The Dining & Co, North Ryde

For the catch-up between the former three musketeers, we decided to have lunch at The Dining & Co, which was recommended by MoosesDigest's sister.

Outside of Cafe

The Dining & Co turned out to be a relatively new cafe hidden within the inner streets of North Ryde. The interior is very hipster with clean wooden tables and chairs, large mirrors along the back wall to reflect the sunlight from outside, and black metal frames to display plants and decor.

Inside of Cafe

Display Case of Pastries and Cakes

Decor Inside
(sort of reminds me of Left of Field)

Interestingly, you are expected to order your food/drinks at the front counter (menus available there and listed on the wall) but they do serve your food/drinks at the table. Free tap water is available from a large clear water tank filled with lemon and mint, along with water bottles available in nearby fridge.

After pondering over the large selection of food on the menu, I settled on the Breakfast Board:

Table of Food

Breakie Board ($20) - Slow-Cooked Eggs (63° eggs), Smoked Salmon, Prosciutto, 

Haloumi, Avocado Salsa, Finger Lime, Beetroot Relish and Rye Bread

I loved how the dish elements were arranged so you could see the array of food and colours. The eggs were poached perfectly, and flavours on the board were fresh and simple. I would have liked the bread to have been toasted to give it a little crunch but as it was relatively soft, I could use it to soak up the egg yolk.

Smoked Salmon Salad ($17) with Quinoa, Baby Beetroot, Kale, Feta, Dill
Crème Fraiche, Swiss Chard, Wasabi Caviar, Finger Lime and Rice Crisp

Aerial Shot of Smoked Salmon Salad

MoosesDigest ordered the Tasmanian Smoked Salmon salad, which looked very healthy and pretty with the smoked salmon rolled up to resemble rosettes. However, the dish lacked a little finesse with the brushing of (mayo?) sauce down the side of the plate. The rice crisps (reminded me of rice paper rounds that had been deep fried) added an unexpected crunch texture to the dish but it softened after a while.

Egg's Benedict with Spanner Crab Meat ($19) - Poached Eggs,
Orange Hollandaise, Caviar with Spanner Crab Meat

DrL ordered the Eggs Benedict, which looked very simple with the spanner crab smothered in hollaindaise sauce and placed on English muffins.

The cafe don't seem to care how long we sat there for (I guess it's okay if there are no customers waiting at the door for a free table) because we ended up leaving well past 3pm. During this time, we got hit by serious food envy when we saw some of the dishes (e.g. french toast; pulled pork burger with a glorious pile of roast kipler potatoes) being served at neighbouring tables.

Overall, we were all very happy with our food and I am highly tempted to come back to try more from their menu.

Sneaky Shot of Cafe from Car

This cafe is located within a series of small shops within the inner streets of North Ryde. Realistically, there is minimal/no foot traffic - unless you're a local or working in the nearby shops -  as the area is only accessible by car, or bus on Epping Road... although I guess you could make the ~15min trek from North Ryde station. However, there is ample parking on the surrounding streets.