Deliciously ordinary
Friday is supervision day for my students. This particular supervision session was conducted after a big morning and just before an even bigger afternoon, naturally I made the suggestion it be over lunch.
Pea* and I rocked up to the forecourt cafe on level 2 in Coolaman Court in Weston. Outside the Aldi and next to Songland Records. We stood physically distanced as we waited to order. The staff fluttered around the open kitchen but slowly took orders.
I stepped forward and paid from eggs benedict and a large latte. There wasn’t any options and at just twelve dollars I wasn’t expecting great things. But I was hungry and I’ve never had the chance to sample these particular culinary delights.
When asked which table we were sitting at I leaned back to look and picked a number of an empty table. I was asked how many of us there were. I looked a Pea before turning back and saying, ‘two’.
‘Then I put you on smaller table!’
‘You have table 17!’
I smiled, agreed and said; any table is cool with me.
That was before I realised she’d put us right next to two little old ladies who’d switched off their hearing aids.
We sat down on the hard chairs, and wobbly tables assigned to us and we waited fir our food Pea and I chatted about her counselling practice was progressing. We talked about the mid-placement review and we reflected on the ambience of the eatery in which we sat.
Cold, spartan, and loud.
So very, very loud.
Mostly due to the majority of the clientele saving the batteries in the devices perched in their ears. Ironically now blocking out more sound.
When lunch arrived it mirrored the atmosphere of the place. It was definitely lacking volume and heat.
I’ve never seen such thin ‘English muffins’. The garnish required a magnifying glass to identify it as parsley.
The thin slices of ham practically had ‘Don’ stamped on them.
I asked Pea what she reckoned the yolks of the eggs would be. Fully runny, 50/50, or hard boiled? She settled on Millionaire lifeline, I guessed hard. They where closer to 75/25, which I have to confess, surprised me. Of course the near perfect eggs where covered in chilled packet sauce.
Once I started eating (after I had planted my feet on the table legs to steady it) I found myself enjoying the barely there lunch. The combination was actually very edible.
Between bites of her onion and cheese melt, Pea asked how mine was. She knows about my desire to try as many EB as possible and has asked in the past, in a counselling tone, ‘is everything ok with you?’ To which I replied, ‘it’s self-care. I enjoy writing!’
This time my response was, ‘it’s deliciously ordinary’.
That’s all I had. There was nothing spectacular about it to report. Nothing hugely disappointing either.
This Eggs Benedict was the very essence of ordinary and edible.
The coffee ticked that box too. I’d go back for a rapid, but not too rapid, at least 30 minutes, lunch.
Location: Cafe au Lait
Address: Lv 3 Cooleman Court Shopping Center, Weston ACT 2611
Website: Cooleman Court
EB Price: $12
*Pea. Not her full name, merely an initial :)
