Breakfasting: Sally's Kitchen

My sincere apolgies to my sister Jacks, I just had to have eggs benny without you!  It just wasn't the same, I assure you!

Location:  Sally's Kitchen, 295 Exhibition Street Melbourne
Dining companion: Lermm
Dining date:  17 May 2013
Ordered:  Grilled asparagus with poached egg, hollandais & prociutto; skinny latte

A very cute and cozy location.  Lermm arrived first and I could literally not see her from the entrance way.  Service was pleasant, but frightfully slow.  The table we habitated was teeny tiny and the plates were huge.  Maybe that's supposed to be charming but somebody needs to do their math.

My eggs benny (for that is what they were, regardless of the fancified language) was ok.  Sauce was tasty but lacking that special something.  One of the eggs was slightly overcooked.  Ciabatta is not my favourite base for eggs benny, and I don't enjoy sharp edges on my toast in any case.  I have now decided that panchetta is not for me - it's all stringy, how is that enjoyable?  So overall an average dish. 

Sally's Kitchen's eggs benny gets a score of 5 out of 10 Benedicts!!

Don't get me wrong, the dining experience was very pleasant and I will definitely put Sally's Kitchen into my regular roster of breakfast locations!

~Tan

The hunt for the ultimate Melbourne CBD eggs benedict: Cafe Excello

After a bit of a hiatus, Eggs Benny is back!  We were a bit unprepared with a venue this time, the place we had chosen were closed!  So there was a bit of a rush around to find another cafe with Benny on the menu.  We found the sun-drenched Cafe Excello on the corner of Spring Street and Little Collins.

Dining date:  16 April 2013

Location:  Cafe Excello
99 Spring St
Melbourne VIC 3001

Individual ratings:

Tanya:  6.5/10

Base: English muffins, pleasingly toasted with a lovely crunch.
Eggs:  Overcooked.  So quite terrible.  They were pretty scrawnly little eggs too.
Sauce:  Pretty sure it was that pre-made stuff, which Lil sis adores and I think is passable.
Ham:  Generous quantity, tasty.
Price:  $14
Coffee:  A little on the bitter side, but not undrinkable.
Service:  Very friendly, though I wasn't sure if I had to pay at the register or if they brought the bill to you, it wasn't clear.  I get diner's anxiety when I don't know how shit is supposed to go down.
Overall comment:  Average.  Not fabulous, not terrible.  Additional inclusion of spinach on the side to make you feel like you're being healthy.  A passable affair, I'm just happy to be eggs benny-ing again!

Lil sis:  7/10

After a long break, this week's Eggs Benny were delicious!  Sauce was the generic stuff which tastes great and they were on the traditional English muffins which is always a winner.  My eggs were a little overcooked but not bad at all. Spinach on the side which is not needed at all.  Coffee was average but for the price we got our moneys worth.

And how does that look on the benedict-o-meter?  Rounded up to a generous 7 Benedicts out of 10!

Make sure you check out my map and the Eggs Benny Leaderboard to see the other eggs benny locations lil sis and I have checked out.



~Tan & Jacks

The hunt for the ultimate Melbourne CBD eggs benedict: AJ's Café Terrace

Wow, this review has been sitting in my drafts for a while waiting for me to finish it up.  So, without further ado, our eggs benny experience at AJ's...

Dining Date: 21 November 2012

Location: AJ's Café Terrace
45 William St
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Ph: 03 9614 1489

AJ's is a nice little no-fuss cafe.  They have a sandwich and hot food bar for lunch, and luckily for us, hot breakfasts too.  They also have ample outdoors seating, out of the way of the street which can be annoying at times.

Individual ratings:
Tanya:  7/10

Base: English muffins!  yaaaaayyyyy
Eggs:  Yep yep, good good.
Sauce:  I think it was that pre-made stuff, but still tasty.
Ham:  Bacon:  mmmm bacon.  Ham is traditional, but bacon is forever.
Price:  A steal at $10.90
Coffee:  Quite good, I ordered seconds.
Service:  Excellent.  Very friendly couple own and operate this eatery. 
Overall comment:  An enjoyable experience, solid fare at a no-frills eatery. 

