Proud Mary

(20/3/12)

Proud Mary is one of those cafes that you never try to get brunch at on a weekend :-(, there will always be a line out the door & even people across the road waiting.  However if you are able to wait until a weekday you will be able to score yourself a seat at a table inside or out or at one of the number of communal tables inside (cafes love those communal tables).  Lots of staff on the floor & behind the coffee machine, they do a great trade in takeaway coffee to the public in surrounding Collingwood.  All staff appeared happy, no I hate Monday faces here :-)  Orders taken swiftly for coffee & freshly squeezed Apple & Orange Juice, mmmm very nice coffee in nice bright coloured cups, juice looked lovely & tasted a treat.

Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice

($4.5)

The menu is reasonably varied, not a huge selection but you would be hard to please if you couldnt choose something!  There was a Spiced Rice Pudding with Baked fresh Figs, toasted almonds, also Ricotta Hotcakes with Baked Peach, Blueberries, Pistachio, & Lavender semi freddo.  The Hotcakes were inviting but I decided to go savory & something other than eggs, hence the Sardines.  The smell was devine as  they arrived at the table & the presentation was perfect and the taste ........... wonderful.  The celery salsa verde which was under the sardines gave the dish a really nice edge!  My plate was clean except for couple pieces of rocket :-)

House -Smoked Sardines on toast, slow-roasted tomato,

 celery salsa verde

($15.0)

Bircher Muesli, Fresh Berries, Orange Yoghurt,

 Toasted Hazelnuts

($11.5)

Mmmmmm now for the Bircher Muesli!  It doesnt unfortunately get a very glowing review from its eater :-(  He was feeling a little unwell, but he felt the best part of it was the fruit.  It was fairly bland & gluggy, consequently he didnt even eat half of it. All the fruit was consumed & the remainder covered (as his Pa would) with his serviette so as not to offend! Disappointment as he was also thinking of the Hotcakes & would order them next time.

Avocado, Heirloom Tomato, Goats Cheese, Rocket Pesto, Toasted Farmhouse Loaf, with added Poached Egg

($14.0 + $3)

This meal was an Avocado lovers delight, it consisted of approximately two full avocados, with lots of pesto that really amped up the taste, one poached egg possibly wasnt enough & next time he would order two!  Thoroughly enjoyed & another clean plate. Bravo!

Proud Mary has quite a large interior that is light & quirky touches, its tables are never empty for long, as we leave our table is once again occupied,  they have the winning formula!

Black Ruby

(17/3/12)

Black Ruby was our fourth attempt to eat brunch on Saturday morning, after driving past three other cafes with at least 20 people waiting to get in!  It was however not a fourth as far as the food & service :-)  How amazing to find a cafe that is totally Gluten Free, alot of cafes offer gluten free bread, but the whole menu was gluten free.  Certainly a find for the celiac's amongst us :-)

  

($3.5)

  Lovely old wooden table in the window with view onto wonderful tree lined Rathdowne Street, smiling friendly wait staff. It wasnt bursting with customers but humming along.  Coffee was nice but just a tad too milky for me, prefer a stronger brew, but very drinkable as we did have two, and the second was possibly better than the first

 Quite a varied and substantial menu with a number of different breads (toast) on offer, pumpkin & pinenut, house made olive & a plain toast.  Quite a few sweet options as well including Coconut Pancakes with Toffee sauce, Poached Pear & Toasted Walnuts - yum. The usual suspects were on offer as  extras at $3 each, mushrooms, spinach, relish, bacon etc.   

Scrambled Eggs with Baby Spinach & Marinated Fetta on House Made Olive Bread with side of Bacon
($13.5 +$3)

Mushroom & Cheese Omlette on Pumpkin & Pinenut Toast with Relish

($13.5)

 Brunch one was the Scrambled Eggs with Baby Spinach & Marinated Fetta on House Made Olive Bread  with a side of Bacon.  It certainly was a man size meal, totally consumed and given a 9 out of 10, definately a winner!  The other meal was the Mushroom & Cheese Omlette on Pumpkin & Pinenut Toast, with Relish.  It also was a large serving, but was a little on the bland side, could have done with an addition of some herbs just to offset the egg/cheese taste.  The bread was a very tasty addition, however may have lifted the dish if it was just a little crustier. ( Something most Gluten free breads are not).  I didnt finish all of my omlette but my male companion finished it for me :-) and concured with my thoughts on the omlette. 

All in all a lovely little cafe that is only open on Saturday & Sunday, 8.30 - 3pm in a cafe lined street, parking was reasonably easy to find in the side street, usually okay in main street, when they are not doing roadworks!

