North is a trendy little café, smack bang in the middle of the Rathdowne Village shopping strip. North is very popular with the locals, so be prepared to wait for a table, or try and get there a bit earlier to secure a spot. Even though we had dragged ourselves out of bed pretty early (by our standards anyway) and were over there by 9am, the only available seats were the breakfast bench along the front window.

The breakfast menu at North contains all of your usual breakfast staples (eggs, bacon, a muesli of sorts), as well a couple of fairly unique options. The Brooding Architect went for the Champion’s Breakfast – a twist on the childhood favourite of boiled eggs and toast soldiers ($8.50). I could not resist the sound of the Huevos Rancheros (Rancher’s Eggs), served with black beans, tortilla and spicy chorizo ($16).

Breakfast at North Cafeteria

As usual we started breakfast with a strong flat white ($3.50).  The coffees ticked all of my boxes – strong, creamy and no bitter after taste. I always think my weekend coffees taste much better than my weekday coffees though, since I allow myself the luxury of full fat milk on the weekends.

True to its name, the Champion’s Breakfast, came served in the most adorable gold trophy-shaped egg holders. 10/10 for sticking to the theme! To make this dish a bit more grown-up friendly, the toast soldiers are made from Turkish bread and there is a side of spicy tomato relish on the side.  The boiled eggs were perfectly cooked – lovely semi-solid whites, with soft, oozing yolks.  The only thing that improves the dish is a generous sprinkle of salt on top of the yolks. Simply delicious. The menu does not specify whether the eggs are free-range, however judging from the lovely yellow yolks and taste,  I suspect that this is the case.

The Champion's Breakfast

The Huevos Rancheros certainly looked impressive, however unfortunately failed to live up to its potential.  Don’t get me wrong, individual elements of the dish worked well – the fried eggs were perfectly cooked, the tortilla was light and fluffy and the chorizo had a lovely smoky, spicy flavour. However, the Mexican stars of the dish – the black beans – didn’t quite cut it for me. Unfortunately they were lacking in flavour and given the absence of some much needed acidity to cut through the richness of the black beans, I just found the dish a just a little bit too heavy. In my view, all North would need to do to bring this whole dish together, is plonk a more generous serving of the fresh and zesty tomato salsa on top of the beans and serve a wedge of lime on the side (the lemon was just not quite right) and it would be a real winner. For extra points, a bottle of Tabasco sauce on the side wouldn’t go astray for chilli addicts like me.

Huevos Rancheros

As I was chomping down on my breakfast, while reading The Age (the gossip-y Good Weekend section,  not the real news section), a young hipster wearing ridiculously short denim cut-offs approached me and asked if I was reading The Age.  The first thought that sprang to mind that she was one of those dodgy Weekend Paper Lurkers – you know the kind, the sort that can’t be bothered to buy their own paper, but coyly pretend that the paper you paid for exclusive use of is the free for all shared café paper. There I was ready to defend my paper, when she presented me with a $50 breakfast voucher just for being spotted reading The Age.

$50 voucher just for reading The Age

After The Brooding Architect finished accosting me for always “being so judgmental of people”, I immediately began calculating how much extra cash I had to spend on breakfast treats, because even though the voucher was free and I was already full from the black beans,  I felt that I wouldn’t be doing my part if there was any money left over at the end.  Kind of warped logic I know! Anyway, two more coffees were quickly ordered, with a couple of ritzy Daylesford & Hepburn Mineral Springs Co. mineral waters (to rehydrate after that extra coffee) for the walk home.

The Brooding Architect is convinced that my break-up story is bullshit and that the only reason I wanted to change hairdressers is because my new hairdresser is directly across the road from the jam and custard filled bomboloni doughnuts at Sugardough. He may just have a point…

I used my first haircut with the ‘other hairdresser’, as an excuse to meet up with some friends – The Esoteric Educator and The Film Buff Lawyer – for a late breakfast.

Lots of food writers and bloggers have raved about Sugardough over the years, so I won’t repeat the same details over again. In true, lawyer bullet point list style, I will highlight the important stuff though:

• All of the baked treats are made on-site;
• The sweets are exceptional (even “breakfast dessert” is a must);
• It is cheap;
• It is popular – expect to have wait for a table on the weekend; and
• It is cash only.

