Duchess Of Spotswood

87 Hudsons Rd,
SPOTSWOOD, VIC
Phone - 03 9391 6016

Image found here

What a find! This is the first time I have eaten in Spotswood at all and what a great impression it has left on me. When I think of Spotswood I think of the movie with Anthony Hopkins and Ben Mendolson, and I think of the pub across the railway where lots of men have sniggled when it’s mentioned.(I did find out why they sniggled, need I mention it, I’m sure you can guess).

There is only one instance when I would relate Spotswood to food and that is only for takeaway Lebanese Pizza at Al Nada. Otherwise for breakfast, lunch or dinner there is SKY(seddon Kingsville and Yarraville) of course, then willi on the odd occasion, Kensington more so than not and other surrounding areas for when I am bored.
But now Spotswood is always on the tip of my tongue for breakfast, because the best breakfast I have had in a long time was had here. At Duchess of Spotswood. Notably there are a few new cafes in this shopping strip but guess which café was full, yes that’s right the Duchess. Unfortunately for other cafes, Duchess was full and the others were empty, that’s right empty. As soon as I walked into this café there was a good vibe and the look, I loved the look. The lovely wooden communal table in the front of the café sourced from the old Dance Hall in Yarraville made it all closer to home. The very yellow oven in the Kitchen fantastic, did it come like this or was it their idea, I don’t know. Very Simple, understated.
And the menu. The first of it’s kind! Very English with each item relating back to the home country. Menu items named as such, Simple Pleasures, Fruit of the Forage, Scotch Woodcock , how fantastic. It’s like the breakfast menu has been completely re-invented here, Hooray.

I ordered the Fruits of the Forage which comprised of Wild Mt Macedon mushrooms with soft semolina, crispy double smoked pork neck and a poached egg. Excellent, superb, can’t get it out of my mind delicious. There is fish on the breakfast menu, blackpudding , toast from Zealy Bay, porridge and muesili mostly done with an English twist. Racheal ordered the scotch woodcock( I think the scrambled eggs was called this with a relish, which I also can’t remember the name of). Unfortunately for Rach the menu had not informed her that the relish that came on her scrambled eggs was anchovy. OOHH she said get it off my plate( of the garnish of anchovy fillet) As I am not a huge fan of Anchovies I completely understood her horror at such a strong flavour being added to her dish. It did make it difficult for her to eat the rest of the dish as she was worried that a sneaky anchovy was going to make it into her mouth. As she was still hungry we thought we’d both(yes even though I devoured my dish I still had room for more) better try the gorgeous gingerbread cakes on display. How simply luscious! And the Tea, wonderful, served in lovely pots with cups and and even the presentation of water, in great bottles.
My only critique would be about Rach’s dish and warning customers about strong flavours such as anchovy via the menu or through the waiter just mentioning it, otherwise this has got to be the best breakfast joint found in 2010.
My advice don’t waste any time and get yourself down there. MON

Luca Haus

86A Charles Street
Seddon
(03) 9687 0039

Hooray Hooray!

On walking into this new establishment I was so excited, I almost couldn't contain the big YES that was echoing in my head! Yes Yes Yes!
You guys know what you are doing! It's a only a small space but wow have you filled it with the most wonderful array of food products. Everywhere I look I see something that I either want to devour or to use
in my kitchen. The Paella pans hanging side by side with the woven baskets have started a craving for wanting to cook a paella. The Bread from Noisette(remember a couple of reviews ago I introduced you to
Noisette from Port Melbourne or at least the bread) is crying out to me take me home as are the chocolates and tea blossoms, Jasper coffee(and I don't even drink coffee) and the granola products. And I could go on
forever - instead I suggest you should go and visit and check it out for yourself.

