Heat and Good Eats

High rise rectangular boxes block out the sun that pours into the rest of Sydney center. Although I prefer the sun and trees as opposed to skyscrapers, I can’t help but admit they do cool down the city today. 

This late October Friday might be the warmest it’s been since first arriving in Sydney, as we are edging slowly but surely to the summer months here which are December-late February. With no classes today, warm weather, and sun, my plan is to hit the beach...but first I want something to eat.  

I recalled driving past “Boon Cafe” on my way through to Sydney center a few days ago, and I wanted to come back when I had a free day and give it a try. It might have been the wide glass windows with fresh-looking orchid flowers on each table, or the hustle and bustle of the other half of the cafe, which is an aesthetic white bricked Thai general store, that brought me back this first time. I have a feeling though, sitting in a little corner with the sun on a comfy cushion booth and smelling the orchid in front of me, that this will be the first of many times I eat at this little Thai gem. 

All the employees are moving very quickly, going between serving up fresh rose matcha lattes, to stacking up dried mangos in the general store half of the place. The service is extremely attentive, but not to the point you feel rushed when ordering or eating. There is no wifi to do work in, although the experience of watching the cafe move is enough of a distraction to continue procrastination of opening a laptop. 

I order sticky rice with lamb kebabs and sweet papaya salad, all for under 15 aus dollars, and it is everything I hoped for and more. The meat literally melts in my mouth as I bite the lamb stick; I savor it individually before I take another bite and follow it up with a spoon-full of sticky rice with bits of papaya salad on top. The dish is gone in a matter of minutes, and I order a cappuccino to sip slowly to let the proper Thai meal digest and have something comfy as I sit in the sun. 

I proceed to the beach after with a full stomach, and I am not mad about it in the slightest. I layed out in the sun with a full belly and slight craving already for more of Boon cafe.