I have a dear friend who works till the early hours of the morning and lives by the beach. When we catch up for lunch, it’s her first meal of the day and she usually wants something a bit light. Knowing this, I pick a place that serves an all day breakfast, as well as lunch, and somewhere that’s close to her home.

Semaphore Road has become a popular strip for shops, cafes and restaurants. My friend and I caught up the week before, and we had already planned to come here. From across the road, the signage seems to read the “Bike Bar Cafe”, however, I couldn’t find such a place online. I suggested we go to the “Whipped Bake Bar Cafe”, which turned out to be the same place that we intended on going.

The breakfast menu offers over a dozen choices, all of the dishes fairly simple and straight forward. The lunch options are very limited, as I only counted four offerings, not including what was on the specials board. They also have a range of spectacular cupcakes on display in their cabinet, as well as your usual beverages.

This place is deceptively spacious. In addition to the ample seating at the front, there’s even more seating at the rear and an outdoor area that’s protected from the elements. The venue is neat and well presented, with a decent amount of natural light that flows through.

For lunch, I ordered the Open Steak Sandwich. The meal arrived 15 minutes after ordering and was presented nicely on a wooden chopping board. Unlike the place across the road, the steak sandwich came with two slices of lightly toasted bread. The bread was multigrain which meant that the grains became slightly harder when toasted. Some people don’t mind this, but I did.

The dish came with several thin slices of lean sirloin steak that were tender and succulent. One piece of steak was slightly colder than the rest, but it wasn’t a show stopper. The rocket was fresh and crisp, and the caramelised onion had a subtle sweetness. This was balanced by the garlic aioli which had a smooth thick consistency. The parmesan cheese had a nice granular texture which provided a nice creamy sensation as it dissolved in my mouth.

The chips were of a medium thickness and perfectly cooked; nice and crunchy on the outside with a soft and fluffy interior. The amount of salt added was just right.

My friend had the Whipped House Porridge which came with poached strawberries, cream and slivered almonds. The porridge had a creamy texture with a nice chewy bite to keep things interesting. The toasting of the oats brought out a nice natural flavour and the addition of milk provided a silky richness.

For sweets, I had the Violet Crumble Cupcake. Externally, it’s quite impressive in appearance, but tastewise, I thought it was rather ordinary. Beneath all the icing is a chocolate cupcake, which was moist, but very similar to supermarket cake mix. The top consisted of flavoured and coloured white chocolate curls combined with pieces of violet crumble and chocolate icing. Overall, the cupcake was bit sweet for my liking.

My friend had the Turkish Delight cupcake and had similar thoughts to what I had.

The staff were friendly and the service was good. The atmosphere was relaxed and the pricing was a tad high. Breakfast ranges from $4.50 to $19, while the lunch options range from $6 to $17.50. My steak sandwich was $17.50, while the cupcake cost $5.40. Both I thought were a bit over priced. The steak sandwich wasn’t too bad but the cupcake was over rated.

WHERE: 35 Semaphore Rd, Semaphore