Dining Out: About Life Cafe, Rozelle
I’ve been to About Life twice now – the first time I didn’t take enough photos, so I dragged my partner out on a cold Saturday afternoon just so I can take more pictures for this post. The things I go through for this blog.
About Life is a supermarket specialising in fresh organic produce and the sort of food products that health junkies salivate over. It’s not all lentils and quinoa however – they also stock a whole heap of local free range meat and dairy. I pop by every now again to browse but I never had a chance to try the cafe. It wasn’t until recently that I noticed that they specify low salt options on their menu.
Keeping in line with their health conscious image, both their salad bar and menu comes with a food guide to denote special dietary needs: gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan (one of few places around here that are actually vegan-friendly), dairy-free, low salt, low fat and low sugar. It’s not just salads on the menu either – the kitchen is open from 7 am to 3pm and offers a range of treats, from bacon and egg rolls to a veggie burger. About Life cafe uses free range and organic produce where possible so you can feel that delicious sense of smugness while stuffing your face. The cafe is very popular so it can be a nightmare finding a free table during the breakfast/lunch rush on weekends.
I was ecstatic to actually have low salt options available instead of having to pore over the menu to find out that I only have one or two “safe” options. And not having to explain to confused waitstaff that I don’t want any salt on my food? Amazing. The food here does tend to be a bit on the pricey side, but I live in Balmain so I’m used to overpriced cafe food. A pie/slice from the salad bar costs $9.50, $14.50 with a salad. Food from the breakfast/lunch menu are around the $15 mark. In the two times I was here, I had (both were marked as low salt):
Fig, goat's cheese and hazelnut tart with tomato relish and broccoli and red lentil salad. No, I didn't eat the crisps.
Veggie frittata (stuffed full of veggies as you can see in this picture - very satisfying) with the broccoli and red lentil salad again (I love this stuff).
My partner had:
Some sort of "recovery" juice with watermelon, lemon, orange and... other things. I hate juice so I didn't really bother taking notes. I think this was $5.
Wagyu beef burger on toasted focaccia, served with hand cut rosemary and sea salt chips. $15.50. Obviously not a low salt dish.
Small note: I was naughty and had some of the chips. It was seriously the most amazing chips I’ve ever had, super crunchy on the outside with a perfectly fluffy middle. Well done About Life chefs!
The food is as good as it looks. Food from the salad bar gets reheated in the microwave but everything was still very tasty. I especially love the crunchy, nutty broccoli and red lentil salad. My partner’s wagyu beef burger was so juicy the bread fell apart. Taste wise it still gets a thumbs up! Portions are huge – I couldn’t finish my food both times I was there. Service was quick and friendly despite the lunch rush.
My only concern was that the pies and slices marked as “low salt” may not be low in sodium, they’re just cooked with no added salt. Both my tart and frittata had cheese as one of the ingredients – the frittata had feta cheese, which one of the more sodium-laden cheeses out there. Another dish marked as low salt, an eggplant bake, clearly had a lot of parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. It’s a bit disappointing, but as long as you don’t pick and overly cheesy dish you should be all right. I didn’t see a low salt savoury option on their kitchen menu which is also a bit of a downer, but a fair few dishes can have the salt omitted pretty easily.
Verdict: Great food, good service… but would love to see better low sodium options. 3.5 salt shakers.
