Perhaps it is just me but I often find it challenging to find a suitable café for breakfast while on a family road trip. A lot of cafés are either too trendy or too fancy, too busy and crowded or too small to sit down in. Just like Goldilocks I can never seem to find one that is just right.
Before you object and assume that my expectations must be too high, let me just clarify. All I need for a successful breakfast pit stop is a café that has somewhere comfortable to sit and eat, is not too crowded, has a simple menu (nothing too fancy) with decent food and preferably with toilets on site.
While it's not always possible to find such a place, occasionally it does happen, and we did have one such Goldilocks moment on Main Street Lithgow on a recent road trip.
Despite googling "Lithgow cafes" beforehand I hadn't found anywhere that looked suitable. Most places were either too fancy or didn't open early enough for us so we had to take our chances in the brisk morning air and walk hopefully up the main street.
As luck would have it we came across Black Rock Café and they were open. As our group walked in I was hopeful. The owners were warm and friendly as they greeted us.
Black Rock Café offers both an eat in and take away service. The café was clean with simple, modern décor and happily there were plenty of tables ready to accommodate our large group of nine people.
After our long drive from Sydney my first question was, predictably, where is the closest toilet? Expecting to be given directions down the street I was pleasantly surprised when I was shown the rest room on site just up the hallway. We were off to a good start.
The menu is your usual café fare of burgers, wraps, sandwiches, light meals and snacks and was exactly what we were looking for. The Breakfast Menu includes eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes and wraps. My family of four all ordered the Bacon and Egg Rolls.
The eggs were well cooked and the bacon was plentiful on the crusty rolls. It was enough to fill our empty bellies and leave us feeling satisfied. We were also pleasantly surprised by the reasonable price charged of only $5.50 per roll. Definitely a sign we're not in Sydney anymore!
The café was also happy to accommodate the unusual breakfast requests of some in our party - a sandwich for one member and a plate of wedges for another. Yes, you read correctly, a plate of wedges for breakfast.
We were also happy with our accompanying cappuccinos and after our quick pit stop we left the café happy and content and ready for the rest of our drive.
The thing that I liked most about Black Rock Café was the warm, friendly and inviting manner of the owners. They made us feel so welcome, stopping to chat with us as they took our orders, which is something that you don't come across very often these days.
It was refreshing and a lovely way to start our holiday. Black Rock Café is definitely worth a visit next time you are in the Lithgow area or passing through.
Black Rock Café is located at 81 Main Street Lithgow. They are open from Monday - Friday from 7.30am until 4pm and on Saturday from 8am - 12 noon.
