Sunday, January 22, 2012

Blue Dish, Highett VIC


Blue Dish, in Highett, Melbourne, is a rare gem of a cafe introduced to me by my colleague Lee, who in turn was introduced to it by our colleague Jess. The interior of Blue Dish has an old-fashioned charm, with upstairs and downstairs seating available.  However, the food is definitely not old-fashioned, and an all-day breakfast menu is available as well as the lunch and dinner menus.

In addition to in-house dining, Blue Dish sells an array of take-away gourmet products and patisserie items.  The patisserie items in particular look delicious, but I have avoided purchasing them to date only from the view of being able to fit into my clothes after lunch.

There is something for everyone at Blue Dish.  At the top of this post is pictured the pulled-pork sandwich with coleslaw,  which is a firm favourite with Lee and Jess.  It smells devine, and the sauce on the pork is delicious, but it is a little too rich for me to have every time.

Other dishes which I have tried at Blue Dish include the Moroccan Baked Eggs, which had a fresh, almost Thai-style flavour:


Most recently, I tried the devinely creamy pumpkin, spinach and goats curd risotto:



This is a perfect vegetarian option.

Other dishes that I have tried include the steak sandwich and the home baked beans with lyonnaise sausage on toasted sourdough, both of which I highly recommend.

The service at Blue Dish is attentive, prompt and friendly, and I love that they always ask if I enjoyed my meal. I feel lucky that we work close enough to Highett (which is otherwise outside my sphere) to enjoy this cafe occasionally for lunch.

On a  totally unrelated note, I could not resist sharing this photo of 4 cheeky cockatoos perched on the power lines that I saw on my walk to the train last week:



They raucously announced their presence to anyone below while gaily swinging on the power lines, including upside down at one stage.

Also, I wanted to share the gorgeous birthday cake that my friend Lorien made for the first birthday of her youngest son, Oliver, whose party I attended in Queensland on the weekend:



The cake was chocolate cake, decorated with rolled fondant.  The small children especially enjoyed the smaller cakes in the shape of alphabet blocks, although Oliver himself did not have any cake, and had the idea that "it's my party and I'll cry if I want to".  Big brother Liam came to the rescue by blowing out the candle, and middle brother Alexander charmed us all  with his dimples and golden curls.

Hope you all had a good weekend!

Blue Dish
326 Highett Rd
Highett, VIC 3109
Ph:  +61 3 9939 6641

12 comments:

Jenny @ Ichigo Shortcake said...

Those baked eggs look amazing! I love anything eggs, especially ones with runny yolks...:D

Finla said...

Sounds a delicious place, what i would like to eat right now is that baked egg dish.

Lorraine Not Quite Nigella said...

I love pulled pork so I would make a beeline for that I think! And it is nice when they ask you if you enjoyed your meal!

Jill said...

I wish I had a cafe like that near my house or work! Love the birds and the cake too - how fun.

Daisy@Nevertoosweet said...

The risotto and the egg look great :) i'm so hungry now hehe ~

Love finding little treasures in suburban areas ~

yummychunklet said...

What a delicious looking cake. And the Morrocan baked eggs look delicious.

Johanna GGG said...

love the risotto and the gorgeous birthday cake - just had to look up highett - no wonder because it is in a part of melbourne I don't know well at all but if I am out that way this sounds like a place to go

The Blonde Duck said...

It sounds neat!

Lauren Hairston said...

Everything at Blue Dish looks amazing! You're making me wish I were in Melbourne. Pulled pork is one of my favorite dishes and I'm a sucker for all-day breakfast.

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

What a great spot for lunch! And that cake is just adorable...I'm glad Oliver's brother could help with the candles :)

Kayte said...

Food all looks wonderful, such fun to see it, thanks for sharing. The cake is absolutely gorgeous. The cockatoos always crack me up, they are like little comedians most of the time. Such fun. Enjoyed this post...always fun to visit you.

Elaine said...

With breakfast available all day this sounds like a restaurant my husband would like. The rolls for the pulled pork sandwich look so appealing - light, but I am sure they are dense enough to hold the sauce. Looks like another great eatery. The gift-shaped birthday cake and alphabet blocks are so pretty! What a lovely party! And I love the shot of the cockatoos - must have just made you happy hearing their singing and watching their antics.