January 2011.
: 87 Hudsons Rd, Spotswood, 3015 Phone (03) 9391 6016
What a great way to start the year off with a visit to the Duchess! My timing could not have been better as I believe the new menu had just been introduced. Last year this little cafe blew me away so the expectations were pretty high. Veering away from the tradional bacon and eggs Duchess has stepped up and is showing Melbourne how breakfast can be. I particulary like how each menu item is named and would love to know how the titles come about.
I had Stormin' Normin(now if you google this it comes up with General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the famous American general, is this dish named after him?). Did I like the dish, mmmmm it was okay. Griddled(American for Flat Grilled)Ham with fried egg, heirloom tomato salad and sour dough toast. I thought the tomatoes would pack a punch but no such luck, very ordinary tomatoes which sort of let the dish down.
Other dishes include a homemade museli bar, an omelette with yabbies(one of my guests said it was sensational), house smoked salmon with potato pancake and poached eggs. There is the tradional full English Breakfast, black pudding included if you don't want to be adventurous. You can also create your own breakfast with eggs done any which way and the sides which are a notch above the rest. It was interesting to watch 2 rather hefty gentleman sitting at the end of the table(share table)dissect their breakfast. You could tell that they were not happy with the size of their breakfast and they were looking at it with a certain amount of curiosity as well as disappointment. They are not big breakfasts at Duchess, they do have a premium price tag attached so in a working class suburb this is bound to happen. I like the size of the breakies, I don't want to start the day overeating, but for a guy, I get it. As far as the premium price tag goes, I do believe they deserve to charge that much as they are serving premium products. Consistently sensational are the gingerbread cup cakes. Can't leave without one!
My Chai was luke warm as were the coffees served to my guests. Disappointing! I love the way they serve their tea hear and the chai was lovely spice wise.
Although not a perfect score, I can't wait for my next visit, I would love to try the Lancashire Hash among other dishes.
