Eat. @ Twenty & Six

594 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne ph (03) 9329 0298

Brunch roulette the other Friday landed Bubs and I in North Melbourne, on the doorsteps of Twenty & Six.  We were greeted with a smile and seated near the big coffee machine, and got to stare at the lovely carrot cakes and basket of cookies.

My mocha ($4) was lovely.  I giggled with Hubby via text message that we expect no less in Melbourne nowadays!

I ordered the citrus cured salmon tartare, with pea puree, spring pea and asparagus salad, horseradish cream, poached egg and toast ($19), plus an extra poached egg ($3) for my growing boy!   The cured salmon was delicious, and in fact quite a generous serving.  Even with Bubs eating most of my eggs and toast I was really full after the meal.

Bubs had his heart set on "bacon and eggies" and so we ordered a side of bacon ($5) which was lovely and crispy, just the way I like it.

A great cafe with excellent coffee and a great brekkie dish in North Melbourne.

Eat. @ Beatrix

 688 Queensberry St, North Melbourne ph :(03) 9090 7301

Beat-ers at Beatrix, cute!

Hubby graciously offered to look after the 2 littler ones while Mini Me and I had a little date of our own last weekend.  It's so nice to sit back, just the two of us, and have some fun sharing a bite, without having to worry about the younger two being noisy or trying to roam around.  Mini Me loves "Mummy Time" and I constantly worry that I don't get to pay each of them enough individual attention.  So for this "special adventure", we headed somewhere new, somewhere I hadn't been with anyone else.  Inspired by all the fantastic pictures on instagram of the goodies on offer there, we headed down to Beatrix in North Melbourne.

Beatrix is a little corner store that offers coffee, ciabattas, and some seriously mouth watering, old fashioned baked goodies.  So good I almost wanted to skip lunch and go straight to dessert!

But I'm glad I didn't.  The daily specials board proudly lists the ciabattas of the day, usually a meat and a vegetarian option.  I picked "The Brad", which was barbecue flavoured slow roasted Berkshire pork belly with smokey sauce, corn aioli, buttermilk slaw and pork scratchings. ($12.5 for a small serving, also available at $14 for large)

You can insert your own inappropriate joke here, but The Brad is pretty big!   We had the small serving, but it was still enough for the 2 of us to share.  All the ingredients were delicious, but the "pork scratchings", which is crumbled crackling, made this a pretty special roll!  Mini Me had this "deconstructed" and loved it.

Despite the 30+ degree heat I had a mocha, which was very pleasant.

We were spoilt for choice with all the different baked goods on display.  From whoopie pies and red velvet cupcakes, to giant cookies and chocolate brownies, everything looked delicious.  

We settled on the awesome looking lime angel food cake in the end, as it looked so fluffy and light, perfect for this hot summer day!

Love the old fashioned plates and cutlery!

Mini Me and I agreed that "it tasted like what clouds would taste like if we could eat it".

Seating inside is limited but there's enough space for a stroller or two, and there are tables outside which would be most pleasant on a nice day. 

Then there's always take away if Beatrix is packed by its adoring locals! 

The rest of the angel food cake did not last the car trip
into the city!

Eat.Play.Shop. says - A gorgeous, old fashioned little corner store with good, robust ciabattas for lunch and a mouth watering array of baked goodies.  You lucky people in North Melbourne have yet another great little local meeting place!  

Eat. @ Auction Rooms

107 Errol St, North Melbourne 3051 ph : (03) 93267749

Auction Rooms was recently named the best cafe in The Age Good Food Guide Awards.  Housed in the old WB Ellis Auction House, it is the epitome of Melbourne cafe culture coolness - old style renovated building, slick fit outs, great coffee, interesting brekkie and lunch menus, mix of communal and small group dining, cool clientele and young, hip staff.  Added to the mix is that it's known as being kid-friendly, we were very keen to come and experience the hype ourselves!

Macaron Monster, in a rare instance, chose to have a babycino today.  (Usual drink of choice being juice or hot chocolate when we're out!)   A standard little drink, no marshmallows or fuss, and quickly enjoyed with a milk moustache.  It was attacked before I could pick up the camera!

I went for my usual mocha, and I'm glad to say it lived up to its reputation!  Oh so smooth, and a great balance between great quality coffee and sweet chocolate.  And of course there's the delicate coffee art.

We shared a Beer Braised and Seared Pork Belly, served with Smoky Baked Beans and House-Made Cornbread. 2 Indulgent slices of pork belly were delicious (but gasp, I left out most of the fatty bits - still a few post-baby kilos to go!).  The Baked Beans were a good mix and provided the "healthy" balance in the meal.  The Cornbread was the winner for Macaron Monster.  This was devoured with a good serving of the beans and I had to be quick to grab a bite.  I preferred the bit that wasn't soaked in the baked beans sauce, but otherwise fantastic taste and great texture.

Cornbread hiding behind greenery, sorry!

The menu is very adaptable for little kids.  The breakfast choices included poached eggs at $8.50 with which you can add a host of extras at a cost.  Lunch offerings included stews and flatbreads and salads.  I gave a chuckle at "La Fin de Elvis Presley" which is French toast filled with caramelised banana and rum puree and creamed peanut butter, served with crispy pancetta and vanilla cream. Love, love, love cleverly named dishes with a nod to obscure trivia.  (I would love to come up with names like those as a new career choice!!!)

I tweeted this instagram pic when I was there!
(look at me, all grown up and learning to use social media ;P )

The atmosphere of the cafe was casual, the air filled with the buzz of conversation, the smell of the food being cooked, the happy laugh and chatter of the staff, and the opening and closing of the doors for coffee take-aways.  Great, as this always makes me less self conscious if one of my kids should momentarily make a noise! 

In amongst the newspapers we found a pencil case full of color pencils and a notebook well loved by its patrons for Macaron Monster who was delighted to add to the art.

We were seated at the end of a large communal table, and unfortunately this was the low light of our visit.  The stools at the table were like elevated bar stools and Macaron Monster (rightly so) was too scared to climb up and sit on it.  Hip Young Waiter Dude had brought an Ikea highchair for Bubs in Pram.  When I asked for another for MM he told me MM was too big for it.  I told him we have the same highchair and MM has no problems fitting, but had to insist on it a few times before he reluctantly grabbed one from the back for me.  MM jumped right in and it was a much safer choice.  At the time I felt a bit funny having push for the high chair.  But taking into account that Young Waiter Dude probably has no children yet,  rather than insisting on a high chair maybe I should have insisted on being seated at one of the many other smaller tables with chairs at normal height instead.

If you have a pram make sure you enter through the door on the right as you're standing facing the cafe - there are no steps there.  A lesson learnt after negotiating my double pram into the door on the left and then requiring help to go down the steps to access the communal table I was directed to sit at.

Eat.Play.Shop.Recommends - Mmmm, the coffee!  Many choices, and house-roasted.

Give it a Miss - during peak hours on weekends.  Due to its recent buzz I've been told there are waits at those times and that's not much fun if the kids aren't patient!

Toilets - Yes
Highchair - Yes, Ikea type