Balwyn is in the midst of a cafe revolution. For years Snow Pony down the street was just about the only place that didn't double as some fancy bakery where you could get a inner-city quality breakfast experience out where the 'burbs begin. Now there's plenty of options springing up, many of them on Whitehorse Rd alone.
Focus made the wise choice of staying open on a public holiday when most of their competition was closed, and the line for take-away coffees showed this decision hopefully paid off for them. And they take coffee seriously. I knock back the odd long black for strategic reasons rather than anything bordering on coffee worship, but I was too out of my league to navigate the intimidating coffee menu wall that you see when you first walk in the door. The lyrca-clad cyclists nearby had no such trepidation however and were enjoying them with enthusiasm. Cyclists sure love their coffee.
Anyways, onto something of which I can speak with more authority: food. While I have no official culinary credentials, I have been eating food for some time now, and thus believe I know enough to say that these guys cook up an awesome breakfast. Everything on the menu looked interesting and sounded great, but I was very happy with my choice of baked eggs and beans, mopped up with toasted Turkish bread. Perfect warming start to a crisply cold day, and overall great addition to the burgeoning number of cafes in Balwyn-town. read more