April 5, 2009: Mitte

Another week, another new breakfast spot. This time we had high expectations - Mitte won the 2009 Cheap Eats breakfast of the year award. It hasn't received too much blog attention just yet, although Jules Gormond's review had me enthused at the idea of a chickpea bake with poached eggs.

It's a cute little place - a converted residence in the vein of A Minor Place or Julio's, and while it was quite full, we were happy to turn up and scoop up a table without waiting at all. The menu is chock-full of interesting options including breakfast crumble, some delicious sounding toasts and various egg dishes.

I opted for the aforementioned combo of chickpeas and poached eggs (free range poached eggs with a Middle Eastern chickpea bake, topped with Meredith marinated goat's fetta and a shallot and herb salad, served with avocado, lemon and toats, $15).

It was bursting with flavours - fresh coriander, a yoghurty sauce and fresh lemon added plenty of spark to the spiced chickpeas, fresh avocado and perfectly poached eggs. It's a lot of food, but everything worked together so well that it was surprisingly easy to chow it all down. I was mightily impressed.

Cindy sampled from the sweet side of the menu, opting for pikelets with mascarpone and a Middle Eastern fruit compote ($10).

She was a little less impressed than me, finding the pancake accompaniments a little short on zing - some interesting spices or some sort of citrus bite would have livened things up a bit. Still, part of her disappointment probably stemmed from just how good this dish sounded - it was pretty satisfactory on the whole.

We had friendly and reasonably efficient service (although if I was being picky, we did have to wait a while for the food to arrive) and they churn out high quality coffees (and Jo's berry smoothie tasted amazing as well). It's a strong addition to the inner-north's already crowded repertoire of trendy brekkie places, but I'm not sure how The Age scored it above Min Lokal, Fandango or Las Chicas.

Address: 76 Michael Street, Fitzroy North
Ph: 9077 7379
Price: veg breakfasts $5-$15