I ordered the Breakfast Tart - generous layers of whole free range eggs, ham, tomato and spinach encased in flaky pastry base.

The Breakfast Tart

The Brooding Architect and The Esoteric Educator were both ‘carb loading’ for the following day’s bike ride, so ordered the Egg & Bacon Panini. This is the ultimate hangover sandwich – fried free range bacon, fried eggs, gooey melted cheese and tomato relish.  The relish is the perfect balance of sweet and tangy, cutting through the richness of the bacon and cheese. I swear I took a photo of this amazing sandwich – but it is nowhere to be found on The Brooding Architect OCD-style date and time catalougued photos. You will just have to trust me that it looked just as good as it sounds.

The Film Buff Lawyer was very retrained and ordered the granola – sadly my hands were covered in the Breakfast Tart, so I was not quick enough for a photo. It was filled with lots of good stuff – and looked devoid of the dreaded ‘filler fruits’.

While making room for our “breakfast dessert”, we washed our meals down with a couple of strong flat whites and admired the kitsch 1950s-style pastchio green fit-out. The coffees were well made – strong and creamy.

Savouring a coffee to make room for "breakfast dessert"

For our “breakfast dessert” we shared some fresh-baked almond croissants and some jam and custard filled bomboloni doughnuts.

The still-warm-from-the-oven almond croissants were sensational, ticking all of the right boxes -  deep yellow colour (evidence of truck loads of butter in true French style – much like the ones Emmanuel made on Poh’s Kitchen), filled with a rich almond cream and drizzled with a sweet sugar syrup.

The still-warm-from-the-oven almond croissants

I have saved the absolute best bakery treat for last though - the bomboloni. According to Wikipedia, the English translation for bomboloni is ‘large bombs’. True to translation, the bomboloni doughnuts at Sugardough are fantastically large balls of sweet pastry, injected with jam (or custard, or chocolate) and then liberally rolled in sugar. You could say that they are a ‘bomb’ for your arteries if you ate them everyday – although I am certain one per week is okay…

Jam Filled Bombolini

I used my free Saturday to try out Kitchen Kultcha, a new-ish cafe on Glenylon Road, Brunswick – just a few minutes walk from Sydney Road.

Kitchen Kultcha - 43 Glenylon Road, Brunswick

Before housing Kitchen Kultcha this brick building has had many different lives. Most recently is was a fish and chip shop and before that it was a ye olde butcher (you can even still see the old and faded ‘Broken & Boneless Meat’ butcher sign out the front).

As always I started with a strong flat white ($3.50). The Brooding Architect and I agreed that the coffee was exceptionally good – strong, creamy, no trace of foam. The Brooding Architect has worked from home for the past year – frequenting each and every coffee shop in Brunswick -  so for coffee to get his seal of approval speaks volumes to me.

Strong Flat White from Kitchen Kultcha

For some reason though, they did not give the Brooding Architect a heart on his flat white?

The Brooding Architect's Coffee - Sans the heart art

While I drank my coffee I took a good look at the eclectic fit out. There were Chandeliers, Mediterranean style table tops, op shop paintings on the walls and a Buddhist statue at the entrance. Despite sounding chaotic the space works. The whole place has a very relaxed vibe – the staff are friendly, there are kids from the local kindy down the road running around and there are hipsters with hangovers. Somehow all of these elements just seem to harmoniously blend together. There is also free wifi, so all of you with your iPads (you know who I am talking about) can sit there reading your e-Newspapers (or playing Fruit Ninja) to your hearts content.

I generally think ordering muesli when you are out at a cafe is a classic ‘rookie’s mistake’; as it is one of those things that it so easy to make at home, plus who feels like being healthy on the weekend?  However, the muesli options at Kitchen Kultcha are très fancy – plus my first choice of the Beef Cheek Pastie was already sold out. (As a Beef Cheek Lover I will have to come back for this pastie very soon though).

