I was going to do a breakfast review, as I go out for the first meal of the day every Saturday and Sunday unless something bad has happened to prevent me from doing so. It’s a Melbourne institution, and one I have enjoyed for as long as I can remember.
Sitting down this morning however, I was forced to endure a phenomenon that is becoming more and more common, not only in the mornings, but at any dining out experience. (more…)
When I last spent any real time in St Kilda and surrounding suburbs, it was all Greasy Joe’s and Big Mouth. I once sat in Greasy Joe’s eating breakfast and watching Tex Perkins consume a six pack of cheap looking beer at the tram stop in the time it took me to drink two flat whites and eat my bacon and eggs. Acland Street has changed, so further inland in Balaclava seemed a better option this last week.
263 Carlisle St, Balaclava
Firstly, at Ugly Sister you don’t have to book for breakfast. The breakfast menu is simple and runs all day (which means till 3 on Sundays as I found out at 3.15 on Sunday).
The clientele are mostly locals, so there is minimal posing. The coffee is excellent, as it should be considering their neighbour: Ugly Sister is across the road from Batch, which is owned and run by 2005 barista of the year Jason Chan.
Christmas is fast upon us which means the general peasantry comes out in force. Great for the cash register at the end of the day, but bad for your mental health and your own enjoyment of the festive season. This means a little bit of pampering is sorely required on the weekend. Not sure about yet another trip over the river though…
Circa, The Prince
2 Acland St, St Kilda
‘Have you booked a table for brekky?’. The only response I could muster on an already sweltering Melbourne sunday was ‘What do you mean I had to fucking book?!?’. And so began our highly anticipated journey to what is reputedly one of Melbourne’s finest on the breakfast scene. Friends have raved about Circa for as long as I can remember and I’m amazed I’ve never ventured in for dinner, St Kilda location notwithstanding. So it was with a certain amount of other-side-of-the-river sheepishness that I ambled up to the maitre-d looking for a table.
(more…)