Apart from the service, we witnessed a super cute exchange between one of the owners (a Chinese man) and a tradie who was erecting some new umbrellas. 

The tradie said to the mans wife (also owner I believe):  "Tell him (the husband) to get his tools, he needs his tools."

Owner/wife (jokingly): "What?  Are you going to pay me for my translation services?  You're working for Chinese people, you should speak Chinese!!"

It was super cute!!

Let's eat! 

Lil sis:  8/10 We ventured to my local AJ's, I have been here many a time but never for breakfast. What keeps me coming back is the owner, a Asian lady who is one of the sweetest people you may ever meet. The breakfast itself was standard but delicious very similar to KCL's another cafe on my side of the city (see our review here.) Eggs weren't the best but the sauce wins for me and there was lots of it! It came with bacon too and I really enjoyed that. Because of the service and cute little Asian lady I give AJ's Eggs Benny a 8/10 :)

And how does that look on the benedict-o-meter? 7.5 out of 10 Benedicts!

Make sure you check out my map and the Eggs Benny Leaderboard to see the other eggs benny locations lil sis and I have checked out.

The hunt for the ultimate Melbourne CBD eggs benedict: Gordon's Cafe

You may have noticed that there has been a small hiatus from the hunt.  Things just get in the way sometimes.  Anyway, we're back!!

Dining Date: 14 November 2012

Location: Gordon's Cafe
306 Little Collins St
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Ph: 03 9663 5103

The Causeway looks a bit dodgy when you enter it from Bourke Street, but is much more inviting from Little Collins.  Gordon's Cafe is technically on Little Collins (apparently) but you enter from The Causeway.  A great little cafe, and was quite busy even early in the morning, always a good sign.

Individual ratings:
Tanya:  6.5/10
Base:  English muffins!  Nice and fresh and toasted perfectly.
Eggs:  Good, although is that vinegar I taste?  Yes, it is.
Sauce:  Tasty, but nothing to write home about. 
Ham:  Good.
Price: $15.50
Coffee:  Quite good.  
Service:  Friendly and attentive. 
Overall comment:  Overall, good.  Not great, but enjoyable.  Like my sister, I can't pinpoint why Gordon's EB didn't blow me away.  All of the elements were fine, making for a fine dish.  That's it I suppose, it's fine.  That being said, I would visit Gordon's again. 

Lil sis: 6.5/10
After a two week break from our weekly EB, I was keen to get back into it. Today’s EB was average but still satisfying. Another hidden location in Melbourne we found ourselves tucked away in yet another alley way I didn’t even know existed. The dish was served on the English muffin, eggs were cooked well and over all it was satisfactory, however nothing really stood out with today’s dish, the hollandaise was average and even the ham lacked flavor, I think this may have been because it was shaved so finely? Service was reasonable, maybe a little over priced? Oh and coffee was ok! I score today’s EB a 6.5/10.

And how does that look on the Benedict-o-meter?  A firm 6.5 out of 10 Benedicts!!

Make sure you check out the map to see the other eggs benny locations lil sis and I have checked out.

The hunt for the ultimate Melbourne CBD eggs benedict: Degani Bakery Cafe

We thought we'd give the Paris end a break last week and get back down to the other end of town.  Was it a mistake?

Dining Date: 24 Oct

Location: Degani Bakery Cafe
Goldsbrough Lane
Melbourne

This might be the first chain cafe we've tried.  I'd be interested to try other locations of this cafe in the CBD, if only to check consistency, and to determine if they are all just as bad!!

