Auction Rooms

I spotted the Auction Rooms the first time a friend brought me to her favourite breakfast spot on Errol St in North Melbourne – Fandango. The place definitely looks stylish and very beckoning. I asked her if she had ever eaten there. She said, yes. And how was it? I continued to ask. She said it was okay, Fandango was better. We had breakfast at Fandango that morning, and I must agree with her, I do like the breakfast selection at Fandango. It’s definitely on my ‘to-visit-again’ list.

The following weekend, I thought I would pop by Errol St again and drop by Auction Rooms for breakfast. First impression (or second more likely), the interior is very stylishly decorated – high ceiling, plenty of natural lighting, artistic photography hung on the walls of the huge space. It was probably one of the biggest breakfast spots I’ve ever been to (size wise). I sat by a table not far from the counter, ordered and was leafing through the Saturday Age before I realised how slow they were with their order-to-table turnaround time. My coffee had gone cold by the time the food arrived. The menu is quite limited, with its egg selection mainly poached eggs. I ordered the Opening Bid and swapped the bacon for some baked beans. Even though the food is not bad, it was not great either. Put it this way, if I had to rave about one thing, I couldn’t think of one to do with the food – the decor, yes, but the food? Not really. With Atomica, I could rave about how good the coffee is and how yummy the hash browns are, how much I like the berry compote with their pancakes etc etc etc. With Fandango, I could rave about the pesto, and tomato relish that comes with their scrambled eggs. But with the Auctiom Rooms? Nothing immediately comes to mind.

Having said that, I haven’t completely discounted the place. Next time, I might pop by for lunch instead, or maybe for coffee and dessert. If anything, the feel and decor of the place is definitely its saving grace.

Mule

I went to Mule for breakfast not too long ago after having walked past it many times before. From the outside, the place looks promising – hippie-ish with funky retro furnishing. The eggs used are free-range. Coffee is free-trade. So it has a bit of a hippie feel to it, I thought to myself: why not? So on a fine Saturday morning, while I waited for the washing machine to finish doing the washing, I took a stroll up Sydney Road and dropped into Mule for breakfast. Big mistake.

The place is not particularly busy but I have to say, it was quite awkward having to stand by the door for what felt like a long time, unsure of whether I should wait to be seated or I should strut around like I own the place. Finally, a waitress spotted me and told me I could sit anywhere so I selected a table by the entrance. Even though service-wise Mule was off to a bad start, it quickly redeemed itself with its speedy order-to-table turnaround. I ordered scrambled eggs on toast with hash brown and baked beans on the side. Boy was it a disappointment. The hash brown looked like it was thawed out of a bag of commercially processed hash browns from the supermarket’s frozen food section. It still looked pale in its meticulous oval shape, like it had a too-quick dip in and out of the frying pan (or the oven, whichever the case may be). The baked beans were even worse – bland, dry, almost turned into mush, and–you guessed it–like it came out of a cheap can of baked beans from the supermarket. I almost gagged when I heard a customer said, “Thanks for the beautiful breakkie.” when she was paying, thinking to myself: which planet did you come from? The entire plate looks like it was assembled out of the supermarket aisle!

I hastily finished my breakfast (really, how else would you eat sub-standard quality food except hastily?), paid and left. Well at least I know that’s one place I won’t ever go to for breakfast again.

The European

The European came highly recommended by a few people I know so a friend and I decided to road-test it for breakfast one Saturday, thinking it might be an ideal brunch spot for a bridal shower we were planning. It was a windy morning so we decided to be seated indoors rather than out. The place is much smaller than I imagined it to be, dim and has a cool feel to it. Probably an ideal spot for a late afternoon drink on a hot day, oh wait, they do that next door already.

 

Anyway, a quick glance at the breakfast menu told us that the breakfast selection at The European is unconventional. My friend ordered the more conventional eggs Benedict (which was raved about on one of the blogs she had read) and I went for the Tom Cooper Salmon and Pancakes. We ordered coffee and had to help ourselves to water when the waiting staff forgot to bring us any.

 

When my breakfast arrived, I almost wanted to hand the plate back to the waitress and to tell her that it wasn’t what I ordered. I remember feeling somewhat ripped off looking down at a few thinly sliced salmon that sat on a small bed of rocket salad in the centre of the plate with four browned pieces of pikelet-look-alike thingys on the side (they were about the size of 50-cent coins).  Needless to say, I was disappointed. I was really in the mood for pancakes but I suppose it was faulty on my part to assume that pancakes would be… well, pancakes as I know it. So I came to terms with my choice and ate what I ordered. The salmon tasted like smoked salmon from the fridge section of the supermarket – nothing particularly exciting. The eggs Benedict weren’t particularly spectacular as well. When the bill came, we both made the conclusion that we would probably never go back there for breakfast again. $20+ per head for something pretty average – portion and taste-wise – makes The European a pretty pricey spot with not much credit to its name (in my books anyway).

 

I have to say all that hype about The European really is unwarranted. I am curious though, where those good reviews came from. Those patrons might be pleasantly surprised at how many more spots there are in Melbourne that make breakfast far more superior than what The European has to offer. My verdict on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being most highly recommended) – it sits at 4 for me. Needless to say, we didn’t have the bridal shower brunch there. Good thing we road-tested it first, otherwise there would be some unhappy guests at the shower.

 

Filtering out Filter

Wow, it’s been two months since my last post. To be honest, life happened and weekend morning breakfast got reshuffled down the priority list – yes, believe it or not, there are more important things than having a lazy weekend morning! But to redeem myself, I thought I would write a post on a cafe a friend and I went to for breakfast a while ago – Filter. Filter sits on Brunswick St, Fitzroy, just before Johnston St, not far from San Churro, and definitely not far from Atomica.

