Balderdash

This is the first time I've been to Balderdash for food, but I’d been there for coffee many times before. This is due to the close proximity to my old stomping ground and the fact that it has pretty consistently great coffee. Also, and very importantly, they also have a totally cute waiter. Balderdash is set into the corner of Bridge St and Bay St in Port Melbourne and has a pretty low key look – fresh flowers, polished concrete floors, big centre tables and bars with stools lining the window. Pretty cool flying pig on the ceiling too!

It was a nice enough day with a small smattering of rain but mostly Sunny. So my friend Dave and I walked down there for a cruisy Father’s Day brunch with his son Otis:

Balderdash use my Bonsoy, which is a great drop. Checks out the lovely coffee art in an appropriately sized cup:

Dave sugared up his latte before I remembered to take a photo. And praise the Lord, after the last rubbish breakfast experience at Pope Joan, I was presented with a menu where there were loads of delicious sounding options and I struggled to pick just one. But I did, and that one was the ‘Feta basil pesto scrambled eggs with multigrain toast’. And just look at this presentation:

Hidden under the toast is rocket. It may have been a bit bland if not for the rocket and balsamic, which really made it. So overall I was pretty thrilled.

Dave got eggs benedict, he had a hankering for it all day. And he was pretty happy with it – I tried to pick on the firmness of the eggs but he said he let that one sit for a while so overall happy with the food. He also found the balsamic really made the meal as well.

Having a dog is a license to talk to strangers. We had a lovely chat with the couple sitting next to us, of which ½ was vegan, although it was bad timing to discuss the perils of the dairy industry seconds before my scrambled eggs with feta came out – uh-oh, vegan fail. Good weather + friendly dog = easy new friends.

Downside: the cute waiter forgot Dave’s OJ which is the second time this has happened to him. Lucky the food was so delicious. The weather brightened up and we took Otis down to the beach. Good food, great company, mostly good weather = great day!

Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder

This fortnight, our crew of Champions braved the Melbourne rain for a trip out to Bridge Road Richmond. Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder was our destination. With a cheeky U-turn we found ticketed parking on Bridge Road ($5 for 2 hours though... eeek). I'm not sure how successful we would have been had it been the weekend, but I was told by fellow champion Sally that there is parking available behind the Bridge Road shops, so if you were combining shopping with a brekky adventure that could be the way to go!

Mmmm Breakfast!

We walked through the red doors and were instantly hit with an amazing cheesy smell. In front of us lay 'The Cheese Room' which according from their website is a 'purpose built maturation room', hampers are available for all those cheese connoisseurs. 

Room of cheesy goodness!

We were happily greeted by a waitress and seated on a roomy 4 seater table. Coffee orders were promptly taken and we were left to drool over the menu.

The 'Spring Breakfast' menu available till 3pm, had almost too many options. Our little crew of Champions were struggling to choose, with Maddy having the most trouble. But fear not, we made our choice and I for one was oh sooo satisfied.

Coffee coffee coffee!

Even though there was a slight hiccup with our coffee orders (a short macchiato instead of a latte was bought to the table), the mistake was promptly an apologetically rectified. Our breakfast orders were taken and we were left to enjoy our creamy and sufficiently strong coffees!

Linen napkin!

One little detail that I was particularly taken by was our LINEN napkins, yep you heard me, actually fabric, it wasn't even that 'linen feel' paper napkins. We are talking hand folded dry cleaned napkins, way to make a girl feel special over breakfast.

Breakfast time, and wasn't I a happy little camper that Sal and I ordered the same meal. I would have had major food envy otherwise!

Corn fritters with Chorizo!

Sally and I both enjoyed our Corn and coriander fritters with smoked salmon a poached egg (perfectly runny), spinach and a house made tomato and capsicum relish. I also got a side of chorizo which was just the right amount of spice. Sally ordered the house made spicy sausage as a side, I had a cheeky taste and admittedly would have been just as happy (if not more) with that tasty morsel. The Corn fritters had a great taste and the chefs were not skimpy with the corn. All the flavours overall worked well and I was smiling my happy smile at the end.

Maddy's Breakfast!

Maddy's Brekky looked absolutely fantastic when it came to the table, and I ALMOST found myself regretting my own breakfast decision. Almost.

Maddy's choice: Avocado and fresh tomato on Dench's sourdough with Meredith's soft goat's feta, chilli and basil. With a side of bacon of course! Maddy did enjoy her breakfast but was disappointed by the thickness (or thinness) of the toast slice. It was closer to a sandwich cut of bread and I'm told was really difficult to cut through. Nothing beats a good thick serve of toast with your breakfast and at $18.50 for the meal (not including the bacon) I can understand her frustration.

Mmmmm Baked Goods....

Assorted baked treats!

Looking at the above picture again makes my mouth water! The Champions all became a little excited at the options for our sweet treat to finish off our meal so we ordered three and had a big share!

First, the warm croissant with a house made chocolate and hazelnut spread, soft and fresh and melted in my mouth.

Second, A vanilla cupcake with spiralling chocolate  icing, light and fluffy, everything a cupcake should be.

