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Walking past South Yarra Square every morning on my way to work and seeing the gushing fountain, umbrellas, chairs and tables always makes me long for the piazzas in Rome. When the sun is shining in Melbourne (a rare occurrence these days), I wish I could stop and have breakfast and pretend that I was in Europe.
With the sun shining on Saturday morning, I wondered where I could go and sit and relax and I recalled the cafe in the square.
With a somewhat limited breakfast menu, I settled on the Spanish omelette. I rarely order omelette, although I was thinking that the sound of chorizo, tomato and goats cheese would be suitable with the Mediterranean atmosphere and just what I felt like for brunch.
 My dish wasn’t what I was anticipating. In what was akin to a savoury pancake, the omelette arrived on top of a dry piece of toasted sourdough and a handful of baby spinach dropped in the corner. The omelette was edible but was similar to a frittata. My breakfast was okay but like the presentation, nothing special. |
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Breakfast
The Millswyn, South Yarra
The internet can be both friend or foe. After I had missed having breakfast at The Botanical, I looked at their website to see what would whet my appetite and unfortunately nothing took my fancy. Thinking about where I could go for breakfast in the same proximity, I recalled The Millswyn and started to look for their breakfast menu and spied that there were ricotta hotcakes on the menu! The deal was sealed.
Arriving at The Millswyn, I found an outside table and waited … and waited. After a while, I was greeted by a gruff man who handed me a menu and asked for my coffee order while showering me with spit.
Undaunted, I proceeded to review the menu, anxious for the ricotta hotcakes and what a surprise … they weren’t listed. Damn the internet! The next best option available was the buttermilk pancakes with cinnamon apples, maple syrup and whipped butter.
The whipped butter was faintly reminiscent of McDonald’s but moistened the pancakes as it melted. I was a little shocked at the presentation as one of the pancakes looked slightly burnt or charred but they were almost perfectly cooked, as every now and again there was a slight batter or doughy after taste. The apples were extremely crunchy with the odd hint of cinnamon and I almost thought that they were also undercooked, but it was a great mix of texture and spice and almost rendered the pancakes as an accompaniment to the dish.
Having enjoyed my breakfast, my plate cleared away and relaxing with my second latte, my gruff waiter reappeared and promptly yanked my clean serviette sitting beneath my coffee with such violent force that almost rendered me speechless and my beverage in the next suburb. Especially as I was saving it until I had finished my meal.
Finishing my coffee I went in search of the cash register, where my super efficient waiter greeted me with nothing more than the words “Twenty two dollars”. Dutifully I handed over my EFTPOS card and patiently waited for the receipt and then to my surprise, I was told to enjoy my day. In my mind’s eye, I kindly gave him a two fingered salute.
Cafe Domain, South Yarra
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!
bonjourchickie 