Spacewise, on a busy weekend it could be a pram-wielder's nightmare but it's midweek and we're fine at the oval table we choose. The menu is brief and mostly breakfast-related but there are sandwiches, a pizza and two salads on offer - we go for both, plus the kitchen's recommendation of a tuna sandwich. I've done my coffee drinking for the day but the others enjoy their Golden Cobra brews.
The salads arrive on mismatched plates and sharing with my dairy-fearing friend means I get all the feta in the pear and walnut salad, which is filled out with rocket and baby spinach coated in a sharp lemon dressing. The other has free-range chicken, Paesanella bocconcini (again, all mine), avocado, tomatoes and more greens, this time with a hint of balsamic in the dressing. It's refreshing to see a salad assembled before your eyes and with good ingredients - well, the tomatoes could be riper but I can't blame the Kick kitchen for that.
We take up the offer of soy and linseed on the side and it's freshly baked, restaurant-quality sourdough, too. Pea Pa's nicoise-style sandwich, meanwhile, is declared a hit, thanks to the happy marriage of bread and potato. Even the hard-boiled egg, of which he's a fellow hater, is entirely welcome.
Of course, Baby Pea is a long way from demanding his own babycinos and even a kid-friendly cafe wouldn't supply much to hold his interest yet, so it's a nice surprise to find him fascinated by the thick black lines of the We Buy Your Kids wall mural.
Another drawcard, which I discover only after I do my usual in-seat shuffle, is that the bathroom out the back has a lounge room attached with a sofa that could be a comfortable, private-ish spot for feeding the baby. I'll have to come back and find out.
The Kick Inside Espresso Lounge
43 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville NSW 2204
p. 02 9517 2255
