Apparently, the highest day for gym attendance is Monday. It makes sense – after a weekend of excess you wake up vowing that the beginning of a new week means the beginning of the new, healthier you.

I wonder if the same trend applies to vegetarian restaurants? Because certainly on my lunch visit to Munsterhaus the place was surprisingly full for a Monday.

It probably helps that the cafe is located in the gentrified hipster enclave of North Fitzroy, that the food is fresh and flavoursome, the portions are generous and the staff are friendly. The handsome interior is fitted out like a retro Art Deco cafeteria, with functional laminate topped wooden tables parked with classroom chairs, window seats for singles and an expanse of glassed-in wooden bench which showcases a smorgasbord of vegetarian and vegan dishes, mostly with Asian flavours.

You then select the plate size you want – small, medium, large – and the server will pile up your plate with as many items as you can cram in (one size takeaway is also available). Or you can choose to have a whole bowl of brussels sprouts if you like!

My choices included a too-dry brown rice slice, honey/soy/sesame tempeh crisps with broccoli, a mildy spicy chilli jam fried tofu, some quinoa salad, a chickpea, cucumber, spinach and feta salad which I’m going to try and replicate at home and my favourite, an Asian sweet potato noodle salad bouncing with peanuts, carrots, bean sprouts and shiitake. You can also select some home made dips to top off your plate and the waitress recommended the tofu dip which was similar to a cream cheese in flavour.

As you can see, even the $10 small plate/bowl is generously proportioned so I recommend that size unless you’re sharing with someone else. Fill your stomach with that much tofu, quinoa and brown rice, wash it down with help-yourself filtered water, and I guarantee that you’ll be rolling out the door.

However, in the name of research I also tried the poached pear and raspberry tart ($6) which came with a dollop of yoghurt or commercial vanilla icecream. There was a very faint hint of an undefinable spice which lifted it beyond a standard cake, and certainly after such a large slice I was ready to loosen my belt.

I’ll definitely return to Munsterhaus – can’t go wrong with a place that serves fresh, healthy food in whatever combination you like, in whatever quantities you like. For vegetarian/vegan food served with a similar concept, try The Tofu Shop International in Richmond.

Munsterhaus, 371 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North +61 3 9489 4420
Mon-Thu 9am-4.30pm
Fri-Sat 9am-8pm

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So here’s my two bob on Two Bob.

The café is an airy, high-ceilinged transformation of a former bank (remnants of the secured bank vault are still there) based in leafy North Fitzroy/Clifton Hill. Inside it’s all white and blonde wood with a few dashes of greenery here and there. Very calming and Scandi-chic.

Two Bob is a daytime venue and their breakfast menu is something to behold. The kind of list of breakfast classics-with-a-twist which makes it impossible to choose…until you flip over to the reverse side of the menu and discover the equally tempting lunch menu.

Paralysed by indecision by the time the waitress arrived the five of us ended up with 2 x steak sandwiches, 1 x slow cooked baked beans and ham hock cassoulet, 1 x crumbed poached eggs and 1 x ocean trout. A balanced menu traverse between breakfast and lunch, filling and light, hot and cold.

My slow-cooked cassoulet arrived with hearty chunks of meat, a poached egg floating on top, a sprinkling of feta and coriander and a hunk of multigrain toast ($16.50). A solid dish and the kind that soothes you with its familiarity.

M said that his crumbed poached eggs ($16.50) were very slightly overcooked and he actually didn’t enjoy the crumb very much as the frying gave the eggs an oily coating that lingered on the tongue. However the grilled asparagus and floret of smoked salmon got a thumbs up (but really they aren’t ingredients you can stuff up).

The baked miso ocean trout came with a cold noodle salad, Asian coleslaw and a sweet-sour tamarind dressing ($18). Perfect as a lighter choice if you’re not feeling so hungry but J definitely got food envy (as did everyone) from the winning dish at our table, the steak sandwiches ($17.50).

Mainly because of the presence of fried onion rings – we all went ‘wow’ when we saw those! The black Angus steak was carefully grilled and combined with a traditional filling of cheese, tomato, rocket plus some sweet beetroot relish and dijonaise instead of mayonnaise. A two-hander of a sandwich full of smashing colours and textures.

