Why a breakfast blog? And why Vic Park?

We used to eat out quite a lot. Once upon a time when we had fewer responsibilities that is. Since the birth of our second child we realised that eating dinner out will be a rare treat, but breakfast we can do.  I hadn't eaten bacon and eggs throughout my entire pregnancy, so one Sunday morning when our baby was seven weeks old (and her brother was three) we went out for breakfast. We tried a new place that we hadn't been to before. It was enjoyable, but there were a few issues with the coffee. Then a couple of weeks later we tried another place that we'd never been to before. An idea started to form. Let's try out all the breakfast places in our suburb! Let's decide which is best! Let's keep detailed notes! Yeah!

Then my friend Jude suggested I blog about it. The woman's a genius. My friend Siobhan suggested the name of the blog. I'm surrounded by genius women.

So, why Vic Park? Well, for starters, we live there, so it means we don't have to travel great distances with two young children to have breakfast. Also, there's a long stretch of cafes, pubs, restaurants and greasy spoons stretching from the Causeway to the intersection of Albany Hwy and Welshpool Road giving us months of breakfast pleasure. There are probably twice as many places open for dinner, of course, but dinner's only an option occasionally at the moment, breakfast can happen at least once a fortnight and probably more often than that.Vic Park being what it is* means that it's not just bacon and eggs and pancakes either, there are Mexican, Indian and Dim Sum restaurants that do breakfast too. Oh, and we're excluding McDonalds from this experiment on the grounds that neither of us have set foot in one in about ten years and don't intend to do so any time soon.

What makes a good breakfast? Several things. Good food, obviously. The toast being cold or not properly toasted or just sliced sandwich loaf is a big let down. Overcooked fried eggs make me cry. Tough pancakes that aren't fresh are just so disappointing. The coffee needs to be hot for my husband and my tea needs to come in a pot. Life really is too short to drink teabag tea. Service matters. It doesn't need to be overly attentive, but I want to feel confident in the wait staff. Looking like you're about to faint when someone requests something slightly different doesn't inspire confidence. The place needs to "feel" good, although amazing food might be able to compensate somewhat for less exciting decor. Kids need to be welcome, if not specifically catered to. Orange juice needs to be freshly squeezed and if a place allows dogs outside and offers them a bowl of water, then they get bonus points from me.

Let the eating begin.

*Vic Park, for the purposes of this blog, includes Victoria Park and East Victoria Park, both inner city suburbs of Perth, Western Australia.