Lawson Grove Shop

Lawson Grove Shop
1 Lawson Gr, South Yarra, VIC
Gravity Coffee


Update (again):

What I like about this place is there's always someting new to try. This time it was Full as a Goog! ($19) - poached eggs with bacon, avocado, tomato, mushrooms and relish. While it is true, this sort of big breakfast is very hard to go wrong, it's also quite hard to be impressive. This one was definitely one of the better ones. Every single item was fresh, tasty and prepared with love!

If you go there often enough, there's probably no change in the menu but there's still specials to rely on! It was Croque Madame today - ham, gruyere, bechamel and egg. Again, one of the better croques I've had.
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Update:

We took the dog there again and confirmed the 4 rating. He had the Son-in-law Eggs ($14.50) – wok fried eggs with bean shoots, herbs, chilli, peanuts and nan jim sauce served in a lettuce cup. Great idea, but they should leave the execution to the Thais. Maybe I’m slightly biased after eating at Longgrain, where beanshoots are prepared in the freshest styles and still full of taste. But he liked it anyway.

I had the Breakky Burrito ($15.50) – spring onion scramble on a tortilla with a tomato, avocado and chilli salsa and crème fraiche. Now this was full of flavour. Comparable to Las Chicas, although I haven’t been there in ages due to the queues! Everything was finished clean.
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South Yarra's 'best kept secret' isn't so well kept after all. Not just locals visit the charming shop nestled in the back street just off Caroline St. Inside, there's many imported groceries, oven-baked goodies and large fridges full of take-home meals.

The boys were really friendly towards their regulars as well as the many dogs that sit outside - professionals with a relaxed attitude. We even saw 2 huge 35kg Chows that resembled bears!

A lot of care goes into the food here - the meats are from Jonathon's and Gary's, the eggs are free range and the bread is Phillipa's. Six degrees darker Gravity beans makes good coffee, and the chocolate coated marshmallow has a layer of chocolate inside too... So unique!

Food is good, but we need to revisit the place to try out the specials as well as other dishes to confirm the 4 rating. How wrong can the Pita Pizza ($13.50) go? Lots of tasty ingredients though – egg, ham, scarmozza cheese with fresh rocket.

The Spring Eggs ($15.50) – asparagus with poached eggs, parmesan and truffle oil, needed some sauce, but that may have covered up the rich truffle taste.

Don't try to park in Lawson Grove - but definitely make the visit there.

Caffe Panette

Caffe Panette
144 Cecil St, South Melbourne, VIC
Grinders Coffee


Update (again):

Went back and ordered the safe choice of Joe's Melting Muffins. It still deserves 3 beans...

The Smoked Salmon Scrambled Eggs - served with chives and sauteed spinach on toasted sourdough was ok too, but neither of them were very filling!
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Update:

So we went back and this trip Panette got downgraded to 3 beans.The meal started well with the waitress giving us complimentary baguette slices which were crisp, fragrant and nice. Maybe 'cos 1 of the items we ordered was more for lunch than for breakfast?

We ordered a special of the day: smoked salmon & savoury pancake stack with a red onion & caper salad dressed with creme fraiche ($17.90). The dish was pretty well thought of and presented. Ingredients were fresh but i just didnt like how healthy the buckwheat pancake was.

We also had the Croque Madame which didnt look nor taste very nice. Far too much mustard and the toast was over fried to a almost black biscuit.

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Occupying a sunny corner position opposite the South Melbourne markets, there are nice big windows that allow for people watching. It seems the locals here love their dogs, especially with a huge pet shop & dog day care in the vicinity, and smaller pet stores in the market. So the many tables outside the café are popular too.

On a Sunday it was hard to find a park with the bustling market. So we expected to wait for a table for ages but were pleasantly surprised to be shown to the last empty seat straight away. Coffee wasn't great, but there was lots of chocolate syrup in my mocha, making it taste better, but slightly too sweet.

The food that came out of the kitchen looked impressive. Scrambled eggs on sour dough ($8.50). House-made baked beans - ham hocks and haricot beans served in a rich tomato sauce ($13.90). French toast with caramelised apples and double cream ($12.50).

There was no big breakfast option so I ordered Joe's melting muffins ($13.90) - toasted English muffins with bacon, roma tomatoes, avocado and cheese melted on top. Lovely. I also ordered a side of roesti ($3), which was generously sized, very tasty, crispy at the top and had great texture. Only beef is that it was too salty.

