Eat. @ Cornelius

141 Maling Road, Canterbury, Canterbury 3126 ph : (03) 9830 7915

After a rather disappointing time at The Maling Room, I thought I would give another cafe on Maling Road a go.  Cornelius looked promising, with its casual atmosphere amid the "snootier" shops here, and beckoned us with its cute tin cow out the front.

The shop is essentially a deli/providore, which also caters for coffees and meals.  It was lovely and warm, and fairly interesting with its decor and display of fine foods.

I loooooved this twiggy light!

I had my usual Eggs Benedict ($16.50), this time with bacon (since I missed out at The Maling Room!)  It was nicely presented, and the difference in this version is fresh baby spinach rather than the cooked baby spinach that are sometimes served at other eateries.  I took my first bite and found it really.... sour?!  The eggs themselves were okay but I couldn't get over the sour taste, than I realised there must have been too much vinegar in the water used to poach the eggs.  The fluid from the outside of the eggs sitting on the baby spinach made it taste like a salad with a vinaigrette.  Otherwise the Ottway Free Range Bacon was lovely, and the bread was crunchy.

I ordered the kids cheesy toast from the pint sized breakfast section of the menu for the Macaron Monster.   Happy to see they cater for kids.  Unfortunately it was not well received as the cheese used was quite bitey. 

The hot chocolate was too watery for me. 

The orange juice was freshly squeezed.  It was a pretty small glass and disappeared in a jiffy.  It was quite sour, and that's not their fault as products are seasonal, but at $6 a glass I would definitely think twice before ordering next time.

There are lots of other foods to buy and take home, including a display of macarons!

Another thing to note however, is that the cute quirky orange chairs, as seen in the photo above, can be a bit tricky for littlies.  Macaron Monster, who has long outgrown any high chair / booster combo, usually has no trouble with "big people chairs", but managed to tumble out the back of this one.  Ouch. 

Eat.Play.Shop. Recommends : this as an alternative to The Maling Room.

Give it a Miss : The Fresh OJ is way too pricey.  Actually a bit too expensive in general - helping to pay for Maling Road rental perhaps???