For dessert we each had a pick of the very moist carrot cake topped with a light cream cheese and walnut frosting ($5) which by itself, along with that steak sandwich, is worth returning to Two Bob.

While Two Bob is not pushing any major gastronomical boundaries it does what it does well, without fuss and pretence and with care in the use of ingredients and presentation.  I used to frequent the owners’ former cafe in Brisbane (Cirque) and Two Bob is definitely an extension of a winning formula.

For other great cafes in North Fitzroy, try Mitte and Mixed Business.

Two Bob, 270 Queens Pde, Fitzroy North +61 3 9482 5444

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What I love about Melbourne is that you can be going about your everyday mundaneness then bam! There’s a brand new cafe/restaurant right on your doorstep.

So it was I was trekking to the bank, chemist and Officeworks when I took a double-take. What used to be the Recreation Hotel has been transformed into Marmalade and Soul, a new project by Raymond Capaldi from Hare & Grace.

The corner building has been scrubbed of its pub roots and a homely country-kitchen style cafe/restaurant installed in its place. Marmalade and Soul will be all-day affair, with a British-leaning breakfast menu, lunch at 12pm then dinner starting soon on Thu, Fri and Sat nights.

It’s not really the done thing to review a premises on its very first day (with the lunch menu literally coming straight off the printer into my hands) so you can take any comments I make with that knowledge in mind.

I never visited the Recreation Hotel but the new fitout is artistic and cute and makes the most of showing off the fresh produce used in the kitchen. Huge wire baskets hold Christmas baubles of red capsicums, lemons and oranges and a bushy bunch of rosemary becomes a fragrant centrepiece.

Wooden spoons are turned into chandeliers (twee but it works) and the sweets display is gorgeous – rosewater and passionfruit marshmallow, fist-sized meringues and jagged bricks of honeycomb jostle for space amongst the cookies and muffins.

The waitstaff were still finding their spots but still the service impeccably friendly – not just serving me the usual glass of water when seated but asking whether I wanted some papers to read when they could see that I had my hands full. Much appreciated.

The lunch menu is curious and not the kind of home-style comfort cooking I was expecting from the restaurant’s name. Besides a selection of ready made sandwiches there are ‘Composites’ and ‘Principals’ –  presumably a split of entree/shared plates and mains. Japanese French, Italian cuisines all take a turn in an interesting and complex-sounding range of dishes – as far away from chicken parma as you can get.

I chose the pave of confit salmon with brown rice, spring onion and green tea broth ($24). The dish was beautifully presented, the salmon sweetly tender and the flavours fresh – but it wasn’t particularly thrilling, just very clean and healthful (great if you’re on a diet, which I’m not). And calling a rectangular piece of seared salmon a ‘pave‘ is a bit of unnecessary pomposity frankly.

So why does Marmalade and Soul still get a HOT? Because my curiosity has been piqued by the avant-garde menu. There are six composites and eight principals, with at least a handful of ingredients and terms I’m not familiar with. From my brief glance at their breakfast menu there are a couple of standout dishes amongst the eggs and muesli including my new favourite breakfast dish, kedgeree. The space is gorgeous and people are friendly and it’s so shiny new it’s not so busy…yet.

 Marmalade and Soul, 162 Queens Pde, North Fitzroy

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Do you have a brother?

Does he make you coffee? Cook you eggs? Bake you muffins?

If he’s an annoying brother, then he might just do so.

Annoying Brother Espresso + Kitchen is a small new cafe that’s opened on the southern end of Nicholson St village on the corner of Bik Lane. I have no idea about the origins of the name but it’s catchy and I like the on-theme blackboard cartoon that comprises part of the cafe’s decor.

During my weekday visit it was popular with nearby office workers and most curiously, Irish construction workers in fluorescent orange vests! Guess there must be a site nearby and who’s to say that they don’t deserve better than builders tea?

As the name suggests, the cafe specialises in coffee – they roast and grind their own beans and there’s a rotating menu of blends to try. I have it on good authority from Miss Kish that the coffee is excellent! The food menu is a short affair of about a dozen breakfast items made from locally sourced ingredients – eggs, pancakes, muesli – and a handful of ‘lunchie’ things – a steak sandwich, fritters.