The Eggs a la mer ($14.90) are a simple yet pleasing combination of poached eggs, smoked salmon, champignon mushrooms and hollandaise sauce. The dish was elegant, but the smoked salmon could be fresher.

Overall, these are just tiny criticisms amongst really good brunch.

Dench Bakers

Dench Bakers
109 Scotchmer Street, Fitzroy North, VIC
Genovese Coffee
Best fruit danish, fruit tart & brioche


Update (yet again):

This place has moved up to 5 beans - so far there's only 3 places in Victoria with that rating!

We visited on Easter Monday - it was packed but service was still great. No surcharge either! But the hash was slightly soggier today... maybe the kitchen was rushing? Despite that, this is becoming to be one of my favourite dishes... there's not many I would order time and time again...

We had to try something different so we went with one of the specials - brioche with ricotta, rose water and baked fig. It was almost as impressive!
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Update (again):

Service by John Dench himself was delightful and attentive. He's such a sweet, kind man!

The Chive-scrambled eggs on brioche were as good as I remembered.

The Potato hash with smoked salmon, creme fraiche, rocket and poached eggs was excellent.

The fruit tart was as orgasmic as ever. And it was only $4.50 this time. Think I got cheated last time. But omg, double orgasm!

This place is moving up to 4 beans.

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Update:

Check out the updated list of "Best..." for Dench. The fruit tart was orgasmic. Pity it was a freakin $7.50! I thought they short changed me when I receive my change from a $10 note...

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You'd understand why Dench excels at what it does - Chef John Dench, who has cooked at Mario's, The Continental, Rathdowne Tavern and Enoteca Vino Bar and son Tony Dench, a baker by trade whose resume reads like a who's who of bread in this town, including working at Baker D. Chirico since its inception and, before that, Babka, come together with a shared love of food.

Breads sit on exposed frame shelves, tempting all that eat here to buy a loaf back. There's house white, house stone, olive, baguette, baton, walnut, spelt, grain, farmhouse, light rye, foccacia, schwarzbrot, raisin loaf, ciabatta, brioche - mostly around $5-$6. We bought a ciabatta - disappointing as all the breads looked so good.

Other items to tempt you include the pastries (I was torn between the chocolate croissant and the fruit danish (both $4.50) which I eventually bought and was divine),the sweet and savoury muffins, the egg and bacon pie ($7.50), the duck and shitake pie ($11.90), the banana cake, etc.

Dench is all about service and quality.

Customers sit at compact tables along the wall or at the window bench looking out to those sitting under the red Genovese umbrellas (We had a very well-behaved maltese-king charles to entertain us). It’s not a group venue - probably not ideal for groups bigger than 3 or 4. We had to wait for a table but staff were happy to serve us coffees while we cluttered up their pathway just so we wouldn't freeze outside.

Glasses of water came without asking after we were seated and John came out to take our orders personally. The creamy, chive-scrambled eggs were served on the best brioche I've ever tasted ($9.50) with a side of organic bacon ($3.50).

The filled croissant with ham, cheese and tomato ($8.50) was decent.

There are also daily specials like the fried eggs, corn fritters, bacon and avocado salsa.

I didn't fancy the red pesto scrambled eggs on olive toast with Italian sausages but that’s ‘cos I'm not a fan of capsicum (the red in pesto), olives and sausages. But others gulped it down. All I can say is that I ate the entire sausage and the bread was much better than the one with olive spread on it from Spuntino.

There's other items available in the all-day breakfast menu like French toast with maple syrup or berry compote ($9.50), granola, etc. The lunch menu includes prepared paninis, focaccias and sandwiches ($9.50). A highly recommended venue - even if only to take away some pastries.

Red Star Cafe

Red Star Cafe
315 Coventry Street, South Melbourne, VIC
Red Star coffee


So I was impressed by the coffee at Le Petit Gateau and asked them where it was from. Turns out it's a local place so I just had to visit the cafe! Coffee was disappointing though... too milky here. The berry smoothie had too much yoghurt but delightful on a warm day. Outdoor service wasn't very friendly nor responsive.


With not much I would order e.g. Muesli, boring pancakes/french toast, the usual hollandaise variations, I chose the safe option of the Big Breaky ($19) - 2 eggs with bacon, chipolata sausages, hash brown, tomatoes, mushrooms & Schwobs light rye. The hash was a ridiculously oily, overfried disc, the mushrooms were tasteless and the bread obtainable from Coles.

