"…it pleases us"

On my morning walk to work I have been watching with interest the development of a new cafe on Gertrude St. Thanks to Where’s the beef (those organised food-hounds), I found out that Sonido was finally open and organised breakfast there post-haste!

Sonido is a seriously cute little cafe, decked out with artfully mismatched furniture and shelves filled with all manner of quirkiness, including vinyl records, books, posters and shoes(!). The cafe is run by a Colombian couple and the food, music and decorations are all a homage to their homeland. It has been open for about 4 weeks now and I was told by them that mid-week is just starting to fall into a rhythm and that the weekends are ridiculously busy.

On the Wednesday morning we visited, Sonido was very slow and sleepy. Service was at a very relaxed pace, but this was fine and we had time to enjoy our lovely coffees (Supreme):

And look at the cute little wooden spoon:

The cafe doesn’t really have breakfast menu per se, everything is an all day option. You can try an empanada with beef and olive ($7.5), spinach and cheese ($7.5) or chorizo ($8). They also serve arepas (thin, crispy discs of corn) with a range of different toppings, such as cheese ($7.5), egg ($9.5), sweet corn ($6), ‘old clothes’ beef ($11.5) and black beans and feta ($11.5), and you can get a side salad with them too. All the arepas are gluten-free, except the sweet corn. For obvious reasons, I really really wanted to try the ‘old clothes’ beef, but decided it was probably a little much for breakfast. I’ll have to visit another time to try it out.

I went for the black beans and feta:

This was really delicious, thick, rich beans, slightly salty feta on the crisp arepa. The oniony salsa added a nice sharpness. Yum.

Breakfast companion P tried the arepa with eggs:

These were really creamy and P slathered them in chilli sauce, giving them a nice kick.

Sweets include muffins ($4.5), raspberry brownie ($4.5), shortbread hearts ($3.5), almond crescents ($3.5) and cocadas, which are a Brazilian coconut macaroon ($4). While sweets after breakfast are not my standard fare, all the cakes and sweets at Sonido are gluten-free, so I had to try them… right?

I admit that I have been quite taken by the sweets at Sonido (which are actually baked by Hartford Lane Organics) and I have made a few visits for sweets alone. Firstly, I picked up an apple crumble muffin on my way to work:

The top of the muffin was so crunchy and caramelly. Seriously awesome (and I really wish I had one now!)

I have also tried the brownie:

This was dense and fudgy, with a little surprise of raspberries at the bottom. The raspberries added a nice burst of flavour and it reminded me strongly of the chocolate raspberry layer cake I have previously made, I really need to make it again!

All in all, Sonido is a sweet little place with some great options, particularly for those who are gluten-free. I’m looking forward to going back and trying the ‘old clothes’ beef!!!

Note: lots of other bloggers have reviewed Sonido in its short life – have a look Vetti live in Northcote, Fat belly club, Crafty llama and Fitzroyalty.

Details

Sonido!
69 Gertrude St, Fitzroy
0404621946 / 0406850341

Tags: breakfast, cafe, Colombian, Fitzroy, Gertrude St, Sonido, South American