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

Demitri's Feast (Cafe) - Kali'mera Baclava!

(degusted  27th August, 2011)

Baclava French Toast

Like many things these days, stumbling upon stand-out items when tweeting or surfing the interwebs is one of the best parts of living in a techno-filled world. Our attention was drawn to
Demintri's Feast where, through the magic of bits and bytes, we were presented with critical information: they do a Baclava french toast. The concept is simple but we're suckers for simple things done in different ways or in new combinations, so this had us sitting up all googly-eyed and alert like a startled pair of meer-cats.
In the way that Adrian Cronour (Robbin Williams' character) called out in "Gooooood morning Vietnaaaam", Demitri's Feast had us hollering in a similar fashion in anticipation - "Kali'mera Baclavaaaaaaa!!" on the drive out to Richmond. (Kali'mera = good morning, if our all-too brief stint in Santorini served us even remotely well).


On paper, this place looks the goods. A neat little cafe serving up a range of breakfast items with a distinctively Greek influence; neat.
Smack-bang in the middle of the Richmond action on Swan Street makes it easy to find and easy to get to; double neat.
Reports from several reviews were that the staff were uber-friendly; hat-trick.

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.

Saltwater at Kings (Sunshine Coast, QLD)

(degusted 9th Aug, 2011)

What a great place to catch up with friends!

You cannot beat this location – right on Kings Beach, Caloundra – quite literally a hop, step and a jump onto (or off from) the sand. Saltwater cafe has a number of outdoor tables and chairs which catch the morning sun, but some of that sun gets blocked by high-rise apartments in the early afternoon. Parking is always difficult on the beachfront, but on our visit at noon (winter, mid-week) we had plenty of spaces to choose from, immediately adjacent to the cafe.

Thank goodness...

It's a pleasant spot to be, for sure. Our local friend mentioned that the cafe supplies blankets for the cold days, so everyone can be toasty warm even if one (un)dresses to show off their latest body art or sculpted abs... A word of warning for the likes of Tony Abbott or Vladimir Putin if they are thinking of coming here:  "No dick togs allowed".

 

The menu boasts a good list of breakfasts, and a comprehensive set of “starters” (around $20, and unless you’re Hulk Hogan, probably big enough to suffice as a main) and mains (around $30). We went for a few of the starters rather than a single main – so as to get a range of tastes.  The espresso was good, and came with an unexpected little treat – a small chocolate mini-mud cake. 

We love little unexpected espresso bonuses.

Good coffee. Good sweet bonus treats!!

The Japanese crumbed calamari was an obvious choice for us – mention Japan, calamari, bonito and wasabi aoli in one menu item description, and we were already sold... you had us at 'Japanese'.. These tasted as good as they looked - the sesame and mild wasabi flavours lifted this from "just another calamari" into something a bit more special.

Japanese crumbed calamari. Sesame and Wasabi complements the food well.

Next we degusted the Greek Lamb 'salad' with baby beets, goats cheese, olives and others. This was a good, hearty lamb salad with plenty of flavour, and the lamb was lovely and tender. The sweet beets are such a good accompaniment to offset and balance out the strong olives and goats cheese. Delicious.

Greek-style Lamb salad.

The third dish we ordered was the almond-crumbed brains, with sweet potato, parmesan and prosciutto. When ordering this one, even the waitress was unsure about the brains. 

You are what you eat, right? So with fingers crossed (that it would make us smarter and not turn us into gooey grey blobs floating in cerebrospinal fluid), we tucked into the golden-crusted brains. Verdict: in a word – AMAZING.   

 Brains have never been on our "top-foods" list (at least not until this point), but these little beauties changed that. Not having tried brain dishes elsewhere, we can't definitively say whether this place does to lambs brains what TDK cassettes used to do to your system – amazing things – or whether brains are intrinsically good. All we can say is that we would order these again, and recommend others to do the same!

Almond crumbed brains on sweet potato, topped with prosciutto. Incredibly good - A must-try.