I love dukkah eggs when I see them on a menu and this version was two jolly poached eggs sitting atop a tomato and red capsicum chunky salsa, fresh spinach greens and sprinkled with spice mix ($14.50). I don’t usually comment too much about toast  (it’s just a base for toppings a lot of the time) but this bread was remarkable for its inability to yield to a steak knife. Absolutely rock hard and inedible.

I requested a side of buttered thyme mushrooms ($3.50) which was the opposite of the bread – soft, juicy, buttery and moreish. Next time I might go the Tetris instead –  a build-your-own breakfast of eggs done how you like with a choice of sides including the magnificent mushrooms.

For sweet things I had three house made options – banana bread, muffin and cookie. After asking the owner what he recommended I went with his favourite – the raspberry and white chocolate muffin.

As he took my plate away he asked me how he liked my breakfast and I was honest – I said the eggs were great but the bread was really hard and dry. He apologised, explaining that the sourdough was fresh yesterday but had hardened overnight, and then to my surprise when he brought out the muffin on the wooden platter he said that it was on the house. A small gesture but that’s the way to treat your customers – surprise and delight.

The muffin was a just-baked soft and fluffy ending, filled with gooey chocolate and oozing raspberries (and served with a pat of butter. Really? People put butter on top on their buttery, sugary, muffin?). On par with the muffins from Proud Mary, which I consider in my muffin-eating experience to be the best in Melbourne. Muffins that are definitely worth a return visit, gratis or not.

For other great cafes in North Fitzroy, try Mitte and Mixed Business.

Annoying Brother Espresso, 660 Nicholson St, North Fitzroy +61 3 9482 9494
Mon-Fri 7am – 4pm
Sat-Sun 8:30am – 4pm

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I’m not sure whether Mitte is named after the district in Berlin and the German word for ‘middle’ but let’s just say at the outset that there are no German references in the menu, decor or service of this neighbourhood cafe.

It’s in a little hideaway location on the corner of two residential streets in North Fitzroy and serves breakfast and lunches to a loyal local crowd, who sit inside the cosy interior or spread out on the outdoor pavement tables.

I parked myself on the bench on the sunny side of the street and was immediately greeted with a smile, a menu and a request for a drink order. Having puffed my way up the street on my bike the homemade ginger and mint refresher caught my eye ($6) and while I debated whether to have breakfast or lunch at 11am a tall tumbler of icy mixture of ginger beer, fresh mint and soda water arrived. A delicious variation on the ubiquitous commercial soft drinks.

Hedging my bets on the menu, I decided to try the Middle Eastern style meatballs from the lunch menu ($17) and breakfast crumble from the breakfast menu ($10).

The meatballs, an interesting combination of toasted pistachio, fig and spices, came drenched in a rich tomato sauce and were perfect smeared with yoghurt and a nibble of coriander. The Dench sourdough was best used for mopping up the leftovers – you’ll want to lick that bowl clean.

If you like sweet breakfasts (or a lunch dessert) then I highly recommend the breakfast crumble. This would be better termed the ‘anytime crumble’ because I’d eat it at any time of day! The generous bowl of sticky vanilla and cinnamon poached pears and apples topped with a sweet granola crumble and a dollop of marscapone has guaranteed Mitte a return visit.

For other breakfast/brunch/lunch venues in North Fitzroy, try The Green Grocer and Mixed Business.

Mitte, 76 Michael Street (cnr Rowe Street), North Fitzroy

Mon,Wed-Fri 7:30am-4:30pm

Weekends 8am-4:30pm

The pizzeria Queen Margaret is not named as a reference to QEII’s sister, but to Queen Margherita of Savoy, the first Queen of the united Italy and for whom the magherita pizza was named.

Queen Margaret boasts eighteen (!) pizza varieties on its chalkboard menu, spearheaded by not just one but three riffs on the classic tomato, mozzarella and basil margherita pizza.

My Italian friend tells me that the only way to judge a pizzeria is by its margherita, but I’m actually not such a fan of it myself so I’ll leave someone else (namely Melbourne Gastronome, who was sitting at the next table) to report back on the comparative qualities of the three margheritas.

