Tag Archives: Breakfast

Po’ boy in Yarraville

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Woven Cafe, 175b Stephen Street, Yarraville. Phone: 9973 5926

Since our first foray to Woven, I have returned for a sandwich and coffee.

Today, though, my visit has a more singular focus – I am responding the lure set by the joint’s Facebook page.

Some eateries really work their Facebook pages hard and well; others not so much.

Woven is definitely among the former, posting what seems like several times a day – muffins du jour, specials and often things a lot more whimsical.

 

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So the shrimp po’ boy it is for me.

It makes me happy.

 

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There’s a heap of delightfully well-cooked, tender and tasty prawns that work oh-so-well with the slaw and its dressing and the all-important pickle slices.

Liberally doused with the red of the two hot sauces brought to my table, it all tastes great.

Even in these days of hot-shot $10+ sandwiches, $19 is a steep asking price.

But given the quality of the ingredients and their preparation, and the hand-cut chips on the side, it’s also value for my money, I reckon.

My only quibble is with the bread.

Po’ boys are perennially described as being prepared using baguettes.

But in New Orleans terms what that means is a broad, pliable loaf that makes for an easily wielded two-handed sanger.

This excellent CBD place, for instance, sources bread of just the right kind from a Vietnamese baker.

Woven, by contrast, has used a genuine French-style baguette that is too dense and too narrow.

I don’t mind at all, as the bread is still good and I happily treat my meal as an open sandwich and use cutlery.

I doubt that this particular item will be a regular feature for Woven so a specific bread supplier is hardly warranted.

My cafe latte is excellent.

 

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As I’d approached Woven for my lunch, it struck me what a boon it must be for the “local” locals, situated as it is away from hyper activity around the Anderson and Ballarat street intersection.

So I was surprised to find that on this Sunday lunchtime it was sparingly occupied, though several of the outside tables were taken.

If we lived on this side of the tracks, I’d be here near daily as I dig the place lots!

You can “like” the Woven Facebook page here.

Mezmez – return visit

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Mezmez, 42 Ferguson Street, Williamstown. Phone: 9397 8804

We sometimes have a laugh about how fickle the winds are that blow Consider The Sauce this way and that as it embarks on its adventures.

It’s our Saturday jaunt, we’re hungry and feeling virtuous after about an hour’s worth of house-cleaning in our low-maintenance home.

Heading towards Fehon Street, we are confronted with road signs ruling out a right-hand turn and destinations such as Seddon, Footscray and beyond.

So a left turn it is … and Williamstown, with no specific destination in mind.

We park and check out a cool pizza place that is on our “to do” list, but they’re not rolling yet despite it being 12.30pm.

Maybe next time for them.

So we are happy to return to Mezmez, which we wrote about just a few weeks back – it’s a beaut and significant addition to the Williamstown food scene, and we’re eager to try some more of their dishes and write about them.

 

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Bennie has been given the run of menu, including the more substantial and expensive meals, but goes for the pide with BBQ zatar chicken, peppers, spinach and chipotle mayo ($14).

It goes down a treat.

He especially like the herby nature of the chicken.

 

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My salad of baby beetroots with walnuts, goats cheese, witlof, pasrley and orange dressing ($15) is fabulously brilliant.

It’s a big serve – I take a while longer to eat my lunch than Bennie does to eat his sandwich – and filling for a dish made up so much of water-based ingredients.

The way the various goodies both play off each other and meld together is magical.

The key ingredient is the witlof, the bitterness of which moderates the beet sweetness.

Wow.

 

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Mezmez today has some keen-looking baklava on display but we find we are unable to do anything but order another of their Nutella doughnuts ($3.50).

Both myself and the occupants of the adjoining table are bemused by Bennie’s display of inexpert cutting the sees us end up with two unequal doughnut halves.

Oh well – even the lesser of the two tastes divine to me.

Just like that, Mezmez has become a CTS favourite.

 

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After the Raincoat … what?

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Well actually, after the closure of venerable Kingsville institution the Famous Blue Raincoat there will be … more Famous Blue Raincoat.

In the short-term anyway.

Meet Andy, the Newport local whose family is taking over the Vernon Street premises.

They hope to open in about a week.

There’s no great overhaul going on – just a spring clean of sorts that will take in a spruce-up of the lovely garden area out back.

