Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Silver Spoon. 3 October

The Silver Spoon promotes itself as the fine dining experience in Vic Park. It's pretty terrific, but also amusing, because it isn't located in either of the cafe strips on Albany Hwy, but is plonked in between the two, near a large, busy roundabout, squeezed between a tent shop and a 24 hour deli and across the road from a used car dealer. Location leaves a bit to be desired, but you can quite easily forget the location when you enter the tastefully decorated restaurant. Grey walls, groovy silver light fittings and a giant silver spoon on the wall make the room feel good. We'd had dinner there a few weeks earlier and had been impressed (especially by the giant wine glasses), but agreed with several people who have noted that their serving sizes are small. We were keen to see what they could do for breakfast.

We'd met the manager of the Silver Spoon when we'd eaten dinner there and were impressed by his vision for the suburb, his youth and enthusiasm and the fact that we share a birthday (although I suspect he's somewhat younger than this blogger).

So, breakfast. I ordered bacon and eggs and a camomile tea, he ordered the white chocolate pancakes with berry coulis and cream and a flat white and we made a special order for the three year old (just one egg, a rasher of bacon and a small serve of toast). They took the special order without blinking or looking like they were going to pass out, which tends to inspire confidence.

First came our drinks. I was pleased to see a teapot, but really really disappointed to see a tea bag sticking out of said tea pot. Come on! The shabby place up the road can manage leaf tea!! What's going on? The coffee was excellent. Our meals arrived and the presentation was great. The bacon and eggs were on a stylish rectangular plate, the pancakes looked stunning. As I mentioned before, a common criticism of the Silver Spoon is small serving sizes, and indeed our servings did seem small, but no one was hungry afterwards, so perhaps it's not a huge problem, although when you're paying higher prices you do expect larger servings.

The food, despite the small servings, was excellent. Better than excellent actually. The fried eggs were perfect, the bacon was generous and crisp and the toast (although small slices) was crusty, tasty and most certainly not sliced white bread. The pancakes were out of this world. Sweet, fluffy and perfectly cooked with a lovely coulis that spread pink and red colours all over the plate. Fantastic stuff.

I was a bit worried about whether kids would be welcome at a slightly swankier establishment, but we were offered a high chair for the baby as soon as we arrived and they were more than happy to put together a smaller order for the three year old, so full marks there.

It all came to $47, which is more expensive than most other places, but not by a massive amount. All up, a great experience on a sunny Sunday morning.

Try it. I wouldn't recommend sitting outside, unless you love views of roundabouts and car yards, but sitting inside it is a more than pleasant breakfast experience.

Score - 4.5 eggs.  

Monday, September 6, 2010

The Spotted Dog. 5 September

Father's Day. We hadn't booked anywhere for breakfast, so going out somewhere may have seemed somewhat foolhardy, however, we had a destination in mind and were pretty confident it wouldn't be full.

The Spotted Dog is a small, very basic, greasy spoon type place on Albany Hwy in Vic Park. It has several tables scattered out the front, but not really any space to eat inside. It doesn't look at all flash, squeezed into a kind of arcade next to a dry cleaners. In fact, it feels like a flashback to what Vic Park was about 10 or so years ago, before all the lovely cafes moved in, before the bogan pubs got facelifts and before the whole gentrification of the area really started.

There is a handwritten menu on a whiteboard with a big variety of breakfast dishes. Order at the counter, take a number and choose a table. Simple. I ordered bacon and eggs with a camomile tea, he ordered eggs benedict and a flat white, the three year old was being contrary and had already eaten, the baby played with my serviette.

The service was friendly, cheerful and fast. The food was good. Beautifully cooked bacon, perfect fried eggs with just the right amount of runniness to the yolk.  There was a heap of butter on the toast, which I don't like, I find it detracts from the flavour of the egg and makes the toast too soggy, but I know that others adore buttery toast, so I won't criticise that too much. The eggs benedict were lovely too. A generous serving and a good hollandaise. The coffee was good. The tea was leaf tea in a plunger! Happy days!

This was one of those times when your expecations are based entirely on the appearance of a place and end up being a complete contrast to the actual experience. It was cheap too. Whole thing came to $29.

There was a steady stream of people at The Spotted Dog, but they weren't rushed off their feet. As we drove away en route to see my in-laws, we went past Dome. It was packed. Poor souls, they didn't realise that a considerably better breakfast experience was to be had at the very humble little place just a bit up the road.

Part of me wants to make a comment about the decor and appearance of the place, because it's a long way from fancy and I suspect that might be the reason people avoid it (it was certainly the reason we've avoided it for years and years), however, there's something really lovely and honest about a simple place like this that just has good food, friendly staff and proper tea.

Try it. Swallow your "oh no, it doesn't look like a cafe" pride and try it. You may well be quite delighted.

Score - 4 eggs.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Dome. 22 August

It was the morning after the federal election and we'd had a late night, but we were still determined to have a breakfast outing, if only to take our minds off the fascinating political situation the country had got itself into.

