Cornucopia

Ahh, Cornucopia. An old favourite for Sunday brunch and always a great place to take visitors.
For those of you who haven't been (what the hell are you doing living in Darwin and not visiting here?), Cornucopia is a cafe/restaurant located at the Museum and Art Gallery on Conacher St. It's open for breakfast and into the afternoon.
You sit on a raised deck overlooking the water, which even on a hot day remains cool and breezy. So when booking, asking to have a table outside is the way to go.
Booking is recommended, especially on Sundays and most days in the tourist season. On Sundays, you can expect a request to rebook your table or you may indeed be the second (or third!) group of people to use that table that day.
So, to the menu. The decision is usually a bit tough as they offer fancy eggs, for example, eggs royale (with smoked salmon), delicious salads and really good fish and chips.
On this occasion one of my friends and I had the raw energy salad, not as boring as you'd think. A good variety of tastes and textures for example, marinated beans, cheese, sultanas, roasted peanuts, grated carrot, bean sprouts and other salad vegetables.
My other friend went for the light snack of the fish cakes. They came with a good sized side salad and dipping sauce. There were three on the plate and they looked as if they were made from fresh white fish with herbs through them, wrapped in very thin bean curd sheets and deep fried.
Always check out the specials menu for the salad of the day, it's always good. The regular salad item is also very good, it's a smoked salmon and snow pea salad with avocado, topped with an orange and poppy seed dressing.
One thing to note, and it is on the menu for your information, they don't split bills here.
The service is efficient and friendly and the portions are a good size.
Apologies, I didn't check out the wine list.

ambience: 8/10
food: 8/10
service: 8/10
value for money: 8/10
wine list: another time!

the cool spot

Okay, so there are some things that are really kick arse about this place and some things that are at best mediocre.

Kick arse list:
the view
the banana splits and other ice cream fabulousness
the hot chips cooked to perfection in fresh oil
the barra with salad and chips
the hot breakfasts
Alawa cake shop cakes
the lemon meringue pie - as it is now, not how it was in the past!
its opening hours
consistency

Mediocre list:
expensive toasted sandwiches
cheesecakes with way too much gelatine in them
atmosphere inside

Bad list:
the guacamole on the nachos
rotting salad mix in the salad main courses

Sandy's

Despite sounding like a 70s character, this cafe has really good food. In a previous life it was Spiros, you know, the cafe where you had to walk through clouds of second-hand cigarette smoke to get into the joint?
Actually, you still do. Well, soon enough you won't have to do that, it's a good thing too, as I want to eat here more regularly!

The salads at this place are really good and really good value. I had the pesto lamb salad for $16.90. The lamb was tender and juicy and there was a substantial amount of it. The salad was large and included rocket. It was topped with a smooth dressing that was nicely tangy. There were also triangles of pita bread with tzadziki on them decorating the plate.

I have heard the crispy chicken salad with potatoes is fine as well.

The cafe is neat and tidy with some couches along the windows and a row of comfy bench seats along one wall. It's brightly lit and you smell the coffee when you walk in.

Food: 9/10
Service: 7/10
Ambience: 6/10
Value for money: 9/10