Now that's the packaged products, but what about the breakfast menu? A very small meun with no eggs at this point, but you must try the Croque Monsieur. It was absolutely delicious. Beautiful ham, a beautiful bechamel and the bread, what can I say. Very Very delicious.
There were other items on the menu such as plain croissants and filled croissants, granola and yoghurt, Noisette breads toasted, portuguese tarts. Who needs Eggs? They also have a small lunch menu with lasagna
and the like being cooked on the property.. The coffee is Fairtrade from Jaspers(if you watched Foreign Correspondant the other night you would never drink coffee or eat chocolate other than fairtrade again).
The tea also from Jasper was 3.50 but I also had a chai late and it was the best chai late I've had yet. I had to go back and get another one not long after and I can assure you it won't be long before I have another one.
Luca, I think is the barista and owner, has such a lovely smile and way with him that I am sure he will give Andy from Le Chien a run for his money on being one of the nicest barista's/owner in SKY.

Poynton's Cafe

The Boulevard (cnr Vida St.), Essendon VIC 3040

03 9337 8111.

Generic!!!!!

Poynton's is a sensational nursery. I love going there, if not to buy then just to look. The natural colours of the nursery are amazing from no matter where you are standing, but I guess the best overall view is from the cafe.
The cafe is extremely generic in how it looks. The table, the seats, the space, the cake fridge are all a little bit ho hum. However look out the window and peace overcomes you. It's quite serene, the river, the nursery and the birds singing (are you with me Rach?). Then look at the menu and it's all generic again. A menu that is quite extensive and expensive. I knew before I had even ordered that the food was not going to be special. You know, you get a feeling that the people in a cafe either care or they don't. The overwhelming feeling here for me was that there was no love here. In the nursery you see lot's of love, but unfortunately not in the cafe.

I ordered the baked eggs which were supposed to have chorizo, tomato and coriander. No coriander, tiny
bits of chorizo and turkish bread on the side (no butter). Fancy no coriander when they probably have it growing in the nursery.  $16.50 was a bit steep, probably quite steep actually. T2 at 3.50, but can't remember how it came. I quickly finished what I ordered (no savouring) just so I could get back out into the nursery. Sometimes you should stick to what you know and if it is plants you know stick to growing them and if it's food you know then stick to cooking it. However if you are very clever and think you can pair the two how about serving food grown in the nursery and advertising that! Too easy!

The Famous Blue Raincoat

South Kingsville sounds like it should be in SKY but actually it is on the other side of the West gate. It is so worth hopping in your car for a meal at this fab venue. I call it a venue because although it is a café (it calls itself a restaurant and bar) on different nights of the week it does turn into a music venue where owner James Wakeling and some of his mates get up and play a combination of Jazz, Folk and Blues. Cool!

This venue is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The breakfast menu is great and has some fav’s of mine on there. The muesli and promite eggs are a couple, however this particular weekend morning I opted for the pancakes with berries, yoghurt and maple syrup. It was delicious! I felt by adding the yoghurt it was healthier than your average pancakes (that’s what I’m telling myself anyway). If you are a regular reader of this blog you would have noticed that generally I stick to the egg dishes but there are the odd occasions when I wake up craving something sweet and it has to be given in to. Although I may never have pancakes again for this blog I think it is my duty to try as many breakfast options as I can so I can report back to you. I think eating the pancakes at the time was feeding my cravings and just yummy but I have to say afterwards I felt somewhat bloated and perhaps a little regretful. What I totally regretted was ordering the tea! As blogged nearly 12 months ago I was not that impressed with the tea. Even less impressed this time. Adam’s Peak Tea (never heard of it before) it’s called and it’s a bag in a cafeteria pot. Luke warm water, ilk!! I reckon they could lift the standards here!

Coming here for dinner is great fun because on different nights of the week they have different cuisines and for less than $15, you could have a paella or you could come on a Sunday for the Sunday traditional roast.

I really like this place. It’s warm, it’s groovy, it’s comfy and most of all it could be a home away from home. I just wish it was closer to me so I could walk there and then I would visit more often.

The big news for Famous Blue Raincoat Owners James and Kaz is that they have just taken over the deli which is a couple of doors down from FBR. It is a lovely shop decked out with fresh fruit and veg (some organic), lots of different deli items and the best part I think, Noisette Bread. Noisette is a Boulangerie Patisserie in Port Melbourne and it is truly divine. Not sure whether they serve breakfast but perhaps will have to venture over to find out Rach, what do you think?

