Eat. @ Mr Hendricks

469 Whitehorse Rd, Balwyn 3103 ph (03) 9830 7579

A new addition to Balwyn's cafe line-up is always an exciting thing for me.  As much as I love all the cool cafes in Fitzroy and Collingwood, a nice, dependable coffee hangout nearer to home is always welcome.  I've quickly fallen in love with Mr Hendricks (new man in my life?  Sorry Hubby!)  and have had quiet a few visits since.

My first visit was a coffee catch up with my good friend Helen.  The mochas here ($3.8) are exactly the way I like them.  Smooth, rich coffee with no bitterness and the subtle chocolate giving them the perfect amount of sweetness.  I'm also happy to report that they have been quite consistent (despite different coffee-art) on my subsequent visits.

Bubs had no kinder that day and tagged along and of course I had to get him his favourite "eggies".  The Crispy Eggs ($18) are soft boiled eggs which are then crumbed, served with smoked ham hock, sweet potato puree, fennel, radish, and walnuts on sourdough bread.  The house made honey mustard dressing lifted this delicious combo to amazing.  Everything on the plate was yummy, and I could see this becoming my go-to dish when I visit.

The next visit was for Saturday brunch with Hubby, and we sat outside in the back courtyard and enjoyed our coffee with some vitamin D.

Even though I wanted those crispy eggs again, the Blogger in me made us order something else.  The things we do for a photo op!  We shared a serve of Mr Hendrick's Big Breakfast ($19), which had fried eggs, bacon, sausage, black pudding, potato hash, tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, housemade BBQ sauce and some sourdough to top it all off.  A very tasty and decent sized serve of a "big brekkie" dish, and quite comfortably shared between two.

But of course we have to have something sweet, and the French style crepe with lemon curd ($9.5) was one of the nicest crepes I've had.  The house made curd was perfect in tanginess, the crepe was thin and light.  I swore THAT was going to be my go-to dish from now on!

I loved it so much that we came back 2 weeks later for my birthday brunch, because I'd been hanging out out for more of that crepe!  But wouldn't you know it the menu had changed and you should've seen my long face when I found out the crepe's not on the new menu!!!  It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to!  Okay, I didn't cry, but I did order the next sweet thing on the menu which is the Brioche French toast ($14.5) with vanilla poached pears, caramel sauce and double cream.  Indulgent and oh-so-delicious, this is a fantastic dessert-as-breakfast dish.  I still love the crepe though so I hope to see it back on the menu!

Hubby had the Breakfast Cassolet ($19) served with confit duck, toulouse sausage, persillade and fried eggs.  This is a delicious but pretty heavy dish, and combined with the brioche french toast we didn't eat anything that day until dinner!

The staff are friendly and helpful, and on my first visit with Hubby they took the time to warn us that the food might take a little longer as they were very busy and a bit behind on the day, which we appreciated to help us plan the morning, but ultimately the food was ready in under 20 minutes which was quite reasonable.  The seating inside is quite cozy, with an ancilliary room off to the right for more seating, and the decked out courtyard out the back more friendly for kids.  Mr Hendricks is currently one of my favourite locals and I hope that they can keep up the great standards so far and look forward to many future visits.

Toilets - yes
Highchairs - yes