cafe

A Mother’s Milk

- Alex Leave a comment

 

 

date of visit: Thursday 22 March 2012

A Mother’s Milk has been on my radar for a while (not that long as it did only open in January) but dragging myself out to Unley for a coffee has seemed like just a bit too much hard work. Certainly not the type of thing I’d manage on the spur of the moment.

But a bit of planning saw me finally make it to A Mother’s Milk – even if I ended up parking miles away (thank YOU, Parkside, and your warren of one way and blocked off street madness) and arriving for my coffee date late.

It’s a tiny café and when I arrived (baby and stroller in tow) I could hardly get into the front room. Fortunately, a kind patron opened the door for me and we squeezed in. Also, very fortunately, there are a couple of small rooms out the back – so don’t be put off if you turn up and it looks full. There might be a spot for you yet!

I headed out to the back room and we got ourselves settled in. Baby ensconced in high chair it was time to think about me. Unfortunately, they had run out sweet things – apparently they had had cakes, friands, muffins … and they were all sold out. Oh no! It was only half past 2, too! I was saved by the fact that, on the menu, they had sourdough served with goat’s curd and fig jam. That would more than do! As I hadn’t had lunch, I was not prepared to share (a serve is two chunky slices)!

The sourdough was great – it hit the spot, the jam, from Dirty Girl, had massive chunks of fig in it. It was very good – the type of thing you could eat out of the jar and justify as healthy because of the fruit content. The tiny bits of crust I gave to the baby were very much appreciated – so definitely pan-generational appeal there.*

The coffee is pretty good. To be honest, I found my cafe latte a little on the strong side (more milk please!) and I did order a second, requesting a weak one, but there was no difference which was a shame. However, that doesn’t mean the coffees weren’t good – they were, and if I’d been ordering long blacks I probably would have been really happy. I just like my cafe lattes really milky.

What marked out this visit was the fact that the staff were incredibly chilled out and accommodating. We were two adults and two babies and one of the babies was having something of an issue with being dragged out for coffee. The little chap was inconsolable unless he was trying to run out the door onto Unley Road but the staff remained even tempered, and attempted to chat to him, distract him and generally make it a good experience for everyone. No parent enjoys their baby being so distressed, and disapproving looks really don’t help the situation, so it was lovely to be made to feel welcome despite the rather large amount of noise our little group was making at various times!

Absolute top marks for service. I thought perhaps the food was a little expensive ($9 for the sourdough) but the coffees, at $3.30, were reasonable.

I’d definitely be happy to head back.

* The babycino also received the seal of approval.

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East Terrace Continental – etc

- Alex Leave a comment

East Terrace Continental

photo by bram_souffreau

date of visit: Sunday 26 February 2012

I was in charge of organising a weekend brunch/lunch for about 10 people. Our challenging group included at least 2 babies (and possibly more), one vegetarian and a varied collection of tastes. I was nervous when I chose East Terrace Continental as reviews on the internet were mixed.

Still, we were a group of old friends, we used to go to etc when we were at uni, and one of us was visiting from New York. I figured that things could really foul up and I’d be forgiven.

Things didn’t get off to an awesome start … I turned up and I could see no large table set up and ready with high chairs. And at midday on a Sunday you don’t turn up to etc with a big group and expect to wing it. Now etc had done the smart thing and rung me the day before to confirm (I’d had to ring back and leave a message) but I suspect I was looking pretty nervous and ticked off when the guest of honour arrived. After a fair bit of faffing around my booking was found, some customers were moved and our table was pulled together. I don’t know the extent to which this was good planning or good luck on the part of etc, but I commend the staff for their can-do attitude in sorting things out.

Table sorted, our group filtered in in dribs and drabs. etc is very casual which makes it perfect for a large group. You order and pay at the counter. This is perfect if you have people on different schedules (we did) and also if you have people who are money sensitive in any way (ahem).

Also, the café runs a very sensible policy on breakfast – it’s served until 3:30pm (they close at 4pm). This meant that I was able to indulge in a huge smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, with asparagus, while those around me ate a proper lunch, or a sandwich, or whatever they fancied.

I certainly wouldn’t go as far to say my breakfast was the best I’ve ever had – I like my scrambled eggs really soft and these weren’t, and the asparagus was a tad under cooked, and the silly (large) size of the portion meant that everything didn’t stay as hot as might have been ideal. But really – why quibble? The feed set me back $14.50 and I would go back and order the same thing in flash. Or would I? Because there are quite a few things on the breakfast menu I fancy trying. Around me plates were cleared so I guess everyone else was happy too.

Most importantly, the coffee at etc is good!

So decent food, good coffee, not too expensive and a sizeable range of vegetarian options. We ended up staying for about 3 hours and at no point did we ever feel like they wanted to move us on (maybe we drink a lot of coffee …). Yes, etc is noisy and buzzy (and busy) but I think that’s exactly why people go there.

Ignore the internet and give it a whirl!

 

 

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MP3 Cafe, Brighton

- Alex 2 Comments

brighton_jetty_20100606_01photo by eosdude

date of visit: December 2011

Something I really, really hate to come across in anything pretending to be a restaurant is a laminated menu. Sure – it might be durable and easy to clean but for a start they get tatty really easily and secondly they show up just how unseasonal your menu actually is.

MP3 is a case in point. It was a warm summer evening and the menu had lamb shanks on it. Seriously, lamb shanks in the middle of summer.

To compensate for the limitations of such a menu MP3 has masses of specials – and not only does this (I suspect) confuse customers, I know from experience that it confuses the staff. At some point a restaurant has to realise that it’s impossible to please every single diner and to flood your menu with dishes in an attempt to make every customer’s mouth salivate is just not going to work.

I wish I could say that my little rant was over. But no, it’s not. We managed to score a waiter who was working her first shift. I’m firmly of the opinion that managers of any customer facing team need to make sure that staff are prepared for the moment they do face the customer. In our case, our waiter was not. On the night we were there, the menu offered two variations on salt and pepper squid – one was on the laminated menu and one was on the specials board. I didn’t know which one I wanted, our waiter didn’t seem to know the difference and once she had taken our order the manager had to come out and verify the whole thing. And he was pretty woolly on the squid dishes too.

It transpires I’d ordered an entrée sized squid dish. The squid itself was OK and it was served with a non descript salad. What totally ruined the whole dish was the fact that it was all drowning in sweet chilli sauce. That was not good.

We only had the one course and, using our Entertainment Card meant that it was a very cheap meal for four (after discount aobut $85). Cheap, but not good value.

Not one I’ll go to again.

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