch as she literally ran from table to counter.  I'm not sure how long she will be able to keep that up for, but I suspect it will take her wages in coffee to keep going past the first few weeks.  I'm never really bothered by how long it takes to receive my coffee as long as it's good when it arrives.  And it was.

My salmon sandwich was delicious and very good value with the amount of salmon in the sandwich, but the bread had started to dry out, as the sandwiches weren't wrapped or covered to prevent drying out.  I also enjoyed the pea and ham soup, which was thick and full of flavour with plenty of ham.

The DH ordered a smoked chicken and cranberry on turkish bread and a berry tart.  The turkish bread was very fresh and again, full of filling and all very well balanced.  The tart went down very well, but might have benefited from a little natural yoghurt on the side.  Also popular were the single shots of smoothie pre-made - great idea.

We debated whether it was better to have the start of the queue for ordering food as you enter the premises.  Or, if it was more advantageous to walk past all the counter food available to begin filling your tray before making your choices.  This way, you don't get to the end of the queue and wish you had chosen something a little more substantial before you got to the sweets.

I'm sure they will iron out some wrinkles over the next few weeks.  It's not an easy thing to run a cafe.  Soho's is in a fantastic location and will enjoy a busy time with the summer months coming, as there will be hordes of sun worshippers flocking to Midland Park to enjoy their lunchtime.