Breakfast in Melbourne
Due to the fact that I don’t operate very well in the morning, I rarely remember a camera and have trouble putting together 2 words let alone cohesive thoughts that would make for a reasonable review. Thus I’m going to just write a couple of short notes here about where I’ve eaten breakfast (or brunch) lately.
Cafe Pearl, Richmond
Serving breakfast only until early (sadly it finishes at noon on weekends) I didn’t manage to actually sample the breakfast at Pearl Cafe but the coffee is good and they have every paper under the sun available for your reading pleasure. The style of the lunch menu is what the food press would call fusion (the breakfast menu is quite traditional,) with a number of asian influences. Out of character, I ordered the Vietnamese chicken salad and was amazed at it’s size and impressed with the tangy spicy flavour. The other meal was the Moroccan chicken pot pie which was great, shredded chicken and couscous were not too spicy but it was served with a dish of hot sauce for the hotness inclined. Not only is Cafe Pearl a great advertisement to its fine-dining sibling it stands remarkably well on its own two feet. They also have a great website with information on everything Pearl.
MART, Middle Park
Around the corner in my new stomping ground, MART is a cute little cafe on the light rail line to St Kilda with a great reputation. We went on Easter Saturday and it was absolutely packed, but luckily there was a couple of seats on the bar overlooking Albert Park. Unfortunately the view was marred by a number of Formula 1 fences and grandstands still being in the park.
Although every table was full, every part of the service was very prompt (if a little rushed) and as ordered. The oven-baked corn fritters were truly amazing, served with bacon, chutney and sour cream but the scrambled eggs with truffle oil, mushrooms and spinach were too oily and a little disappointing. All in all, I’m definitely planning on heading back when it is a little bit quieter and giving them another chance at living up its huge expectations.
Nacional, Albert Park
Perhaps breakfast at Nacional doesn’t quite do the restaurant justice. It has a great wine list and judging by the blackboards showing the dinner mains, an evening meal would be amazing. Breakfast (or lunch) stood up very well in a fine-dining kind of way.
Our seared kangaroo from the lunch menu was perfect, intense flavours from the perfectly cooked fillet. I was a little disappointed in its size and wished that our waiter had suggested a side with it. The breakfast menu’s bacon on toast with maple syrup was pleasant, not “write home to mum this was the most amazing thing I’ve ever tasted” but a great breakfast workhorse nonetheless. As is so often the case in Melbourne the coffee was great, presented well and on time. Like MART and Pearl, I definitely have plans to come back to Nacional but not for breakfast, for dinner.
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April 16th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Cafe Pearl is very good, though, for some reason, I am never truly relaxed in there.
As with MART 130, which is the stop number and tram spelled backwards, I love it. Probably in my top three for breakfasts, and they do the most perfect poached eggs. I haven’t been for years, unfortunately because it is a hike for me.
April 16th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
It’s possible that all the 50 year olds with their dogs and their BMWs are what make you feel uncomfortable at Cafe Pearl. That’s what made me think twice the first time I was there, but biting the bullet its great.