Finally, the chocolate tart with light pastry base, dense (but not too dense) chocolatey goodness, my chosen final mouthful (always leave the best to last right??)

The price of the meal for me was $35.80, which I was happy to pay considering I really really really enjoyed it. It included, 2 coffees, the corn fritters, the chorizo side and a baked treat.  Coffee was above the standard at $3.90, although Bridge Road may have higher prices than what I am used to else where. It was probably the $5 side of chorizo that I would say was a little steep, but what price can you put on a delicious piece of sausage really?

I had a thoroughly enjoyable breakfast (cause I haven't that already). The service was prompt and their management of a mistake (which happens) was handled well. The meal was tasty and the size was generous. The atmosphere was comfortable and relaxed. Everything you want in a brunch really. I wouldn't hesitate to go back.

Also, I recommend looking at the Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder website, it is one of the more comprehensive cafe websites I have come across.

Pope Joan

This week our breakfast adventures took us to Pope Joan. Much anticipated brekky location that I, and my fellow champions, had heard rave reviews about.

Don't know if you can read it but it says 'Pope Joan'

If travelling by car I would like to point out that there is official Pope Joan parking across the road from the cafe, which we did not know about until we had found a park a block away.

So into the cafe we went, and then out again, we managed to grab ourselves a table outside which thankfully had heaters close by but it was quite a crisp morning so personally I wasn't 'snug as a bug in a rug'. It was a large round wooden table that comfortably fit our team of 4.

It took a little while to grab the waitresses attention and when we did she seemed uninterested. She took our coffee orders (without writing them down, which always worries me if it is a table larger than 3). I was right to worry because when my latte came to the table and it seemed to take the shape of a flat white.

My latte???

Sally enjoying her coffee

I did enjoy the coffee though so kudos to the barista.

Ordering food time... again we had to work to get the waitresses attention on this one.

I was a little bit stuck for what to pick on this occasion, not because there was too much range, but because the breakfast options were rather limited and most things seemed to be fried or covered in butter. I feel this might have something to do with the 'English' based theme of the cafe.

One menu option that I did think about was the omelette with shaved truffle but was scared off by the $26 price tag, in retrospect I should have gone with it.

'Beaten Eggs'

On this occasion Sally went with the 'Beaten Eggs' - Baked eggs with smoked Onion, beetroot n chard, which I'm told was really nice.

'Not so full English Breakfast'

Maddy went with the 'Not so full English Breakfast' -Melbourne pantry bacon, Cumberland sausage, backed beans and scrambled eggs. She said it tasted alright but the egg to toast ratio was a bit off. I think the toast was perhaps cut to thin for my liking as well, toast for brekky should be a solid bit of wholesome bready goodness... That's just me though!

W.A. Sardines

My dish of choice was the W.A. Sardines and tomato on toast with fetta, pinenuts and currents. Although it came under the 'Eggs' heading it did not come with eggs so I added some eggs, which were given to me on a side plate (odd). Overall I was disappointed (which I showed through eating maybe half of my meal), I wasn't expecting the sardines to be attached to their inedible tails still and I couldn't find the fetta. The 'salad' on top turned out to be all parsley, I don't mind a bit of parsley garnish but a whole salads worth...

Fruit toast - burnt :-(

'Posh' decided to have the 'La Madre' Fruit Toast which came with Jam Lady Jam and butter. However, it was a little bit burnt, and when I say a little bit I mean inedible. we kindly pointed this out to the waitress who seemed put out to have to take it back... 10 minutes later the toast was returned less burnt and I'm told quite delicious.

BAKED GOODS - SAVIOUR!

Delicious baked goods!

The absolute saviour, Thank god (which is fitting considering the name of the cafe). Sally and I shared a carrot cake which was delicious with a not too sweet icing on top. Maddy (being the chocolate lover she is) chose the brownie which came warmed up with a side of cream, she couldn't finish it all so Sal and I helped, it was the kind of brownie that warmed your insides... happiness in a slice of chocolate!!

As for pricing: coffee was pretty standard at $3.50 for a regular size, not sure if it came in a large. My brekky in total came to $29 which only included the one coffee, and considering I didn't finish my meal I wouldn't say I'm thrilled by that.

All in all a disappointing experience by at least half of the champions team, especially given the hype about how awesome it was. Had the waitress been a little happier it might have been better, maybe she was having a bad day. I'm thinking English style isn't really my cup of tea (hehe). So check out the menu on the 'Pope Joan' website to see if it is your flavour.

Arcadia

Firstly, welcome back Champion of Breakfast Sally who has missed the last two.

On this cold, rainy and just depressing Monday we trekked out to Fitzroy to sample the cafe goodness of 'Arcadia' (which this blogger had been recommended but an excited family friend).

Most of the parking was 1 hour on Gertrude street but after many a U-turn we were able to find a cheeky 2-hour park so we could enjoy our breakfast without having to rush off. I'm not sure if we would have had as many options on the weekend though.

