Café Andiamo (Melbourne)
Situated within the iconic Degraves Lane, is a great row of cafes which are the ideal spot for breakfast on the weekends. On my last morning in Melbourne with my girlfriends Carly and Liz, we found ourselves wandering down this strip, trying desperately to find a table in this street before finally spotting an opening at Cafe Andiamo.
It's hard to tell if the people here are locals or tourists, but I think the answer is a mix of both.
We sit down and peruse the menu - the girls enjoying coffee as I order an orange juice like always. Unfortunately it's bottled juice not fresh, which I think should have told me a lot about what was about to come with this meal.
Liz settles on the French Toast with Maple Syrup and Fresh Strawberries. It is HUGE. The colouring is a bright yellow, the giant slabs of toast golden and way too thick when trying to portion out the syrup and strawberries with each bite. It turns out to be a much too big serving and she gives up about halfway through.
For her meal, Carly chooses the gluten-free crepes with vanilla ice-cream and fresh strawberries. I spied this one but deviated my choice at the last minute - though I really do wish I'd chosen this. The crepes are light - even though they're gluten-free. Slightly buttery and really delicate. The strawberries are zingy and fresh, wonderfully refreshing to my palate.
For my meal I choose the Eggs Florentine, which consists of two poached eggs on toasted muffins with spinach and hollandaise sauce. It sounded good, but unfortunately that's where the good things end. The eggs were WAY overcooked. Not even a tiny drop of runny yolk in sight as I cut through the egg, it was dry and rubbery. Pretty disappointing since Liz and Carly's breakfast dishes were good.
The hollandaise tasted like one from a jar. There was no richness or even butteriness to it. It was bland and had no traces of even some lemon zing to give it it's normal flavour profile. It was all the sauce that broke the camel's back and though I continued to munch away for a little bit longer, I was really disappointed and ended up abandoning the meal one third of the way through.
I have to say this breakfast was not a great meal for me, though it was for my dining companions. I could just talk about my own meal but I did get to taste the others and I liked what I ate. I guess for this cafe, it comes down to choosing the right meal - though I would have thought a breakfast spot would be able to at least poach eggs right. I don't think I'll be returning sadly.
It's hard to tell if the people here are locals or tourists, but I think the answer is a mix of both.
We sit down and peruse the menu - the girls enjoying coffee as I order an orange juice like always. Unfortunately it's bottled juice not fresh, which I think should have told me a lot about what was about to come with this meal.
French toast
Liz settles on the French Toast with Maple Syrup and Fresh Strawberries. It is HUGE. The colouring is a bright yellow, the giant slabs of toast golden and way too thick when trying to portion out the syrup and strawberries with each bite. It turns out to be a much too big serving and she gives up about halfway through.
Gluten-free crepes
For her meal, Carly chooses the gluten-free crepes with vanilla ice-cream and fresh strawberries. I spied this one but deviated my choice at the last minute - though I really do wish I'd chosen this. The crepes are light - even though they're gluten-free. Slightly buttery and really delicate. The strawberries are zingy and fresh, wonderfully refreshing to my palate.
Eggs florentine
For my meal I choose the Eggs Florentine, which consists of two poached eggs on toasted muffins with spinach and hollandaise sauce. It sounded good, but unfortunately that's where the good things end. The eggs were WAY overcooked. Not even a tiny drop of runny yolk in sight as I cut through the egg, it was dry and rubbery. Pretty disappointing since Liz and Carly's breakfast dishes were good.
The hollandaise tasted like one from a jar. There was no richness or even butteriness to it. It was bland and had no traces of even some lemon zing to give it it's normal flavour profile. It was all the sauce that broke the camel's back and though I continued to munch away for a little bit longer, I was really disappointed and ended up abandoning the meal one third of the way through.
I have to say this breakfast was not a great meal for me, though it was for my dining companions. I could just talk about my own meal but I did get to taste the others and I liked what I ate. I guess for this cafe, it comes down to choosing the right meal - though I would have thought a breakfast spot would be able to at least poach eggs right. I don't think I'll be returning sadly.
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