A rebranding of sorts is likely to take place early next year.

The food offered will stay solidly in the cafe format but with a few Andy tweaks along the way – an emphasis on nifty salads instead of fried food, for instance.

I spy a pork burger on the dummy menu Andy lets me examine.

All such goodies as relishes and sauces will be made in-house.

The new/old joint will be open six or maybe seven days a week but not at nights.

There is a strong likelihood, however, of there being some night action along the lines of monthly theme nights of four or six courses with matching beer or wine.

 

CTS Feast No.10: Phat Milk – the wrap

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CTS Feast No.10: Brunch at Phat Milk, 208 Mt Alexander Road, Travancore. Phone: 9376 6643. Sunday, November 9, from 11am.

How good and enjoyable was this CTS Feast?

Well, for purely selfish reasons, I’d have to proclaim: “It was the best!”

You see, not only was this the first Feast in held in daylight hours and the first hosted by a cafe, it was also the smallest … well, OK the smallest since the very beginnings of the CTS Feast tradition.

And I know full well that organising and hosting a small number of people is significantly easier and less stressful than hosting a big bunch.

In this case, too, Bennie and I knew about half the guests already and enjoyed the heck out of getting to know those we didn’t.

As we arrived, the Phat Milk crew seemed to be embroiled in a frantic breakfast/brunch rush … but things soon seemed to settled down, and the timing of our massed arrival ended up seeming quite good.

Shaun, our main server, Rose, and the rest of the staff looked after us supremely well.

Bravo!

 

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As our brunch unfolded and the conversations ebbed and flowed, I realised that on top of all the many pluses of the CTS Feasts, they also provide a simply lovely and easy way for likeminded folks to mix and mingle and make new friends in a way that isn’t always that easy in other social settings.

So I was thrilled to see three guests – who had only met for the first time an hour or so earlier – swap details as the event wound down.

And Bennie and I even snagged – and feel very privileged to have done so – an invite for a homecooked Indian meal in Seddon from a lovely couple of regular CTS readers attending their first CTS event.

Wow!

 

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So many, many thanks to Alice, Nelio, Ankitha and Raj, Shamaila, Amanda, Chiara, Lisa, Julian and Christine for making this a wonderful occasion.

The food?

I thought it was outstanding.

 

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As on a previous visit, I went for the purple carrot and sweet potato latke with blueberry-cured salmon, quark and a poached egg.

It was a lot more filling than it looks here!

Most others also chose from the breakfast menu, with table’s dishes including …

 

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… a cauliflower omelette and …

 

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… baked eggs, as well as …

 

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… your more traditional, custom-selected breakfast fare.

(Swamp Thing? Gee, I wonder whose meal that could be?)

 

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Only two of us chose from the blackboard lunch menu (see below).

The entire CTS party “oohed” and “aahed” when Ankitha’s salt-and-pepper soft shell crab burger (pictured at top) arrived, while Raj’s garlic-and-thyme chicken cous cous salad also looked mighty fine.

Obviously, this event was a co-promotion between Phat Milk and CTS … but I really do dig this one-of-a-kind establishment and the people who run it.

They offer not just great food but also twinkle-eyed personality to go with it.

 

Phat Milk on Urbanspoon

 

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Knocked out in Williamstown

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Mezmez, 42 Ferguson Street, Williamstown. Phone: 9397 8804

When it was known as Plumm’s, 42 Ferguson Street was a quasi-regular for us – for breakfasts, lunches and even, IIRC, the odd dinner.

I think that between Plumm’s and Mezmez, there was another inhabitant of the address but I can’t recall its name.

Certainly, there has been a long period on non-use for the address before the recent opening of Mezmez.

Maybe that’s not a bad thing, with a view to dispelling “failed restaurant karma”.

Not that we’re suspicious or anything!

In terms of a fresh start, it’s also a fine thing the Mezmez crew has overhauled the room so that it bears little or no resemblance to what went before.

 

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There’s lots of wall tiles, lots of wood and a variety of different seating and eating configurations.

When we visit for Saturday lunch, the place is buzzing, there are happy people in abundance and staff are on the ball.

Mezmez is a sister restaurant of Pint Of Milk in Newport, so as you’d expect has many of the same cafe strengths going on.

But the new place looks and feels very different.