Now, if you've had a late night and are feeling a touch emotional (literally emotional, I'm not speaking metaphorically here) the last thing you want is a bad breakfast experience, isn't it? Sadly, we had a bad breakfast experience.

This was at the Dome in Vic Park. There is another being built in East Vic Park that isn't open yet. Dome is a huge chain. There are franchises everywhere, they all have the same menu, same decor, same everything, so there's not much point commenting on the look or feel of the place, although it is newly renovated, so the toilets are nice and swanky. They have a kids menu, which is a nice touch, but we didn't find it until after we ordered because it was just jammed in the middle of the table with a confusing number of many-paged menus.

I ordered bacon and eggs (fried, and they asked if I wanted them hard or soft, which is a nice touch) and an earl grey tea, he ordered pancakes (more on that later) and a flat white, the three year old ordered a croissant with apricot jam (more on that later too) and the baby did her normal thing. Being a Dome, you order at the counter, which is never a favourite thing for me, but that's not a huge issue.

First problem? Pancakes. "Sorry, yesterday there was a polling booth just around the corner and we had so many customers, we've run out of pancakes. I've sent a girl (hmmm Bron's sexist language alarm started ringing) to Woolworths, she should be back in ten minutes, do you mind waiting". Pardon? You've run out of pancakes?? As in you don't have flour, eggs, milk?? Odd. Surely someone would have noticed you were running low yesterday? Oh, and just as an aside, Woolworths doesn't open until 11am on a Sunday, so you'll be waiting much longer than ten minutes. Of course, being a polite person I didn't say any of those things other than the bit about Woolies not opening until 11am. So, we changed our order to bacon and eggs. They made us pay the difference too.

Then our drinks came and things looked good. Lovely earl grey tea. Leaf tea. In a pot. Happy day. The flat white was also good. Well done.

Then our food came. Well, some of our food. My bacon and eggs and the three year old's croissant with jam. Where is the other serving of bacon and eggs? It came a full ten minutes after the rest of the meals. The eggs were cooked well, but were cold. The bacon was crispy, but cold. The toast was chewy. This was the case with both orders of bacon and eggs. Not good.

The apricot jam we ordered with the croissant looked a bit odd. Kind of like it had passionfruit pips in it. In fact, a lot like that. I tasted it and indeed, it was passionfruit jam. Not that the three year old minded, he was in croissant heaven, but not what we ordered. The croissant itself was nice, but it was toasted, which seems unnecessary if you have a genuinely fresh croissant. Not quite sure about that.

So, friendly service, but some shortcomings, average food, disorganised kitchen. Not a good experience. It was cheap though, whole thing was less than $40, but not enough to recommend it.

Sad that the Dome was well attended, not full, but plenty of customers, while TLMP last week was almost empty but was a considerably better breakfast experience. The power of a big brand, perhaps?

Score. 2 eggs. Just. I'm considering 1 and a half, but the leaf tea was good.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

That Little Mexican Place - 15 August

That Little Mexican Place (helpfully abbreviated to TLMP) is a cosy, neat little place on Albany Hwy. A sign on the footpath advertising free coffee with every breakfast caught our attention, and in we went. I noted a little dog bowl filled with water near the outside tables. A good sign for this dog-person. The tables are made with thick, wooden tabletops, the chairs are comfortable, there are lovely South American decorations and friendly staff. It's a good place.

For some reason, TLMP was basically empty when we arrived. There was one man who had just finished his breakfast, but otherwise, it was just us. As we ate, a few others arrived and I suspect things got more busy as the morning progressed.

We were at a Mexican place, so it makes sense to order Mexican food, right? Well, I didn't. I liked the look of the Mexican items on the menu, but for some reason I found myself ordering bacon and eggs instead. I turned down the chance of breakfast churro, I must be mad. Anyway, I had bacon and eggs and camomile tea. He had "drowned eggs" - poached eggs in a tomato salsa with potato hash and refried beans with a flat white. The three year old had bacon and eggs and the baby squirmed and wriggled.

Excellent start to the breakfast with the arrival of the tea and coffee (both free). The tea was in a pot. It was leaf tea. As a nice touch there was a small saucer of honey served with the tea as well. It went unused, but it was good to see a restaurant knowing that some people like honey with camomile tea. Good one, that's a happy blogger right there. The coffee was good too.  Our meals arrived. The eggs were cooked perfectly, the bacon was crispy and the toast was OK, but the serving was quite small. The drowned eggs seemed a huge serving, with loads of salsa swimming around a pair of nicely poached eggs and a generous pile of fried potato hash with a little smear of refried beans on top. Tasted good, although he described them as "more different than terrific", but still, difference is good, right?

I noticed a few other customers asked for a few alterations to menu items and the staff were happy to make those changes. The staff member who served us was friendly, prompt and professional, she called the three year old "champ" as well, which appealed to him, at least.

There are some nice touches at TLMP, like being able to order your meal with free range eggs for an additional 50 cents. I would argue that a good restaurant should use free range eggs anyway, but still, many don't mention the origin of their eggs at all. They have a nice range of spicy sauces that you can grab from the counter and they will actually suggest particular sauces for the dish you're having. Nice touch.

