My partner J and I decided to head out of Canberra and visit the Cork Street Cafe and Gallery in Gundaroo for pizza one weekend. I rang up beforehand to double check that they were open on a Sunday and made a booking while I was at it. Gundaroo is about a 35 minute drive out of Canberra. Not far at all if you just want to get out of town for a little while. I didn’t realise this until I read the sign outside, but the cafe is located in the old horse stables. Now that’s rustic and pretty cool.
The entrance to the cafe is down a small gravel laneway lined with old crockery and trees.
There are outdoor tables and outdoor umbrellas available, though most people were inside that chilly day.
The entrance to the cafe is right in front of the open kitchen where you can watch people making pizzas and coffee. The cafe is very cosy and small. We were led to the backroom where there were bigger tables available, great for larger groups, and it felt a lot more spacious too. From the look of it, the backroom must have been where the actual stable was with timber beams separating what would have been stalls. The cafe is also a gallery where art work is displayed along the walls. Prices of all the art work are listed on the door if you’re interested in purchasing.
Horse collars and other gear adorn the cafe. Hardwood floors creak when walking over them adding some more rustic charm.
There are about 20 pizzas on offer and these are split into red sauce, creamy sauce and no sauce. Three sizes are available – small, medium and large. I ordered the chicken and pesto pizza with onion, broccoli and bocconcini in a medium ($20). I wasn’t expecting the chicken to be so ham-like (couldn’t think of another word) as it looked like it was sliced thinly from a rolled breast, but it did taste nice and slightly salty. The house made pizza base (no choice of base) is thin, soft and not too doughy. It’s actually rather fluffy. There wasn’t too much pesto to overpower the pizza and I liked that there was plenty of bocconcini cheese. There was a lot of oil drizzled on top and I’m hoping this was olive oil. An interesting combination.
J ordered the supreme in medium ($20) with pepperoni, capsicum, olives, mushrooms. Again, a decent pizza base with your regular supreme toppings but it tasted like any other supreme pizza you can get.
We had also ordered drinks which came out halfway through eating our pizzas. I had the mocha ($4) and J had the banana and honey smoothie ($5). The mocha was very weak in regards to both coffee and chocolate. It tasted more watery than anything else. Not the best. We couldn’t make out the honey in the smoothie and noticed the bananas used were still quite ‘green’ which wasn’t to our liking.
I found the pizzas at Cork Street Cafe and Gallery average and there was no X factor incentive for me to drive all the way back to Gundaroo for pizzas, when there are equally good/ better pizzas in Canberra for the same price. However, it was nice to get away for a bit and see the country-side. We were there on one of the grey winter Canberra days as well so it was also nice to see the blue sky and sunshine in Gundaroo. Service here is pleasant and everything provided with a smile. Ceiling heaters provide warmth and extra cosiness to the cafe.
Cork Street Cafe and Gallery is open Thursday to Sunday for lunch and dinner, and Saturday and Sunday for breakfast. It’s located on Cork Street, the main road in Gundaroo.
Foodgasm 6/10
Value for money 6/10
Service 8/10
FPJ score 20/30
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