Individual ratings:

Tanya:  1/10
Base: English muffins, though they soaked up the sauce, and in this case, that was a very bad thing.
Eggs:  Distinct flavour of vinegar.  Cooked fine, but the vinegar flavour was far too strong.
Sauce:  Absolutely horrid.  Never had one like it.  It tasted like vinegar.  This is the first time in our hunt that I've had to scrape the sauce off as I just could not eat it. 
Ham:  Perhaps the only redeeming feature.  Ham is ham. 
Price: $10
Coffee:  Ok, but nothing special.
Service: You order at the register and food is brought to you.  Staff were friendly enough, but didn't go out of their way.  I didn't get any water!!
Overall comment:  Bleh bleh and double bleh.  Ok, I ate the whole thing, but you must realise that I am 1) not one to waste food; and 2) I was hungry.  Even so, it was a struggle because the whole dish tasted like vinegar.  Potently so.  Hence my low low score.  (In hindsight we really should have said something, perhaps it was a mistake?  We'll never know!)

Lil sis:  1.5/10
I was so hungry that I actually ate through the vinegar infested breakfast that we ordered last week. So many points lost because of the god forsaken hollandaise sauce, everything else on the plate was satisfactory, the English muffins, the runny eggs and the tasty ham. Too bad they have no idea how to make a delicious hollandaise, won’t be returning to this café EVER!

And how does that look on the Benedict-o-meter?  A futile 1.5 (rounded up) Benedicts!!

Check out my map to see the other eggs benny locations Lil Sis and I have checked out.

[Bonus Edition] The hunt for the ultimate eggs benedict: CV's Cafe & Bar

***Bonus Edition***  As in, in addition to our weekly Eggs Benny hunt during the working week...Lil Sis, A and I met up on a Sunday for breakky.  The perfect opportunity to sample the Eggs Benny offered in the wilds known as Carlton. 

Dining Date: 21 Oct

Location: CV's Cafe & Bar
323 Lygon Street
Carlton, VIC 3053
Ph: 03 9347 6813

So we are actually the worst at finding nice places to do a bit of weekend dining.  I'm sure there are places in the Brunswick/Carlton area that are renowned for their breakfast fare, however we just couldn't find any!  So after we drove around a bit we were getting too hungry and determined to just pick the first cafe with a free table we could find!

Individual ratings:

Tanya:  4/10
Base: Some sort of supermarket bought multigrain bread.  Disappointing.
Eggs:  Cooked perfectly, I'll give 'em that.
Sauce:  Not terrible, but not nice either.  You can see from the pics above that it was quite thin and watery, and not enough in any case.  It had a mustardy flavour.
Ham:  Not ham, bacon.  Although I thought it wasn't very nice, just not cooked very well.
Price: $15.50
Coffee:  Drinkable, but not great.
Service: Staff were friendly.
Other:  Also served with single stalk of asparagus wrapped in bacon.  Ok, but weird?
Overall comment:  Travelling off the beaten track (ie the CBD) in this case did not produce promising results.  While edible, CV's eggs benny left a lot to be desired.  It was very ho hum.

Lil sis:  3.5/10
Not at all satisfied with the bonus edition of eggs Benny, given it was on Lygon street may have been a mistake as it is renowned for its Italian restaurants. Breakfast needs lots of work! It was on crappola bread and the sauce was runny and there was not enough of it to compliment the dish. Coffee was ok and eggs were cooked well. I’ve had worse!
And how does that look on the benedict-o-meter? Rounded up to 4/10 Benedicts!

Check out my map to see the other eggs benny locations lil sis and I have checked out.

The hunt for the ultimate Melbourne CBD eggs benedict: Urban Deli

Last week took us to one of those mega cafes that feed the masses of Melbourne.  Urban Deli has ample outside dining and also some space inside for a nice sit down breakfast.

Dining Date: 17 Oct

Location: Urban Deli
121 Exhibition St
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Ph: 03 9662 9003

I forgot to take a pic of the menu, but I promise it was the usual fare.  I'd been to Urban Deli many times for coffee and lunch, but never for Eggs Benny, so it was about time to try it out!

