Sumatra Bistro Cafe & Bakery

Back to Oakfield this week. Sumatra Bistro Cafe & Bakery, http://www.sumatrabistro.com/sbcafe/, 1602 Oakfield Dr. 33511, is at the west end of the street where it dives abruptly into Lakewood Dr. This place is touted by everyone as a comfortable setting with a friendly helpful staff and great food, so our expectations were high.

"Why the name Sumatra," we asked? "Well Sumatra is an island nation in the Indonesian Sea," replied our server. "Yes but why is the cafe named Sumatra," we clarified? "Oh, it's the kind of coffee we serve," she said. I gave up at that point not really knowing what kind of response I was fishing for, but realizing I was not going to land a trophy answer on this day. However, she was very cordial, helpful with the menu selections and patient with our questions.

Signage most visible from Oakfield.

Hours: (seem to be adjustable as they try to find the "pocket". Different times from different postings and they had a sign out front for "dinner" hours on Friday and Saturday.)
Mon-Thu: 11am - 4pm
Fri: 9am - 9pm
Sat: 9am - 9pm
Sun: 10am - 3pm

and another...
Hours:
Mon-Thu: 7am - 7pm
Fri: 7am - 9pm
Sat: 9am - 9pm
Sun: 10am - 3pm

and another...

Hours:
Mon-Thu 11 am - 4 pm
Fri 11 am - 9 pm
Sat 9 am - 9 pm
Sun 9 am - 4 pm
Check on Facebook. There is a running clock that shows if they are open or not.

Features: Free Wi-Fi, dog friendly outside seating on a red brick patio. (We saw some people on the patio but no dogs.)

Sweet treats on display in the counter cases.

The menu features breakfast and lunch dishes (separate dinner menu available) with ingredients that are fresh, natural, organic and locally grown. Vegetarian options are available but there are also plenty of meat-a-tarian dishes to satisfy your inner carnivore as well.

The Breakfast menu offers a nice selection of items from lighter fruit and yogurt to breakfast sandwiches, omelets and more. Salads, Panini, Soups, Sandwiches & Wraps round out the lunch listings. Dinner is a week to week variable depending on the availability of ingredients.

Mural gives a sense of depth to the cozy cafe atmosphere.

We got there at about 1:00PM so we were locked on the lunch side of the menu.

Erin ordered the Sumatra Signature Panini, cheddar cheese, tuscan roasted turkey, applewood smoked bacon, fresh avocado on press-baked flatbread and served with the homemade spicy aioli dipping sauce. A small side salad with their Sumatra special vinaigrette dressing was included.
She got a Mango Iced Tea, to drink.
The sandwich was pressed to perfection. Crispy flatbread on the outside and warm flavorful meats and melted cheese with avocado on the inside. It was nice to have the spicy sauce on the side to make it a diner's decision as to how much is enough.

Erin is ready to start on her Sumatra Signature Panini

I got the "Perfect Lunch Combination" consisting of a cup of any homemade soup and a half portion of any Salad, Panini, Sandwich or Wrap. The soup was the Cream of Mushroom Brie and I decided on the Sumatra Vegetarian Pinini, fresh spinach, tomatoes and a hummus-pesto served with falafel and cucumber yogurt dipping sauce. A small side salad with their Sumatra special vinaigrette dressing was also included with my lunch.

Soup and Sumatra Vegetarian Panini for me. I already ate the soup so no pic.

The soup was thick and creamy rich tasting with plenty of flavorful mushroom slices (not just chopped stems). Very nice and a cup was plenty.

I liked that the Panini sandwich had it's own round flatbread and was not just a half portion of some shared creation, if that makes any sense. As you can see above, I added a dollop of the dipping sauce (tzatziki) to the sandwich before taking a bite. That may have been a mistake. After carefully closing up the sandwich and slowly lifting it to my mouth, I started to take a bite and out squirted some of the fixings, splat on my plate!

I didn't look, but I think I could feel Erin's eyes rolling, that "I can't take him anywhere kind of auto-response". My first thought was that I was grateful it went directly on the plate and, after checking the white t-shirt I was wearing, I was then grateful that it didn't cast a wide splatter pattern (CSI phrase I think).

I must have added too much dipping sauce directly on the spinach leaves or the hummus-pesto was also the consistency of a sauce and it was just too much sauciness for the thin flatbread to contain. Of course the tzatziki was intended as a dip not a spread. It said as much on the menu.

Anyway, I proceeded to eat the very tasty and moist sandwich much more carefully and finished without further incident. The flatbread was a little too greasy feeling to me.

Little did I know the panini would make such a splash.

On our YUCK TO SUPER scale I would rate it a Super minus, with a special note that I will definitely go back again.

Lunch for two was about $28 with tip. A little pricy but there was plenty-o-meal and the cost of fuel and premium ingredients has forced many restaurants to adjust their menus to make up some of the difference.