Instead, our table of three ordered three pizzas – Sock it To Me (tomato, hot salami, mozzarella, olives, roasted peppers $17), Easy Tiger (tomato, prawns, fior di latte, chilli, cherry tomatoes, basil $18) and Just Magic (mushrooms, thyme, pancetta, mozzarella $18) plus the QM Salad of rocket, pear, fennel, parmesan, wanuts and balsamic dressing to share.

The pizzas came out promptly and hooray! presliced. I loved the heady aroma of the earthy mushrooms and crispy pancetta on the Just Magic and the prawn pizza had a satisfying chilli heat to it, compared to the hot salami which wasn’t very hot at all.

As for the bases, they had the bubbly misshapen texture that I like and a base that held the fresh ingredients without turning into a soggy mess. However, if I’m nit-picking the  base was a little too bready – I prefer a bit more chew to my dough (my pizza gold standard is still Ladro and Supermaxi). Having a glance around at other diners it seemed that most people had also left the puffy crusts on their plate.

Our salad was deliciously fresh through relatively pricey at $9.50 for a small bowl given that the pizzas range from a very reasonable $15 to $19.  If you must eat something green with your meal you might be better off with spinach, greens and lemon for $6. For those who don’t want pizza there are two non-pizza option – lasagna al forno or a spinach and ricotta agnolotti with tomato sauce (both $18). They also cater for those who can’t eat the wheat-based pizza bases with gluten-free pizza at an extra $2.

Although I think we could have quite happily skipped dessert, a bit of pressure from the blogger at the table decided that we’d share two desserts – a flourless chocolate cake with sour cherry and coconut ice-cream and an apple galette with rum raisin ice-cream (both $12). While both sweets were quite good they were not remarkable and I think if your appetite is not up to it the desserts are not a must-do. The rum raisin icecream was missing a lot of the rich rum flavour and the chocolate cake was a fairly standard affair.

The restaurant was buzzy and casual on a Friday night, full of friends, families and local couples. Service was prompt, though our sweet waitress seemed a little unexperienced and unsure of herself – I’m sure time will cure that.

Our total bill came to a very reasonable $30 a head without drinks and we walked out with bellies extremely full, with much talk of unbuttoning waistlines and having a lie-down.

Queen Margaret, 356 Queens Pde, North Fitzroy +61 3 9482 5988
Tue-Sun 5pm – late

The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival doesn’t just run events for two weeks in March – the rest of the year they promote food and wine with themes and events such as the Spring Graze.

The Spring Graze is a gathering of more than 60 events throughout September across Victoria, all with the theme of celebrating the new season and to promote the Put Victoria on Your Table philosophy by showcasing Victorian produce.

At Matteo’s, their event is called Victoria in a Bento Box and it’s a lunch special of seven tastes of Victoria plus a glass of wine for $44.

Matteo’s is a restaurant which definitely brings truth to the adage ‘don’t judge a book (or restaurant) by its cover’. The name conjures up a traditional Italian trattoria, the sumptious flocked wallpaper, fine crystal glassware and starched tableclothes seem to indicate a high-end European restaurant – and yet the food is Asian fusion.

And it’s brilliant. Surprising, innovative, sophisticated, delicious. Oh!

Our ‘bento box’ consisted of a large platter lined with a banana leaf and placed with winsome Japanese ceramic bowls containing the following tastes:

Coconut laksa and banana blossom soup, mini sesame prawn brioche toast – with the seafood hailing from Warranambool. This was a soothing, fragrant soup and the prawn toast added an interesting textural dimension – it was almost like a dumpling. One of my favourites.

Steamed chawan mushi custard, sake poached drunken Lilydale chicken, gingko nuts and soya beans. The chicken was really drunk, to the point of being overpowering, but I like the addition of the gingko nuts in the ultra-smooth steamed custard.

Kim chi spicy picked wombok cabbage using wombok from the market gardens of Werribee. I’m not a fan of kimchi normally (limp pickled cabbage ugh) but I liked this crisp julienned version. A modern take on a classic Korean dish.