Individual ratings:
Tanya:  5.5/10

Base: Turkish bread.  Nice enough, not too crunchy.
Eggs:  Cooked perfectly.
Sauce:  Nice, but similar to a few we've been too.  I suspect it is premade, but it had an extra little vinegar-y edge to it.  Not terrible, but unusual. 
Ham:  Fine.  You really can't go wrong with ham.
Price: $14ish?
Coffee:  Ok,  nothing to write home about.
Service:  Very good.  Got the sense they were trying to shoo us out quickly after we'd finished our dish.
Overall comment:  A solid offering, but nothing made Urban Deli's EB stand out for me.  Symptomatic I think of the fact that this venue is a fast paced restaurant catering for the take-away crowd.  My only other comment was the choice of artwork on the wall.  I couldn't stop staring at this nipple.  Totally not my fault right? 

Lil sis:  7.5/10
Last week's eggs Benny were pretty yummy! I think it will be hard for any eggs Benny to live up to last week’s dish but I was overall satisfied with my morning breakfast. Eggs were cooked nicely and there was a generous amount of hollandaise which was actually really yummy! The bread was a mini Turkish bread I think which went well with the dish.

And how does that look on the Benedict-o-meter?   6.5/10 Benedicts!

Make sure you check out my map to see the other eggs benny locations lil sis and I have checked out.

The hunt for the ultimate Melbourne CBD eggs benedict: The European

After a couple of weeks worth of eggs benny at those cheap and nasty cafés, we decided it was time to go a bit more up market.  Plus I received a recommendation from Pris a couple of weeks ago to visit this venue, so didn't need any more persuasion!

Dining date: 10 Oct

Location: The European
161 Spring Street, Melbourne.
Ph: 9654 0811

From the moment you walk through the door you know The European takes food seriously.  Already bustling at 7.30am, with many tables booked.  The whole experience was very pleasant, and the atmosphere was cosy (read: cramped).  They have this weird double door situation going on when you enter though, and it was actually very squishy to get through the door!

Individual ratings

Tanya:  8.5/10

Base: English Muffins!  Mine were a bit on the chewy side though, perhaps over toasted?
Eggs:  Cooked to perfection!
Sauce:  Perfect consistency, generous amount and tasty.  The Eurpoean's sauce is one of the lemony variations.  If I had to fault it, I would say it could use a bit more of a punch, but that criticism comes at a stretch.
Ham:  The highlight of the dish for me.  I think I could have gotten a whole plate of ham and would have been happy.
Price:  $18.00
Coffee:  Very good.
Service:  Excellent.  Very friendly.
Overall comment: One of the best I've had so far. I haven't rated this higher simply because the memory of the chewy English muffin is holding me back slighlty.  Alhthough lil sis doesn't share my thoughts on this point.

Lil sis:  9.25/10

Yum yum yum, last week we had a most delectable Eggs Benny. They were on the traditional English muffin, eggs cooked perfectly, the ham was as it should be and there was a generous amount of sauce which was also a good consistency. Although we were at a super fancy over priced café I think this might be the best Eggs Benny we have found on our journey. The service was excellent but the fanciness of the café isn’t really where I feel at home. Breakfast was served in a bowl?!?! The entry doors were also stupid however it’s all about the Eggs Benny and I would defiantly go back to the European again.

And how does that look on the benedict-o-meter?  Rounded up to 9/10 Benedicts!  The definite standout and new front runner on the Eggs Benny Leaderboard!

Make sure you check out my map to see the other eggs benny locations lil sis and I have checked out.



[sorry for the repost peeps, I think I deleted the original somehow -_-]

The hunt for the ultimate Melbourne CBD eggs benedict: Overdraft Cafe

Last week's benny was at a cafe so classy they weren't even listed on urbanspoon... We'll I fixed that and now the whole world will know about...

