Lookout Red Hill Cafe & Bar has been on my list of places to try out for years now, along with Onred Restaurant. As the name suggests, it is located at the top of Red Hill and has amazing views of Canberra. It was a sunny warm day and I thought it was the perfect time to check it out.
The cafe is on the ground floor of a funny looking building. There are a few round tables outside but no chairs were laid out.
It’s small inside and only takes up half the space of the building on one floor. The rest of the space is taken up by Onred Restaurant (including upstairs). There were only 2 other diners when I arrived. I found a seat by the windowsill in the sunshine.
My view from where I sat – gorgeous!
They have freshly squeezed apple or orange juice on the menu ($6.50). I chose orange juice and this came out in a large tall glass, slightly frothy on top with cubes of ice. Refreshing!
The photo on their website of the salmon benedict looked amazing, but I decided on the spanish baked eggs ($18.50) instead. Even though there were only 2 other people in the cafe, it took 20 minutes for my meal to come out. But they did have to bake the whole thing, so that’s fair enough. This came with spicy beans, chorizo, 2 eggs and sourdough toast with sprigs of parsley on top. It was still bubbling and steaming when it came out. I was a little disappointed that there was only one tiny slice of buttered toast.
The chorizo had a tiny bit of spice on its own. The beans, hidden underneath, were very spicy. They must have put a lot of chilli powder in the sauce. A few mouthfuls in and my mouth was burning. Glad I had the icy orange juice. I asked for another slice of toast to mop everything up. Tasty and hearty.
The decor is worn down – the wooden floorboards are covered in scuff markings, the windowsills aren’t that clean (small dried up coffee splotch), the walls are scuffed from tables leaning up against it, and all of the yellow (70s style?) sofa chairs are worn down along the arms rest area (as in the leather-like fabric had completely peeled off to reveal the fabric underneath). Definitely a worn down cafe that could use some updating.
In saying that, I still enjoyed having brunch here and was happy I wasn’t charged extra for another slice of toast. It has such a lovely view and there is a walking track over Red Hill that is easily accessible if you want to walk off brunch/lunch. Toilets are located outdoors and there is plenty of parking available in the large carpark.
It’s open Wed-Sun for brunch/lunch, and Friday and Saturday for dinner. I’ll have to head back for that salmon benedict another time ๐
Foodgasm 7/10