Dangerously Tempting

Marry me Mary! For some reason I just couldn’t get this chant out of my mind as I turned into Mary Muller Drive in Heathcote, in search of the well hidden Castle Rock Cafe. The trouble with this? The only person I know named Mary is 83 years old and has been happily married for over 50 years. Everyone keeps telling me there’s a ‘good woman’ out there somewhere for me but I’m damned if I can find her. Clearly my repetitious, banal chanting is useless!Not to mention my incontinence, uncontrollable flatulence and bad habit of dribbling over my lower lip....in public!
My hopes were raised somewhat as I walked into the CRC, it’s tables well populated with women in their 30’s enjoying late morning tea breaks and all manner of delicious looking slices. God knows how the modern female keeps her figure so stunning....how can one not notice such things?
Momentarily my gaze was distracted from these earthly delights to the food cabinet proudly stocked and stacked with man-sized baps, sandwiches, rolls and a few salad, pasta and cous cous arrangements. Dangerously tempting....and then, of course, there were the soft, sugary slices with all manner of seductive names, looking to be selected by the hungry.
The Scottish Baps and the English Benedict muffins were hard to pass over but I chose to consult the menu instead, predictably settling for something involving eggs, the perfect expression of fertility. It seemed so fitting in this place of plenty.
Two free range eggs on 8 grain bread with streaky bacon, freshly cooked spinach & large field mushrooms with a side of cous cous sprinkled with sliced up roasted almonds and traces of vegetables. A more than ample lunch and accompanied by very good and friendly service, two long blacks, warm sunshine and the morning paper. All the elements of the above two dishes were proudly represented, cooked well and retained so much of their essential flavours. The spinach goes so well with the eggs and the mushrooms, a taste combination that appeals to me. The cous cous was perfectly done but the slivers of almond and the presence of the vege flavours made this simple little concoction a real winner for me. A visually appealing lunch with everything behaving as it should....except me and my lustful eyes roaming around the room of course.
There is, unquestionably, something charming about this hard-to- find secret of a cafe buried in the stomach of industrial Heathcote. The large warehouse complexes, container yards and depots in the immediate locale undoubtedly provide the Castle Rock with most of its clientele, most probably on a repeat basis day after day. The food is good here, the surroundings (in the cafe and out in the courtyard) are pleasant and the service a credit to a small business.
Don’t forget to admire the beautiful old NCR cash register when you’re paying your bill.....