There’s nothing like having a fabulous dog friendly café right on your doorstep, and Bardon locals have hit the jackpot with Bardon Thyme cafe.
Michael Wendt and Gary Hamilton, partners in life and business pump out delicious coffee, pastries, and meals.
Yes, you can buy a coffee shop on Gumtree!
It seems you can buy just about anything on Gumtree, including a café!
It was one of those days when you are home, sick from work with a cold and a dream then you see a Gumtree ad and end up opening a cafe. That’s how Bardon Thyme cafe was born, says Michael.
“Gary was at home, sick in bed. He had been working ridiculous hours, getting home at two in the morning. He said, “This has to change, I’ve been working for other people for so long, it’s time to do it ourselves.”
Michael says they started looking on Gumtree and found ten different cafes and made inquiries. However only one of them had the outside shade area that they were looking for to create a dog-friendly cafe environment.
What’s on the menu at Bardon Thyme cafe?
The café offers breakfast and lunch, and Michael says he has been surprised by the lunch crowd.
“People are coming with their families to sit down and have a good, cooked lunch and bringing their dogs. Huge amounts of dogs! My dog Comet is the resident at our dog-friendly cafe.
The menu changes most days. That’s why I did a paper menu so that I can update them anytime. Yesterday we cooked all those beautiful polenta tarts that you tried today.
“It’s just wholesome food. We’re both vegetarians, but we know that we can’t become a one hundred per cent vegetarian café because a lot of people still like meat. So, we source local ham, and the bacon is premium and organic, plus the eggs are free-range.”
The house-made granola includes authentic saffron from India, handpicked by a friend of Michael’s.
“It’s not just ordinary smashed avo either. We’ve created beetroot hummus, so it’s beetroot, zucchini, lemon, garlic and olive oil. We smeared the beetroot, two pieces of toast, one with tomato bruschetta, the other with the avocado and garnished with thyme and feta.
The delicious bread and pastries come from local baker Crust & Co and are available to take home too.
“We’re just trying to make everything ourselves, including pickles and jams and preserves soon. We’re making everything from scratch, except the pastries and the bread.”
What about a sweet treat?
Michael makes a chocolate brownie using a special family recipe with walnuts and double cream, and there’s also a carrot slice.
“The pastries are out in the morning, and I bring out the slices later. After school from three o’clock to four o’clock, we are popular with the school kids. They want milkshakes, and they want brownies, and it’s milkshake brownie, milkshake brownie.
Children and their parents love browsing the 24 bookshop next to Bardon Thyme cafe. Michael says there are some real bargains on the shelves.
Environmentally smart too!
“We use biodegradable paper straws, and the takeaway cups are biodegradable and compostable. However, because our facilities can’t biodegrade those cups, we’ve teamed up to get those removed and taken to a special facility. You can’t tick all boxes, but at least there’s no plastic in those cups.
The walls also feature a rotating display from local artists.
Where is Bardon Thyme?
You will find dog friendly Bardon Thyme cafe at 3 Morgan Terrace at Bardon. It is just off Simpsons Road, opposite Bowman Park.
There is plenty of footpath seating where your furry friend is welcome. There is also a terrace at the rear of the shop which is another outdoor area for the café.
If you like this, try these other local cafes
Pata Negra for delicious Spanish tapas
Nota at Paddington