Location: Overdraft Cafe
354 Flinders Lane
MELBOURNE, VIC, 3000
Ph: (03) 9629 5136

Overdraft Cafe is another of those little take away-ish places - you know, sandwiches on demand.  This place was also really busy, lots of regulars it seemed.  These places don't all do eggs benny, so we had to give it a go - and $7.80 including coffee!!  This was the reason we chose this place - what on earth would $7.80 eggs benny taste like??  We had to know!

Base: Some sort of toast.  I think the bread was Helgas.
Eggs:  Overcooked.  Not a runny yolk was seen at all that fateful day.  Plus a lot of the water from the pot was brought over to the dish, making everything damp, squishy and just unappetising. 
Sauce:  Not good.  I mean, the flavour was ok, but the consistency was really off.  It was watery and look how much they gave us, like a tablespoon? 
Ham:  You generally can't go wrong with ham, so Overdraft gets a tick in this box at least.
Price: $7.80 including coffee. 
Coffee:  Pretty rank, but not as undrinkable as last time.
Service:  Very very good, friendly.  All of the staff made an effort to say goodbye to us even though the place was really busy.  I would go back again for this reason, but for something standard, like toast. 
Other:  Served with a side of spinach.

Individual ratings:

Tanya:  2.5/10 The lesson learnt was:  When you see eggs benny and coffee for $7.80, keep walking.  I feel terrible giving such a low score, but this is the first time I've ever struggled to actually eat eggs benny. Each element would have been ok, but because the eggs weren't drained properly it made the bread all gooey, which is kind of gross.  But as the adage goes, you get what you pay for!

Lil sis:  2/10 Today's Eggs Benny lived up to the true definition of cheap & nasty! Cheap white bread tiny over cooked eggs, not even enough hollandaise to compliment the dish and the ham was meh! It was an overall disappointing experience for me and I will not ever be returning to this café.... I still ate the whole thing coz I was hungry and it was cheap so I didn't care ya dingus!

And how does that look on the benedict-o-meter?  Rounded up to 2.5/10 Benedicts!




Check out my map to see the other eggs benny locations lil sis and I have checked out.

The hunt for the ultimate Melbourne CBD eggs benedict: Koury's Coffee Lounge

Keeping with our mission of sampling eggs benny offered at every Melbourne eatery, be it fancy or cheap and nasty, last week we saw ourselves at one of those cheap and nasty cafes.  You might be surprised by the outcome...

Location: Koury's Coffee Lounge
40 Market St
Melbourne, VIC 3000
03 9620 0360

Koury's Coffee Lounge, or KCL had a very take away-ish feel, but the service was friendly.   Cheap and nasty is one way to describe this cafe, look at those filthy plates!

Base: English muffins!!  Our favourite.
Eggs:  Perhaps a touch undercooked.
Sauce:  Quite tasty, though for the price I doubt that it is homemade.  Even so, it was creamy and flavoursome, a bit lemony.
Ham:  Grilled!  Huzzah!  Very tasty.
Price:  $8.50 - seriously!!
Coffee:  Oh terrible.  So so terrible.  I am definitely not a coffee snob, I'll drink anything, even McDonald's coffee, but this was undrinkable. 
Service:  Very friendly, albeit a bit slow.

Individual ratings:

Tanya:  7/10 Wow, the coffee was extroadinarily bad.  However, these reviews are about the benny!  KCL's version was what I consider very standard fare, and for the price actually really good!  I haven't scored it higher simply because it didn't have that special something that I just can't describe, not sure, maybe atmosphere?  Comfort?  Meh.

Lil sis:  8.5/10 I was very satisfied with today’s eggs benny. First off they had the English muffin base, secondly the eggs were nice and runny, but best of all they were the cheapest we’ve had on our hunt so far! Oh and the sauce was very delicious, nice and tasty. The downfall of our breakfast was the cheap and nasty coffee, I even went all out and got the ‘large’ size because it was so cheap.

And how does that look on the benedict-o-meter?  Rounded up to 8!

Make sure you check out my map to see the other eggs benny locations lil sis and I have checked out.



Just to reiterate, the coffee was terrible!!