Pillar of Salt

(13/3/12)

Pillarofsalt - salt of the earth :-) This was our third visit, so yes it is a favourite of ours. It has a nice back section to the  cafe, but this morning it was full, so we take stools at the communal table which is nice big square so you are not sitting on top of others, with prime views of the quite small kitchen, which does a magic job of turning out so many meals. 

 Breakfast is only served until 11.45 which is quite unusual, as a lot of cafes serve breakfast all day.  Cold water & menus promptly arrive & orders taken for coffee/juice. The weekday breakfast menu offers quite alot of variety & you would be hard to please if you couldn't choose something from it. Great choice of extras too, with a few different things like apple cider hollandaise, house made tomato & fruit relish, avocado & persian feta puree little beef sausages all reasonably priced.  Gluten free bread also available which is good to see. ($1 extra)

($3.5)

  Knives/forks/napkins sit in silver milkshake containers on table so no handling by staff. Coffee was very nice, but once again a small but errant mistake upon clearing plates ...... no question of can I get you anything else as in maybe coffee?  So one coffee is all we will have today! 

The apple juice while not freshly squeezed was the very acceptable Freshafruit, granny smith apple 100%.  The meals were all very decent sizes and we were all very content tummy wise. 

House made corn fritters w smoked salmon,
corriander & avocado salsa (w extra poached egg).
($16 + 2)

Our plates were spotless which is always a very good indication of quality of meals.  I had the house made corn fritters with smoked salmon, corriander & advocado salsa & poached egg.  The corn fritters were full of corn & very tasty, a large portion of salmon went down a treat & the salsa was very fresh. The poached egg didnt have a very runny center, but that didnt really bother me.

House made museli, oats, dried fruit, almonds,
hazelnuts & seeds, granny smith apples,
 baked rhubarb and natural yoghurt.
($11)

Meal two was the house made muesli, oats, dried fruit, almonds, hazelnuts & seeds, granny smith apples, baked rhubarb, natural yoghurt & small jug of additional milk if you so desire.  It was a very substantial size bowl & was eaten with much gusto , it was a winner :-) 

Red chilli scrambled eggs with juilenne bacon,
spring onion, parsley, a hint of parmesan & toast.
($16.5)

Meal three was the red chilli scrambled eggs with julienne bacon, spring onion, parsley, hint of parmesan & toast.  Dont be put off by the chilli, it really isnt hot at all, just provides a  nice bit of spice to the eggs.

Staff are attentive but not in your face, and all had a smile for you, & pleasant parting conversation whether it is genuine or not it completes the experience & makes you feel like they really were happy you came :-)  Parking can be a little tricky in this part of church street, but it highly worth the effort to find one or walk a little.

Collective Espresso & Kitchen

(5/3/12)

Collective Espresso is a busy cafe and if you dont mind sitting with others at the very long communal table, perch on a surprisingly comfortable stool & enjoy the surrounds.  The outside tables fill very fast as they seat mainly 2 or 3 people comfortably. The inside design has been done very well, and you certainly do not feel like you are cheek to cheek with the person next to you and still room for the staff to move around. The table is a nice height for all size patrons, some communal tables are quite high for shorter customers!

Greeted by a lovely smiling female staff member, the male members of cafe staff maybe had a hard weekend as I dont think we witnessed a smile from any of them the entire time we where there or upon leaving :-(

Lovely five senses coffee, so nice we had to have 2 each.  Collective's menu is a very creative one and very easy to choose something from with quite a few other items we would love to try.  The chef has a real flair with ingredients, and obvious pride in presentation.  

"The Sigh of Relief" - poached egg, w/spinach, three mushrooms & kaiser bacon served on parmesan rosti
($18)

"The Sigh of Relief" - Scrambled egg
($18)

 The Sigh of Relief - poached egg, w/spinach, three mushrooms & kaiser bacon served on parmesan rosti was extremely tasty, the spinach tasted like real spinach not like some watery green leaves other places serve up. The rosti married all ingredients together, and made it a very enjoyable taste experience! The sigh of relief was also consumed but with scrambled eggs and given the same tick of approval. 

"The Architect"  (Build you own) - Carrajung Real Free Range eggs - scrambled with side of avocado & trusted baby tomatoes on multigrain toast.
($9 + 4 + 3)   

The third dish consumed (& when I say consumed all 3 plates were completely empty :-)) was the Build you own - Carrajung Real Free Range eggs - scrambled with side of avocado  & trusted baby tomatoes on multigrain toast, looked lovely & tasted likewise.

Only negative apart from unsmiling staff was the placing of cutlery on table holding the head of the fork (section that goes in customers mouth), we didn't comment but sure some others would have.

Overall a very tasty brunch had by all, would happily recommend to others & return ourselves :-)  having said that it was in fact our second visit.  Keep up the good work Collective.