Mr Burton, Ashburton by Bureaucrat

After a morning of channelling our inner child with Boy Chick at the rather fabulous playground at Markham Park (seriously, why didn't we have playgrounds like this when we were young?), we trundled up to High Street, Ashburton for a spot of brunch.

Kids' fish and chips

I do quite like High Street, Ashburton. There are quite a few nice cafes (The Oak Room, Two Seeds and Mr Brownstone are among the better ones). Towards the very end of the shopping strip, opposite the local library, is Mr Burton. Despite being located a bit further from all the other cafes, Mr Burton has a serious buzz to the place. Inside it's a little bit squishy and a little bit too loud, but the sunny courtyard was a perfect spot for us.

The courtyard has a bit more room and the music isn't as loud out here. With sun umbrellas to give shade, there are a couple of tables and a nice sheltered play area for kiddies. The staff here are friendly and happy to help.

I went for a healthy option - grilled mushrooms on a bed of spinach and cauliflower 'hummus' on sourdough. The mushrooms were nice and meaty in texture. The spinach was just delicious - fresh and perfectly wilted - I could have eaten a whole plate of this spinach! Despite not being that much of a fan of cauliflower, this 'hummus' was rather nice - there wasn't too much cumin used in the seasoning which suited me just fine. The bread was delightfully sour, chewy and had a beautiful fluffiness to it.

The Lawyer's burger was also delicious. The beef patty had a great flavour and was juicy. The Lawyer just wolfed it down. The burger came with chips. These were okay - a bit too greasy for us (I think they were double fried).

Boy Chick's kids' fish and chips was pretty good - two pieces of fish and lots of chips (see first pic).