Moose General Store

First published on 30 Jun 2010. Updated on 19 Oct 2010.

Imagine gin and tonic marmalade. Imagine having that on toast. For breakfast. Or whenever the heck you fancy. If that's your idea of a good time, head on over to Moose General Store and they'll sort you out. Moose is the type of café you have to actively seek out. It's off Refern's beaten track so the main clientele are keen-bean coffee fiends who found out through word of mouth.

The café is a fairly intimate – about as big as a decent sized bedroom – but not claustrophobic. Friendly regulars offer us spare stools and table space. Bright smiles from staff and house-made-almost-everything make this little space a winner.

Co-owners and mates Wes Dooley, Ian Pope and Charbel Zeaiter reopened Moose Café as Moose General Store in April with a focus on their take-home creations. If G&T marmalade isn't your thing, there are other boozy jams on offer: fig and rum, blackberry and shiraz or rhubarb and mulled wine. Granola, olives and marinated fetta are also available. Moose uses bread from Infinity and organic fair trade coffee roasted by Golden Cobra.

Along with gluten-free tea loaves and killer brownies, the menu is filled with brunch-friendly items like porridge served with nuts and treacle or baked eggs in tomato sauce. Get a load of the chocolate granola, coated in Belgian chocolate and served up with the café's own blackberry shiraz yoghurt – definitely one for a good gym day. For lunch, the pulled-pork roll comes with barbecue sauce, coleslaw and pork scratchings. Mmm-hmm.

They're only open Thursday to Sunday, with the first half of the week devoted to churning out fun things for your pantry. The super-relaxed vibe makes it an inviting place to chillax with a book – even mothers' groups come in to compare sleep hours over chai.

No matter which way you swing Moose General Store is bound to have something to tickle your fancy. Nancy Lee