My Top 4 Brekky Spots
Aussie breakfasts are one of the many things I truly missed while living in London. Here in Melbourne, you’ll be spoilt for choice with the continuously growing cafe culture. I’m sure every Melburnian will have their own favourite breakfast hangouts.
Many people go mainly for coffees and food is somewhat secondary. People rave about the single source coffees, the Japanese cold drips etc. but for me I pick these places mainly for the food. Coffee, schmoffee…give me amazing food and I’ll be raving about it. Perfectly poached eggs, juicy bacon, fluffy pancakes and more…Here are my top four favourite breakfast spots (not in any particular order).
THE PANTRY
1 Church Street, Brighton
http://www.pantry.com.au
The breakfast menu at The Pantry range from regular hearty fry-ups with eggs, bacon, mushrooms, hash browns etc to more sophisticated deals like wild mushroom and sage with truffled pecorino. Pictured above (top) is one of their specials – slow cooked pulled pork and melted gruyere on sourdough with poached eggs. Doesn’t that sound amazing? It tasted just as good too! The other is one of their regular menu items and one of our favourite indulgent breakfast choices – buttery french toast, bacon and maple syrup.
To work off a smidge of the meal, you could wander through The Pantry’s deli which is located right next door. Displays of freshly prepared pasta, salads, cheeses and breads will probably tempt you to stock up for the next meal or two.
MART 130
107a Canterbury Rd, Middle Park
A converted station masters building, Mart 130 started off as a novelty visit but since our first visit to this charming cafe, we have been won over by their delicious breakfasts which include regulars like crisp corn fritters, giant fluffy pancakes and my favourite (pictured above) – perfect poached eggs with hollandaise, smashed avocado on sourdough toast and a side of bacon. ‘Nuff said.
Qeleven
303 Coventry Street, South Melbourne
http://www.qeleven.com.au
We love South Melbourne and frequent many of the cafes whenever it’s marketing Sunday. We chanced upon this tiny cafe on Coventry Street one day when we wanted a change from our regular and super busy Chez Dre and we fell in love. Qeleven may be small, but it’s big on personality and flavours. My all time favourite is the ‘Mexican Extravaganza’ - mushroom and cheese quesadilla, fried eggs, pumpkin and coriander rosti, capsicum, black bean salsa, chipotle mayo – did I hear anyone say ‘yum’?? Chargrilled corn beef with coleslaw, fried eggs and cornichons is also a regular feature.
The exciting thing about Qeleven is their regular menu changes and additions based on seasonal produce which you can keep track of by following their blog or joining their mailing list. I was rewarded with a seasonal omelette of crispy potato, braised leek, Swiss Gruyère, peas and dill.
READING ROOM CAFE
88 Ballarat Road, Footscray
http://www.readingroomcafe.com.au
Tucked in a corner within the Footscray campus of Victoria University lies Reading Room Cafe. It’s not your typical campus cafe deal because what these guys serve up beats any high street cafe. With adorable sounding names for their weekend menus, you’d be tempted to try every single dish. The BFG is a favourite – brioche french toast, crispy bacon, candied walnuts. Yeah. But wait there’s more! Top picture – totally delicious and aptly named ‘A nice place to visit’ – black truffle omelette, wilted spinach with potato and haloumi croquette. Apparently, the coffee is good too!
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I know it’s long overdue but I promise my next post will be a recipe!!
Enroute to Miami…
This post was written two days ago while I was on the plane.
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I’m 9753 metres up in the air, on the way to Miami for the weekend. Just had a beef straganoff with melt in the mouth broccolli and baby carrots (yeurgh!!). Not the most appetising of meals I must say, but still…thank you American Airlines. I look forward to my snack in about six hours. Transatlantic travel. Love it or hate it. I’m not too sure at this point.
I did however look through my archive of food photos, and saw this. Home cooked chicken congee.
And I want some right now, except that hubby is next to me surfing TV channels on the in-flight entertainment unit. One thing my hubby cooks very well and very consistently is smooth, tasty chicken congee (rice porridge), topped with shredded chicken breast, spring onions and crunchy fried onions.
This particular chicken congee is what I call my ultimate, ultimate comfort food. It’s what hubby would cook for me when I’m sick. No, I’m currently very healthy and am very thankful for it. But I would love to slurp a bowl of my hub’s special-made-with-love congee.
There’s no recipe for this. I’ve asked the man to write a guest post for this, but he’s not interested. For now, I shall have to curb my craving for homecooked congee…until I return home from Mexico next week.
For now, I shall just look forward to crab cakes, the Superbowl, tacos and lots of cocktails by the pool. Oh and not to forget – that promised ‘snack’ from AA in five and a half hours. My life is so good.
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Update: Now in Miami for my second full day. I have been eating non-stop and loving the gorgeous sunshine. Looking forward to more sunshine, Joe’s stone crabs and the superbowl tonight. Off to the store to get superbowl provisions now…and it’s not even 7am!