For dessert we degusted through two dishes: first, an Ooey Gooey chocolate fondant – which was everything the name promised and more. Cutting into the cake 'shell' with the spoon set free a seductive molten chocolate river... Oh yeah...  Bring a spare insulin pen for this one. The other dessert was a white cholocate creme brulee – rich and creamy, it was delicious. Served with some biscuits and strawberry 'salsa'. Unfortunately, the biscuits looked as though they were courtesy of the local IGA - a bit cheap looking, and probably not even necessary on the plate.

Ooey Gooey chocolate pudding (fondant), with vanilla bean icecream

White Chocolate creme brulee (hidden under the strawberry slices)

All up, we lunched from midday through to mid-afternoon, enjoying the atmosphere, the company and the food. Soaking up the sun, and washing it all down with a bottle of bubbly and a few good short blacks - now THIS is what winter lunches on the Sunshine Coast should be all about.

Rating:  Nom (x3) - Go back if you get the chance!

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

Done and Degusted @ Saltwater at Kings Beach

-Japanese crumbed calamari

-Greek Lamb 'salad' with baby beets, goats cheese, olives and others

-Almond-crumbed brains, with sweet potato, parmesan and prosciutto

-Ooey-Gooey Chocolate pudding with vanilla bean icecream, and cinnamon marscapone

-White chocolate Creme Brulee with shortbread and strawberry salsa.

-Espresso (and bonus choccies!)

You might also like our other Sunshine Coast posts:
 Buderim Tavern,   Chopping Block Cafe in Buderim,   Reserve Restaurant and Cellar in Maleny

Or if cafe style food is your thing, in Victoria:  Main St Cafe, Mordialloc;   Degani's cafe in Eltham

Chopping Block Cafe, Buderim - Sunshine Coast, QLD

(Degusted 8th August, 2011)

One thing we've noticed about the seaside towns in the Sunshine Coast – especially Mooloolaba and  Maroochydore – is that there is a real shortage of cafés. Maybe it's because we're spoilt from the huge variety available in Melbourne, or maybe it's just the areas that we're visiting, but things in the caffeine dealing business seem really quiet around the Sunny Coast. Of note was that in Mooloolaba on a Sunday night, there was only a Gloria Jeans open (and there was about 30 people crowding around to get their coffee fix) – surprising that there's so few good, independent options in such a tourist-focused place.

As we drove out of the little town of Buderim after dinner at the Tavern the night before, we discussed how we thought we'd like to come back to this cute little town and check it out by day.

The main street of Buderim gives a really friendly, small-town community feel.  We found The Chopping Block Café by chance – it looked open and inviting, and – famished after our early morning beach-side run of foolish insanity – we stopped here for brunch.

Vegetarian

We degusted the Artichoke, pumpkin, basil and feta fritata and an asian-style chickpea salad. The fritata was unashamedly a pre-baked window-displayed item, which we were fully aware of. Originally we were just going to get the fritata part on it's own, but the waitress suggested getting it served up with salad. The salad had a lovely sesame dressing, snow peas, pak choy, julienned carrots and cashews – so there were a lot of different textures and good flavours going on. The fritata was good enough on its own, but made into a good meal with the salad.

Artichoke, pumpkin, basil and feta fritata, with asian-style salad

Eggs and trimmings

We also tried the green eggs (scrambled eggs with pesto), which comes with spinach leaves, grilled tomato and sourdough. We supplemented this with some sides – chorizo, and smoked salmon. The Chorizo was good – nice and spicy, and the amount was quite generous – and would have been enough for two to share.

Green Eggs and no ham.. The yummy spicy Chorizo and
smoked salmon made this really quite filling.

Interior shots. A pretty cruisy place,
-tables and chairs on the footpath complete the look.

Drinks

We had the straight-up orange, and a mixture of orange, pineapple and ginger juices. All juices were freshly squeezed and were of generous proportions. The espresso could easily have come from one of the better cafés in Melbourne: commendable, given the lack of coffee shops around this area -  we had expected the quality might be a bit "hit and miss", but it wasn't to be... If I had to be picky in 'Master Chef' style, I'd say it was a fraction watery and there were some residual grinds in my cup, but neither of these would be a deal-breaker - It was good coffee!!

