Cumulus Inc

Friends had raved about the breakfast at Cumulus Inc when we were last in Melbourne, so on this visit I made it my first stop. Like Akiba in Canberra, Cumulus is friendly to the solo traveller, seating me along the bar overlooking the kitchen where I could watch the chefs bustling away. I started with a glass of berry lemonade, which was beautifully refreshing and had the underlying bitterness of homemade lemonade. The berries added sweetness without being sickly. I chose the heirloom tomato dish to eat, and added the optional Serrano jamon. The dish was perfectly presented, with the straciatella cheese layered under the jamon and the seasoned tomatoes. A perfect mouthful had a bit of each element, including the divine bread which added so much flavour to the whole. The cheese had a distinctive flavour that matched the tomatoes really well and the staff were happy to let me enjoy it slowly while I read my book. To finish I treated myself to a canelle, which was done in the authentic French style – an almost burnt outer shell with a soft and delicate inside. I now see what everyone has been raving about, Cumulus is all class.

Cumulus Inc, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC                 http://www.cumulusinc.com.au

Honeycomb

Honeycomb is the kind of place I wish was my local cafe. Set on a corner at a roundabout in Darlinghurst, it’s a great people-watching spot with fresh, modern decor with a yellow theme. This is carried through their chairs and table flowers with an elegant simplicity. Needless to say I was pretty excited to try the food. On weekends, Honeycomb does all day breakfast, so when we arrived for lunch at 12:30, I could still order poached eggs – it’s great to eat somewhere that caters to what you feel like eating. The eggs were perfectly poached, and the avocado with za’atar was a fantastic mix of textures. Unfortunately the bread was very crusty and hard to cut, but the egg softened it a little. After brunch, we ordered a plate of doughnuts with dulce du leche, which were little bites of happiness – the doughnuts were small spheres dusted in plenty of cinnamon sugar, which were truly decadent with the addition of the sweet dulce de leche. The only downside of the whole experience was that you had to leer awkwardly across the tables sitting in front of the specials menu blackboard wall to see the options. Apart from that, another #cometocanberra campaign needed.

Honeycomb, 354 Liverpool St, Darlinghurst, Sydney NSW http://www.honeycombrestaurant.com.au/

ETC

If there was one place that can claim to have started my love of breakfast, it is this one. ETC (East Terrace Continental, for non-Adelaideans) is one of the first places I went to for breakfast back in 2008, when a friend of mine and I started going on ‘breakfast adventures’ in the city. Since then it hasn’t changed a bit – they’re still serving breakfast all day and doing it superbly well. ETC has a cozy feel to it – wooden floors, tables and chairs make it inviting in both summer when the doors are opened and winter when it’s windy outside. They offer both breakfast and lunch, as well as a specials board which often includes the best bits. Whilst their eggs benedict is my usual staple, this time I decided to try their ‘chill bar’, a traditional Turkish breakfast with poached eggs, garlic yoghurt, paprika butter, mushrooms and toast. As always, the eggs were perfectly poached and oozed into the yoghurt/butter bowl. The mushrooms had a little bit of bite to them; the toast had just the right amount of crisp and tasted of sesame (yum). ETC is a go-to for reliably good food and atmosphere, any time of year.

ETC, 6 East Terrace, Adelaide SA                                              http://etccafe.com.au/