Babka

Babka
358 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, VIC
Caffe Rome coffee


We were surprised when we managed to get a table straight away at this cosy Brunswick Street institution that has been delighting locals for years with its dumplings, borscht, blintzes and Eastern European traditions. As the sign on the door read, "No prams please - Prams big, Babka small".

Babka (which means grandmother in Russian) lives up to its name with warm, yeasty, freshly baked bread smells, boosted by the sweetness of cakes and savoury aromas, with hints of coffee.

The waitress seemed to be in a hurry to get our order so we started with drinks. The hot chocolate was not bad, only it was $4.40. The cappuccino ($3) was served in a latte glass and was terribly bitter.The danishes and cakes didn't look too tempting (Dench has set a high standard!) so I chose to order poached eggs on toast ($8.40), adding bacon and mushrooms ($3 each) and changing the toast to a croissant. I'm glad I did 'cos the croissant was the highlight of the meal. Cut in half and toasted, it was light and crisp. The bacon was a 'lil too crisp and the mushrooms, while tasty, had too much thyme for my liking.One of the specials was Scottish kippers served on buckwheat blinis with spinach and horseradish ($15). A salty meal but good nonetheless.And of course, we had to buy an Egg loaf ($4.40) on the way out. This was just as I imagined it to be, yummy, except full of sesame seeds on top. But I'm just picky...While everything (including the service) was OK, nothing really justified the hype. Maybe I should have tried what they are famous for - the Russian blintzes filled with sweetened cottage cheese & sultanas, served with a citrus sauce ($9.50), or the shoo fly buns - a combination of fruit, citrus and a yeasty bread dough in a bun shape with a sticky glaze (similar to hot cross buns but made all year round!)