An espresso of which this place should be proud.

Overall, we think this is a good enough place to eat - and on our visit the coffee was great. That said, we don't normally judge on price or value - but on this occasion we must note that we've read reviews on this place and surrounding places in which those reviewers thought the Chopping block was a bit too pricey. For us it was not a bargain, but nothing more than we expected.



Rating:  Nom(x1)

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

Done and Degusted @ The Chopping Block Cafe, Buderim

-Green Eggs, with sides of Chorizo and smoked Salmon

-Artichoke & pumpkin fritata

-Asian style chickpea salad

-Orange juice (freshly squeezed)

-Orange, Pineapple and Ginger juice (freshly squeezed)

-Espresso

Address: 70 Burnett Street,
Buderim QLD

Cuisine: Modern Australian   Seats: 60

Price: Main $8.50 to $18.50,   

Phone: (07) 5476 6411  Fax: (07) 5450 1451 

In the area for dinner? There are steaks available with some amazing views, at the Buderim Tavern - Check it out here

The Boathouse on the Maribyrnong

(Degusted 16^th July, 2011)

We've degusted out in the West a little more than usual lately, and we were impressed with some of the offerings out this way. The food at the Boathouse in Moonee Ponds is one such example. Only a few kilometers out of the CBD, this is another of Gary Mehigan's restaurants –  a sister to Fenix in Richmond. Apart from the pop-cultural link to the owner, The Boathouse has a lot of things going for it – prime placement on the banks of the Maribyrnong river which affords it some pleasant views – and a welcoming, open-plan space inside supplemented by a nice outdoor deck space, which one could imagine would be delightful in summer.

Fish Pie. Served on a thick, chunky wooden board.
This was 'food presentation 101'

The lunch menu has a predominance of pizza options – and these are some serious contenders. The pizzas are the thin-crust, sparse topping type – the authentic kind of pizzas one would expect in Italy.. There are a number of other cafe-style meals to choose from, and you can be pretty sure that with Gary calling the shots, these are not going to be your ordinary “run of the mill” bar snacks.

Service... or lack of.

The service to our table was pretty slack – we were offered water and glasses to start with, but that aquatic refreshment was never topped up, despite draining the reservoir after one round... In addition to this, we had to flag down the waiter every time we wanted anything – there was never any pro-active offers of assistance from them. Disappointing to say the least - and the place was not even full.

Eggplant chips are a must-try.

Food... Excuse me while I stuff my face...

We started off with the famed Eggplant chips- (they looked more like croquettes)- and they were a great balance of crispy fried exterior and that slightly gooey cooked eggplant texture inside. Yum.

When the mains came out, the first impression was that the presentation of the food was terrific. The fish pie looked beautiful and tasted every bit as good as it looked, and most importantly, not too “fishy”. 

The burger and chips – ordered by a friend – was a stand-out for presentation; oozing an old-world rustic charm.  The pizzas looked good – yet they were oozing as well (perhaps a little bit too liberal with the olive oil?). We had the pizza with lamb, mint and and mushy peas – and were more than pleased with it. The pictures speak for themselves, but suffice it to say that the promise of thin, traditional-style pizzas was upheld with aplomb.

How is this for presentation - Burger and chips
- food envy much?

Lamb, Pea and Mint pizza. A little oily perhaps,
but otherwise an unexpected triumph.

Drinks.. stay true to the bean

Hot chocolate looked good, but tasted, ummm.....
a bit like muddy water drawn from the Maribyrnong.

The Soy hot chocolate was – in a word -  a failure. Served in a low-slung “cappucino cup” it looked the part, but really didn't come through with the goods in terms of flavour.

The espresso was, on the other hand, an absolute delight. This shorty was obviously made with good coffee, by a barista who knew what they were doing – the right grind, the right temperature water -  it was all over “just right”. Stick to coffees here we reckon.

An excellent little shorty. Not good, GREAT.

Views of the river from the dining area.

One can imagine that The Boathouse would make a great function venue – especially during summer – when you can take advantage of the outdoor decking to soak up the rays and the views..