Inari bean curd filled with coconut rice from Kerang, spring onion and ginger. I loved this! I’d describe it as a  sweet rice pudding dessert hidden under a savoury bean curd hood. Really unexpected flavours but it worked.

Teriyaki glazed Skipton smoked eel, boiled egg and potato, pickled plum and bonito mayonnaise. The pickles cut through the richness of the teriyaki sauce and the eel was perfectly cooked – not rubbery at all.

Pork kakuni slow cooked master stock Buninyong pork belly, pork crackling, Japanese mustard sauce. As we were given chopsticks and not knives and forks, the meat had to be so tender that it could be shredded with one hand. It passed the test with flying colours. I also appreciated how the crackling had been turned into a coarse dust – so that you didn’t have to wrestle with it using only chopsticks. Clever.

For dessert, black sesame creme caramel, pear cider and cinnamon poached nashi pear from Mildura. Anything black sesame is a winner with me and this smooth baked custard had just the right hint of almost savoury sesame underneath the sweet caramel. The still crunchy cubes of nashi cut through the richness, leaving a refreshing sweetness on the palate. I think I’m going to try and replicate this dish (somehow) at home.

Matteo’s Victoria in a Bento Box is available until 30 September, Monday – Friday lunch. Their usual lunch special is also $44 with a choice of two courses and a glass of wine.

For more fine dining in Fitzroy, try Cutler & Co.

Matteo’s, 533 Brunswick St, North Fitzroy +61 3 9481 1177
Sunday-Friday 12-3pm
Daily 6-10pm

Last week The Age’s Melbourne Magazine published its list of top 30 Melbourne cafes. Obviously such a list is going to create some controversy  but as I scanned the names I nodded in agreement with most of their choices. Then I got out my diary to make a note of the cafes that I had yet to visit and made a date with myself at Julio.

North Fitzroy is very close to where I live, so I was surprised that I’d never heard of Julio – I thought I’d pretty much covered the suburb before. It’s a little cornershop premises overlooking  Merri Creek Primary School on a residential street and as I pulled up to the brightly coloured outdoor tables on my bike I thought that Julio could become my go-to lunch stop off the Merri Creek bike trail.

The Melbourne Magazine article said that they judged the cafes on the standard of coffee, service and an ‘x factor’, though in their little blurbs they often described the quality of the food  as well. Not being a coffee drinker I can’t say anything about their coffee (though I noticed they use an impressively shiny La Marzocco machine), but yes I agree that the service was friendly and welcoming and the place was cool enough to fit into its inner city locale without being so hip as to be intimidating. Cue vintage schoolyard furniture, high communal tables and a retro rotation of tunes – the cafe is named after a Paul Simon song ‘Me and Julio down by the schoolyard’.

The Melbourne Magazine also got it right that it’s great for kids – there are games and storybooks available to amuse the little ones and the menu has plenty of kid-friendly choices. I imagine they get a lot of business from parents of the nearby school doing the school run.

So….why have I given Julios a NOT? Basically because I didn’t like the food. For lunch I had baked eggs with chorizo, peas and coriander ($14) and the ceramic dish that came out contained a tomato/chorizo mixture with a pair of cock-eyed eggs – as you can see, one with a soft yolk and the other with a yolk cooked to a solid ball. I also thought the whole dish was thirst-inducing salty though I’m not sure whether it was the chorizo’s fault or whether the dish had been overseasoned. (I actually replicated the dish the next day in my own kitchen just to see whether I could get the eggs and seasoning right and frankly enjoyed my version much more).

Reserving judgement for the moment I moved onto the quince and almond tart ($6). I like almonds but this tart was too nutty and dry and it contained the merest smear of quince. If you had told me that there was nothing involved other than crushed up nuts and melted butter pressed into a tart shape I’d have believed you.

So overall, a disappointing experience. I’m a little perplexed by what I’ve missed that The Melbourne Magazine loved so much and I’m sure I’ll receive comments rising to Julio’s defence. If I lived around the corner, then I would probably return to Julio purely for convenience. But was it worth my 20 minute bike ride to get there and would I recommend it to my friends? Probably not.

