Most of the time, cafés get bacon and egg rolls wrong: the bread is too dry, the bacon portioning too stingy, and atrocity of atrocities: the egg yolk is overcooked. Not at Rolling Penny, Newtown's hottest new café. Here, the breakfast roll sees a big white roll stuffed with two perfectly poached eggs, a heap of crispy bacon, a thicket of fragrant coriander and parsley, fresh spinach leaves and a slick of mayo and spicy house-made, sour tomato relish. Add a splash or two of Diemens hot sauce for extra punch, but really this is just a beautiful plate of food as is.
Rolling Penny is a new venture from brother and sister duo Martin and Penny Morgan. Martin’s on when we visit, and his relaxed, super smiley service demonstrates straight away what this place is all about: a place to chill out and take it easy. The interior is all white walls and open kitchen, with colourful abstract paintings hung up around and laid back, helpful service behind the counter. The tunes, when we're in, mainly centre on steel drum instrumental covers, which we find both hilarious and infectiously relaxing (the traffic on King Street requires such a tonic).
We start with a coffee, and although the flat white arrives a bit too hot, the Little Marionette beans have been roasted to nutty, fruit-driven perfection. It's almost like drinking a strong hot chocolate, it's that silky smooth. Not into artificial highs? Try the green smoothie. It's so delicious you'd barely know it was good for you. It's a frozen pear blitzed up with zucchini, broccoli, celery and apple, and it comes in a dinky little bottle that makes us feel like #cleaneating giants.
On a cold morning, go for the ultimate winter warmer (and the hippest brekky in London, New York and Copenhagen right now): porridge. It's made with whole oats instead of pinhead so it's nubbly rather than velvety. It's served with a dollop of blushing pink poached rhubarb, a few slices of cinnamon poached pear and a sprinkling each of brown sugar and crunchy chia seeds. And it's a massive serve, so it'll set you up for the day.
Try the muffins for something deceptively treat-worthy (muffins are usually more calorific than cupcakes); they’re brilliant as a side to that gorgeous coffee. The flavours change daily but our blueberry, yogurt and lemon muffin is rich and dense and ridiculously moist, with a nice backbone of lemon and caramelly brown sugar.
In the mornings here at Rolling Penny, the sun streams through the windows onto the tables both inside and out, making you feel like maybe you should just stay here all day rather than actually do something productive. And that jerk chicken sandwich on the lunch menu sure does sound delicious. Maybe we'll just stick around – what's the point in leaving somewhere this enjoyable? Work can wait.