There's plenty of parking around the football oval – just bear in mind that the area can be crowded by footy families if there is a game on... then again, why not park your car around the nearby Aberfeldie or Fairbain parks and stroll to The Boathouse along the banks of the river. Very pleasant.

To sum up:

The food was great, as was the coffee. Our hot chocolate was average, and the service was a bit slow (especially considering the dining room was only about 60% full). Location and setting is as good or better than you can expect for a quiet cafe/ restaurant. 

Child-friendly, but no "play area" inside, but a really good playground right outside though - with slides, shade sails etc !

             Out this side of town? you might also like Nosh @ Newport

Rating:  Nom (x1) 
out of the ranking:
Meh                      It’ll Do                   Nom(x3)                              Must go back!

Done and Degusted @ The Boathouse (in Moonee Ponds)

Eggplant chips

Lamb, mushy pea and mint leaf Pizza

Fish pie

Espresso

Soy hot chocolate

The Boathouse
3 The Boulevard,
Moonee Ponds

(03) 9375 2456

PS:

home-made cupcakes,
not actually available at the boathouse...

If we may say so ourselves, the stand-out were the cup cakes... Actually, the Degusters baked themselves and brought along for our friend's birthday, for which the waiter was happy enough to provide a plate for us to serve them on.. 

Cheers, A.M.   :-) 

Pierre Roelofs @ Café Rosamond; Desserts on Thursdays

(degusted 7th July, 2011)

We got here with really high expectations – and we were not let down! What a single chef can do in a tiny kitchen (you have to see it to believe it) is astounding.  We took a while to get onto this bandwagon, but a dessert degustation on Thursday nights make this cosy little place a foodies' “must-try”.

Outside looking in: Cafe Rosamond

In ‘Wikipedia’ style, first a disambiguation: The Café Rosamond is a little café in its own right for most of the time. It’s a small but cosy place, with eclectic furnishings (aren’t all places like this in Fitzroy/Collingwood?).  This blog post however, is specifically about the Dessert Degustation on Thursday evenings held by Pierre Roelofs at the Café Rosamond.

The high expectations of this place came firstly our own excitement about the decadence of a dessert degustation, and secondly from reading other blog posts about this place, and scanning through the biography of the chef, Pierre Roelofs (which reads like a galactic map, scattered with michelin stars). Of note, is his internship at Heston Blumenthal’s “the fat duck” (Heston – a hero of one of The Degusters!).

 

Eclectic interior of Cafe Rosamond. Small, but functional.

The deal is simple: Thursday nights only. You cannot make reservations. It's first in, first seated... And the doors open at 7pm. We arrived at 7:15 (late due to the entree degusting at Panama Dining Room and Bar), and found this little cafe already full (sad face). Understandable though, as the place only seats 25 or so. The very helpful and cheery waitress offered to put us on the wait list (happy face)- for the third sitting (expressionless)- and told us that 9pm was a realistic time to be seated (sad face). No worries, we were so keen for the experience (and the wait really was worth it). In the meantime, we headed back out into the crisp evening to explore Smith St shops.

When the phone call came in that our table was ready we hurried back and found ourselves at a small but functional table, and were promptly offered drinks and an explanation of the evening's courses. Smiles all round.

The brief details of the desserts we degusted are described below, but please realise that the menu is subject to change weekly; so what we actually had may not be available next week.. I guess that's all the more reason to go back again (happy face).

The first course was an iconic dessert in a tube. In this case, black forest cake (BFC) inspired. In dessert degustation terms, this was the appetiser. The tube is a glass cylinder, filled with distinct layers of the BFC - I guess you could call it a deconstructed cake- this seems to be quite trendy, and something I like (I daydream back to the deconstructed cheesecake we degusted at Jacques Reymond a couple of months ago).  So, with all lewd thoughts aside, ones gives a strong suck on the tube, and you are rewarded with a big mouthful of all the elements of this classic cake coming together in your mouth. Joy.

If there's a better way to eat BFC, I haven't found it yet!

Black Forest Cake inspired dessert "tubes".

