Serotonin Eatery

Serotonin Eatery has lofty ambitions: to improve people’s wellbeing by serving foods that promote the release of serotonin, a brain chemical which regulates mood, sleep pattern, appetite and other aspects of everyday life.

Baloney? Maybe, maybe not. But it doesn’t matter. As at Admiral Cheng-Ho and Monk Bodhi Dharma, the meat-free menu doesn’t feel like bacon being wrenched forcefully from your grasp.

Dishes such as banana-flour pancakes or twice-baked beans on rye, for example, don’t come over as studiously healthy or vegetarian. They’re just tasty breakfasts, and chef Sean Muir (ex-Oli & Levi) knows a thing or two about presentation. Any dish can be taken to the adjacent park using a supplied picnic basket.

The fit-out is also sharp, thanks to owner Emily Hazell, who has a background in graphic design and interior architecture. It’s all soothing colours and hexagonal tiles, the latter being a nod to serotonin’s chemical structure.

There’s also seven different styles of seating, including swings suspended from the ceiling. If rocking back and forth over breakfast can’t put a smile on your face, nothing will.