How do I choose what cafe I go to on a Saturday morning? I have a list of “to do” cafes on my iPhone from things I have seen in newspapers or magazines, or even while on a tram. Sometimes my cafe choice is driven by necessity. I need to be in a certain location at a particular time so I try to combine breakfast with the activities of the day.

Last Saturday, I had to be at work to finish off a few things and then a hair appointment, and looking at my options I thought I would try to go to “The Botanical” near the Domain Interchange, as it was along my tram route. Well, that was the intention …

I had a general idea of where I needed to be and got off at the right tram stop and headed down the street. Seeing a busy cafe, I assumed I was at the right place. Walking inside, I found a place at a communal table and sat down and thought that the place looked more like a cafeteria than a cafe/restaurant, but thought no more of it.

Looking at the menu, my eyes honed in on the French toast and I scoured the description. Sold! Looking around for someone to take my order, I waited and re-read the menu where I saw that I needed to order and pay at the counter … and then I saw the “Cafe Domain” logo … ok, I wasn’t where I wanted to be (put that down to lack of coffee) but nothing was standing between me and the French toast!

I can honestly say that I’m glad that I walked into the wrong place. My breakfast looked amazing when it arrived and I tucked in with gusto after taking the obligatory photo and posting on Facebook. The brioche was thick and I think homemade or locally sourced. The grilled egg mixture was only on the surface of the brioche, which meant that the rest of the dry bread could be used to soak up the delicious thin maple syrup mixture that covered the bottom of the plate. The poached pears were cold were almost an affront to my palate due to the cool weather, but at the speed that I was devouring my breakfast, it didn’t matter.

But the star attraction was undoubtedly the mascarpone and pistachio. Thick creamy texture of the mascarpone and the crunch of the pistachio nuts mixed with the thick sweet brioche was almost too much to bear. As one of my friends commented on Facebook, “Yum!”.

Turned out that I was in the right place at the right time!