Their "Chef Roxy's Breakfast favourite", Huevos Rancheros ($17) - 2 poached eggs cooked in tomato and parsley sauce served with chorizo, fetta cheese and toasted sourdough didn't deserve the "South Melbourne Locals No. 1 Choice for Breakfast" award either... but I have to admit the chillis have kick!

I guess the prices didn't register until I paid the hefty bill. Felt cheated by the substandard, expensive breakfast! Even worse when I discovered later that day, that this place had a coupon in the Entertainment book I could have used...

Mart 130

Mart 130
107a Canterbury Rd, Middle Park, VIC
Genovese Coffee
Best Pesto


Update (again):

I don't know why I give this place so many chances. I ended up here yet again, hoping to bring this place back to 4 beans.

Coffee, despite me mentioning previously Genovese can't go wrong, was really bitter and had a burnt taste.

I decided against the pancakes (even though I remembered I should try them and not the French toast) 'cos I wanted something more substantial so I went with Mart eggs #1 ($16.90) - free range scrambled eggs with chives, shaved parmesan, truffle oil, mushroom and sauteed spinach. Ok I admit that was not entirely true - the truffle oil enticed me too much! Sadly, there was hardly any truffle oil unlike the Asparagus dish at Outpost and nothing exceptional either. In fact, the spinach was rather bland. The mushrooms, while tasty, were microwaved...

He went with Mart Eggs #4 ($16.90) - free range poached eggs with avocado, smoked salmon, creme fraiche, fresh spinach and a cucumber, red onion, caper and dill salsa. He said the best part was the salsa, which is the only part I didn't try as it was a combination of my "favourite" ingredients! Imagine that. Needless to say, I wasn't impressed.

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Update:
Mart 130 got downgraded back to 3 beans! Service was slow 'cos they were packed as usual but they seemed to ignore the people sitting outside too!

To be honest, I forgot what this was called. it involved hollandaise sauce, poached eggs, chorizo and onions in some sorta tomato sauce, served on hard toast. Only ordinary and food was cold!

I couldn't remember if I tried the french toast or the pancakes last time - I wanted to order the other one which I remembered looked good on another table. I ended up ordering the savoury french toast, which was what I ordered last time (except I had the sweet one)! Argh. To make matters worst, the french toast was cold and bland... nothing similar to the last trip!
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I didn't realise the significance of its name until I reached the place & saw the 'R' flipped horizontally. MART is TRAM spelt backwards, at stop number 130 on the No. 96 light rail to St Kilda. It's built on the platform of an old station master's building. Cool eating spot - who comes up with ideas like that?

Directions ('cos it's hidden away & you probably won't find it unless you take a tram there): From the city, get to Albert Rd. Turn left to Canterbury Rd, drive down & it will be on your left. Abundance of 4P parking.

The venue is small - a trackside dog-friendly area where the pooch can watch trams go by, the cramp inside where we ate last time (and were slightly disappointed due to extremely high expectations), and the enclosed deck behind overlooking Albert Park & some tennis courts where we ate recently (because we wondered if we were missing something with all the hype).
Don't get me wrong, the food was good last time. I ordered Eggs #2 - Fleshy poached eggs with mild hollandaise sauce, creamy avocado & scrumptious bacon on sour dough. Except after reading reviews, we expected this to be the number 1 spot in Melbourne for breakfasts, and it fell short of that. Maybe it was the famous corn fritters with bacon, relish & sour cream that we should have tried?

This time, we lowered our standards & were pleasantly surprised. When we entered, a waitress totally ignored a "Hi, can we get a table for 2?" In my head I was thinking *minus points for rudeness*.

Thank goodness it was only her, and after a short wait not long enough to read the menu on the blackboard, we managed to get seats. My hot chocolate ($4) was less milky & more chocolaty than usual. And Genovese coffee doesn't go wrong. It was Australian Open season, so he was entertained by all the young Hewitt wannabes playing at the court. I was entertained by the millions of doggies that ran past. At least it made the long wait for the food (small kitchen syndrome) pass quicker. Oh, that and eyeing other patrons' food. He commented on how good the Bircher Muesli looked. I, on the other hand, drooled at the pancakes.

We still didn't order the corn fritters. The word "coriander" scared us.