So we were happy with our TLMP experience. It all came to about $45, which is cheaper than the other places we'd eaten at so far, nice touches, nice staff, good food and they know how to serve tea.

Score - 4 eggs. We'll be back.

Photos still to come, I promise.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

To franchise or not to franchise?

Vic Park has mostly been full of little independent cafes and restaurants. No chains or franchises (except Gloria Jeans and Aroma, but neither sell breakfast), until recently.

With one cafe suddenly closing down due to financial problems and another being out-bid when their lease came up for renewal, we suddenly find ourselves with two Domes either recently opened or soon to be open in the area.

Dome, as we all know, is everywhere. The coffees are fairly good, the food is alright, but it's all a bit the same from one cafe to the next. Sure, they will have different staff in the kitchen, so possibly the breakfasts will be worth comparing, but I'm just not sure.

My idea, when starting this adventure, was to try places that are unique to Vic Park. Reviewing a Dome is a bit like reviewing a McDonalds, except somewhat healthier and less greasy. Isn't it? But then again, they are (or will be) a part of the restaurant strip, and will serve breakfast, so it would be an oversight not to include them, right? Do I perhaps just go to one of them (maybe refusing to darken the doors of the one who out-bid a lovely independent cafe as a protest)? Go to both and just pretend it never bothered me? Avoid at all costs?

Perhaps I'm overthinking this.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Catalano's - 1 August 2010

Catalano's is one of those places that is completely chock full at night time, and with good reason. Their dinners are great. Cheap and cheerful and hearty. Good solid Italian stuff. Breakfast is fairly well attended too, and on Sundays a HUGE group of BMW motorbike riders arrive, park their machines and take up all the outside tables eating breakfast. So it's got a busy, noisy feel to it, which is fine.

I had bacon and eggs with a hashbrown (standard menu has fried tomatoes, I asked for them to substitute, more on that later) with a camomile tea. He had Eggs Milano (poached egg on ciabatta with avocado, capsicum, grated cheese, something else and hollandaise sauce). The three year old had bacon and eggs. The baby had her usual (feed and sleep).

The service was interesting. The wait person came to our table, opened her order pad and stood there. Nothing like "are you ready to order?". Kind of awkward, that. When I ordered mine "Can I please have the bacon and eggs, but instead of fried tomatoes, can I have a hashbrown?". She looked like she was going to have an aneurysm. Not a good sign. When she delivered the meals she didn't say anything or even smile. I hope she started to feel happier as the day progressed.

My bacon and eggs were good. Eggs perhaps slightly overcooked, but still pretty good. The tea was just a teabag in a cup of hot water. Bad bad bad. His eggs milano was OK, but there was something decidedly odd about the hollandaise. It almost tasted like it had cinnamon in it, and it really didn't work. I also wondered if they are really like something you'd find in Milan. The toast. Oh dear the toast. It was just sliced sandwich loaf. Like tip top or something. It was toasted well, but cold on service, so, as is always the case with cold toasted sliced white bread, it was kind of tough and chewy and not in a good way. Big let down.

Despite being a noisy place, you can't hear conversations at other tables, but you can hear each other, and kids are welcome, so it's a pleasant experience. Perhaps if they decided to go for a better bread choice for their toast and stick to normal hollandaise, things would improve significantly. Oh, and invest in some tea pots.

Score - 3 eggs (out of a possible 5)

Deevine. 18 July 2010

This was our first breakfast outing in eleven months, so we were pretty excited to be eating bacon and eggs again. Deevine has lots of polished concrete and glass, so it's fairly noisy. We could hear all the conversations around us, so thanks to this breakfast I know a lot more about professional gambling and the West Coast Eagles football club than I really need to know.

I had bacon and fried eggs and camomile tea. He had bacon and fried eggs with mushrooms and a long macchiatto. The three year old had bacon and fried eggs. The baby had a breastfeed and fell asleep in the sling.

The service was good, although I noticed that the people at the table next to ours had some issues with the staff getting their orders wrong. The problems were fixed immediately though. My eggs were good, just the right amount of runniness in the yolk. The bacon was good too. The tea came in a pot (good work), but still was from a teabag (boo hiss. Come on, I can manage real tea at home with two kids and no kitchen - we're renovating -  why can't a cafe manage it?). His eggs were overcooked and his coffee was tepid at best. The toast looked good, big thick slices of sourdough, and mine was great, but his wasn't really toasted at all, it was more bread than toast. Clearly a kitchen where being consistent with food quality isn't a focus. Or maybe they were too busy? Who knows. Either way, the outing was a success more because of the novelty of eating out after a long hiatus rather than the quality of the food.

Would we go there again? Probably, it wasn't a disaster, but it wasn't really anything to get excited about either.

Points for good bread choice for the toast. Points off for cold coffee, bag tea and inconsistent food quality.

Score 2.5 eggs (out of a possible five). Hey, how do you get half an egg?