 

The next dessert course was a really light, fresh dish - inspired by strawberry, yuzu (the Japanese fruit, which also seems to be in fashion these days), creamy soda and vanilla. The smells and tastes made me feel like a child again (creamy soda my soft-drink of choice when my big brothers were drinking beers, because it looked similar).  The photo of this dish looks as sweet and cute as it tasted. There were so many different textures and flavours on the plate, it was hard to take it all in. Individually, each item was good, but they all worked so much better when mixed together, like a symphony of sweetness.

Strawberry, Yuzu, Creamy soda and Vanilla. So light, so crisp, so many flavours and textures.

The next sweet to try was a little bit savoury, incorporating pureed oats (isn’t that porridge?) into a glass, with rhubarb sorbet, passionfruit jelly, yoghurt foam, and raspberry. There was some puffed amaranth in there too. Truly delicious, and I’m not normally a rhubarb fan. Thankfully, chef Pierre has really thought the menu through, and this hint of savoury was a real treat – it accentuated the sweetness of the rhubarb so well. This second dish was a little heavier than the first, this was like the "main meal" of the degustation. One of The Degusters said that if breakfast oats tasted like this, NOBODY would EVER skip breakky!

Rhubarb, yoghurt foam, passionfruit, raspberry and pureed oats.
If breakfast oats tasted like this, nobody would ever miss breakfast!

The last up was the real sweet one. It may seem strange to think that out of 4 desserts, you would label one as a ‘sweet’, but this was the “chocolately course”, and in a very mild way, a little richer than the others.  There were Chocolate, honey, and churron flavours, and hiding underneath all this - Like a shy Chihuahua under the bed in a thunderstorm - was a sponge-like cake soaked in shandy (where shandy=beer + lemonade).  It was a great finale, the dessert of desserts.

The Final Course: Dessert inspired by chocolate, honey, churron and shandy.

 

Nearby, for dinner beforehand, you could check out Panama Dining room, as we did on this occasion (note that the kitchen there opens at 6pm – so you might have to rush to make it out for 7PM), or just around the corner is one of our old Korean favourites, Goshen.

Rating:  Must go back!

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

Done and Degusted @ Pierre Roelofs Dessert night @ Café Rosamond…

Black forest cake "Tube"

3-course Dessert Degustation (menu changes weekly)

Drinks: Two espressos were both of consistently good quality (as I’ve mentioned before, an average espresso in Melbourne is really quite good on a quality scale – these were just fine, nothing exceptional, but totally enjoyable), and soy hot chocolate was really good.

Main Street Cafe, Mordialloc - good for brekky

(degusted several times throughout 2010 and 2011).

For good, solid breakfasts, we've never been let down by Main st cafe. Hopefully they can streamline the coffee making process to iron out the intermittent service bugs.

The small township of Mordialloc is - in my opinion - a growing and developing little jewel on the nepean hwy; I love driving through the wide, palm-tree lined main street, and glancing down the bucolic mordi creek marina as I cross Pompei's bridge. 

Smack bang in the middle of the main street - just outside the entrance to the train station - is what is probably the most consistently busy cafe/restaurants in the area. Apropriately named "Main St Cafe", it holds a commanding pride of place in an original building renovated tastefully to give this place the type of ambiance that just can't be built into a new shop. In the warmer months - with people out and about in numbers - you may struggle to get a table here, however patience and bookings help immensely. 

We've been here many times, mostly for breakfasts (which is where I think Main St Cafe shines) - pumping out good sized servings of all the usual suspects - but with cool names.. Like the staples of eggs on toast ("2 Up"), Scout Omelettes (no, not made with scouts... each sale they donate to the local scout group - last year it was lifesaver omelettes with donations to the local life-saving club), there's the Hungry Hungry Hippo (a big brekky), Smashi Tashi, Mr Benedict, Bananarama ('nana bread with pear & blackberrry crumble), or the Italian Stallion. A PDF menu is here if you don't believe me.. 

