Having meant to go back sooner, I realised it had been over a year since my last visit to Double Shot in Deakin. I finally returned to Double Shot last week, during the Christmas/New Year shut down period, as it was one of the few eateries that remained open in Canberra.
The menu had so many delicious sounding items on it for both breakfast and lunch. I know I will be back to try out more dishes. It was a slightly cool morning and I had mistakenly left my cardigan at home, so breakfast of the Moroccan baked eggs ($18) was a must. While waiting for a table, I had seen the dish come out of the kitchen and it looked fantastic. The baked eggs consisted of tomato sugo, zucchini, pearl cous cous and was served with Turkish bread. I decided to add a side of potato rosti ($4) too. I really loved this dish. The pearl cous cous gave it extra oomph and I found I liked it better than beans (the usual partner in crime to baked eggs) which can be a bit too heavy. The egg yolk was runny spilling into the rest of the dish. I found the Turkish bread a tad dry for my liking but the tomato sugo made up for it.
I did go back again (in the same week!) with a friend for lunch. I was going to be good and start off with a healthy juice, but I was really in the mood for an iced mocha ($7) which came with a scoop of chocolate ice cream on top. This is served in a large handle-less glass jar and I was happy with the portion size for the price. There were plenty of ice cubes in the drink to keep it cold without making the milk too watery.
My friend ordered the Refresher juice ($8) with pineapple, mint and cucumber, as well as a flat white ($3.70).
I ordered the soft shell crab burger ($23) with wasabi slaw and microherbs in a brioche bun. All burgers are served with fries and tomato sauce. The crab had been tempura fried and was beautifully crispy. There was also a decent amount of crab in each mouthful which made me happy. The burger is filled with crunchy slaw but I couldn’t taste much of the wasabi.
This was a small burger and I was glad to have the side of crunchy chips or it would not have filled me up. Overall, really happy with my choice.
My friend had the pulled lamb souva ($20) of slow cooked lamb shoulder, salad, spiced tahini and tzatziki in a grilled pita. There were also lemon salted fries inside the roll which he thought was strange, but I thought it was genius, similar to a chip roll. His dish came with a side salad of tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum, onion and olives.
The cafe can get loud inside but I found that the back room is much quieter. During busy periods, the wait for coffee can be about 20 minutes but I was grateful for our waitress telling us that. Service is blunt but efficient. If you’ve made a booking, you will be led to your table. If you don’t, the wait time is X minutes as you join the queue. Menus are provided as you sit down and coffee orders taken. Surprisingly, the wait time for food was only about 15 minutes even though it was a very busy day.
Double Shot is a hip and happening place. There are so many people enjoying their meals or waiting for take away coffee. Wait staff are constantly coming in and out with dishes, or are behind the counter making coffee, juices and smoothies. There seems to always be a queue at the cash register (there is only one cash register) to pay for meals. I am amazed at how the guy behind the counter knows what our table is without missing a beat, repeating our order to us, even though there are no table numbers and there are so many tables in the back room, main room and out in the courtyard. Kudos for that. It is an organised chaos and I love it. Great food and great drinks!
I recommend making a booking, otherwise the wait time for a table is around 15 minutes.
Double Shot is situated at the Deakin shops and is open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch.
Foodgasm 9/10
Value for money 8/10
Service 7.5/10
FPJ score 24.5/30
If you want more random photos and updates about food, I’m on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Facebook: /foodpornjournal
Twitter: @foodpornjournal
Instagram: /foodpornjournal