Sowing the Seeds & Breaking the Fast

(degusted November and December, 2011)

Seed Café, Mordialloc

Our first restaurant post for 2012, and we’re ashamed to admit it, but we have judged this book by it’s cover for many years. Seed café is nicely located half-way between Nepean Highway and the beach, in the middle of Mordialloc. We’ve posted previously about Main St Café (which is less than 200 metres away from Seed), and have enjoyed the breakfasts and coffees at Main St. Recently though, we’ve found Main St to be quite “busy” and thought it was high time we tried somewhere else in this lovely town for breakfast.

Across the street from the Woolies carpark, Seed Café’s façade is not exactly awe-inspiring. It’s a fairly plain-looking shopfront – clean and neat for sure – but to us it lacks the “wow” factor and almost gets lost in the streetscape. There's no tables & chairs on the footpath, so it is very hard to tell if the place is busy. From the street, Seed always seemed to look empty, and we mistakenly took that as a sign the locals were already voting with their feet and going elsewhere. How wrong we were.

Walking through the front doors, we realised why the front looks so quiet. The back half is where the action is at, opening out into a nice decked alfresco area. It was bright, open, airy, homely, and a little peaceful haven, all in one – and this was something we felt was missing in our visits to other local cafés.

We’ve visited Seed on two recent occasions, so the descriptions below are over two days (we didn’t eat it all at once!).

First up were the portugese eggs (poached eggs, with chorizo, served on a toasted bagel – I had a side of smoked salmon also).  This was remarkably tasty – as you’d expect with the chorizo – but there’s also some red onion, which gives even more flavour.

The other dish sampled was a customised plate-up, with the ‘eggs on toast’ and sides of field mushroom and home-made hash brown. The mushroom was huge, and nice and ‘meaty’. The hash-brown was a nice thick morsel – good enough to make us order more on our next visit (see below).

Potugese Eggs, with side of smoked salmon

 

poached eggs, sides of field mushroom and hashbrown

On the return visit, we were looking for a lighter, sweeter brunch. We found this in the French toast (delicious, and lovingly covered in slivered almonds, and a side of mixed berries) and in the Organic flour pancakes with poached pears and ice-cream. Both were lapped up eagerly. Both were soft and fluffy – and oh-so-moreish. I did mention that we got a couple of the home-made hash browns again on the second visit, and they were equally good – if not better – this time around. The best way we could describe them is to say they are bordering on being a flattened ball of yummy mashed potato that had been fried off to a crisp and tasty finish. A great little savoury to offset the sweet (and miles above similar thin, pre-frozen and greasy offerings at some other places).

French Toash - we loved the slivered almonds

Fresh home-made pancakes.

Some of the yummiest hash-browns we've ever had at brunch.

 

The caffeine-fiend deguster went for a couple of espressos, which were good enough, and consistent both within and between visits. The other deguster opted for soy milk mochas, and these were REALLY good. So good in fact that the espresso drinker had to order one for himself.

Summary:

The food was good, fresh, clean. The service was friendly and relaxed (compare to Main St café which seems to be frantic and buzzing constantly). The atmosphere was nice and relaxing, and the space was good – enough space to fit a stroller, and there’s little risk of knocking elbows with the folk at the adjacent table. We like it.  For a relaxing brunch in Mordialloc, this is currently our pick.

Points of note:

-Eggs are all free range.

-The menu might change with seasonal availability of items, but you can check it here:

-Gluten free options are available

-Vegetarians should be OK here (but we’re unsure about how well a Vegan request would be handled).

-Kid-friendly – there’s a children’s menu, and room to park a pram next to your table.

-There’s a party/function room available

-Serving Breakfast & Lunch

Rating:  Nom(x2) - will be back.

Meh                      It’ll Do                   Nom(x3)                              Must go back!
 