More to the point, outside some orthodox breakfast items, the Mezmez menu (see below) – especially the brunch and lunch lists – evinces a strong Turkish and Mediterranean feel.

And that’s mostly why we’re here and excited about it.

 

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We’re allocated a small wall-mounted table with tall stools towards the back of the room – and we’re happy about that.

Because we’re sitting right at the very spot where food leaves the kitchen and heads for the customers’ pleasure – so we get a good look, while we’re waiting for our meals, at what other folks have been ordering.

That ranges from breakfasts of the basic, toasted kind and the more ornate and decadent through to an “ancient grains” salad, panfried saganaki, crispy fried squid and preposterously fat lamb koftas.

IT ALL LOOKS FANTASTIC!

 

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Bennie chooses the buttermilk pancakes with sour cherries, toasted walnuts and halvah ice-cream ($18).

He’s happy enough, but reckons there’s too much sauce!

I grab a bite and am impressed.

Perhaps, at $18, a third pancake might not be too much to expect.

And perhaps he’s old enough and savvy enough to understand that just because his father lets him off the leash for a sugar hit doesn’t mean that’s going to be the best direction to head.

Because he’s frankly envious of my …

 

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… “mez platter” ($16) with its olives, dukkah, falafels, cauliflower fitters, dips and bread.

It’s all good or much better.

And I always admire any such dish that is constructed with such skill that all the players are in correct proportion so they all “run out” at the same happy conclusion to the meal.

That’s certainly the case here.

The outright stars, though, are the tightly-packed and fragrant falafels and sublime cauliflower fritters.

Wow!

Deep-fried yet ungreasy, they’re packed with flavour – and in the case of cauliflower, that always seems to me some kind of miracle.

That vegetable doesn’t have the most robust flavour characteristics yet often it seems to survive all sorts of cooking techniques.

The only faint quibble I have is wishing the dips had a bit more zing.

 

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As we’d awaited our meals, Bennie went close to toddlerhood regression and the throwing of a tantrum when he saw the blackboard words “Nutella Donuts” had been crossed out.

No problem, my friend – that is yesterday’s news so we’re good to go.

 

 

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Oh boy, this is awesomeness personified – and a bargain at $3.50.

Just so good – ultra gooey and divine.

And filling, even shared between the pair of us.

 

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Nor surprise, eh, that my $3.60 cafe latte is brilliant?

Williamstown locals have a new star to adore.

 

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Cafe joy away from the main drags

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Woven Cafe, 175b Stephen Street, Yarraville. Phone: 9973 5926

It was while scoping out the fit-out progress of Woven that I discovered, courtesy of a friendly local, that Stephen Street was once, many moons ago, actually the main drag of Yarraville.

All that changed, apparently, when the train line went through … and the main trading/retailing action switched to Anderson and Ballarat streets.

Makes sense really, as Stephen Street is a wide boulevard … it’s nice to see some activity returning to an area away from the village proper.

It’s sweet, too, for the four of us troupe off to try out the newly-opened Woven.

 

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Disclosure – Dan, one of the Woven partners, and his family are a long-time CTS buddies and attendees of CTS Feasts.

But as this is an impromptu lunch, not Dan nor anyone else involved knows we’re coming, though we are outed soon after being seated.

Doesn’t matter – as on every other occasion when folks have twigged bloggers are in the house, the food we receive is the same as all the other customers.

So is the fine service.

Woven is a compact space that has been fitted out beautifully.

With its outdoor seating and smartly-chosen location, it’s a hit in the making.

The menu (see below) is tight and right, canvassing breakfast through lunch.

 

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The other two lads opt for the “Bang Up Burger” ($18.50).

Both are really impressed.

Says the Bennie: “The cheese was nice, the salad was dressed, the patty was good, and the bacon and the sauce were good, too. It was all good! It all fitted together!”

The vibe I get from both Bennie and Julian is that this is a very enjoyable, solid burger.

Their meaty handfuls are abetted by “hand-cut twice-cooked chips”.

They’re fine things, indeed.

And with their skins and dimples and imperfections intact, they’re in the same tradition and mindset as the chips we get at this Newport joint.

If this is a trend we say: “Yay!”

 

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I go the salad route with happy results.

The Moroccan chickpea salad with pickled carrots, fennel and tea-soaked currents ($16) comes with chorizo added for an extra $4.

Sometimes chorizo-added dishes – often pasta or salads – can be mean in the sausage department.

