Las Chicas

Las Chicas
203 Carlisle Street, Balaclava, VIC
Di Bella Coffee


Update:
Take 4: We were hoping to push this up to a 5 beans but Las Chicas didn't deliver this time so it remains a solid 4 beans.

The Eggs Benedict - 2 poached eggs on bagel toast topped with smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce ($14.30) was not as good as the BBB below.

The poached eggs on turkish bread add hash browns, mushrooms and bratwurst was only OK. Nothing spectacular, and I expected more from the bratwurst for the amount I paid!
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The shop runs long and thin parallel to Balaclava train station, and there's a courtyard at he back. However the venue still can’t handle its fame, and neither can the small kitchen.

Take 1: Be prepared to wait for everything... we waited for 15 minutes for a table of 6 which is pretty normal. Once your order has been taken they will forget you exist! We weren't warned that the food would take around an hour - my friends just finished a marathon and were starving!

There were many exciting options on the menu: French toast with fresh banana, strawberries, pistachio ricotta and maple ($11.50 or $9.50 for half serve); Breakky Bruschetta of scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, spinach and pesto sprinkled with pine nuts ($13); Roasted field mushroom topped with a fresh rocket, goats cheese & roasted tomato salad, drizzled with a fresh lemon & olive tapenade dressing ($12.50).

I ordered the famous Bikini Blowout Benedict aka BBB ($14, $2.90 less for half serve). Highly creative, very satisfying - it was served on bagel toast with a layer of avocado and crispy bacon. 2 perfectly poached eggs under a thick blanket of creamy hollandaise sauce. I heard the next table say: "Pop one of these creamy yolks and all your dreams come true (except for the bikini ones)." Amusing but so true…

Take 2: We thought maybe the wait the 1st time was a once off, & even though it put us off, we should give it another try. After all, the food was good. We went there and was told it was a 45 minute wait for a table and another 45 minute wait for food. At least we were warned. Decided to try Lava instead. Big mistake.

Take 3: We thought we would try it again because we were up early. This time, it was a 20 minute wait for seats and 30 minute wait for food. Didn’t want to make the mistake of settling for somewhere else again so we persisted. Ordered take away coffees and a strawberry and dark chocolate muffin to settle my hunger.

Turns out, they exaggerated – a table in the courtyard (with many cute doggies) was available even before our coffees were made. Food came in about 15 minutes. I guess they need to ‘scare’ people away to offer decent service to the loyal customers.

Food was worth waiting for. The half serve BBB was filling but with hollandaise that good, my stomach felt greedy. I forgot to change the bagel to sourdough though…

The Breakky Burrito of scrambled eggs, bacon and rocket wrapped in a tortilla and topped with avocado and fresh tomato salsa ($13.50) was terrific too, except the scrambled eggs could have been improved.
Overall, we were happy customers =)