On Saturday, after a long gym/swim/sauna session in St Kilda, I was hungrily wanting some brunch and wondering where to bestow my presence (and money). So cycled down to Il Fornaio (Acland St, off Fitzroy St), scene of good breakfasts of yesteryear. But, unfortunately, the time nazis had struck: 2:02pm is past the 2pm cut-off time for eggs, and any flexibility would be compromising their Very High Standards I guess. So, round the corner to Pelican (Fitzroy St) but, alas, they also finish at 2pm (and, considering that it was five past two by now, I can forgive their, ahem, inflexibility).
My plan was then to cycle up to South Melbourne to Cafe Sweethearts and hope for the best, but by the time I got to Middle Park it was starting to rain lightly. Thinking that a poached egg in the mouth is worth two on the plate (? - anyway, not in the hand as it gets messy when your hands are firmly on the handlebars) I turned off and returned to Mart 130.
Straight to a table, quick ordering (poached eggs no. 2 with avocado, mushrooms, bacon & hollandaise, and a mango lassi) and reasonably fast service. The brekky was lovely - BUT - one of my eggs was snotty/watery. Undercooked. And this isn't the first time here, either. Now, I'm very ready to acknowledge the difficulty of cooking two perfect poached eggs, but isn't that one of the main reasons for going to a professional to do it?? I hope the standards aren't slipping here, as Mart130 is still a great place to spend some time (and not too much of your hard-earned cash).
Sunday came and the plan had been to go up to North Fitzroy to The Green Grocer before heading across to the Nova for a freebie screening of a new French film at 11am. Predictably I ditched that and opted for a take-away coffee from Tiamo's to take into the film... But the film was suddenly cancelled due to complete-Sunday-morning-itis confusion at the Nova, so I headed across to The Green Grocer anyway!
On an awkward corner on St Georges Road near Piedimontes, you pass the organic fruit & veges before getting to where the action is. I scored a table immediately (one of the benefits of being single, I'm discovering!) but the wait for the food was a bit too long - nearly 45 minutes (althought they did apologise to everyone, and I don't remember this being such a problem previously). The poached eggs/spinach/mushrooms/bacon looked rather small and unappealing when it did arrive - but tasted magnificent. It was quite an effort to eat it slowly enough to make it last. What looked dry and shrivelled turned out to be moist and full of flavour - perhaps one of the distinguishing hallmarks of organic produce? The toast was great too.
On checking-out at the front counter I studiously avoided eye-contact with the home made marshmallow squares: these delicious melt-in-the-mouthers have to be tasted to be believed. Not suitable for toasting in front of an open fire (too good) - leave that to the leathery commercial variety.
http://thebreakfastblog.blogspot.com/2005/02/green-grocer-north-fitzroy.html
Now, as a bonus, a third breakfast - this morning, a weekday. After bootcamp a few of us often have a coffee and sometimes something to eat round the corner from the torture ground at Degani@Botanica, Middle-Of-Nowhere, Swan St, Richmond. Although it's a bit of an atmosphere-challenged barn, it's very convenient and friendly. This morning I hesitantly tried the poached eggs on toast with avocado relish - wonderful! Properly cooked eggs (take note, Mart) with delicious avocado/tomato/fetta stuff on their excellent toast. Adding a latte, only $9! I'll be back, as they say.
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