Utopia

I was recently down in Northern New South Wales on holidays and a friend suggested a trip to Bangalow, with a recommendation to pop into Utopia.

I've never been to Bangalow before, but the main street is made up of some lovely heritage buildings. Park yourself at either the top or bottom of the main street and spend a lazy few hours wandering up and down, browsing the great array of shops, cafes and restaurants.

We did exactly that, and it didn't take us long to find Utopia. It's on the main street, and occupies a very large renovated room, with a bit of an industrial, modern feel. Once we'd plonked ourselves down at a table and ordered, I was reading through a magazine with Gemma Ward on the cover, only to be told by the waitress that she'd been into Utopia a couple of times on the weekend. Unfortunately she didn't make an appearance while we were there.

Anyway, back to the food. We were just there for morning tea and I ordered a slice of the chocolate hazelnut torte ($8.90). I know that sounds like a lot for one slice, but this was the best gluten free cake I've ever come across. It was so good I almost ordered another piece. The torte was layers of hazelnut meringue with chocolate mousse, served with creme anglaise and raspberry coulis. I really can't put into words just how delicious this cake was. All of Utopia's cakes are made freshly on the premises, and there were more than a couple of gluten free cake options.

Other morning tea snacks that sounded tempting were the freshly baked scones, Lindt dark chocolate rocky road, baked cheesecake with pralines and an amazingly rich looking chocolate tart. It would be pretty easy to find a table, pick up a magazine and just work your way through their cake cabinet. Forget lunch, just keep going on the cakes.

The coffee was Zentfeld's, an Australian grown coffee, which I'd never tried before. Both of our coffees were very good, and service was efficiently friendly.

Utopia is also open for lunch and dinner, and the menu looked great. We'll definitely be back next time we're in that neck of the woods.

Bangalow is definitely worth a visit if you are nearby (it's about 15 minutes drive from Byron Bay). And if you do drop in, don't walk past Utopia without trying some of their beautiful cakes.

Utopia
13 Byron Street
Bangalow NSW 2479
P - 02 6687 2088
E - utopiacafe@bigpond.com
W - http://www.utopiacafe.com.au