That’s certainly not the case here – there’s plenty of it, which is a good thing as it’s a mildly flavoured and seasoned dish and the chorizo adds needed spice and grease.

The carrots are only slightly pickled and I even add some salt.

But it’s all good, crunchy, fresh, wonderful and of very generous size – the chickpeas themselves are a buttery yellow and perfect.

 

 

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The bread for Christine’s “lemon and herb chicken with aioli and rocket sanger” ($10) comes from another of our fave local haunts and my regular morning coffee stop.

The chicken tastes fine to me, and she gets the same chips on the side for an extra $3.

So … $13 all up? That’s a bargain right there!

We go without coffee – though with the other partner, Dave, at the coffee machine helm, I’m betting it’ll be brilliant when I do try it.

We hit the road for home and the other side  of the tracks, stopping by for a sweet, cool treat at yet another local fave – one that is, I’m told, also a supplier to Woven.

Choc orange for him, apple pie for her, lavender and white choc for Bennie and myself …

 

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Nice vibes in Moonee Ponds

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320 Ascot Vale Road, Moonee Ponds. Phone: 9370 2649

For many years, these Ascot Vale Road premises housed a corner store that was a bit of a secret – it stocked products and groceries of the South American/Latin American variety, including Jamon.

Alas that opportunity for CTS story has now gone, and in the store’s place is lovely cafe.

Ascot Food Store appears to be ideally place midway between the Puckle Street area and the eats region of upper Mount Alexander Road.

There’s heaps of residential blocks around here and I bet there’s plenty of locals who really, really loving having this new place so handy.

 

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I could be the world-weary scribe and say Ascot Food Store is just like so many cafes all over the place, including the west.

But that would be silly of me.

And it would be to deny the expertise and good cheer of the staff, the white-centric fit-out that confers a relaxed, tranquil vibe on the front room and two further inside, and the quality of the food.

It’s a very breakfast/lunch place, and – based on our meals (see menu below) – I’d describe the serves as light eating.

A hungry table of two who throw in a couple of sides and coffees will find themselves paying between $25 to $30 per person – the going rate these days for this kind of food in this kind of place.

And no complaints from us.

 

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My companion – Karma of alergicinmelbourne – likes her “Benedict” ($17) of poached eggs on top of an English muffin and shaved pork belly, all topped with bearnaise.

As far as I can tell, in this case anyway, “shaved pork belly” = “crackling” by any other name, so I can’t help but admire the sheer artery-clogging chutzpah of it.

 

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My “Apple Wood Smoked Ocean Trout, Freekeh, Roasted Caluliflower, Coriander, Cress, Shredded Kale” ($18) is fine, too.

The fish is a nicely hefty slab and beautifully cooked, though there is precious little smoky flavour.

The freekeh and cauliflower are indistinguishable, but the fish’s base is nicely most.

With the kale and salad bits, it all makes for a lovely, light lunch.

My cafe latte is very good.

Check out Karma’s take on our lunch here.

 

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Salad oooh! on Barkly Street

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Pod @ Post Industrial Design, 638 Barkly Street, Footscray. Phone: 0400 193 038

It’s taken Consider The Sauce a while to get around to writing about Pod, a preview story aside and a newsy item on the kitchen’s gallery of vintage Melbourne menus.

Truth is, since it opened, Pod has become one of our regular stops.

Most often for always excellent coffee.

Sometimes for a sweet treat, as well – including a preposterously orgasmic choc cake Bennie and I shared a few months back.

More substantial Pod fare has been had less often, but today is definitely the right time for lunch.

Saturday, early spring gloriousness, the staff not run off their feet and a jazz combo doing their best Sonny Rollins in the window.

 

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I don’t have to make myself right at home because it already has that sort of feel about it.

I know not about the breakfast line-up here, but when it comes to lunches – and this has been noted elsewhere – the lovely food Jess is sending out from the kitchen is beautiful and delicious but decidedly not of the cafe heartiness variety.

But while the serves seem far from gargantuan, the quality is unmistakable – besides, it’s a light lunch I’m after.

 

 

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My warm salad of roasted seasonal vegetables is perfect in every way.

The superb potato, red onion, carrot, fennel and beetroot speak in magic tongues with the parsley, plentiful pine nuts and goats cheese.

Wow!

