In short: The Local Trade is a family-friendly café that ticks all the right boxes, by offering great food, excellent coffee, lots of parking spaces, a playground right next to the café, all located within a shopping village.
Even though we all know how much it is really needed in this day and age, it is rare that you would be able to find a café with parking right at the entrance, a decent size playground right next to the cafe with new equipment, a huge Coles supermarket in the same indoor vicinity, and a whole host of specialty stores to meet your every need and then some.
Fortunately for us living in north-western Sydney and close to Kellyville, there’s a cafe that fulfils those requirements, and it’s Local Trade Cafe. If you are like me, groceries are about as mundane as it gets and that’s where Local Trade comes to the rescue. The café is located on the top level of a car park just metres from the big grocery store, salvation!
Local Trade has a fantastic playground bolted onto the cafe, where you can enjoy your meal and maintain a watchful eye over your child. There is indoor and outdoor seating adjacent to the playground, which in summer receives beautiful morning sun and in winter, worry not as heaters provide additional warmth.
When it comes to planning their menu, The Local Trade have made smart choices. Firstly, the drinks menu is really extensive, with juices, smoothies, coffees, milkshakes, soft drinks and even San Pellegrino sparking water. Because of the many different types of drink on offer, each of their juices and shakes flavours is just given a 1 word and number label, example Juice 1, 2, 3 or Smoothie 1, 2, 3. This means that if they need to vary their drinks, they only have to change the description of the drink and not the name. The drinks also come in 1/2 litre science beakers, which makes it fun to drink, even for the adults.
From the cold beverages menu, we got the Juice 1, which comprises carrot, lemon, pineapple and apple juice with ginger. It was delicious, with the right level of tangy flavour from the orange and lemon, tartness from the pineapple, sweetness from the apples, heat from the ginger, and a bonus boost of vegetable and beta carotene from the carrots.
From the smoothie section, we tried the smoothie 2, which is the banana, mango, orange, passionfruit, chia seeds and honey. The mango and passionfruit combination worked really well, giving the smoothie a balanced flavour and fragrance. The honey added the right amount of sweetness and the chia seeds gives this smoothie an additional power food boost.
Local Trade’s coffee game is strong too. They use beans from Toby’s Estate. Having sampled the flat white over a dozen times, what I can say is, the coffee is consistent from cup to cup. Perfect temperatures, a nice extraction with caramel notes. The flavours are robust enough without acidity. The milk work is bang on too. So enjoyable that I walk out with a takeaway as well!
From the breakfast all day section of the menu, Coco and Viner Sacha decided to go the healthy route and chooses the honey and spice granola . The crunchy and nutty granola is combined with sharp rhubarb jam, creamy coconut yoghurt and seasonal fruits like strawberries, blueberries and passion fruit. It’s generosity is appreciated with a nice texture from the granola and freshness of the fruits.
From the breakfast all day menu, we also sampled the green pea falafel. It was a decent sized serving with 4 light and fluffy falafels, not overly oily, with distinct coriander and cumin spice flavour, combined with a side of baba ganoush, yummy labnah with chilli oil, which you can mop up with the pieces of flat bread. The Mediterranean flavours are heavenly with richness, spice and smokiness of the baba ganoush.
From the lunch menu, I sampled the buttermilk fried chicken burger, with apple and red cabbage slaw and jalapeno peppers. The chicken was perfectly seasoned and fried with a crunchy exterior. Because it was marinated in buttermilk, it was also tender and juicy inside with a slight tang, that added a different dimension from other fried chicken dishes. The slaw was also a great accompaniment, with sweet from the apples, crunch factor from the shredded cabbage, green from the rings of spring onion and a touch of heat from the jalapeno peppers, all nicely mixed and tossed with a nice dressing. The dish also comes with a small bucket of shoestring fries which are light and crunchy, the perfect partner!
From the kids menu, little Coco and Viner Sammi seeks out the ham and cheese toastie, which has become staple fare for her, wherever we go. Local Trade’s version though has an added touch of sophistication with slices of sourdough toasted just right with delicious melty cheese and ham in the middle. In fact, this item might even go well with adults who are looking for something small and delicious to fill the tummy.
To ensure that it lives up to its name, The Local Trade also sources supplies from local producers and businesses like the Cake Couple and the eggs come from the region as well. Local Trade is a definite gem in the in the Hills area that brings the local community and family together in more ways than one.
Bianca@forfoodssake says
Good to see the North West getting some good cafes. Before I moved away from the Hills in 2003 there really wasn’t much going on. My only salvation was some of the best chips and gravy from the chicken shop in Norwest. How times have changed! Love the way they serve the juice!!