253-255 Albany Highway, Victoria Park
Ph: 0491 260 941
www.socialmanna.com.au
Dishes for the non-conformists
Victoria Park’s Social Manna is engaging from the moment you step foot in the door. From a wall displaying hundreds of ornate silver spoons, to an eclectic range of books found on every table, to plants crawling across the shelves, to an impressive collection of vintage Pez dispensers lining the crown moulding, this café’s atmosphere is downright quirky, with equally quirky food. Working director Sandro Puca says he was tired of the minimalist look that has become so popular in Perth’s café scene, “The cafés I grew up visiting were of a similar nature to ours,” he says, “I wanted to create an environment that was funky forward.”
Puca aspired to a menu that reflected this distinct visual appeal. It might be easy to go out for breakfast and order the same bacon and eggs every day, and of course, that is available at Social Manna, but with the exceedingly thoughtful and curious dishes served at this establishment, I highly encourage you try something away from the usual, it will be well worth the risk.
We started with their twist on the classic Smashed Avo; an avocado and spinach smash on toasted sourdough served with zucchini, broccolini, tomato, halloumi, and a green goddess dressing. While it is easy to make a smashed avo quite plain, this is something else, the green goddess dressing is packed with flavour, creating a much-needed level of acidity to balance the dish’s hearty vegetables. Overall, it is a smashing savoury dish that I could see myself eating for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
The next item brought to us was the Filipino Breakfast Bircher Bowl, a meal inspired and developed by one of Social Manna’s chefs. Consisting of ube overnight oats, a vibrant pandan and lime coconut yogurt, tropical fruits and tahini puffed rice, this dish sings in both looks and flavour. From the earthy oats to the crunchy rice to the fresh dragon fruit, the bowl showcases a diverse range of textures and flavours which makes it a great success; at an extremely reasonable $17.50, you really cannot go wrong.
Following that dish looked like a hard task, however, when I was presented with the Oat and Rice Porridge Arancini, I knew I had found my favourite of the day. This dish, that Puca graciously told me was “born out of frustration of cleaning porridge pots”, is comprised of three arancini covered in thinly sliced red apples sitting on a bed of yoghurt custard, rhubarb compote, maple and candied pecans, all for the price of $18. Emblematic of the home-baked apple crumble my grandmother used to serve me, this meal feels like being wrapped in a warm hug. It is soft, it is crunchy, it is moist – to my eyes, it is perfect and without a doubt, the best porridge I have ever had.
Lastly, we tried the Turkish Eggs; poached eggs on in-house made Turkish bread served with garlic labneh, muhammara (a spicy Middle Eastern red pepper dip), lamb kofta, and beautifully garnished with Lebanese pickled turnips. This dish is everything you could possibly need in a breakfast and makes for an extremely warm and comforting way to start your day. The light and fresh bread is the perfect vessel to carry the rest of the well-seasoned dish to your undoubtedly watering mouth. It is thoughtful, authentic, and delicious.
Puca told me that his goal for the café was to bring about change in the industry, a place where both his staff and his customers could feel comfort. Well, with the cosy atmosphere and unique dishes to be found at Social Manna, I can see his vision was an obvious success.
By Ava Berryman
