Taste Food Store & Provisions, Mandurah

Apologies, for the delayed post, and general lack of posts lately...


Last weekend I made the trip south to Bunbury to catch up with Ms Red. Public transport all the way is pretty average so we compromised, and met halfway - at the end of the train line. This left us in Mandurah at 9am looking for breakfast. After walking past a few of the options found on my urbanspoon app, our hopes were not high (it's been a long time since I've seen a Robert Timms umbrella!) On our way to check out the last urbanspoon recommendation we passed Taste Food Store & Provisions, and a claim to serving 'Melbourne's best coffee' was enough to pull us in.


As always, we started with coffee, a skim flat white for me and a soy latte for Ms Red. And although the coffee was good, it wasn't Melbourne's best (Ms Red's call, as a pre-WA Melbournian).


After deliberating for a while, looking for a lighter (and I think sweet...) option, Ms Red chose the eggs florentine. I went with the scrambled eggs, which is fast becoming my favourite way to have eggs, and mushies, as I'm suffering from severe mushroom withdrawal as FSIL doesn't like them.



Both were quite tasty, and the eggs were perfectly cooked in both cases, although the 'plating' leaves a bit to be desired. Ms Red's plate in particular looked quite bare. And, we are still not sure where the 'food store and provisions' part comes in, because it was really just a cafe, with no food store or 'provisions' (whatever that means) to speak of. But it was pretty good, and we'll probably go back there if we're in the same situation again - as I said, it was much better than we were expecting to find.

-Alphie

Cafe One Forty, Bunbury

Whew! I have been I bad blogger of late!

Admittedly I have been busy(ish) - I moved in with FH Alphie's (older) sister in Perth, than about 2 days later I was whisked to Melbourne for work for 3 days, then a weekend in Sydney before flying back to Perth and work on Monday. It's taken a few days to settle in to the routine that FSIL and her partner have going on, cooking-wise, but I've finally found my groove again but I am back in the kitchen with a vengeance.

Before I get into that, I have just spent the weekend in Bunbury with my parents and sister (Ms Red), where amongst other things, we had a lazy Sunday brunch before my parents had to drive to Perth to catch a flight back the east coast. Under Ms Red's guidance, we went to 'the only cafe in Bunbury with decent coffee', Cafe One Forty.

After perusing the menu, we sent Dad off to the counter, list in hand, to place our order. Clearly, he doesn't read this blog, because minutes later, four large coffees arrived at our table!

Mums (or are they Dads?) poached eggs with doorstopper toast and tomatoes

Mum and Dad ordered the same thing, poached eggs, but given that they have just celebrated their 32nd (I hope I got that right) wedding anniversary, I guess I can forgive them!

Ms Reds poached eggs, with with doorstopper toast and tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms

Ms Red also had poached eggs but added mushrooms and spinach.

Scrambled eggs, with with doorstopper toast and tomatoes, and premium bacon

I bucked the trend and went with scrambled eggs, and bacon.

I hope to keep up with the posting, so you should hear from me again soon!

-Alphie

(Cafe One Forty, 140 Victoria St, Bunbury, ph: (08) 9721 2254)

Greenhouse, Perth

FH Alphie and I went out to breakfast again on Thursday (I know! two school days in one week!). I had already been to Greenhouse for coffee, and was intrigued by the concept and thought it would be a great place for breakfast while I'm still staying in the CBD.


The building is made from recycled, raw and sustainable materials wherever possible, and similar concepts are applied to the food. A rooftop garden supplies produce to the kitchen; bread is baked, and yoghurt is made, on site; and a worm farm provides fertiliser for the rooftop garden. (check out the website for more details - www.greenhouseperth.com)

baked chorizo, piquillo pepper, beans & egg

As always, we started with coffee while we decided what to have for breakfast. FH Alphie is sold on anything that is served with chorizo, so naturally, he went with the baked chorizo & egg. Which surprisingly came with a poached, not baked, egg, but FH Alphie quite enjoyed it anyway.

toasted muesli, strawberries, passionfruit & yoghurt

After the huge, egg and butter laden breakfast I had at No. 44 King St on Tuesday, I went for a more virtuous option this time - toasted muesli with house made yoghurt. While the muesli was tasty, and the yoghurt was delish, it really made me realise that I don't actually like toasted muesli. It's just so crunchy, and requires too much chewing!