The Melbourne Magazine also listed the following places which I’ve reviewed as HOT previously and which I wholeheartedly recommend: Proud Mary, Three Bags Full, Coin Laundry, Monk Bodhi Dharma, Auction Rooms, Penny Farthing Espresso, The Hardware Societe, Liasion, St Ali, Coffee Darling and Pillar of Salt.

• Julio, 171 Miller St, Fitzroy North +61 3 9489 7814

When Stuff White People Like author Christan Lander visited Melbourne in 2009, he went in search of the whitest suburb in the city.

He landed in North Fitzroy. To be precise, he landed at The Green Grocer ‘a trendy cafe-slash-grocer. It’s the sort of place that sells organic vegetables, bio-dynamic meat and expensive pots of jam. On weekends, it’s overrun by couples with babies on their chests and The Age under their arms.’

Well, I may not be white but I think I fit right in at The Green Grocer.  I cycled there. Baby sits in capsule while I read The Age’s restaurant reviews. On my way out, I admire the display of sparkling fresh fruit and veg along one wall and check out the pamphlet on the cooking classes held upstairs. I even buy a jar of the housemade organic tomato relish to encourage RM to upgrade his palate from Heinz tomato sauce ($12.50).

Anyway, back to my lunch. The menu is a showcase for organic produce and contains classic items with a twist. To start I try the citrus and elderberry refresher ($6), a tall glass muddled with orange juice, grapefruit juice and elderberry juice over ice. It was almost medicinal in appearance and flavour, but not in an unpleasant way.

Torn between sweet and savoury, healthy and indulgent, I go for the herb and fetta pancake with crispy bacon, avocado, sweetcorn and coriander salsa ($15).  When they say ‘pancake’ they really do mean pancake in the singular.

I was worried that it wouldn’t be filling enough but the pancake’s oozy fetta batter turned out a sort of fancy version of Pizza Hut’s cheesy crust pizza base! The bacon had been fried to a perfect crisp that snapped off with the knife’s pressure, the avocado was super-fresh and the salsa rounded off the whole plate with some contrasting piquancy.

Desserts were all contained in the glass cabinet and I went for the passionfruit baked cheesecake ($8). It was a very generous slice of cake but I found the texture to be too hefty and solid for my liking. It wasn’t a bad cheesecake but to be honest I wish I hadn’t used up the credit of calories that I’d cycled off in return for this slice of cake.

I found the service to be smiling and pleasant and the clientele were, well, all white well-heeled people. But that’s ok! White, black, yellow and pink – if you enjoy eating good quality ingredients prepared with care and served in pleasant surroundings, The Green Grocer‘s for you.

• The Green Grocer, 217 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North +61 3 9489 1747

Supermaxi is very similar to Ladro in its spartan blank-wall/dark timber furniture combination and relaxed neighbourhood feel. The menu is also very familiar, down to the same famous Badabing pizza topped with pork and fennel sausage and the oven-roasted meat of the day.

A large group of friends plus a week-old baby, booked for dinner for 6pm on a Saturday night, as that was the only time available in this popular restaurant. As the night progressed the noise level increased (fortunately baby slept through it all) so if you’re wanting a cosy, intimate restaurant for whispering sweet nothings then this is not the place for it.

To start, a complimentary bowl of  brined Lupini beans, provide something to snack on while contemplating the choices. With eight adults, we were able to take a good run at the menu and opted to share a selection of primi plates and pizzas.

Of the starters, the crowd favourite was the pan-fried caciocavallo cheese ($12) topped with chopped tomatoes. Really, what’s not to like about fried cheese? The aracini were also excellent, with not-too-mushy rice inside a crisp crust. The rustic seared scallops, while perfectly done, didn’t excite me as much.

As expected, all the pizza bases were excellent – firm and chewy and slightly charred. While I am not normally a fan of eggplant, the GTV 105 ($17.50) won me over with whole slices of grilled eggplant, pesto and the occasional hit of anchovies. Possibly my second favourite pizza after the bianco pizza base topped with fat juicy porcini and field mushrooms, plus bubbling cheese mingling with the heady aroma of drizzled truffle oil ($19). My Italian friend said that the gold standard for pizza tasting is the margherita ($15) and in her view Supermaxi‘s version was one of the best.

