Worn Out Wares is a florist and cafe halfway between Sydney and Wilderluxe Lake Keepit in the Hunter Valley town of Singleton. It's the perfect place to stop on the way to and from North West NSW from Sydney. Find out what is a must order on the menu and why it's worth stopping at.
Mr NQN is the kind of person that can "raw dog" a long drive. He can get in a car and drive for hours without a coffee or a water and just drive for hours. Me? I’ve got my green tea, I’ve got snacks and I’ve got control of the Bluetooth as well with all of the podcasts I want downloaded and cued up to go. I can't possibly leave until I have everything. So it stands to reason that he does most of the driving.
When we were driving from Sydney to Lake Keepit we stopped in Singleton for a quick snack. We had intended to go to Worn Out Wares cafe and florist for lunch but we wanted to reach our accommodation by check-in time so we decided to visit the cafe on our way back. It takes about three hours from Lake Keepit or two and a half hours from Sydney.
There are two entrances to Worn Out Wares - the florist is on the right hand side and then the cafe and shop is on the left hand side. The cafe is at the back through the shop full of covetable colourful gifts and homewares.
We take a seat in the courtyard lined with flowers. Service is friendly and they take our order at the table. I order a strawberry matcha latte and Mr NQN has a ginger kombucha. The strawberry sauce with the matcha is a bit too sweet for me as I really prefer a fresh strawberry juice but it's nice to get a matcha latte.
While we’re waiting for our food, I go wandering around the shop and florist and pick up a cute tomato tea towel. By the time I’ve had a quick walk around, the food has almost arrived.
There is a lot on the menu that we want to try and they strongly recommend the French toast but I really wanted a salad so we tried the chicken citrus salad. The juicy chicken thigh fillets have a herby marinade with a coleslaw made with carrot and cabbage and segments of orange. It is lightly and perfectly dressed and this is a healthy but flavoursome dish.
I noticed that Mr NQN is busy wolfing down the Reuben sandwich. Reuben’s often have very thinly sliced pastrami but this one has a thicker cut of slow cooked corned beef along with mustard mayo, thousand island dressing, sauerkraut, gherkins and Swiss cheese on toasted white bread. And I can see why this is marked as everyone’s favourite. While it’s a bit different from a classic Reuben sandwich, it’s actually more moist and very moreish. Mr. NQN does not want to share this with me and I can’t think of a single instance in which he preferred a beef dish to a salad yet here we are.
We hadn't intended to order dessert, but I wanted to because we enjoyed our mains so much. I go to the display counter and there are cookies and brownies but I recall seeing a carrot cake on the menu and reading about how good it was so we order a slice of that. This too does not disappoint. The carrot cake is so moist with plenty of pineapple in it and a lightly spiced frosting that is the perfect thickness. And even though Mr NQN proclaims to not like cake, he devours the whole slice. At the end the bill at the end is $85 which is fantastic given that we both had drinks, mains and shared a dessert and bought a tea towel!
So tell me Dear Reader, can you just drive while "raw dogging" it or do you need to prep? Do you ever order dessert because the other food is so good?
This meal was independently paid for.
Worn Out Wares
41-43 George St, Singleton NSW 2330
Phone: (02) 6572 1866
Monday to Friday 7 am–4 pm
Saturday 8 am–3 pm
Sunday closed
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