All in all it was a great venue, with good food, and I'm pretty keen to head back for lunch or drinks & 'evening eats'.

-Alphie

No. 44 King St, Perth

Firstly, I'd like to apologise for my lack of posts of late. FH Alphie's family have been in Perth, so between family dinners at FSIL's and strange concotions cooked up in my tiny hotel kitchen, there hasn't been alot to blog about. FH Alphie's family has returned to the east coast (except those that live here of course!), and he is now in Perth for a week, so I'm hoping the blogging opportunities present themselves a bit more often now.

Since I am working, and FH Alphie is on holiday, we went out to breakfast this morning before I went off to work. I have been searching the streets of Perth for a decent coffee (more on that later), and have walked past No. 44 King St a couple of times while searching out a particular recommendation. When FH Alphie suggested we go out for breakfast, it was the first place that came to mind. Every time I have walked past it has been full with young professionals catching up, or maybe conducting business, over coffee or breakfast.

We started with coffee, because FH Alphie couldn't decide on breakfast. The coffee only comes in one size, however it was about the size I felt like (FH Alphie would have preferred a larger one). The milk was 'well frothed' (FH Alphie's comment - can you tell he worked at a cafe throughout uni?), and the coffee was smooth and strong. However, it was just a bit too milky - FH Alphie was glad he didn't have a larger coffee, because he didn't think he'd be able to finish all that milk.

Smoked Salmon, poached egg & hollandaise sauce on a pesto potato cake

Once we ordered, we ended up getting almost the same thing! I went with the Eggs Florentine, and FH Alphie had the Smoked Salmon with a poached egg & hollandaise. FH Alphie thought that the pesto potato cake, while tasty, was a bit too soft for its purpose, and he kept loosing bits off his fork.

Eggs Florentine

I found the hollandaise a bit vinegary, and If I'm to be really picky, a bit too thin, although FH Alphie said he preferred the hollandaise like that. Otherwise, the Eggs Florentine were fab. The eggs were perfectly cooked, served on two generous slices of house made bread, and more than enough spinach.

The good food & good coffee, combined with the fact they have hard-to-find east-coast newspapers The Age and SMH (albeit a day old) for customers to read, means I'll probably be back, and I might even become a regular!

Off to dinner with FH Alphie, FSIL & her friends tonight, before Florence and the Machine!

-Alphie

Sonoma Bakery Cafe, Paddington

Breakfast at Sonoma in Paddington is a Wednesday ritual for me. My chiropractor is just across the road (yes, I see a chiropractor weekly), and given how early I have to get up to get there, I don't have breakfast before I leave. So after seeing the chiro, I stumble across five-ways, in the cold, and lately, in the rain, in to the welcoming hole in the wall that is Sonoma Bakery Cafe. There are only 7 or 8 tables (for two) inside, which, added to the friendly, chatty nature of the staff, makes it feel like you are having breakfast at a friends house (a well stocked, barista trained friend, but you get the idea).

Toast with tomato & ricotta ($4+$2+$2)

I almost always order the same thing; toast with tomato and ricotta, with a skim flat white. If I'm feeling particularly hungry, I replace the tomato and ricotta with two boiled eggs.

Toast with boiled egg ($4+$3)

Other toast options (all mix & match) include avocado, cured meats, Danish (?) fetta and jams. There are also a few museli/porridge variants, served with rhubarb and yoghurt (I tried them a while ago - these are delish), some breakfast rolls (I have had one of these too - also fab) and a selection of muffins and pastries.

If you are ever in the area, it is definitely worth a stop in, even if only for the coffee. And if it happens to be a Wednesday morning - I might just see you there!

-Alphie