The food and service was amazing, so I was keen to see what it would be like for brunch, rather than a private function. I had seen mixed reviews on urbanspoon (which I can never type correctly), with a few complaints about service or the taste of the food. However, I can report that we had no such complaints. We were greeted immediately and shown to a table in the corner, perfect for a long catchup away from all the mothers and children and prams.
Menus were provided promptly and coffee orders taken. The girl did walk away as I was giving her my coffee order which bordered on slightly rude, but the coffee came out as requested which make it ok. Both our coffees were decaf, and they were really surprisingly creamy, which can be rare on the decaffeinato front. There were lots of exciting things on the menu that I wanted to try: baked eggs, about 3 types of fritters, and potato pancakes. I, however, went for the big vegetarian breakfast. S went for the brioche french toast with grilled banana and maple bacon.
Our coffees came out quickly and were shortly followed by our breakfasts, which looked as good as I was hoping for. The serving sizes are definitely on the large side, so it's nice to think you're getting value for money. I didn't try S's breakfast due to the bacon, but it looked amazing. In the picture, don't be put off by the banana skin- obviously you don't eat it. I have never tried maple bacon due to the whole vegetarian thing, but it will be on my list if I ever give it up.
My vegetarian breakfast was really good. I liked the hash brown (not quite as good as bacon, but a good substitute?) and it was really fluffy on the inside, and crunchy on the outside. The eggs were perfectly poached, but I did have to add quite a bit of seasoning to the dish as a whole. Happy to do it, but they could have seasoned it a bit more before it got to me. Some parts of the dish were verging on lukewarm by the time they hit the table, which didn't make sense because the meal came out so quickly. However, when eaten all together, it was a good temperature. I especially liked the beans, which had a good strong flavour to them.
Maybe the people who had written negative urbspoon blogs had been there on a bad day. But the three times I have visited- for S's birthday, for a quick coffee last year, and for this birthday extravaganza- both food and service have been good. I think they are spot-on with the name of the cafe too. The cafe itself sits somewhere between country-kitchen and city-kitsch with a teacup chandelier, wooden tables and floors, and floral plates. I think that it really works, especially for the area and the audience. Worth a try if you find yourself in Malvern/Glen Iris, and want a piece of cake and a coffee to enjoy while watching people kill themselves running around Central Park. read more