We didn’t have room for dessert though to be honest nothing grabbed me in the same way as the Bombolini at Ladro, though the fried custard sounded curious. Total bill with drinks was $40 a head.

Comparisons between Supermaxi and Ladro are inevitable and I hesitate to recommend one place over the other. Both places produce high quality meals, especially pizzas, so I think the difference in the food is negligible. However, I did think that the service at Supermaxi was better – constant water top-ups, smiling waitstaff, very solicitous attitude. The space is also bigger if you need to feed a large group or need to fit a pram inside, though as mentioned before it can become very noisy.

To read other reviews, check out Eat Drink Stagger, Melbourne Gastronome and Melbourne Social Guide (who puts it head to head with other upmarket pizza establishments).

Supermaxi, 305 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North +61 3 9482 2828

So even though I spotted a waffle maker for $20 recently, I resisted temptation. Which is a roundabout way of explaining why, out of all the delightful items on the breakfast menu at Mixed Business, I honed straight into the waffles.

Mixed Business is a popular cafe in Clifton Hill that is worth a special visit for breakfast. While it’s at the very end of a strip of shops on Queens Parade, it’s not in a place with constant foot traffic (or parking), yet on a weekday morning it was consistently busy. It seems particularly popular with people with kids, as the airy spaciousness and quaint rough-and-tumble wooden furnishings make it an ideal place for young tots to roam around and with plenty of space to park prams. There’s also a sunny garden area where you can sit in amongst delightfully unkempt flowering herbs punctuated by the gentle rumble of the Epping line.

I sidled into the restored church pew padded with summer-stripe cushions that’s positioned against the communal table. A pixie-haired waitress immediately greeted me with a menu and a glass of water and I think I halfway fell in love with the cafe right there thanks to her huge friendly grin.

The breakfast menu contains items that are a little out of the ordinary. The aforementioned gingerbread waffles with vanilla bean ice cream, roasted apples and candied walnuts ($14) is listed amongst poached eggs with sourdough accompanied by half a dozen different sides – from ham hock white beans, pancetta, tomato and parmesan to potato and rosemary rosti with avocado (all $13.50). While normally I’m not much of an egg person I was very much torn between a sweet or savoury breakfast, but in the end compromised on sweet so I could take away one of their hot rolls.

Two freshly baked waffles arrived heaped with topping. I have a fear of doughiness  in pancakes and waffles but these two wholemeal rectangles were perfect – crispy on the outside, springy on the inside. The toppings provided contrasting textural interest, with cold, hot, crunchy and smooth all sounding out together.

For lunch that same day I had a toasted ciabatta roll tucked with salty corned beef, tomato relish, tangy Dijon mustard, Swiss cheese and rocket ($9). A classic 50s combination which was still satisfying after a couple of hours.

Given its popularity on a weekday I imagine weekends at Mixed Business can get very busy, but nevertheless I urge you to try it out for breakfast or lunch – you won’t be disappointed.

For more blog love for Mixed Business, check out Food Rehab, “…it pleases us”, Eating Melbourne and The Real Melbourne.

• Mixed Business, 486 Queens Pde, Clifton Hill +61 3 9486 1606

Well, thanks to Where’s the Beef, I have discovered possibly the best value degustation in Melbourne. $25 for 8 courses at Zenzero Blu. Yes you heard right.

It is eight vegetarian courses, but as I’m not much of a meat-eater I don’t think that detracts from the fantastic value for money. The various dishes range from good to really delicious and I guarantee that you’ll be very full at the end, even though no meat is involved.

I think that Zenzero Blu have hit onto smart idea, as the cafe’s brown wood and black banquette interior and dark awninged exterior is not somewhere that I would necessarily be enticed to enter if I was just strolling the streets of North Fitzroy. Yet on a Tuesday night they were reasonably full in the front dining section (there is a large second room and a courtyard, neither of which was being used on the night) and many people seemed to be enjoying the vegetarian degustation.

