Culinary adventures

Dead Man Espresso, South Melbourne

~ culinaldi ~ Leave a comment

This past week has been mentally and physically exhausting. On Monday, I managed to leave work at 1am; Tuesday’s home time was 11pm, and so it went, culminating with a 7pm finale on Friday night. Needless to say I woke up late on Saturday morning with a headache, tired and keen to stay close to home. Feeling like a zombie, the aptly named ‘Dead Man Espresso’ seemed to be the best place to head to for breakfast.

Dead Man Espresso, South Melbourne
Dead Man Espresso, South Melbourne
Dead Man Espresso, South Melbourne

Walking into the café, I felt like I was in a sophisticated tree house for grown-ups with timber decking and wooden benches, chairs and tables, and clever integrated canopies made with timber slats that open out and let you drink in the Melbourne skyline.

I was seated outside along the front bench, with a view to die for. Thirty seconds after sitting down, I had a menu, a glass of water, my coffee order taken and the specials of the day recited to me. The non-menu items included French toast, as well as beetroot cured salmon with whipped goat’s cheese, which both sounded divine but I just wanted to sit for a minute and take it all in.

There were some really intriguing items on the ‘All Day Breakfast’ menu, so much so that it really took me a good five minutes to decide what I should order. Although there were hotcakes and savoury “Green pancakes”, I wavered for a couple of minutes over the “BLT”, described as pork belly & spinach puree on brioche w side of gazpacho & pickled kohlrabi but I couldn’t quite conjure up the courage to be that adventurous with my beloved brioche. Perhaps next time. After deliberating through each menu item, I finally decided on the “Potato and kale hash” for breakfast.

Dead Man Espresso, South Melbourne
Dead Man Espresso, South Melbourne
Dead Man Espresso, South Melbourne

My coffee arrived shortly thereafter, extremely pale in colour and probably matched my complexion. Although nicely presented, it was a little too milky for my taste and drowned out the coffee flavour. What added to my frustration was that there wasn’t any sugar on the bench and I couldn’t catch anyone’s eye, so I sat and drank my latte as served. Just as I was finishing my coffee, breakfast arrived.

Crumbed potato and kale hash with grilled kaiserfleisch and fried eggs - Dead Man Espresso, South Melbourne
Crumbed potato and kale hash with grilled kaiserfleisch and fried eggs – Dead Man Espresso, South Melbourne

My outlook lifted considerably when I looked at all the delectable things in front of me and the delicious aroma of the grilled kaiserfleisch wafting towards me. I started with the crumbed potato hash first and was instantly transported to my happy place. I was surprised that it was cold in the centre but it was so delicious, it was like eating the most wonderful potato salad at a gourmet barbeque. The kale was chopped finely, while the cooked potato was cut into bite-size portions, and combined with either onion or leek. I couldn’t get enough of it.

While I prefer my eggs to be on the well done side, the fried eggs were excellent with the broth and accompanying dill and other herbs. The soft texture of the grilled meat, it’s slightly sweet and salty flavour, went well with the eggs and potato. The rye sourdough toast was just as delicious, and perfect for mopping up the remaining broth.

It was more than enough to bring a very tired girl back into the land of the living.

I loved my breakfast and am really looking forward to coming back and trying some of those other exotic items on the menu, however the service did seem to be a little lacklustre. After the spiel was delivered when I was being seated, I received one glass of water which I drank relatively quickly. There was no offer of a top-up whilst other patrons had bottles of water, basic condiments were unavailable, and the empty coffee glass was whisked away but a second cup seemed to be totally out of the question. Or maybe the service staff intuitively knew that I needed time out and deliberately gave me some space. I’ll test that theory after I’ve caught up on my sleep.

Dead Man Espresso on Urbanspoon

The Meeting Place Cafe, South Yarra

~ culinaldi ~ Leave a comment

It’s a very rare occurrence when I visit a café for a second visit, however necessity sometimes dictates location. My gorgeous hair stylist is located in a small arcade in South Yarra, adjacent to The Meeting Place café, so in order to get to my early Saturday morning appointment, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and enjoy a quick breakfast there beforehand.

The courtyard area was occupied when I arrived 45 minutes before my scheduled appointment so I wandered inside and found a small table in a corner by the window with a view of the arcade. The owner was happy to see my return and promptly brought over the menu and a bottle of water, but in his excitement forgot to ask if I wanted a coffee, and at that time of the morning, I was really looking forward to one.

The Meeting Place Cafe, South Yarra
The Meeting Place Cafe, South Yarra

The menu has changed since my last visit in June; there are new dishes and the spelling mistakes are no longer the main attraction. Taking a look over the menu, I was happy to see that the Nutella and banana pancakes were still available, which was just what I felt like I needed to get me through the day. After a small wait, I ordered the pancakes and a large, hot skinny latte and settled in to read the newspaper.

My much-needed coffee arrived shortly thereafter, slightly on the strong side but very much appreciated. With the sun streaming through the large front windows, steadily sipping my coffee and reading the news of the day, I was enjoying my time out before realising that the clock was ticking and that I had an appointment that I wanted to honour. Before I knew it, half an hour had past, I had finished reading and my breakfast was yet to appear despite being due to be elsewhere in less than ten minutes. As soon as I sent a text message to warn my hairdresser that I could be late, the most perfect pancakes I have ever seen were placed in front of me.