We found Arcadia easily and walked in excited at the breakfast to come only to be met with... well not much really, a coffee machine and a glum looking barista. I had to hold back my inner cafe worker hospitality which quickly turned to us standing in the door way feeling a bit awkward, 'Do we sit down?', 'Should we ask for a menu?', Damn those muffins look good'. Sal took some initiative and found the nearest two-seater.

The Menu we discovered was written on the walls.

As we worked our way down the list it quickly became apparent what our problem was going to be... choice, everything sounded great and we were weighing up the pros and cons.

I would like to add that by this stage we hadn't been greeted yet...

After some glances at the young man who we assumed to be our waiter we got a drink order in.

Mmmm coffee!

My latte was a bit awesome actually and I would have happily had 3 or 4. For all you connoisseurs out there single origin beans were available.

When our coffees were dropped off we made our food order (half hungry/half scared that it would take a while to get the waiters attention again)

So as to avoid the 'food envy' monster which has reared it's ugly in the past we both ordered the same breakfast.

The Decision was made, and after a considerable wait (in the world of breakfast anyway) our breakfast....

Corn Fritters!

Corn Fritters with salmon, fresh rocket, poached eggs (deliciously runny) with a chilli, coriander yoghurt dressing to top it off.

The negative thoughts about the service washed away in each fantastic mouthful, I'm still drooling now! Generous with the salmon, perfectly runny eggs, we couldn't fault the food at all.

Next was the 'Baked goods' section of our meal... Possibly the best bit.

Who doesn't like a freshly baked muffin??

I want my muffins served this way in future!

Along with coffees we chose a blueberry, chocolate and coconut muffin.

I was thoroughly impressed when they put our muffin on the table: They had cut it in half, sprinkled it with icing sugar AND warmed it up. That's how muffins should come, YUM. It was light and fluffy and just everything a muffin should be. Sally also told me that her triple shot flat white 'was lovely!'

So overall - the food was stunning and was the definite saviour, the coffee was great too. I would HOPE that the service was just a one time thing, the cafe wasn't jam packed though and they had a couple of staff working. It definitely soured the experience that would have been phenomenal otherwise.

'Arcadia' - 193 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy

Soul Food Cafe

My sister may never forgive me for picking the restaurant this time. Not only did she have to forgo her regular serving of chozorio/bacon, but her eggs were thoroughly disappointing which as any experienced breakfast goer knows, totally killed her buzz.

It was to be my last Breakfast of Champions on a weekday. And since my Tiffo works pretty much exclusively on weekends, it was to be our last breakfast out together for a while. So she graciously allowed me to pick the place. Wanting to try our more vegetarian places, I opted for Soul Food Café.

As much as I was super determined to be thrilled over a Vegetarian’s paradise there were a few unimpressive things about it. Firstly, it took ages for our food orders to be taken. Secondly it took ages for our food to come out. It did come out at the same time, thank goodness.

Coffee was good, and I finally got the bonsoy I so desired! Well after I realised I could have had it the week before and didn’t get it. The foam was really fluffy, good milk work guys!

I got the breakfast burger. I can’t express enough how much I love getting a burger out. Being a vegetarian makes this harder because lots of places that traditionally do burgers (read: pubs) don’t really cater for vegos. So to combine my two of my favourite things: breakfast and burgers – I was sold. It was delicious, as you would expect Turkish break, fried egg, tomato, mushrooms, spinach cheese and a side of hash browns to boot (hash browns sold separately). Those hash browns were really great, so glad I opted for them as a last breakfast (for a while) splurge. It was a bit mushroom heavy which is probably just a personal preference of mine, but mushrooms are easy to pick out so I was happy.

Burger for breakfast? Don't mind if I do!

Steph got the 'Monster Vegan' which was massively huge, and she finished it all, which left the rest of the table mighty impressed. It had scrambled tofu and it came with toast, hash browns, mushrooms, spinach, tomato and relish. It was her first time to scramble tofu and she is a total convert now!

Maddy and Tiffo both got the ‘Soul’s Big Brekie’, which is eggs any way you like it plus any 3 sides. I do like that option – too often I find cafes seem to over-charge for sides. Maddy had scrambled eggs, haloumi and a potato rosti. Tiffo got poached eggs, fetta, spinach and mushrooms. The toast came with butter or nutlex on the side, and was pretty thin for restaurant standards. Maddy’s was quite nice – gee haloumi is awesome, even after it’s gone tough. That salty taste, mmmm! I did steal a bit off Maddy’s plate for anyone who didn’t figure that out. Tiffo was less pleased with her meal – hard poached eggs and bland spinach. The fetta saved her meal, but overall she found it disappointing. Damn those overcooked eggs!

Lucky Tiff was able to get a chocolate truffle for her baked good, which met the delicious criteria – phew! Although I rushed her out of there so I could make my free massage on time (hard life!) so she had to enjoy on the go.

Baked good saved the day

So overall mixed reviews – Mine was great but Tiffo was thoroughly disappointed – and not just because of the lack of bacon, I’ve seen her voluntarily forgo bacon before! I may not rush to go back there but if other people wanted to go I’d go back.