Worth every cent of the $16.50 I have paid for it.

There’s some very cool symbiosis going on between Pod and P.I.D.

The latter’s Mary tells me that in terms of buzz and customers, the results are most definitely greater than the sum of two parts.

I have reproduced below the current breakfast and lunch menus, but Fiona tells me they’ll be changing in a few weeks.

My $3.50 cafe latte, too, is perfect.

 

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Back with the classic cars

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garazi22
Garazi, 107 Gamon St, Yarraville. Phone: 9689 2677

It’s been more than a year since we’ve set foot in Garazi – back then, soon after it opened, it was once for a write-up and then on another closely following occasion.

Maybe it’s because, situated as it is on Gamon Street, our minds are already on foodie pastures further afield when we pass it.

So it is today.

Bennie’s copped a full-on meat-free, dairy-free vegan dinner on Friday and a healthy Lebanese lunch with pals on Saturday, so I’m very happy to let him have his way with Sunday lunch.

“Burger, masala dosa, fish and chips, roast lunch, laksa, Mexican …”

I tick off this list as we motor up Gamon and turn into Charles Street, without any noticeable enthusiasm being forthcoming from my CTS Partner.

By this time I begin to realise he simply may not be hungry.

Weird! Well, weird for a 13-year-old …

 

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So I do a U-turn and head for home, happy to call it quits.

But as we pass Garazi he becomes more animated – so in we go.

It’s a treat!

The seating area has been expanded into the real-deal garage of classic cars, among which it’s a hoot to sit with late-breafasters and friendly pooches.

The service is grand and it dawns upon us that we should treat Garazi with more mindfulness for coffees and quick bites. (We don’t do breakfast, not while out and about anyway …)

 

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For all his lack of interest to this point, Bennie makes short work of his burger with the lot ($18) from the specials board.

It’s a good, hearty cafe-style burger and the pattie tastes good and meaty to me.

 

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It’s a good thing his meal comes with stacks of OK shoestring fries, as my reuben sanger ($13) is completely unadorned and even looks a little on the mean side in terms of size versus price.

But in its simplicity, it’s a ripper.

The bread is just right – not too light, not too heavy, toasted and buttered to perfection.

The thick-sliced corned beef is tasty, as is the Swiss cheese, while the plentiful pickles provide plenty of salty, piquant tang.

Breakfast with wings

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Cafe Vue, International Departures, Melbourne Airport

Earliness is a pronounced Weir family trait.

So – headed to Taranaki for some quality Grandma Time – we are through long-term car-parking and various levels of processing with plenty of time to spare.

Plenty of time to spare, in fact, for breakfast.

Of course, just like everyone else, we are way past the times when we associated flying and airports with anything approaching yumminess.

So we are surprised and delighted to enjoy a fine breakfast while awaiting our flight – the surprise all the more greater for being provided by a group the flagship restaurant of which we will most likely never inhabit for reasons to do with both matters financial and plain old inclination.

We pay substantially above the going rates to be found in our greater neighbourhood, but we are happy to do so for such a pleasant experience.

 

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Bennie and I both go for the Vue breakfast burger at $9.90 of brioche, poached egg and hollandaise, his with bacon, mine with smoked salmon.

I do much better – I get a heap of robustly-flavoured fish and the whole thing is a delight.

A pistachio and chocolate danish ($5.40) to share is freash-as and very tasty but almost ethereal in its lack of substance.

The high-price factor arises once more with our cafe latte and hot chocolate – they’re $4.70 but just fine.

The surroundings are civilised and enjoyable, and thus a stylish, engaging rebuff to notions that flying – or preparing to fly – must always be a drag.

The relaxed vibe continues when I take my allocated aeroplane seat and find myself seated to a young mum and a much younger, brand-spanking-new baby.

This a flying first for me – on any kind of flight, international or otherwise.

Nice to meet you, Maryanne and Brooklyn!

 

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Pod at P.I.D. – something exciting for WeFo

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Meet Fiona, Mary and Jess.

Mary – she’s the one in the middle – is the proprietor of Post Industrial Design, the grooviness emporium at 638 Barkly St in West Footscray.

Soon she’ll be sharing that space with Fi and Jess and their new cafe/eatery called Pod.

Fi will be a familiar face to many Consider The Sauce readers on account of her varying roles over the years at Cafe Fidama, Touks and Sourdough Kitchen.