Finally - Pancake Time

I never did find my picture of the Seddon Deadly Sins banana pancakes .... so I just had to go back and have them again just for the good of this blog!!!  Dedicated aren't I!
Rachael

The Corner Shop & Le Chien

Like two peas in a pod.  Still my fav's.  Both these cafes know how to run a business!  And although they would not like to be grouped together I have put them in the same review because  although they are quite
different as cafes they both still have a lot in common.  That's no coincidence!  Ian and Claire who run The corner shop once used to be part owners of Le Chien!  Eighteen months ago Ian and Claire struck out on their own once again and have made a huge success of it, whilst Andy remains at Le Chien continuing on the sucess story there.

My fav brekkie at the corner shop is the baked eggs.  Just superb with Chorizo and fetta.  Maybe a little bit more turkish bread needed to go with it but otherwise a faultless dish!
At Le Chien, my fav brekkie (as well as a lot SKY peoples) is the promite special (poached eggs, on promite ciabatta toast, avocado, tomato and parsley).  Just Brilliant!  Consistently excellent.

At both cafe's tea is served in lovely big pots.  But here is where Le Chien still comes out on top!  The tea here tastes, like English Breakfast, at the Corner Shop, it tastes flowery. (Jeepers Mon - I still can't tell the difference.  They are some serious taste buds you've got there!  Besides, some of us like our EBT flowery) It always has and so I have stopped ordering it. The  Last two times when I was there I ordered a Chai latte.   The first time was delicious the second time not so.   It  is the barista of course, on both days it was a different barista.  So now when I go there I will check out who the Barista  is and that will determine what I will order.  Much Easier though at Le Chien, consistency is a key ingredient here.

The most common denominator in these two cafes is the atmosphere.  In both cafes when you walk in there is an instant vibe.  Content and relaxed people, enjoying their mornings.  There have been many a friendship forged in these cafes, and isn't that what our local cafe is about, community spirit and meeting other locals. When we leave these cafes, we leave feeling fulfilled.

LOVE these two cafes - the best in SKY by a long shot!!

Coffee Edge

1 Anderson Street. Yarraville 3013.
Tel: 9687 0977



Not new, so how did we miss this cafe last year. Well quite easily it appears! Coffee Edge is tucked away at the top end of Anderson St. I knew there was a cafe there I just didn't think they served breakfast.

As I never walked past this cafe I never gave it a second thought. I would drive past it and it looked like a cafe in which an older generation of European men hung out at. I didn't think it was my scene. One particular morning when I drove past I saw a new sign out the front, advertising breakfast, so I thought ah, change of
owner/management, now is the time to have breakfast here.

So off Rachael and myself go, walking to the top end of Anderson St and Coffee Edge. The first thing that I notice is a cute little courtyard. I thought not a bad place to hang out with my book and a cup of tea!
But once we walk inside it is pretty clear, pretty quickly that this place is lacking! This is how a cafe looked 20 maybe 30 years ago. The decor is simply boring! The atmosphere is simply boring! and The menu is simply boring! Have they not been to any of the other cafes in SKY, have they not checked out their competition. For Heavens sake they did not even have any music going!

I ordered the old standard breakfast(poached eggs, spinach mushrooms and tomato). It was served on
white toast but had been on the menu as sour dough. I always find this disappointing and think that if there is a menu item missing it is courteous to let the customer know. But something tells me they may not know the difference. However this breakfast was only $10, quite a steal compared to the rest of SKY! Apart from the toast thing , it was quite well cooked, just like nona would make! How was your omelette Rach?

Ummm - barely remember I'm afraid.  Fairly average I think.
The coffee is Griffiths and as we sat there, there was quite a few take away orders. $3.20 was the price, let me know what you think! The tea is T2! (I think T2 is invading the world, everywhere you go it's there on the shelf, watching you, saying order me!) They were offering 7 blends of T2 and I tried the peppermint. Yes it tasted like peppermint, nothing amazing.

Coffee Edge is still not my scene! It needs a lot of work. But for those who don't take their cafes so seriously, it might be just the place for you. It has all the basics, just no personality!

I'd love to play devil's advocate here but I was so disconcerted by the appalling decor I couldn't concentrate.  Maybe the courtyard experience would be better.  Please don't make me go there again.

Rachael