Update 31/12/2014: Cafe Plum is closed.
Cindy continues to devour the combined output of Melbourne's 8 million food bloggers, so when the weekend rolls around and I'm looking for somewhere new to go for breakfast, she's always ready with a recommendation. This week it was Cafe Plum, thanks to the rave review from Agnes at Off the Spork.
I was a little worried as we approached - there were no other cafes nearby and from the outside Cafe Plum didn't look too exciting. But I was wrong to doubt - the inside was stylish and welcoming and the menu was full of delicious sounding breakfasts. After much agonising (the mushroom bruschetta and Castro's Cuban eggs both tempted me), I settled on the masala potatoes, with poached free-range eggs, spinach, herb mushrooms and tomato chutney ($13.50). As if that doesn't sound good enough, the chef apologetically informed me that they were all out of spinach and offered up asparagus instead. Winner!
We'll get the negatives out of the way first: the eggs were maybe a tiny bit overcooked. Otherwise, this was a joy - perfectly cooked spuds well covered by a subtle but delicious spice mix, mushrooms fried up with a bunch of delicious herbs (including something twiggy, which the chef later informed me was lemon thyme), a homemade chutney for flavouring and some fresh, in-season asparagus just to cap things off. Tremendous.
I think as soon as the word marscapone appears on a menu, Cindy's decision is made for her. In this case it was blueberry pancakes with marscapone ($14.90). Another fine choice - the pancakes were stuffed full of fresh berries, dusted with icing sugar and served with a big, fat dollop of marscapone on top. I only got a tiny taste, but they were at least as good as they look.
The service was friendly and efficient throughout and, as we were finishing up, the chef came out for a bit of a chat. He was a larger than life character, filling us both with even more enthusiasm for our morning meal. A little research once we got home revealed that the chef at Cafe Plum is Franco Italia - something of a celebrity in the Melbourne food scene having been head chef at Cafe e Cucina and Sud. We'd never heard of him before. Regardless he's a chatty, friendly guy and he runs a wonderful cafe that will surely satisfy your breakfast needs.
Address: 193 Flemington Rd, North Melbourne
Ph: 9329 8867
Price: veg breakfasts $4-15
Cindy continues to devour the combined output of Melbourne's 8 million food bloggers, so when the weekend rolls around and I'm looking for somewhere new to go for breakfast, she's always ready with a recommendation. This week it was Cafe Plum, thanks to the rave review from Agnes at Off the Spork.
I was a little worried as we approached - there were no other cafes nearby and from the outside Cafe Plum didn't look too exciting. But I was wrong to doubt - the inside was stylish and welcoming and the menu was full of delicious sounding breakfasts. After much agonising (the mushroom bruschetta and Castro's Cuban eggs both tempted me), I settled on the masala potatoes, with poached free-range eggs, spinach, herb mushrooms and tomato chutney ($13.50). As if that doesn't sound good enough, the chef apologetically informed me that they were all out of spinach and offered up asparagus instead. Winner!
We'll get the negatives out of the way first: the eggs were maybe a tiny bit overcooked. Otherwise, this was a joy - perfectly cooked spuds well covered by a subtle but delicious spice mix, mushrooms fried up with a bunch of delicious herbs (including something twiggy, which the chef later informed me was lemon thyme), a homemade chutney for flavouring and some fresh, in-season asparagus just to cap things off. Tremendous.I think as soon as the word marscapone appears on a menu, Cindy's decision is made for her. In this case it was blueberry pancakes with marscapone ($14.90). Another fine choice - the pancakes were stuffed full of fresh berries, dusted with icing sugar and served with a big, fat dollop of marscapone on top. I only got a tiny taste, but they were at least as good as they look.
The service was friendly and efficient throughout and, as we were finishing up, the chef came out for a bit of a chat. He was a larger than life character, filling us both with even more enthusiasm for our morning meal. A little research once we got home revealed that the chef at Cafe Plum is Franco Italia - something of a celebrity in the Melbourne food scene having been head chef at Cafe e Cucina and Sud. We'd never heard of him before. Regardless he's a chatty, friendly guy and he runs a wonderful cafe that will surely satisfy your breakfast needs.Address: 193 Flemington Rd, North Melbourne
Ph: 9329 8867
Price: veg breakfasts $4-15
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteHi Guys, sounds like you got more than food, I love a bit of info on the side...
ReplyDeleteHope you guys know how to withdraw comments left by others if you know what I mean!!! Vida x x
Yes, Vida, hopefully now it is taken care of! ;-)
ReplyDeleteHey Cindy, that was funny, you will have to teach me how as this could happen to anyone. Since I am new to blogging I have not worked it out yet and it could be awkward!! Vida x x x
ReplyDeleteThat breakfast looks delicious! Nice that the chef came out and chatted afterwards. Was it because he heard you were taking photos, or did he just feel like randomly chatting to customers?
