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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.

For a time, Pizza Meine Leibe (231 High St, Northcote) was my favourite pizza place and home to my favourite pizza, the Pizza 4 Cate. Then the standards slipped, I had a couple of disappointing experiences, and didn’t return for a year or so. I’ve been back a couple of times recently, and I’m happy to say that its returned to its best. Both times I’ve had the Pizza 4 Cate, which is topped with the delicious tomato sauce, mozzarella, prawns, sundried tomatoes and chilli. The one I had on my first return visit was incredible, the second only slightly less so, thanks to tails left on the prawns.

Pizza Meine Leibe is just as popular as ever, so much so that they’re now serving pizza in the bar next door, Joe’s Shoe Store.