date of visit: Thursday 22 March 2012

A Mother’s Milk has been on my radar for a while (not that long as it did only open in January) but dragging myself out to Unley for a coffee has seemed like just a bit too much hard work. Certainly not the type of thing I’d manage on the spur of the moment.

But a bit of planning saw me finally make it to A Mother’s Milk – even if I ended up parking miles away (thank YOU, Parkside, and your warren of one way and blocked off street madness) and arriving for my coffee date late.

It’s a tiny café and when I arrived (baby and stroller in tow) I could hardly get into the front room. Fortunately, a kind patron opened the door for me and we squeezed in. Also, very fortunately, there are a couple of small rooms out the back – so don’t be put off if you turn up and it looks full. There might be a spot for you yet!

I headed out to the back room and we got ourselves settled in. Baby ensconced in high chair it was time to think about me. Unfortunately, they had run out sweet things – apparently they had had cakes, friands, muffins … and they were all sold out. Oh no! It was only half past 2, too! I was saved by the fact that, on the menu, they had sourdough served with goat’s curd and fig jam. That would more than do! As I hadn’t had lunch, I was not prepared to share (a serve is two chunky slices)!

The sourdough was great – it hit the spot, the jam, from Dirty Girl, had massive chunks of fig in it. It was very good – the type of thing you could eat out of the jar and justify as healthy because of the fruit content. The tiny bits of crust I gave to the baby were very much appreciated – so definitely pan-generational appeal there.*

The coffee is pretty good. To be honest, I found my cafe latte a little on the strong side (more milk please!) and I did order a second, requesting a weak one, but there was no difference which was a shame. However, that doesn’t mean the coffees weren’t good – they were, and if I’d been ordering long blacks I probably would have been really happy. I just like my cafe lattes really milky.

What marked out this visit was the fact that the staff were incredibly chilled out and accommodating. We were two adults and two babies and one of the babies was having something of an issue with being dragged out for coffee. The little chap was inconsolable unless he was trying to run out the door onto Unley Road but the staff remained even tempered, and attempted to chat to him, distract him and generally make it a good experience for everyone. No parent enjoys their baby being so distressed, and disapproving looks really don’t help the situation, so it was lovely to be made to feel welcome despite the rather large amount of noise our little group was making at various times!

Absolute top marks for service. I thought perhaps the food was a little expensive ($9 for the sourdough) but the coffees, at $3.30, were reasonable.

I’d definitely be happy to head back.

* The babycino also received the seal of approval.