Smith & Daughters IV

Edit 02/01/2022: S+D has had a revamp and is now located at 107 Cambridge St, Collingwood.

July 20, 2014

We'd brunched our way across North America and fallen in love with a few great places (hi Champs!), so on our return we decided to see how Smith & Daughters measured up to what the US has to offer. We turned up at 10 as they opened and had no problem snaring a table - the downside of our early arrival was that it left me unable to justify breakfast cocktails once again. One day I'll get my weekend started with a gangster horchata... one day.

I'd heard great things about the egg-free omelettes on the brunch menu and so got onto the baked Spanish omelette (potato, chorizo, mushrooms and sweet peppers topped with saffron sofrito and served with toasted bread, $16)

This was outstanding - some egginess in the mix (black salt presumably) and a cheesy flavour, little chewy chorizo pieces and a rich sauce across the top. It's a little on the small side, but it's a really high quality breakfast. The burrito that Smith and Daughters serve up is good, but this? This is really excellent.

Cindy could not be swayed from the Spanish French toast (is that a contradiction?). It's based on Shannon's grandfather's recipe apparently, with the bread dipped in a spiced wine syrup, coated with batter and served with a cluster of golden poached quince wedges ($16). Though the bread looked a crusty, this was soft and cakey all the way through.

As always we got great, great service at Smith & Daughters. It's got to the point where they're so nice to us that I'm not sure these write-ups can be considered even vaguely objective anymore. On this visit, Mo dropped off a bowl of the horchata rice pudding for our table to share - since Cindy last ordered it it's become more sprawling and fluffy, the charred pineapple is finely cubed for easier distribution and there's a little shredded mint. Brekkie is a great time to visit Smith & Daughters - there's not as much pressure on your table and you can lounge around a bit over a coffee as you enjoy a really top notch meal.

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You can read about our last brunch at S & D here, and our dinner experiences here and here. Since we last wrote about Smith and Daughters it's been enjoyed by Cate's Cakes, Klaus & Fritz, It's an expensive but delicious habit, melbourne with the rocket, A Melbournite and I Spy Plum Pie

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Smith & Daughters
175 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
9939 3293
brunch and booze menu, juices, smoothies and coffees
http://www.smithanddaughters.com/ (although the facebook page is really a bit more useful)

Accessibility: The entry is flat and narrow and the tables are pretty crowded. The interior was a bit quieter and brighter during the daytime. Toilets were located up several steps, were gendered and of standard dimension. There's full table service.