Stop the car. If you’re like me and have driven past Ashton and Old on busy Old Cleveland Rd in Camp Hill hundreds of times and never ventured in, now is the time to pull over and venture inside.

The eatery, named after the street corner it resides on, has been around for a decade and is one of those quiet achievers hiding away in plain sight. Tucked into a strip of shops, with footpath dining outside the neighbouring beauty salon, it boasts a quaint, homely vibe inside with a collage of photos running down a teal-painted besser block wall laid out in a pattern made popular in those noughties interior design shows, well- loved timber furniture and a TV airing the morning news.

Staff echo the familial vibe, chatty, friendly and engaging, taking orders at tables and delivering them with pace. The menu, however, is all ultra-trendy, contemporary cafe offering, with dishes running from the Japanese favourite okonomiyaki to an eggs Benedict featuring black Angus pulled brisket and açai bowls.

The smiling staff start guests off with a drink; say a bitter-leaning coffee using Veneziano’s Forza blend from Melbourne ($3.50-$4.80), or a well-priced milkshake, thick shake or smoothie. Juices comes freshly squeezed in house and a strawberry punch ($6.90) with apple, orange, pineapple and strawberry makes for a salubrious start to the day. Or indulge a little with the tight collection of popular Australian and New Zealand wines from $9 a glass or a beer, with an Asahi possibly just the right foil for the cafe’s pork belly fried rice ($18.50).

Unconventionally made with brown rice, sweet soy and plum, sauce coats every grain, making for a pleasant sweet-nutty combo, while chunks of juicy pork abound, with a fried egg to crown it all.

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Prize for the cafe’s most aesthetic dish, however, goes to the corn, kale and quinoa fritters ($21.50). The deeply bronzed veg cakes are light and crisp, under a blanket of liquid-centred poached eggs, avocado wedges, sweet potato skin chips, sprouts and tamed sriracha hollandaise. With crumbled feta and a shower of dukkah also on the plate, there’s a lot going on, but it works.

For something a little more traditional, they also do bacon and eggs on brioche and buttermilk pancakes with apple and raspberry compote. Given the neighbourhood’s increasing family demographic, Ashton and Old boasts a generous yet simple kids’ menu ($6-8) with the likes of bacon and eggs on toast, cheesy toast and waffles, alongside mini smoothies, juices and milkshakes and babycinos.

The venue is also seemingly popular for takeaway, with an endless procession of customers collecting orders on my visit.

For those just passing through, it’s hard to beat a freshly baked muffin with flavours like triple chocolate and walnut and raspberry and white chocolate. So whether you have time to stay and dine in, or can only grab and go on your way past, Ashton and Old is worth stopping for.

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