Done and Degusted @ Seed Cafe, Mordialloc

-Portugese Eggs

-Eggs on Toast

-Sides of smoked salmon, field mushrooms, and hash-browns

-French toast

-Pancakes

-Short black / espresso

-Mocha's

Well behaved Beans? The Good Bean Espresso Bar, (Sunshine Coast QLD)

degusted 10/8/11 – for espresso and ristretto.... and a BYO pie :)

Their coffees are good, and the atmosphere is what I look for in a cute local dealer – a rustic bare minimum, but somewhere to sit, chat or read the paper over a good cuppa.

 

Surprise surprise... The older and more weathered half of The Degusters likes a good coffee occasionally. Especially when on holidays.

There is an amazingly short supply of good cafes around the Mooloolaba area that we could find... Sure, there are plenty of breakfast/lunch eateries that also do coffee, but it seemed few places just focus on coffee. Very unlike Melbourne in that respect (perhaps it was just us - perhaps some locals could steer us in a better direction??).

Speaking to the friendly barista here at The Good Bean Espresso bar, I was told that the Sunshine Coast is perhaps around 5 years behind Melbourne's coffee and cafe trends. I reckon that might be about right, but I also think this gap will close as more and more southerners move north chasing the sun, and once more locals and visitors start to get behind the independent "caffiene dealers" and gain the confidence to take their patronage further from the currently popular "Gloria Bucks" and "Star Jeans" -style franchises.

Sitting and observing, there seems to already be the beginnings of a niche following at this little coffee shop – which is pretty much a hop step and jump off the beach, behind the Mooloolaba surf club. I heard one local say that his mates recommended he pick himself up a ristretto, but that he wanted it in a cappucino... Cudos to him for trying something different (a shame to have diluted the product into milky boringness, though each to his own).

The shorty was good, as was the ristretto. Both were worthy of a second, and if I had discovered this place earlier I would have gone back a few more times. The difference in flavour between the espresso and ristretto was marginal, and I think most people probably would not pick the difference (unless comparing side by side).  I do wonder how they manage their grinder settings with an open-plan shop and the potential for ever-changing ambient humidity..

My fingers are crossed that next time I'm in the area this place will still be open, still pulling good shots, and keeping itself a year or two ahead of the local coffee scene - both as a destination for caffiene addicts, but also to build just this sort of relaxed cafe culture in the area.

Nosh @ Newport - a neat little cafe that is usually pretty good

 (degusted 23rd July, 2011)

Chai Latte at Nosh

The critical function of a good local café on the weekend – we reckon – is to serve up all-day breakfasts (or brunches) to the sleepyheads and the party-goers who shun the thought of facing the world at any time before midday. During the week, the local café serves as the local caffeine dealer – keeping the shakes at bay for the zombie-like hoards who make their way to the daily grind. For both these functions, a good local cafe needs to have a kitchen that pumps out quality breakfasts, and a barista or two who are passionate about pulling a good shot. It helps to be located in a handy spot for access to public transport. In these three regards, the Newport stalwart “Nosh” seems to have the essentials covered.

First up we must admit that this was not our first visit to Nosh, and our friends have made this place something of a regular stop-off. On this particular occasion we decided to sit outside – the fresh air was working wonders for the hangover. Perhaps this was our first mistake.

Service please!

After taking our own seat, we had to help ourselves to the menus, and water and glasses...After waiting 10 minutes, and still no love from the staff, we went inside to alert them to our presence, and the waiter came and took the orders. Shortly after our orders had been taken, the wait staff were quick to pounce on a table with father + 3 kids + dog, who – although ordering after us – received their meals well before us. Service was poor for our table on this occasion, and this was out of the norm for Nosh…. A real shame - especially as this was the visit about which we were going to blog!

The food...  NB: Nosh do an all-day breakfast - winner!

 First up, we ordered the breakfast paella. Now, if there's anything that comes close to our love of bacon, it's paella. (I really like saying “paella”, too).. "Paella".

Breakfast Paella. Does it get any better?

