Archive for the ‘Breakfast’ Category

Atomica Caffe

Friday, December 11th, 2009

At some stage, Atomica (268 Brunswick St, Fitzroy) would have been a cool new Fitzroy/Collingwood cafe. That was in the past, and it’s been overtaken by the likes of Birdman Eating and Cavallero in the cool stakes. The interior is looking pretty tired and the menu doesn’t look particularly exciting.

What it lacks in style, it more than makes up for in substance. The coffee is the best and most consistent in Fitzroy – much better than many of Melbourne’s cafes that makes up the so-called ‘third wave’ of coffee.

Similarly, the food, while not particularly imaginative, is executed perfectly. Scrambled eggs are actually scrambled rather than being mashed up omelettes, and poached eggs are done just right. Side are equally good, with crispy bacon, ripe tomatoes, and beans that actually taste home-made, or house made, as other cafes might phrase it. Even the bread is even baked there.

Service is friendly, and when a mistake in service is made, the staff is happy to acknowledge it.

Next time you’re wanting a nice breakfast out, instead of queueing for a table at the latest cool cafe, give Atomica a shot.

Posted in Breakfast, Fitzroy | No Comments »

Charcoal Lane

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

When you pay $14 for scrambled eggs and hash browns, you want everything to be close to perfect. Charcoal Lane (136 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy), a newish cafe/restaurant/social enterprise, ultimately fell short.

The scrambled eggs were well executed, reasonably fluffy and nicely seasoned. They were also listed as free range, and the serving was pretty generous. Even better were the hash browns, a mount of buttery, salty (but not too much so) grated potato.

scrambled eggs from Charcoal Lane
Apologies for the photo, taken after I’d started the dish

The dish was let down by the toast, which was made from thin slices of decidedly average bread. I wouldn’t quite say it was supermarket quality, but it was much too light and didn’t taste much like sourdough, as the menu promised.

My girlfriend ordered corn fritters, which came with a chutney, and were superb. The texture was just right, and you could actually taste the sweetness of the corn kernels.

The coffee wasn’t too bad, although I’m not too sure about the Bodum double walled coffee glasses my long black was served in. It did keep the coffee hot, but I don’t think it did the flavours any favours.

Posted in Breakfast, Fitzroy | 1 Comment »

Q Eleven

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

Some of the inclusions in Cheap Eats puzzle me. Take Q 11 (303 Coventry St, South Melbourne) for instance, at least in terms of breakfast. The big breakfast, doesn’t live up to its name, unless you’re talking about the price. For around $17 you get eggs on toast, bacon, tomato, spinach, mushrooms and relish.

This sounds reasonable, except when it arrives and you get a single piece of toast, a single rasher of bacon, a single sausage (are you sensing a pattern?), two eggs, a tomato, spinach, 3 or 4 mushrooms, and relish.

This would be excusable if the food was great, but it’s not. My poached eggs had a texture that suggested that they had been prepared in poaching cups. The roasted tomato was floury, still had the core intact, and didn’t appear to have seen much time in the oven.

On a more positive note, the other components of the dish were better – in particular the good quality sausage pairing well with the relish. The coffee was competently made, and the service is friendly.

This wouldn’t be enough to draw me back though. At least not until the prices fall a little, or they stop being so stingy with the bread and bacon.

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El Mirage

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

It’s a little suprising that El Mirage (349 Lygon St, East Brunswick) hasn’t been the subject of more online reviews. It can’t be due to lack of popularity, as it’s always busy when we visit. Nor can it be the quality of the food, because everything I’ve tried there has been superb.

One of the dishes, The Gringo, is one of my favourite breakfast dishes – not just here, but anywhere. It comprises two perfectly poached eggs, crispy bacon, and some amazing mexican beans. One of the things I like is that, unike some other cafes, they don’t skimp on things like the toast. You get two generous slices.

They also do sweet things well, with the lamingtons, covered in roasted dessicated coconut, being a highlight. Coffee is good, the decor is appealing, service is efficient and friendly, and it’s generally a very pleasant place to be.

Posted in Breakfast, Brunswick East | 4 Comments »

Red Door Corner Store

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

Located at the bottom of Northcote hill to the east of High Street, Red Door Corner Store (70 Mitchell St, Northcote) is charting new territory for good cafes. There’s really nothing like it that I know of within a 2km radius.