ReplyDeleteOoh, deleted post!
I have been a fan of Italia's since he was cooking at a long-forgotten resto down in... ummm... Elsternwick, I think.
ReplyDeleteHe did the most amazing (don't mention the non-veggie ingredient)braised in slow-cooked de Puy lentils.
**le swoon**
Claire, I don't think our photography won us any special attention - I noticed the chef chatting to another couple earlier but assumed that he knew them personally. Obviously he's just a sociable guy!
ReplyDeleteRe the deleted comment: I'm sorry to say that you'll have to find your "free XXX downloads" elsewhere. :-P
Haha, PG, I don't plan to delete your comments if you insert the names of non-veggie ingredients. :-D
The number of Melbourne food blogs has really jumped up since I last checked, 8 million now. That's a lot to consume. I wish some other food blogs would get RSS feeds though, so much easiery to follow that way rather than clicking on each and every single one each day. There's just not enough hours in the day anymore to read every post.
ReplyDeleteYes, Thanh, I think there's been a bit of a Melbourne foodblog explosion! Unfortunately the couple that I can't get an RSS feed for tend to slip through the cracks...
ReplyDeleteI'm keeping up with most of them but haven't read a novel in weeks!
Thahn, where on earth are you getting the 8 million Melbourne food blogs statistic from??
ReplyDeleteAnd forgive my blogging cluelessness guys, but how does the RSS feed thing work? I don't know how to do it, I just scroll through the ones I like every few days. Is it easy to set up on one's own blog?
8 million, 70+... much of a muchness, right, Thanh? :-P
ReplyDeleteI use Google Reader to subscribe to the RSS feeds of all the blogs I like - it's like another Inbox with a new message for every new blog entry, sorted by the blog name and any other categories I choose to set up. Blogger automatically sets up RSS feeds for its blogs - I've had your new entries sent to me that way ever since I first discovered your blog, Mutemonkey! :-)
Oooooh, wow, thanks for the tip... this google reader thingummy is soooo cool! My blog browsing will now be so much easier. I'm honoured that you subscribe to my posts, Cindy - yours was the first I have subscribed to! :)
ReplyDeleteFantastic - I'm glad that info was helpful to you, Mutemonkey! :-)
ReplyDeleteMutemonkey, Cindy is correct, I was being sarcastic. I guess sarcasm doesn't transfer through text as well as voice. I know there is about 100 at most of Melbourne food blogs, but Michael wrote 8 million so I played along.
ReplyDeleteI also use Google Reader. It's so convenient. I have both your blogs subscribed to already. I just wish there was a way to subscribe to comments as well so you can see when people reply. I know some of the fancier wordpress sites and stuff have comment subscriptions too, but blogger doesn't as far as I know.
Keep up the excellent blogging everyone. Now on to the other posts in my daily RSS lunchtime roundup.
Oh one more thing. I haven't read a novel in ages too. I used to read like one a week at least. I've renewed my most recent library book 2 times already. Just can't find the time to read them since I read so many blogs now.
ReplyDeleteHey Thanh, thanks for revisiting, even though it's not as convenient without a comment feed. :-)
ReplyDeleteInteresting that your blog aggregator has affected your reading habits too!
OMG I'm loving this conversation! I'm going to try and drag the Brekkie Blogger over to Plum.
ReplyDeleteDon't you love that Blogger has just added a comment feed? PHEW means you don't have to be strapped to the beast so much.
I also use Google Reader, and have you all bookmarked there, though I can't load Purple Goddess' blog - must be a glitch in the system - so have added her blog to Technorati and use that to follow a few of the Vietnamese blogs I read, and watch out for any new track backs/backlinks I get. **^_^**
It's all good!
Hi Ms Stickyfingers! Yes, this post has ended up being a great thread of foodbloggers' various issues - isn't it great to be part of a community? I'm loving this new comment feed, too.
ReplyDeleteI have The Purple One's RSS feed going to my Reader - try adding http://feeds.feedburner.com/AGoddessInTheKitchen . Hopefully it will work! :-) If not I'll ask Michael for ideas later...
Thanks Cindy - that did the trick. It didn't occur to me to enter the feed URL instead. We have a great community don't we? Now I'm just tossing up whether to enter the latest fray over at Ed's blog.
ReplyDeleteGlad it worked - I seem to remember Michael helping me out with that one, I usually just enter the blog URL into Reader.
ReplyDeleteYay! So glad you enjoyed Cafe Plum :) Bit late to the party, but I agree that RSS feeds and Google Reader rock.
ReplyDeleteAgnes, we're always happy for you to arrive late rather than missing out completely. :-)
ReplyDelete