pablo's (is my) elixir

I found the above depiction of my nick sketched on my coffee cup when I got my usual daily dose of caffeine this morning by courtesy of JJ, co-owner of Pablo's Elixir, the cafe round the corner of my place, as part of his efforts to boost the sick monkey up for a long day of work ahead. This same day, I popped in with an extraordinary request for some dinner takeaway an hour after they've closed for the day because I was feeling too sick to cook anything or to wander anywhere further away than a minute's walk from home to get food. JJ's business partner Tres promptly threw on his apron and whipped up a more than generous serving of my favourite pasta with extra vegetables (he reckoned the often sick monkey needs more vitamins) while JJ added a complimentary orange to the pack. How sweet of them!

I've casually mentioned this cosy little cafe in passing in several blog entries previously while on other topics but never really did a proper introduction of this lifesaver of mine. The simple acts of kindness I received today totally deserve in return a full blog entry dedicated to the fantastic JJ-and-Tres team at Pablo's.

After my little anecdote above, I guess there's no need for me to elaborate further on their exceptional service level. I also wouldn't say they serve excellent coffee as I've definitely had better ones in many places, but do try their Honey Buzz if you like sweet coffee such as vanilla latte or caramel latte.

As for the food, here's a little collage of some of my better taken photos on a few of my dining occasions there:



Top left: raisin toast with strawberries and yoghurt on the side - simple but yums. If you're after something savoury for breakie, try the mini bacon and egg muffin with Pablo's signature chilli mayo sauce - I liked it so much right from the first bite that I had it every morning for a straight few weeks.

Middle left: my favourite pasta! (I think I have reiterated this too many times now) - penne in a spicy Mexicana sauce with lots of jalapenos, slices of tender chicken breast fillet, some rocket, bits of sundried tomatoes and sprinkles of shaved parmesan cheese. Boscaiola is next on the to-eat list for pasta.

Bottom left: Pancakes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, lots of fresh fruit goodies (blueberries, strawberries, bananas and sultanas) and maple syrup. It took me at least three visits before I got to satisfy my craving for some piping hot pancakes - they were sold out! In those instances, I had the french toast with yoghurt and berry compote which was equally yums too!

Right: Burger with a generous slice of brie cheese and chips and salad on the side. I am not a great fan of burgers so I didn't order this. The Housemate had the burger and gave a thumbs up.

Other must-try dishes:

Thai beef salad - I recently brought a friend to Pablo's for lunch and he absolutely loved it.

Soup of the day - Tres comes up with new soupy concoctions daily for winter and I've tried most of them: pumpkin, pumpkin with sweet potato, ham and pea, chicken, cauliflower, broccoli, roast chicken broth, potato, and I love all of them. If you can't decide what to have, just order the soup and I guarantee you'll like it.

While you're there, you may want to flip through the Book of Answers. The Housemate and I have had some interesting responses to our ???s. Or, you can look for the giant specs for some silly camwhoring like we did below.



Location:
Pablo's Elixir
Shop 4, 662 Botany Road, Alexandria NSW 2015
Open Monday - Friday 7am - 4pm and Saturday 7am (or 8am?) - 2pm
Telephone: 9669 2008

Bon Appétit!