What ‘it’ is, is a converted milk bar serving really good food and coffee. We tried the avocado, basil, cottage cheese, spinach and poached egg with fresh lemon on toast. While that sounds like one ingredient too many, it’s actually perfect, particularly the delicious cottage cheese. And despite only coming with a single egg, it’s reasonably filling and great value at just $11. The bread comes from Hawthorn’s Knead Bakery, and is has great texture thanks to the walnuts in it.

There are a couple of things that could be improved, such as the the coffee, which is just okay (not great). And like a lot of places that have enjoyed quick success, the service can be a bit slow. Our coffees arrived well after our meals. With food as good as this though, these faults are easily ignored.

Posted in Breakfast, Melbourne (CBD), Northcote, Thai | No Comments »

Provenance Food & Wine

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009

Another day, another review of somewhere recommended by Fitzroyalty. And another place I can recommend with qualifiers. Provence Food & Wine (288 Smith St, Collingwood) is a newish cafe occupying the former home of Delish, on the Collingwood side of Smith Street.

The decor is neither particularly modern or particularly traditional, with a beautiful pressed metal ceiling, and the same could be said of the food. Fitzroyalty praised the French Toast, and it is very good, topped with hazelnuts for beautiful texture. The Eggs Benedict were of an equally high standard, with the free range eggs cooked to perfection, and sitting atop spinach and crispy bacon, on a single piece of bread (two would have been better). The hollandaise was a little unusual, but not unpleasant. And the coffee is well made.

Now to the qualifier. The service is extremely slow. Maybe we just caught them on a bad day, but we had to wait too long for our coffees, and it didn’t seem to be for a lack of staff. Still, I’d certainly go back.

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Posted in Breakfast, Collingwood | 2 Comments »

Mitte

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

I first noticed Mitte (76 Michael St, North Fitzroy) spring up late last year in the sleepy streets behind the Clifton Hill shopping strip, and have been meaning to drop in ever since. A rave review in the Cheap Eats prompted me to actually pay a visit. I’ll get the negative out the way first, since there isn’t much. Even on a cool-ish Melbourne day, the small space is too hot and stuff.
Now onto the good. The coffee is excellent. My long black had a thick head of crema, and was served at a perfect temperature. They do an equally good latte.
Aside from Bircher Muesli, the breakfast menu doesn’t offer much in the way of straight-down-the-line dishes, with most dishes offering some variation on the traditional. The fantastic omelette has chorizo and comes served with a zingy salad. Similarly, poached eggs on toast are served with a chick pea bake with goats fetta and a zingy salad.
Prices are a couple of dollars higher than a lot of places, with a lot of dishes around the $15 mark, but the quality and serving sizes more than warrant this.

Posted in Breakfast, North Fitzroy | No Comments »

Breakfast Club

Sunday, September 7th, 2008

Pretty much any sort of space can be turned into a cafe these days. This seems to have fostered a false assumption amongst some people that running a cafe is easy. A case in point is The Breakfast Club (206 St Georges Road, Northcote), which ticks a number of boxes, but misses a few. The major issue is slow service, which may be a result of trying to squeeze too many tables into too small a place, with too small a kitchen.

Perhaps they could reduce the number of choices from the varied, and interesting, menu. There’s only so many variations on baked eggs you need to offer. That said, the food, and the coffee for that matter, is pretty good. My ‘red eggs’  were tasty, and good value for $14, arriving with a couple of generous slices of toast, butter, a side salad of rocket and pecorino, and a small dish of very good pesto. The passata that makes the eggs red could have been a little richer though. Overall, it’s worth a visit, just not if you’re in a hurry.

Posted in Breakfast, Northcote | No Comments »

Brunetti

Saturday, September 6th, 2008

Brunetti (194-204 Faraday Street, Carlton) is known primarily for its cakes and coffee, so perhaps ordering bacon and eggs wasn’t the best idea. The eggs had been ‘poached’ in those little plastic cups and the unbuttered white bread looked suspiciously like it was from the supermarket. Thankfully the bacon was fried to a good level of crispness, and there was plenty of it.

Posted in Breakfast, Carlton | No Comments »