Now for the food, the menu of which changes regularly according to availability. First up, some olives marinated in orange zest, garlic and fennel. Within the same course, some flaky charred roti and three dollops of dip – smoked eggplant, Moroccan lentil and cashew. I didn’t try the olives but I very much enjoyed the bread and dips, in particular the slightly spicy Moroccan lentil and the rich cashew.

Second course was soup of the day, being potato, leek and lemon. Potato and leek soup is a fairly traditional winter soup, but the slight acidity from the lemon really lifted it to an appropriately refreshing Spring-like flavour. The tangy soup was a highlight.

Catalan-style bread, or what I would usually consider a bruschetta – fresh chopped tomatoes piled on crunchy toasted bread with a drizzle of olive oil. Some large and overly mushy porcini mushroom and pumpkin aracini with a bright tomato sugo and a ring of salsa verde. And cumin dusted sweet potato chips which looked promising but were sadly very soggy, more like steamed sweet potato.

My next favourite dish was a simple crisp salad of rocket, dates, sliced apple and grano padano. It counterbalanced the risotto with eggplant, olives, basil and tomato sugo, which though very flavoursome had been sadly overcooked to an almost congee-like consistency (much like the same rice in the aracini).

Finally for dessert, a smooth pannacotta of no discernible flavouring (made with animal-product gelatin? not sure) with a flourescent berry coulis.

Service was friendly and efficient during our two hour meal and the vibe of the cafe was bright and casual. I did spy some other tables eating meat and fish dishes from the a la carte menu, but if you’re going to Zenzero Blu for dinner then I highly recommend the vegetarian degustation. It’s worth returning for.

• Zenzero Blu, 32 Best St cnr St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North +61 3 9481 3393
  

Over the years I’ve been to many weddings and being a huge sweet tooth, I always pay particular attention to the cake. Modern couples have definitely moved away from fruit cake and white royal icing, and I’ve had chocolate cake, sponge cake and lemon poppyseed cake (although I’ve yet to be cheated with a wheel of cheese instead of cake, which is apparently a growing trend).

When it came to my own wedding, I was very keen on having a cake with a  ‘wow’ factor – I mean, I have a foodie reputation to uphold! RM’s only criteria was that it should be chocolate. Easy.

To find a cake supplier I’m went to the  list of award-winning suppliers by the Australian Bridal Industry Academy (a useful but truly retch-worthy website) and scrolled down until I found someone in the inner city. I trotted down to Kat’s Cakes in North Fitzroy, selected the only style which wasn’t round or white and was given a sample of the chocolate mud cake by Kat, who runs the commercial kitchen on the same premises.

Our cake ended up being a 5 tiered cake of  individual chocolate mud cake boxes sandwiched with chocolate ganache and framed with thick chocolate panels. It was delivered to our reception venue, along with 100 takeaway noodle boxes. The structure was as tall and impressive as I’d hoped and the dark colours I thought looked particularly good with the scattering of orchids and Australian natives. As for the taste, it was soooo moist and rich that it was unfortunate that it came at the end of a huge lunch banquet and platters of amazing sorbet and icecream. I really couldn’t appreciate it at the time and wish I’d had the foresight to take some home.

Oh well, we’ll just have to wait to order our 1 year anniversary cake, an unexpected and pleasant surprise which we only found out about after the big day.

• Kat’s Cakes, 309 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North +61 3 9486 6575

• Corner Store Cafe, 100 Scotchmer Rd, Fitzroy North +61 3 9489 8508

Cheerful Loafer Bread seemed to specialise more in cakes, pastries and pies than bread, and their window display of delectable pastries convinced me to try a walnut scroll ($3.50). Absolutely delicious – the right amount of nuts, not too sweet and reminiscent of the orgasmic pastries from Baker and Spice in London.

Too much bread doesn’t usually make my tummy very happy, and as I’d also read that their spelt bread ($6.70) was worth a try, I took home a loaf to have later. It was a little bit too sour for my taste, and no tilsit cheese, pea and ham soup or praline spread could hide it.

Update: In my humble opinion, Dench Bakers produces the best mince pies in Melbourne. Granted, I haven’t eaten every mince pie in Melbourne, but I’ve eaten enough in my search for the perfect mince pies.

• Dench Bakers, 109 Scotchmer St, Fitzroy North +61 3 9486 3554