Cafe Once Upon a Time is a popular cafe with a wooden retro setting in West Ryde. We stopped by for brunch on a rainy weekend in November.

Kiwi Apple Crush ($5.80). The flavours of both the kiwifruit and the apple were strong and held their own in this drink, which was a very enjoyable surprise. It had a slushy-like consistency and a fresh, balanced sweetness and acidity.

Chocolate Milkshake ($6.50). To N’s delight, it was much thicker than it appeared with a rich chocolate flavour and subdued dairy notes.

Piccolo Latte ($3.50). This was T’s coffee, which was made from coffee from The Reformatory Caffeine Lab in Surry Hills, which I visited many years ago in 2014 but seemed to not have documented my (positive) thoughts here.

Signature Atlantic Salmon Stack ($22.50), ‘grilled Atlantic salmon with asparagus, roasted mushroom, roasted truss tomato, strawberry salsa, horseradish cream sauce, romesco sauce, lemon butter, and poached egg on quinoa sourdough’.

I’m never quite sure how to eat stacks and this one was no exception. The variety of sauces was interesting — the strawberry salsa tasted of fresh strawberries and was a new-to-me flavour combination with the salmon, the horseradish packed a very sharp punch, the romesco sauce was creamy and tangy, while the lemon butter was zesty though not moreish. The poached egg was cooked beautifully, but the star of the dish — the grilled salmon — was very much overcooked and dry.

Spiced Lamb Shoulder Wrap ($19.00), ‘char-grilled lamb shoulder, lettuce, tomato salsa, cucumber, hummus, tzatziki, and served with shoestring chips’.

N described the wrap as tasting much like a doner kebab, with a smoky lamb flavour and dose of freshness, a bit on the salty side, but not worth the premium. The chips were not as crunchy as we’d liked.

Signature Duck Burrito ($19.00), ‘smoked duck, shredded cheddar, tomato salsa, lettuce, shallots and coriander with aioli and special oyster sauce served with shoestring chips’.

To T’s surprise, the smoked duck had the same flavour as regular smoked ham and lost all of its gamey taste. The only indicator that it was duck meat was its appearance, while the oyster sauce gave it an Asian twist.

Cafe Once Upon a Time was an enjoyable experience in a retro interior with tables made from repurposed sewing machine tables. We were pleased with their drinks and we’d consider returning to try other items on their menu.

Cafe Once Upon a Time is located at 8 West Parade, West Ryde NSW 2114.