After going back to Zedz Cafe for the umpteenth time for the Laksa Sorbet I decided it was high time I actually tried some food there. After all, Zedz does serve more than sorbets and smoothies. The trouble was, where to start? The menu looked absolutely scrumptious.
Do I try the breakfasts, or the lunch soups? Do I go for more sweets or try something savoury? There was obviously more to Zedz than just their Laksa Sorbet, so it was really hard making that decision. As it turns out, I had my decision made for me by pure virtue of the fact that I went at the wrong time. After much angst, I decided that I’d go try their lunch soups, but turned up at the wrong time. So take note, diners. Lunch only starts at 11.30am. I was there much too early, and that was how I ended up with breakfast.
Bacon and Eggs – $13.90 to be precise. I was alone that morning as the boy was busy learning how to make tofu at TAFE and my friends were busy. It’s relatively rare for me not to have a dining companion when dining out these days, so I busied myself watching the hustle and bustle of the Adelaide Central Market while waiting for my order.
My dish didn’t take too long to come. Not having a dining companion for me to wax lyrical about the appearance of my dish with, it didn’t take me too long to tuck in. Two snaps and I was straight into it. The bacon was well cooked, the mushrooms ($2 for it to be added on, I believe) were juicy but oddly cold. In fact, my entire dish was oddly cold. But I put that up more to the fact that I was practically sitting in a wind tunnel and the central market really isn’t the warmest place there is during winter than anything else. The temperature of the dish didn’t really bother me too much. What would be more cause for concern would be how the eggs had been poached. Time for the truth.
A sigh of relief, as the beautiful golden yolk comes gushing out. It’s a gorgeous sight to see! Happy now, I proceeded with my breakfast. And realised to my dismay that the eggs hadn’t been drained properly. Maybe I’m overly sensitive, I know that you do have to poach eggs in water, but draining eggs are such a simple act, and these had not been drained well at all.** A very small flaw, but it ruined my eggs for me. Water and eggs do not mix. Sadface Celeste.
Eggs are my everything. I adore them in any form and I would eat five a day if I could. In fact, that used to be my staple when I was doing exams during school days. And to have my eggs ruined meant that the rest of the dish just didn’t go down so well anymore. I left Zedz feeling unsatisfied and disappointed. Was Zedz a one trick pony?
**I am well aware that this could be a one-off thing.
As luck would have it, Zedz had invited me to try some of their soups. (This invite had nothing to do with my breakfast since they had no idea I had been there for breakfast.) Seeing as my initial attempt to try their soups had been thwarted by my own poor grasp of time, I accepted.
Zedz does a range of soups for their lunch hours along with other menu items. Seeing as it was winter, soups were their hot items on the menu and Franjo the owner of Zedz has been diligently coming up with new recipes and new soups to wow his diners.
There are five soups that are currently on offer: Potato & Leek, Moroccan Spinach & Lentil, Winter Vegetable, Pea & Ham, and Beef Potato Paprica. They are all priced at a very reasonable $9.90 each and comes with two slices of bread.
I won’t be putting up a photo of every soup they have there. Instead, I will give you a quick run down on them. I was fortunate enough to have been given the chance to taste test all of them, but be quick as Zedz do change their menu every so often so if you see something you like, you better get there quick.
Potato & Leek
This was oddly grainy. The texture was off-putting and the flavour didn’t come through. Definitely the most unmemorable of the lot. I wouldn’t recommend it. Plus, the boy makes a better one, if I do say so myself.
Moroccan Spinach & Lentil
I was impressed to hear that this soup had been on the menu since Day 1 of Franjo taking over Zedz Cafe. That’s a whole 8 years ago! It’s one of their popular soups and taking my very first sip, I can immediately see why. Punches of flavour, generous use of spices, the serving was generous and with the soup overflowing with lentils, it was definitely a substantial lunch. I loved how filled with spices it was which was in line with what you’d expect from a soup claiming to be Morrocan.
Winter Vegetable Soup – pictured above.
Easily my favourite soup of the lot, hands down. Brimming with flavours, you could smell it coming a mile away as it was that fragrant! It wasn’t just my favourite, this was the boy’s favourite as well. The ingredients of the soup can sometimes change according to what Franjo finds in the market. This time round, we were fortunate that he had been able to obtain Kale and the soup was chock-full of it. Yum! The carrots gave the soup its sweetness and this incredibly tasty soup found its way back home with me to be eaten that night as dinner. Highly Recommended.
Pea & Ham
A beautiful soup that was also gorgeously peppery. Very suitable for a winter dish, this soup had the boy spellbound and you could easily see why as the flavours were honest and true. It was surprisingly heavy for a pea soup though not as heavy as the Moroccan soup. Another bowl? Don’t mind if I say yes.
Beef Potato Paprica
When you taste this soup, the first word that comes to mind is hearty. The next word that comes to mind is wine. Quickly followed by open log fireplace. It’s the kind of soup that you want to curl up with on a wintery night with a glass of wine to savour. The beef is tender and the different flavour elements of the soup meld together well to form a beautiful soup that would have made anybody weak at the knees and asking for more. My second favourite from the range! Highly recommended
The ingredients that Franjo uses are clearly top notch. Through my conversations with him, his passion for food is clear to be seen and his excitement and enthusiasm is both catchy and inspiring. While there were hits and misses in his soups, I do think that the winter vegetable soup is an incredible show of skill and also displays his deep understanding for how flavours work together.
Through my numerous visits to Zedz, the service has been consistently top notch. Friendly wait staff that were quick to respond and fast thinkers on their feet, whether or not the boss was around. I know that Lucia’s and Zuma are usually at the tip of people’s tongues when it comes to eating at the Central Market, but I do think that Zedz is rather underrated and needs some love as well as they do serve good food with quality ingredients.
And if you need more proof of his attention to detail, Franjo slices up various fruits and vegetables to pop into the water jugs to flavour the water. Just water? Think again! Now that’s smart thinking right there.
Do say hi to Franjo if you pop by Zedz. Tell him Celeste sent you. And sit back and soak in his knowledge while you embrace the love in his food. There is nothing quite like it.
There are gluten free, vegan and vegetarian options available at Zedz Cafe.
