What constitutes the perfect brunch spot? Does it have to be local or are you willing to travel for your breakfast? For me, there are a few factors that must be met no matter what. The first is excellent coffee; it’s the only way to start the day. As a caffeine addict, I know what I like, and it’s a brilliant strong long black with raw sugar. Another thing that is important for me is variety. Eggs seem to be the staple on every breakfast menu, but quite frankly I don’t like them. I like places that have a great variety of other breakfast foods in addition to eggs every which way. I hate being stuck with something boring, just because I opt out of the eggs.

Over the weekend, Denea and I headed out to Redfern to check out Moose General Store. The team make their own granolas and jams, with some delicious and totally unique flavour combinations like Blackberry and Sparkling Shiraz, Strawberry and Earl Grey, Rhubarb and Mulled Wine and Fig and Rum, amongst others. I loved the sound of it and the menu was positively mouthwatering. The café is particularly busy on a beautiful Sunday morning, and we table-hop a little from inside near the amazing wall of jam, until we’re seated outside at a tiny yellow tiled table that I want to steal for my own house.

The menus are pasted into Little Golden Books, which is a quirky little touch and a total throwback to my childhood, I had dozens of these! We decided that it was only right to order breakfast and lunch. We started off with Moose’s famous Belgian chocolate granola, to share. It comes served with yoghurt and jam, with skim milk on the side. This is one intense breakfast food, it was absolutely amazing but also insanely rich. In fact we saved most of it as dessert for after we finished our lunch. If anyone can manage a bowl of this on their own, they deserve a medal! Moose has also just launched an online store where you can purchase their granola and jams, or even create your own!

The pork sandwich was a must of course, with delicious free range Bok’s pork and spiced creamed corn and rocket on a white roll. The fillings were generous, and the flavours worked really well together, but I think I must have been American in my past life. I can’t go past pulled pork with coleslaw and lashings of smokey BBQ sauce. Consider this it’s springtime alternative?

The highlight for me was definitely the slow roasted Bultarra Saltbush lamb sandwich with baba ganouj and feta. It was almost a revelation. The lamb was deliciously tender, and I loved the smoky baba ganouj flavour in every bite, especially with some cracked black pepper. I could have happily polished this off all by myself.

I forgot to take a photo, but I would like to mention that the long black was two very enthusiastic thumbs up, and the brownie kindly given to us by Moose General Charbel himself was one of the best I’ve ever had, almost ganache-like in texture and absolutely wickedly good. I knew I couldn’t leave without a jar of jam, but I wasn’t expecting the choice to be quite so difficult! I grabbed the Rhubarb and Mulled Wine, which is incredible and would be delicious slathered onto a loaf of freshly baked bread or a homemade crumpet. The staff were lovely and friendly, and I know that we’ll be back for another brunch soon. For me, Moose ticks all the boxes for the perfect brunch spot.

Moose General Store & Café – 18 Cooper St, Redfern

Edit: Sad news, just days after my visit and this post, Team Moose have had to close the doors of the cafe. This makes me very sad, because it was just the kind of place Sydney needs more of, with amazing food, brilliant coffee and extremely passionate people. The jams and granolas will thankfully still be available through the online store and hopefully at the markets soon. Keep an eye on their website and twitter for updates. I wish the guys all the best! xx