Depending on my mood (read: whether i'm hungover), i'll either go for a "big brekky" (aka hungry hungry hippo), or - in tribute to our great friends from 'Canuckland' who blog about eating the world whole (check them out at iron gullet) - I degust away on the "The Canadian". That's a french toasted brioche with maple syrup and bacon, eh. Chuck in some extra sides (aka "brekky bling") like hash browns and smoked salmon and, well, i'm in a food coma.. Awesome!!

The Canadian: French-toasted brioche, with bacon
(and extra 'bling' of smoked salmon)

Veggie Patch, supplemented with
Bacon and hash-brown bling

Another cracker from their breakfast list is the veggie patch. Sampled many times, and proved to be thoroughly satisfying every time, The Degusters often barstardise this veggo meal with some sides of bacon.. What can I say - bacon tastes good, pork chops taste good... But I digress in a pulp fictional way... Adding the bling turns this meal into something that you feel good about eating (there's lots of veggies, mum!) but also enjoy eating it.

The atmosphere at Main St Cafe is good- the place feels alive and that's important when you may not feel very alive yourself, especially after a big friday night, as is so often the case when we find ourselves here.

Coffee should be king in any cafe, but here I've found it to be a bit hit and miss.. On the mornings that I've been there for brekky, the coffee quality has been just fine (in lattes, mochas, espressos, and even the non-coffee option of soy hot chocolate was good). On one occasion, though, we waited nearly 20 mins to get our drinks, which arrived only marginally before our meals. My headache was angry that day..   On other occasions the service was prompt: I know there's only so many coffees a barista or two can make simultaneously, so a full cafe of orders coming in simultaneously will surely create a bottleneck at the espresso machine's group heads. A freshly squeezed orange juice was good, if not on the small side..

Other reviews and blogs mention poor quality, watery coffee - and I'll say that I have had such an experience here once, in the afternoon on a weekday- i'm guessing that might have been trainee time?

For sure we'll be back here again - no doubt about it. I've had a few items at dinner time and can say that I was not disappointed  - just not overly impressed - I'll keep this place for breakfast only. We're looking forward to the completion of building works at the top of the street to see what new offerings come Mordialloc's way in the near future, with some luck there'll be some good offerings to give Main St Cafe some strong competition.

Rating: for breakfast; Nom x 3... Other meals undecided.

Done & Degusted @ Main St Cafe (not all in same sitting!)

2 Up

Veggie Patch

Hungry hungry hippo

Mr Benedict

Scouts Omelette

The Canadian

Crumpets and honey :)

Brekky bling - hash browns, bacon, smoked salmon, avocado, mushrooms

Espresso

Mocha

Hot Chocolate

Sunday Latte (serving 7 days a week - just a big latte with extra shot).

find it on:

Artichoke + Whitebait - Much more than expected!

At Monash Uni, Clayton campus - open to everyone.

(degusted 30/6/2011) EOFY Lunch!

3 1/2 stars.

I’ve walked past this café perhaps a hundred times, had a few sit-down business meetings over coffee here as well. I’ve always known their coffee to be some of the best on the Monash Uni Campus, and I knew Artichoke + Whitebait offered lunches and breakfasts, but until now, had never had the pleasure of giving it a go. After today’s experience, I’ll be going back, and will be encouraging anyone in the area or even those driving past to give it a shot. The young and vibrant staff are the perfect example of friendliness and good customer service, and while it's not exactly fine dining, it's entirely worthy of a good degusting..

Good friends and good food.

A good friend is someone willing to share a few plates of food with you - so I am truly blessed to share an office with a good friend. I ordered all the dishes I wanted to try, and shared them. The dishes are very generous, and while I’m a big eater, I think I would have been satisfied with any of the stand-alone lunch meals.

Bread and Olive oil.

The complementary bread and olive oil, with salt and pepper was standard fare – nothing exceptional, but all of totally acceptable quality. We started with the antipasto plate – prosciutto, artichoke, olives and octopus. Suspiciously though, none of the café’s namesake - whitebait – which would have been a nice touch. The items were good quality, good flavour, and I would have been happy to sit down to just these items alone (hint: roll the artichoke in a slice of prosciutto for a really yummy canapé!).