Jess reckons the lack of gas for cooking sits well with the food and drink philosophy to which he and Fi will be adhering.

I’m sure there’ll be some heartiness involved, but much will be of the lighter variety and you won’t be seeing the likes of a Big Breakfast at this joint.

Their motto – inscribed on their business card – is “Darn Good Food”.

While almost all of the hard yards of fitting out remain to be done, Fi tells me they’ve already started making their own pickles and cordial.

How good does that sound in terms of hopeful signs for really yummy, hands-on and soulful tucker?

They’re aiming for an early November opening.

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Could be burger of the year …

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Chase Kitchen, 80 Hudsons Road, Spotswood. Phone: 0423 742 460

The initial aim of our Sunday drive is to eyeball the tall ships parked in the bay at Williamstown.

But that plan comes to nowt when we find the traffic backed up way before our destination and even some way down The Strand.

No way – we’re not that keen on things nautical!

So off we go with lunch on our minds.

Bennie – surprise, surprise – fancies a burger; his dad’s fancy is turning to the roast lunches available in the vicinity.

Bennie gets his way, but that’s a good thing indeed in this case.

We park expecting to hit the Spotiswoode pub, but choose to check out the action on Hudsons Rd anyway.

And what do we find but a new arrival.

Well, relatively new.

Chase Kitchen is open for business on a shopping strip that has become rather competitive – there’s a hip bakery and three other coffee/breakfast/lunch places right across the road.

We decide to give it a go based on the Boston Burger advertised on the footpath blackboard sign and end up being really delighted we have done so.

Inside is a chic but mostly regulation cafe space with stools and tall tables at the front, other seating further in, a back room between the front counter and the rear kitchen, and a garden further out back yet to be utilised.

The service and welcome we are provided are exemplary.

Certainly, the sharing of our two choices – the burger ($14.50) and the pulled pork roll with Asian slaw ($16.50) – is obligingly handled by the staff.

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The pork roll is fine and generous, although the crunchy, creamy, delicious slaw rather overshadows the pork.

But the burger is better – Bennie even rates it the best he’s had this year.

That’s high praise from An Expert.

The patty has great flavour, although it does seem a little mushy – more of a meaty texture would be grand.

But what really makes this a burger supreme is the tangy, spicy mayo given a righteous kick from jalapenos and terrifically crispy bacon.

It’s really, really good.

We are both given heaps of thin fries that are hot, salty and pretty damn fine, too, though some of them seem a bit limp to me.

We are not the first Melbourne bloggers to cover Chase Kitchen – that honour falls to our pal Jacqui at Urban Ma – read her review here. Although it may seem a bit boring that Jacqui and her family ordered exactly the same as us!

 

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A westie room with a killer view

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Lakehouse Restaurant, 55 Cumberland Drive, Edgewater. Phone: 9317 3649

Edgewater, a brand new suburb, is served at the top of its hill by a number of commercial enterprises, including a fish and chip shop of which we’re fond.

There’s eateries of the Malaysian and Thai persuasion, an Aldi outlet and a few other places we’re yet to sample.

Down the hill, at water’s edge so to speak, the feel is different.

Despite the many houses and apartments, the place seems to have a ghost-town vibe.

Where are all the people?

There’s a creperie and cafe/restaurant/deli, both of which we’ve hit for coffee without being tempted to go further.

But despite the slightly forlorn vibe, Bennie and I have taken to enjoying the undeniably gorgeous setting along the waterfront, quite often going for a ramble in the downtime between the school day ending and rugby practice starting across the road.

And when we’ve been hanging out here, we’ve always wondered about the large space at the river’s end of the main apartment building.

Obviously designed with a restaurant operation in mind, it perennially looked unloved and desolate.

In our minds, there seemed little chance of this neighbourhood having any kind of pizzazz while it remained so.

So we were delighted to hear from a local that the place was destined – in a few days’ time – for a new life as a living, breathing, operating restaurant.

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A few days later, during the week’s second footy practice, I take the opportunity to check the place out, in the process meeting manager George and maitre’d Lisa and snagging an invite to the coming Saturday night’s “soft launch” (full disclosure below).

Lit up and looking beaut on a chilly but windless winter night, the place is an eye magnet. Come spring time and summer, the outdoor seating on the Lakehouse balcony will surely become one of the great westie haunts.