Nutella and banana pancakes - roasted hazlenuts, strawberries served with vanilla custard - The Meeting Place, South Yarra
Nutella and banana pancakes – roasted hazlenuts, strawberries served with vanilla custard – The Meeting Place, South Yarra

Accompanied by a small jug of thin vanilla custard, the presentation of the dish was excellent: two perfectly formed, symmetrical pancakes stacked together, drizzled with maple syrup and chunks of hazlenuts, garnished with a strawberry that had been halved and fixed to the pancake with a dollop of nutella and a sprig of mint. Crispy on the edges, the pancakes had a moist and fluffy texture – not dry or doughy but cooked just right. The middle layer of the pancake stack consisted of nutella chocolate-hazelnut spread, topped with thin slices of fresh banana and sweet strawberries. It was so delicious and obviously formed with some care, that I forgot about the length of time it took to prepare and settled in and enjoyed my breakfast with gusto.

Nutella and banana pancakes - roasted hazlenuts, strawberries served with vanilla custard - The Meeting Place, South Yarra
Nutella and banana pancakes – roasted hazlenuts, strawberries served with vanilla custard – The Meeting Place, South Yarra

As luck would have it, my hairdresser arrived fifteen minutes after my scheduled appointment so in the end, the timing turned out to be spot on. I guess slow and steady wins the race.

The Meeting Place Cafe on Urbanspoon

The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford

~ culinaldi ~ 1 Comment

Apart from my penchant for good food and fabulous wine, I also love decorating and interior design and get somewhat excited about furniture stores and all manner of homewares and kitchen products. Having just moved into my new home in the city, I’ve been busy planning, perusing shops, websites and magazines looking for fresh ideas and came across a new store from South Africa that had recently opened in Melbourne and also features an onsite café. Dispelling all comparisons to IKEA in nearby Richmond, I eagerly went in search of The Kitchen at Weylandts to have breakfast and to check out their product range.

The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford
The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford
The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford

Despite a two tram trip and a couple of blocks of walking, I arrived at Weylandts right on 10am which was good fortune as the store and café had literally only just opened, so I was able to walk in and find a table that gave me a view of the entire floor space. The design of the café, which is located at the front of the store, is aesthetically beautiful with large windows on each side to maximise the natural light, accented by the pale timber furnishings and a white walled interior.

The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford
The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford
The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford
The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford
The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford
The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford

Within the space of fifteen minutes, people appeared from everywhere and the café was more or less full to capacity. Soon after being seated, the skinny latte I had ordered promptly arrived on it’s own wooden palette and I would have to say that it was undoubtedly the best coffee I have had for a long while. Deliciously creamy and hot, the coffee alone was worth the journey to Abbotsford.

The breakfast menu is contained to only one A5 page and offers things that are traditional fare in South Africa such as Kaiserfleisch bacon and Boerewors sausage. I was sorely tempted by The Kitchen French Toast but decided to try to be a little more adventurous after my efforts to get there that morning. There were also a couple of breakfast specials on the blackboard in front of me that caught my eye, in particular the Roesti topped with poached eggs, chorizo and smokey home-baked beans which would be perfect sustenance for a cold wintery day. After finding the Trout gravlax and Sweetcorn Fritters on the menu, tantalisingly described as ‘cured sea trout and corn fritters stack with soft poached egg, charred corn, cucumber salsa and lime-horseradish crème fraiche dressing’ I knew that I had found what I was looking for. Ironically, just after I had ordered, a serving of the French Toast was delivered to the table next to mine and it looked exquisite. I thought long and hard about changing my order but held on to the courage of my convictions.

Trout Gravlax and Sweetcorn Fritters - The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford
Trout Gravlax and Sweetcorn Fritters – The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford

Although I kept looking longingly at the French Toast beside me, my own breakfast looked quite impressive when it did arrive with lots of bright yellow corn kernels decoratively adorning the plate. Apart from looking extremely inviting, everything on the plate was absolutely delicious. The key was the abundance of sweet corn which gave lots of moisture and flavour in each mouthful, although my favourite component of the dish was the lime-horseradish crème fraiche dressing. There didn’t seem to be any restraint with the inclusion of horseradish because you could actually taste the flavour for a change, which wasn’t overwhelming and complemented all the individual elements of the dish.

The staff are friendly and affable but don’t seem to be all that “switched on” and appear to be unprepared to cope with the sudden change in demand. The person who was originally looking after me, walked directly past my table three or four times to get to another section towards the back of the café, but didn’t glance in my direction or bother to clear an empty coffee cup or dirty plate on the return trip to the kitchen, which was particularly frustrating when there were no other tables opposite to where I was sitting, both hands were empty and I was desperately trying to get their attention so that I could order another cup of coffee. When paying at the register, the person on the till seemed to be a little flustered but asked if I enjoyed my breakfast, to which I replied favourably. When processing the payment a moment later, he asked again if I enjoyed my breakfast, and then replied to his own question “Oh yeah … I’ve already asked you that, didn’t I?” I guess as the saying goes, just because the lights are on, it doesn’t necessarily mean that someone is at home.

The Kitchen on Urbanspoon