The Nourish’d Kitchen had been open less than a week when we visited and already they were selling out of food! That’s a great testament to the unique, healthy range they’re cooking up for their customers.

The Nourish’d Kitchen is a sugar and grain-free (and therefore gluten free) eatery located in Ann Street, Stepney, just off Magill Road. The space is bright and clean, decorated with light wood and greenery; there’s a lounge and coffee table in the corner, bench seating along the window looking out onto the street, and a large bench in the middle. Flowers and small plants adorn the tables along with healthy cookbooks to peruse, including That Sugar Book.

The staff were very friendly and explained the philosophy of the place, and the menu to us.

For breakfast you can choose from granola, chia pudding, quinoa porridge (these all looked very inviting) or you can ‘build your own’ breakfast, choosing from a range of tasty breakfast items, such as eggs pre-cooked in a variety of ways, smoked trout, vegetables – much of it standard breakfast fare but given the Nourish’d treatment. We chose to build our own as there were so many good options to choose from.

The first dish was dukkah crusted egg, which we paired with avocado and a pork and fennel sausage. The egg was hardboiled and the dukkah added a nice nutty texture. My husband prefers a soft boiled egg to hardboiled, so it’s a pity we weren’t given this as an option, but the dish was very tasty with lingering flavours. The avocado was sprinkled with sumac, which was a perfect, subtle inclusion, while the sausage was flavoursome without the fennel being overpowering, as it can sometimes be. This all sat on a bed of peppery rocket. My husband is not a big fan of rocket but I note that he ate up every leaf!

For our second dish we chose a vegetarian frittata, which I initially paired with local smoked ocean trout. But as this trout hadn’t been deboned yet, the staff suggested choosing another option. I chose the haloumi, which was melted and creamy, adding a richness to the dish. The frittata tasted softer and lighter than it looked, with juicy chunks of tomato, sweet capsicum and other vegetables. This paired nicely with the salty haloumi, which was a welcome replacement for any breakfast meat. Again served on a bed of rocket.

The portion sizes are kept under control – when you order the egg, you get one egg not two. Sausage is one sausage, not two or three. This might be contrary to what many other cafés offer, but again it’s in keeping with the kitchen’s philosophy of providing healthy food choices. To be honest, a serve of three different breakfast items and a coffee is more than enough to satisfy. You can always add another item or two in the ‘build your own’ breakfast if you want, at additional cost.

The coffee was warm and ready to drink, and not too bitter. In keeping with the philosophy of the café, I managed to drink it without any sugar!

We also grabbed a couple of gluten free and low fructose balls to try later. The spiced cacao ball was dense with an almost too subtle spice flavour, which they could easily ramp up. Our favourite was the almond, coconut and berry ball – very refreshing, light and creamy.

We’re looking forward to returning to The Nourish’d Kitchen soon and checking out their lunch menu – salad, soups, slow-cooked free-range meat, sides and more.