Tuesday, March 15, 2011

March 9, 2011: Depot de Pain

Update 27/1/2019: Depot de Pain has permanently closed.

Cindy spotted this review of Depot de Pain in Milkbar Mag and was keen to check it out. They provided her with some particularly dense fruit bread during her raisin toast experiments but we wanted to check out their dining-in options. So, with my brother (visiting from Tokyo) in tow, we headed down for a pre-work Wednesday breakfast.

The interior is all clean lines and minimalism set off by a few gorgeous flourishes, like the chandelier above our table.

Menu-wise, it's all pretty French - croque monsieur, French toast, quiches, baguettes and pastries abound (vegans beware - everything in this place is likely to be at least 40% butter). Cindy went for something sweetish - banana bread with berries and fromage frais ($9.50).

The portioning was a bit odd - there was enough berry/yoghurt mix to smother twice as much bread as was on the plate. Aside from that minor quibble, Cindy was pretty happy with her dense and banana-y brekkie.

I went for something a bit more substantial, Toast Champignon (sauteed forest mushrooms finished with herbs and truffle oil, $10.50) with a side of avocado ($3).

This was a pretty rich start to the day: the buttery mushrooms and the liberal use of the truffle oil meant that by the end of the meal I felt as though my arteries had clogged up a smidgen. But it was worth it - the mushies were perfectly cooked and the herbs and avocado cut through the earthiness of the truffle oil nicely. The bread is, as you'd expect, excellent. We were too full to sample any of the pastries available at the counter - it won't be long!

Only the not-quite-blogs Milkbar and Broadsheet have reviewed Depot de Pain so far (Melbourne Dining Experiences has checked out their sister venue on St Kilda Rd).

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Depot de Pain
693 Rathdowne St, Carlton North
9349 1311
veg dishes $5.50 - $11.50

Accessibility: Good - no steps, good light and a reasonable amount of space.

3 comments:

  1. thanks for acknowledging that milkbar was the inspiration. a lot of blogs wont link to us because we will eventually be a commercial venture which I think is shitty. give credit where credit is due.

    thanks!

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  2. Hey Carla - no problem! We try to make a habit of giving credit where due, as you said.

    I'm not sure that commercial interests are the only reason that bloggers might be reluctant to link to Milkbar Mag. Milkbar itself doesn't seem to link to other relevant blogs (besides those run by its writers).

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  3. yeah that's a fair point! I'm just cross... I've seen a lot pop up in the blog world obviously generated by Milk Bar... I think credit where credits due... anyway /whinging.

    ReplyDelete