I do worry, though, about the ability of this new enterprise to throw off the downbeat baggage of several year’s of inaction and non-use. Such things can take a while to overcome.

So I’m delighted to find that relatively early on a Saturday night the place has a cheerful buzz going, with about half the tables taken.

Lisa tells me some of the customers are friends or family of the Lakehouse crew, but plenty more are curious walk-ups or locals eager to check out this new arrival.

If I lived in this neighbourhood, I’d be hitting Lakehouse pronto, too!

The service and welcome are fine, and everyone seems to have a spring in their step.

The restaurant interior seems rather flash, yet on the other hand the are no airs and graces going on here.

The napkins are paper and there’s two wall-mounted TVs, one showing footy and the other cricket.

Likewise with the food offerings, represented by a shorter opening night list that will expand come the place’s official opening in a few days’ time, taking in the pizza oven offerings along the way.

Think solid bistro tucker with an Italian influence, the main course pricing of $22 to $34 seemingly pitched at getting the locals to think of the joint as a regular option rather than just as a swish night out.

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Crispy calamari served with a fennel, orange and cherry tomato salad ($15) is just fine.

The calamari is low on crisp but as tender and flavoursome as calamari gets. The salad works, too, helped by a smooth dressing that is both creamy and light.

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My two handsome bones ($28) are everything lamb shanks should be – really pungent with sheepish flavour, generously meaty and with the flesh falling from the bones.

The garlic mash has a slightly bitter edge to it, but both it and broccolini play nice second fiddles to the tremendous shanks. A greater quantity of juice/gravy would’ve hit the spot with me, though I know that’s not bistro style.

I’ve enjoyed my meal heaps but wonder about how good a seafood pasta might be at such a place – and whether there’ll be a hamburger on the regular menu.

Lakehouse Restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner from Wednesday to Sunday and for breakfast from 8am at weekends.

Disclosure: Consider The Sauce was provided a meal without being required to pay by Lakehouse management, which did not know which dishes would be ordered. No editorial input was sought or given.

 

NOTE: The menus below represent the Lakehouse opening night offerings – the regular menu will be along the same lines but, I’m told, longer.

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Making a toilet call in Yarraville

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Garazi, 107 Gamon St, Yarraville. Phone: 9689 2677

A new breakfast/coffee/lunch place on Gamon Street?

By my count, Garazi makes it six.

But let’s not get all ho-hum about this.

Situated at the less caffeine-crowded Somerville Rd end of Gamon, Garazi seems well placed to prove attractive to locals who may prefer the ease of access compared to, say, the more congested and busy Yarraville village in one direction and Seddon in the other.

The new joint is an adjunct of the longstanding wedding car business that shares the property, while the cafe itself was formerly a wedding photo business.

Owner Tony, who has run the various businesses here since 1984, tells me the cafe space has had quite a lot of work, time and money put into it.

It’ a big, roomy and bright space, despite the overall blackish colour scheme. And it’s pleasingly uncold when I visit.

There’s an automotive theme going on here, but it’s not excessive.

 

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Apart from some wall trappings and a great-looking “sofa and two chairs” obviously extracted from a motorised vehicle, at the moment there’s an old-school Mini in the house as well as a chassis and engine of what I at first take to be some from sort of truck.

No so, says Tony – they’re actually from a 1948 Jag, the body of which sits next door, in a corner with the many gleaming Rollers looking on.

A novel twist is the entrance to the loos – through a vintage telephone box!

The menu is well thought out, with a lot of options and the line between breakfast and lunch fodder rather blurred.

“White bean mash, field mushroom with fennel salad and capers” ($14.50), for instance, is listed with the eggy dishes but sounds like a fine light winter lunch to me.

 

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Instead, I go for the “beaut napoli meatball baguette with swiss cheese” ($13.50).

It IS beaut, too, a nice chewy loaf over-stuffed with three plump and flavoursome meatballs, lots of gooey cheese and an excellent tomato sauce.

It’s hands on and messy – and that’s a compliment. Some fresh rocket wouldn’t go amiss, but it’s easy to admire my lunch’s singular focus.

My cafe latte ($3.50) is a fine thing.

Some of the sweeties and pastries are imported, unlike the luscious-looking blueberry, banana and chocolate pudding that will sadly have to await another day for a CTS outing.

 

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