The breakky paella came served in the pan – all saucy and flavoursome. Chunks of chorizo, flavour hits from paprika and the golden molten cheese over the top were the king ingredients that made this dish “pop”.

The other dish for the table was a special item - the scrambled chilli eggs and bacon with avodaco in roti bread roll. It was a simple way of packaging up the good old Bacon and Eggs – (ordered on this occasion without the chilli) the meal was good enough – but with the chilli included - and the consumer feeling a bit less hung over – this might be a delicious dish.

Egg & Bacon Roti wrap.

 

Mocha @ Nosh

The Drinks:

In terms of the drinks – the essential café ingredient, we would argue - well, we almost didn't try them out. Not for lack of trying though.... Thirty minutes had passed before we got our drinks delivered to the table. Yes, you read correctly - 30 minutes. Now, just let that sink in for a few moments while your brain explodes...and pieces itself back together... Okay, so most people would not wait this long without complaining, so perhaps such a wait would never happen "in the real world" for anyone else, but we wanted to see how long the wait would be sans intervention. The soy mocha and chai latte were good enough, but after half an hour the latte should have been filled with gold leaf and the mocha oozing with the finest Belgian chocolates; which they weren't... Hmmm.

Overall this one-off experience was really disappointing, and completely out of character for Nosh. As mentioned previously, we've been there before and friends have been many times – without a doubt this was the worst service ever and was not the norm. Perhaps it was 'out of sight, out of mind' and a result of our seating outside and beyond the gaze of the wait staff...Perhaps the waiters were new or having a bad day. Neither reason is an acceptable excuse, and this poor service is amazing when everyone is a potential reviewer and (potentially angry) posts and tweets spread those reviews far and wide.. 

Despite the poor service on this occasion, we note that this is still an exception rather than the rule, and in the past we've been impressed here. Other tables nearby to ours were getting considerably better service, so it could have been the table location, being a little out of the way. The food is good enough that we'd risk another visit and hope that next time the service might be back to normal (or at least we'd make our plight known). Nosh is far enough away from the Williamstown clutter, but close to the Newport station which makes this place handy, if nothing else. Furthermore, there does not seem to be any shortage of locals lining up for a good “Nosh” - so perhaps one should join the herd and enjoy a breakfast here. 


You might also be interested in breakfast at: Main St Cafe, Mordialloc

Rating:  Nom (x1) - good food, but inconsistent service.

on the scale of:
Meh                      It’ll Do                   Nom(x3)                              Must go back!

Done and Degusted @ Nosh@Newport

Breakfast Paella

Scrambled egg and bacon roti roll.

Soy mocha

Chai latte

Nosh@Newport
24 Hall Street, Newport 
   - just near the train station

Splendid :)

Monteith's Black Beer

(Quaffed 19th March, 2011)

Not into beer? You might also like to check out our other post:

Napoleone Pear Cider 

 

Bored with your standard old lagers? I am. This offering from Monteith's had me thanking my lucky stars that I had grabbed a couple of these blacks in a random mixed dozen from Dan Murphy's. The crisp maltiness and deep caramel and coffee tones made it a true delight.

I guess I'm not a beer purist - I'm more than happy to have a few other flavours in my beer to supplement the hops, barley and yeasty flavours - so overall I tend to lean towards the lighter ales with fruity or honey flavours. This Black Beer from Monteith's gave me another range of tastes - hints of biscuit, caramels and coffees, in a nicely balanced beer that has some good crisp maltiness. Recently having developed a taste for some fine whiskeys, I found this beer to be similarly complex in these rich deep flavours, especially that roasted coffee note. Something to really savour, but which could just as easily be quaffed down.

After a long day of kitchen renovations, I threw a few gourmet snags, kransky's, steaks and prawns on the barbie, and washed it all down with a few Montheith's blacks. What a great way to polish off the day.

Monteith's black beer with BBQ.
The crisp maltiness and deep caramel and coffee tones make this a true delight.