First impression – nice place, high ceiling, minimalistic, modern, has a chill out ambience to it. Menu looks okay – all the standard breakfast offerings that most cafes have. Coffee was not bad. Not great, but not bad. Service was acceptable. So it ticks all the boxes for a decent place, although not particularly outstanding I have to admit. I ordered my usual breakfast choice - scrambled eggs on toast and baked beans on the side. And boy was I surprised when my order arrived! It literally was scrambled eggs on a single slice of toast! The baked beans came in a small dish, almost like a sauce/dipping bowl. The serving was not generous to say the least. I’m used to breakfast ala Atomica, so a sparse dish does not go down well with me (all that empty space on a white porcelain dish just seem to translate to “not enough”). Although the quality of the food is not substandard, value-for-money wise, it definitely does not rate high on my list. Nonetheless, it was a pleasant breakfast. The location did make up for it–an hour later, I was at San Churro chowing down hot spanish doughnuts dipped in dark chocolate sauce. So much for a healthy breakfast.

A bit of Tom Phat… .

I like breakfasts at Tom Phat mainly because:

 

1. Sydney Road is still a hidden gem (relative to Brunswick St in Fitzroy) for a lazy day of lounging around and;

2. It has a fusion breakfast theme going on that is rather exciting.

 

I’ve only ever been to Tom Phat for breakfast/brunch, however, I have heard that its lunch and dinner offerings are rather special themselves. The place is hardly noticeable amongst the chaos that line both sides of Sydney Road but more than anything else, it is by word of mouth that small establishments like Tom Phat gets its non-local fans.

 

If Asian fusion is your thing, then you will LOVE this place. The menu is predominantly Thai influenced, ranging from claypot baked beans to roti omelette (roti coated with eggs and stuffed with bacon slices), and the conventional big breakfast (eggs with sourdough toast, tomatoes, mushrooms, bacon and rocket salad). On the several occasions that I was there, the place was buzzing with people from all walks of life—families on a breakfast excursion, old friends having a chat over coffee or couples lounging on the low seats on the front section of the café, sipping something wonderful on a late Sunday morning.

 

Tom Phat is definitely a spot that I would keep going, not only for its exotic fusion breakfasts and good coffee, but also for some sabbatical time (albeit not necessarily quiet). The dark wood décor sets a relaxing tone to the place and has an especially cooling effect during the warmer months of summer. Plus it reminds me of home, a little.

Tom Phat

184 Sydney Road,

Brunswick, Victoria.

Breakfast in Lor Ca? I don’t think so.

This morning’s breakfast adventure – LorCa off Flinders Lane (near Degraves St). I hadn’t even planned on having breakfast out this Saturday morning but it was 11 a.m and I was low on blood sugar so I had to find a place to eat. Quick.

LorCa used to be part of Cafe No. 5, for some reason, it became an entity of its own, with Cafe No.5 now resides in the little dwelling just next door. Cafe No.5 used to be one of my favourite breakfast spots in the city–great value for money, plus it’s nice to sit by the window bench during summer watching the people walking pass in the busy little lane. 

Even though I manage to be seated by the window bench this morning, I didn’t find the experience all that exciting. Mainly because it’s winter and it’s cold, and also the fact that the waiters didn’t take notice of me. Famished as I was, the service was slow to come. The couple who came later and sat to my right got their coffee even before mine arrived, which, to me, is a sign of bad service. The breakfast menu is Spanish influenced, so if you’re up for chorizo and the likes for breakfast, then this spot would probably be ideal for you.

I am a creature of habit, so naturally, I have a consistent preference for the type of breakfast I want when I’m eating out. On a not-too-adventurous day (which was what it was for me today), I usually opt for scrambled eggs on sourdough toast and a couple of sides, usually hash browns and baked beans, or mushrooms. Today, being extremely hungry, I was in no mood to be adventurous, so scrambled eggs on toast it was for me. Unfortunately, a mocha and a glass of water later, there was still no breakfast. The three ladies sitting to my left had finished their breakfast and left, in their place were two young lads, who obviously came much later than I did, were already digging into their poached eggs on toast. Me? Still no sign of breakfast. I ‘prodded’ the waiter nicely, asking him when my food was arriving, he wasn’t particularly apologetic but he did speed things up a little. Lo and behold, a few minutes later, my breakfast arrived. By which time, it was already 11.50 a.m.

LorCa seems to find serving breakfast in a bowl-like dish somewhat exciting. To be honest, it was a nightmare to eat from. Imagine two slices of toast, scrambled eggs, a handful of greasy mushrooms and a pile of baked beans all crammed in a bowl–now imagine eating all that with a knife and a fork. Not a pretty sight. The tip is, don’t order any sides, cuz there’s simply no room for you to dig into your breakfast like a civilised person.

The entire experience wasn’t particularly exciting. The scrambled eggs were a little too runny for my liking, the toast too dry (you know when bread is overtoasted–it becomes too brittle and hollow in texture) and the mushrooms a little too greasy. I did enjoy the baked beans, however–cooked with spanish onions in a rich tomato paste with a spicy tinge. All that for $15.70 (that includes the coffee).

Would I go back there again? My answer is no. The food is average, for what I ordered anyway. If I was in the mood to be more adventurous, I might probably go back and try the more exotic spanish influenced selection. But for just scrambled eggs on toast, I can think of a long list of other places where I would rather go than LorCa. The major put off for me is how slow the service was. So a word of caution, try it on a morning when it’s not that busy. On a busy day, expect to wait at least half an hour for your meal.