Antipasto - Olives, prosciutto, artichoke (no whitebait!?) and octopus.

Beetroot, bocconcini and walnut salad

Ordering the beetroot salad was a wildcard in my mind (beetroot, bocconcini and walnut) – I had no idea how this would be interpreted, bit it piqued my interest and I went with it. I should not have worried – the big chunks of sweet beetroot, generous pieces of bocconcini, and crunchy walnuts all combined to make this a hearty and solid meal - ideal as a stand-alone dish. (The photo does not do this salad justice).

A new addition to their menu, the Moroccan lamb on a bed of mash was the second item to be ordered. Wow. Uber-tender lamb, great tasting marinade/sauce, and cooked just right. With it came one of the creamiest of creamy mashes I’ve ever had – smooth as silk. If I had to order one item again it would be this one. A winner, and something for which to come back again*.

Moroccan Lamb and creamy mash. Standout dish.

Spaghetti w/ bacon, chilli and capsicum. Yum.

I ordered the spaghetti with bacon, chilli and capsicum – on the basis of three facts: (1) who doesn’t love bacon? (2) Chilli is awesome and (3) to see how the chef would handle a pasta dish. First impression was that there was a good amount of heat from the chilli – a pleasant surprise for myself and my Vietnamese friend who assumes that western cafés tend to err on the side of mundane to cater for the bland masses.. The saltiness of the bacon was offset by the sweetness of the capsicum – so a great balanced dish. The spaghetti was not over-cooked, perhaps just a fraction past al dente, but I don’t think it’s fair to compare a one-chef café’s spaghetti to that of a multi-hatted chef’s 5-star Melbourne restaurant (I’m comparing in my mind to a recent Grossi Florentino dish). To the ordinary punter (or student), this is a dish really well done – hearty and full of flavour punch thanks to the bacon and chilli. If you order your Nandos with the lemon & herb dressing, then this might be a touch too hot for you.

A look and a small bite of the chicken parma was all I sampled – the parma itself looked to be of good size, it was well cooked and on the small corner that I sampled, was crisp enough to make it worth a try. I guess that because the kitchen is so small there is no deep fryer, so there are no chips, just veggies. If you can overlook the lack of chips, the parma seems to be a reasonable option and good value - although I probably wont be trying it myself.

Chicken Parma with Veggies (no chips).

A few others on the table had some risotto, which looked average, and is not something I'd waste my time with either here or anywhere else - unless there's something really nice or unusual about it, like duck, truffle and chocolate, or something equally quirky to sucker me in.

My overall impression of Artichoke & Whitebait is of a small café that has tailored its menu to its strengths – meaning it can reliably pump out good quality, and value-for money dishes consistently. The chef, Chandra (I believe that’s his name), is doing an amazing job – getting out our group’s 15 covers simultaneously, and handling orders from the other 20 or so in the dining area. He works behind a glass spash-back so you can see him in action, and watch the occasional flambé go up in style! I hope the management realises his value and holds on to him.

If you’re in the area, traveling past or just looking for something to eat around Clayton at lunchtime, I would suggest coming into Monash Uni for a bite to eat here – it is open to the public, and there are usually plenty of paid (meter) parking (see the Campus map I put together here).

NB: Not Licensed.

Espresso was good and solid, nice crema, full bodied. The barista’s seem to know what they are doing.

* My experience of this lamb was exceptionally good. Another friend reported that in one visit she had a much saltier version, but the next time she tried it, it was back to perfection. Perhaps the chef had a bad day?

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

 Done and Degusted @ Artichoke + Whitebait:

-Antipasto plate (4 items)

-Moroccan Lamb on creamy mash

-Beetroot, bocconcini and walnut salad

-Spaghetti with bacon, chilli and capsicum

-Chicken Parma

-espresso

(+complimentary smiles)

 

artichoke + whitebait  Tel: 03 9905 3174

Grnd Floor, Building 10 - Centre Campus Monash Uni Clayton, VIC 3168

E-Mail: artichokeandwhitebait@gmail.com

Open time: Monday to Friday 7am-6pm