Service was excellent. The waitress (not the same rude one), without asking, brought a side plate with 2 sets of cutlery & quality napkins 'cos we were sharing scrambled eggs on sourdough with bacon & pesto. While the toast was a little too hard & the scrambles were good but not quite Fandango or Bills, the bacon was thick & tasty. The star however, was the pesto. I've never tried pesto so yums that I couldn't resist eating it on its own, garlic, parmesan & all…
About service (I tend to digress when it comes to food), the waitress cleared our plates & told us the French toast with mixed berries and vanilla mascarpone that we requested to come after the savoury was on it's way. She then brought another side plate & 2 sets of cutlery. How thoughtful!
It was heavenly. Tonnes of berries oozing with juice, light mascarpone & French toast of the right consistency.So after the satisfying breakfast, we up-ed the rating since the previous trip. No credit cards or eftpos though, so remember to visit the ATM before!

Three Bags Full

Three Bags Full
56 Nicholson St, Abbotsford, VIC
5 Senses Coffee


Three Bags Full is the latest cafe from the crew that gave you APTE (Delicious Magazine's National Cafe of the Year 2009) and Liar Liar (The Age Cheap Eats' Caffeine Hit of the Year 2009). Similar to the above 2, Proud Mary, St Ali and Seven Seeds, the main focus is coffee. And judging by the crowd that has gathered within 2 weeks of it's opening, there’s always room for one more warehouse-turned-chic-cafe-with-a-clover in Melbourne. Within a few months owner Nathan Toleman will be opening an even bigger cafe complete with a small roasting facility in North Carlton. No doubt there'll be trouble getting a seat there too.

The interior is special - business cards and cupcakes sit in antique scales. A bowling lane has been turned into an impressive communal table. Seats are made from road signs. Light fittings include inverted tea cups and saucers. There are potted plants by the window and the venue strikes a balance between concrete/brick and colour.

Favourites from APTE like the Toasted house made banana & coconut bread with honey labna, pistachios & roasted seasonal fruit ($13.50) and the Ricotta hotcakes with poached seasonal fruit, honey & orange infused ricotta ($14.50) appear in the bright yellow menu, along with exciting new additions like the cauliflower fritter with haloumi. Sticky black ginger bread with roasted plums and mascarpone ($13.50) walk a fine line between breakfast and dessert.

We had the Big breakfast ($16.50) – 2 free range eggs, bacon, roast tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, cheese kransky & tomato relish. The tomato relish was amazing... so amazing I wanted to buy a bottle home but decided I'll wait til I finish my current one (homemade from a colleague). The bacon was just right - smoky and neither too lean nor fatty. The mushrooms could improve.

And because I was happy with the ingredients & portion of the above, I let him order whatever he wanted. No surprise he went for the breakfast special 'cos of the main ingredient (it's either chorizo or salami with him) - Omelette served with salami, Swiss cheese and roma tomato ($12.50). It was too dry and generally unimpressive. Then again, I've never tried a good omelette outside. Maybe my definition of good isn't normal?

Sweet Source Cafe Patisserie and Larder

Sweet Source Cafe Patisserie and Larder
288 Rathdowne St, Carlton North, VIC
Coffee Supreme


Update:

This time we called to make sure there were waffles. And boy were they nice. Crisp (though they could be thicker) waffles, covered with delicious berries, finished off with lemon curd for a nice zing. Reminded me of ricotta hotcakes toppings... mmmm.... The waffles alone moved the ranking up to 3 beans!

The Egg & bacon tart was cold and not fantastic... although the yolk was surprisingly gooey!
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As the name suggests, savouries are just accessories to the sugary decadence, rather than the main event. Something about Boston baked beans served on toast with avocado/curried sweet potato and ricotta tortilla? I can't remember, not that I really care.

Walking in, you notice the gingerbread houses gracing the windows, as well as the many cookies, slices, scrolls, tea-cakes and cupcakes on display at the counter.

The hot chocolate was disappointing. Where was the "real chocolate" they promised? Tasted like warm milk to me... I wanted to try their waffles but unfortunately it was "too late" and they had already cleaned their machine - this was 4.30pm when they close at 5pm. So much for customer service... So we tried the linzer torte as it looked so pretty with the raspberry jam oozing through the lattice top. The pastry was too thick and didn't have the "baked goods" fragrance. The pecan tart was pretty good.

The 2nd time we went back, it was slightly earlier - 4pm. Still "too late" for waffles... do they just not use their machine so it stays clean all the time? Don't think I can go any earlier for my sweet treats... oh well.

The coffees were surprisingly good after the hot chocolate debacle - perfectly roasted and prettily presented. The flourless chocolate cake was moist but not extremely special. In fact, I think I make a meaner version. Only thing is, mine doesn't come on a mismatched antique floral nanna-crockery plate!