Last Saturday, I went for brunch with my friend V to her part of town, North Melbourne. V chose a new to her place straight off the Internet, Hot Poppy. Hot Poppy is an unobtrusive establishment in Errol Street, conveniently located on the No. 57 tram line.
I arrived early, and ordered a skinny flat white:
The coffee at Hot Poppy is good, and wins a big tick before going on to the food that you came for.
Both V and I ordered off the specials board. V ordered crumbed egg on chorizo, roast pepper and white bean ragu ($18.50):
The eggs had a perfect runny yolk inside. V really liked this, but found there was so much food that she couldn't finish it - not a complaint!
I ordered the Europa eggs ($18.50): Cevapcici with 2 poached eggs, peperonata, basil pesto, tomato and grilled turkish bread:
This was also a really good dish - I enjoyed dipping the cevapcici (European meatballs) in the runny yolk of the poached eggs. Again, the serve was very generous, although I had no problems polishing it off.
The service was a little slow, but that may be because I was there for around an hour before V arrived, in which time I only ordered a coffee. However, it was friendly enough, and the interior was warm and inviting on a chilly wet morning.
Before meeting V, I walked a short way up the rod to visit Beatrix, a tiny café which is famed for its baked goods:
I bought a potato brioche donut with lemon icing (a house speciality, $4.50) and a chocolate tart ($7):
The donut was very light and fluffy. but largely tasted of the thick lemon icing:
The chocolate tart had a pleasantly bitter filling, but the crust seemed rather dry and tasteless (not just my opinion - I shared my goodies with a friend later):
I know that Beatrix is dearly loved by many (it has a 5 star rating on Urban Spoon), but I wasn't particularly impressed with these goodies, and won't be trekking back to the other side of town to visit soon.
9 Errol Street
North Melbourne VIC 3051
Ph: +61 3 9326 9299
688 Queensberry St
North Melbourne VIC 3051
Ph: + 61 3 9090 7301
3 comments:
Those breakfast dishes look impressive - more varied than most breakfast options, and plated up nicely. I'm sorry the baked goods weren't as good as you might have hoped for though.
Oh what a shame that the sweets didn't impress. I don't think I've tried a potato brioche donut but just made a potato sweet bun. Usually the potato gives it a great texture.
Hot Poppy food looks great! Sorry the bakery was not what you had hoped...always disappointing when you are going to splurge on a dessert and then be disappointed in its taste/texture, etc. Oh, well, you can always make some and then you will know they will be good, oh Queen of Cakes!! :-)
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