The sandwich names at Eclectic Café read like a half-remembered playlist — Sweet Dreams Are Made of Cheese, Let Me See Your Cabbage Roll, Give Peas a Chance. The jokes would wear thin if the cooking behind them coasted, and it does not. Melanie Robinson runs the kitchen here as Chef Mel, a Georgian College-trained cook who won an episode of Chopped Canada and then put that training behind a lunch counter on Orillia's main street. Her Reuben arrives on a soft pretzel bun, stacked with Montreal smoked meat, bacon-apple sauerkraut, and a secret sauce the kitchen will not break down for anyone.
The sandwiches and bowls are where the range shows its work. The Big Turk is built on house-brined turkey breast with brie, arugula, maple pepper bacon, and cranberry aioli on herb focaccia; the Cubano carries mojo-marinated pork shoulder and oven-roasted peameal under Swiss, pickles, and herby mustard on garlic-buttered ciabatta. The Thai Me Up Bowl cools rice noodles in miso peanut sauce and crowns them with lemongrass-marinated chicken thigh, pickled vegetables, herbs, and furikake. Let Me See Your Cabbage Roll takes the namesake apart entirely — charred savoy cabbage, lamb-and-feta meatballs, herby rice, blistered tomatoes, and paprika dill sour cream. A weekly Burger Roulette keeps the board moving; one June build ran blueberry bourbon compote, brie, arugula, and basil aioli on a brioche bun.
Melanie Robinson's chef-owner story, local producer relationships, and seasonal menu changes give the cafe a clearer culinary identity than a standard lunch counter.
The strongest current dishes use detailed builds: smoked meat with bacon apple sauerkraut, house-brined turkey with cranberry aioli, and miso peanut noodles with lemongrass chicken.
The cafe works for downtown lunch and pickup through the official online ordering surface, while catering remains a real but separate extension of the business.
Chef Mel is not background trivia here; Melanie Robinson's ownership, training, competition history, and producer relationships shape what the cafe serves. The menu reads like a working chef adapting comfort food to local ingredients rather than a generic lunch counter.
Local sourcing is part of the cafe's public identity, not just a vague promise. The official story and local features connect Chef Mel to named Ontario growers, seasonal menu changes, and dishes that show produce, herbs, pickles, mushrooms, and grains doing real work.
The Eclectic Reuben Sandwich and The Big Turk give the profile specific food anchors. Both are current official-menu items with enough detail in the builds to lead an order: pretzel bun, bacon apple sauerkraut, secret sauce, house-brined turkey, brie, and cranberry aioli.
The comfort-food lane is strong because the familiar forms are treated carefully. Reubens, Cubanos, grilled cheese, turkey sandwiches, soup-and-salad combos, and changing burgers are present, but the appeal comes from house sauces, pickles, brined meats, herbs, and seasonal accents.
Repeat visits matter because the menu is built to move. The official About page says it changes several times a year, and the current menu backs that up with spring soup, strawberry-rhubarb salad, seasonal vegetables, and a Burger Roulette feature that changes weekly.
Share the nuances of your visit to Eclectic Café & Catering in Orillia — the standout dishes, the room, the service.
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