I ordered the Granola ($8). This is clearly homemade, chock full of premium dried fruits and nuts – sliced almonds, roasted hazelnuts, pepitas, currants, cranberries, dried apricots and a sprinkling of orange rind. Not a sultana or the other dreaded filler fruit, dried paw paw, in sight. Lots of crunch and lovely cinnamon undertones. The Granola must be topped with full fat milk – this is completely non-negotiable.

Granola topped with fresh fruit

The Granola is meant to be topped with poached seasonal fruit. Unfortunately due to our lazy start to the day, the kitchen had already run out of poached fruit, so the Granola was topped with fresh strawberries and grapes instead. The fresh fruit was lovely and sweet, however I think some poached fruit – such as rhubarb, apple or pear – with a little acidity would have been the perfect match.

Inspired by my healthy choice, the Brooding Architect jumped on the virtuous bandwagon and ordered the Bircher Muesli ($8). It was infused with rosewater and creamy natural youghurt (no low fat substitutes here). Just before serving fresh grated pear, rather than the usual grated green apple, is then added to the mix. It was healthy, delicious and deceptively filling.

Bircher Muesli at Kitchen Kultch

Now I just can’t wait for my next lazy Saturday, so I can try out that Beef Cheek Pastie…

Since we were out at Moonee Ponds, I was keen to check out Nabiha, a cafe I have read lots of good things about (including consistently high coffee ratings on the Bean Hunter Website).

Nabiha is located on Hall Street, just off Moonee Ponds main shopping strip, Puckle Street – next door to Bill Shorten MP’s office.  I jokingly asked The Brooding Architect if he thought we would be seated next to Bill. After much eye rolling from The Brooding Architect in response  to my question, imagine my surprise (smugness?) when Bill rocked up and was seated two tables away from us!  The Brooding Architect – probably in good taste – refused to let me ‘pap’ Bill for this post.

Nabiha from Hall Street - Bill Shorten MP's office is on the left

Given that much of Moonee Ponds feels you are stepping back in time to the mid-1990s, Nabiha has a refreshingly modern and funky fit-out. Extra points for the fantastic Rona Green screens which run along the front of the cafe, custom stools and the bonsai tree on each table.

Exterior of Nabiha - Note the bonsai on each table

Rona Green Screen Art

Custom Stool

We ordered 4 excellent flat whites ($3.50 each) - all strong, creamy and smooth. In the middle of guzzling our second coffees, the waitress let us in on the secret that all Nabiha coffees are double shots. Needless to say, we were buzzing for the rest of the afternoon.

Nabiha Double Shot Flat White

Food wise, we ordered 2 breakfast meals – 1 savoury and 1 sweet to ‘share’.

I ordered the Grilled Eggs with potato, mushroom, roasted tomato, cannellini beans, chorizo and feta ($12.90).  Despite a long list of ingredient this dish was actually very simple and fresh. The eggs were well cooked, with lovely oozing centres – which you could dip your toast in like soldiers. The chorizo was spicy and smoky, but was used in moderation so it did not overpower the other flavours. Lots of chunks of potato covered in delicious cheese too. Highly recommended.

Grilled Eggs - $12.90

The Brooding Architect ordered fruit toast, topped with fresh ricotta, flaked almonds and cinnamon ($8.50). The combination of honey, almonds and cinnamon was delicious and sweet (but not too ‘sickly’ sweet, if you know what I mean).  The use of fresh ricotta means that the dish has a smooth, creamy texture - nothing at all like the grainy store bought tubs of ricotta you get from Coles or Woolworths. A few of the stalls in the Deli Hall at the Queen Victoria Markets sell fresh ricotta for about $6 a kilo. Pick up a small wedge to try - say about $2 worth - and I promise you that you will never go back to the supermarket varieties.

Fruit Toast with Ricotta, Honey & Almonds - $8.50

Nabiha also had a full cabinet display of gorgeous looking glazed danishes and other sweet treats, which  I resisted as we were heading back to the House of Trouser for a BBQ and Part 2 of the AFL Grand Final.  I will definitely try something next weekend though, when we head out to the Apple Reseller again to finally pick up the replacement keyboard.