115 Sydney Rd
Brunswick, VIC 3056
Brunswick, VIC 3056
You never realise what you have until it’s gone. My sister
is a bubbly and chatty kid with lots of crazy ideas, and as much as I love her,
in true sibling fashion, I find her annoying more often than not. But all of a
sudden she flies off to China with dad for a couple of weeks, and I miss her
more than I can say.
Before my sister left however, I
made sure to take her out to eat lots of food she can’t really get in China. Of
course some good burgers were on the menu, but I also wanted to take her
up the northern end of town to get some brunch, and a bit of Middle Eastern
nosh too. Green Refectory
seemed like a good place to make that first stop. I don’t really understand why
I haven’t visited, considering that it’s extremely cheap and closer to my uni
than the city is, but here we are.
Appearances are usually pretty
deceiving when it comes to Melbourne. And in the case of Green Refectory, what
looked like another hole in the wall turned out to be a vintage-styled mess
hall spread out over 3 rooms and a long, narrow back garden. And the variety of
food they serve is mind-boggling. Aside from the breakfast and lunch menu
scrawled on blackboards, the cabinets were piled high with pastries, vibrant
salads, sandwiches, and even sushi rolls.
After ordering for the two of us –
and getting change back from a twenty! – we headed to the back room and sat
down with our cute little canvas print that seems to have taken the place of
table numbers. There was a bit of a wait, given our simple orders, but probably
expected given how busy the cafe was. At any rate it gave my sister plenty of
time to sit around awkwardly as I scuttled around, taking photos.
Breakfast Stack ($10) |
My sister is a fast learner; she is
already researching what she wants to order at a restaurant in advance like a
true foodie. The Breakfast Stack
($10) is something of a signature dish at Greens (as it is affectionately
referred to by locals), and on the day we visited, we saw all sorts of people
enthusiastically digging into it. Surrounded by a puddle of tomato relish, this
stack has got it all – potato patty, roasted tomato, spinach, eggs, bacon, and
haloumi. I’ll say upfront that this dish is more of a quantity than a quality
thing; the potato patty was mash rather than crispy, the bacon was soft, the
egg was hard, and the vegetables rather flavourless. But at the same time, I adored
the buttery, cheesy potatoes, the bacon was plentiful, the haloumi had the
perfect salty squeak, and the vegetables became much more interesting after a
swish in the rich tomato relish. I wasn’t impressed by this dish, not by a long
shot, but I enjoyed it quite a bit as something that I would love to cook at
home, but can probably never be bothered to.
Small Salad ($7.95) |
After tackling a 588 gram burger
just the day before, I needed to eat something that would make me feel good
about myself. So the bewildering variety of salads that Greens offered was a
dream come true. I had myself a Small
Salad ($7.95; $6.95 take away), which allowed me to choose 3 different
ones to sample from the cabinet.
Brown Rice and Cranberry Salad |
The first salad I chose was a
concoction of Brown Rice and
Cranberries. I loved the way the grains rattled around in the mouth,
each bite contrasting between chewy grains of rice and crunchy diced celery. I
really enjoyed the slight creaminess of the dressing punctuated with the
sweetness of cranberries.
Chicken Salad |
This Chicken Salad was a great example of something simple done
right. The generous chunks of chicken were well-flavoured by a peppery
marinade, and the accompanying vegetables were fresh and crispy, occasionally
interspersed with the silky oiliness of mushrooms and capsicum. I don’t have
too much to say about this one but I would eat this every day if I could work
out what was in that marinade.
Roast Vegetable Salad |
It was a shame that the trio of
salads were let down by the Roast
Vegetable. There was a good variety of vegetables and it wasn’t bad or
anything, but it wasn’t much more than a plate of too-sour moosh, potato chunks
aside. I’d skip this and get one of the other dozen of salads on offer.
There were desserts stacked by the
door (probably as bait – I see what you’re doing!), but we just couldn’t fit
anything else in, especially considering we were having a second brunch very
soon.
Despite everything, my feelings for
Green Refectory are actually a little bit mixed. I enjoyed the food and adored
the prices, as well as their lovely set-up and the sheer variety of food on
offer. But the overall experience left a little to be desired. As nice as the
vintage setup was, it just didn’t feel very relaxed – more like a food hall and
less like a place where I wouldn’t even notice the time slip away. The service left a bit to be desired as well; the staff struck me as a bit too-cool-to-serve-you-properly. I had
to wait for the girl at the counter to stop chatting to her friends before
being able to ask her to explain to me, grudgingly, what the salads they had. But
if you’re just after a quick, hearty and cheap meal, then you’ve come to the
right place.
Rating: 13/20 – greener pastures.
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A1 Bakery
645 Sydney Rd
Brunswick, VIC 3056
Brunswick, VIC 3056
When you’re up this end of town, a
trip to A1 Bakery and the
huge op-shop, Savers, is a must. I’ve been to this Middle Eastern bakery before
and I loved everything I tried, but because we just had brunch, my sister and I
had to pick wisely.
Cheese Pie ($3.5) |
Going to a Lebanese bakery and not
trying the Cheese Pie ($3.5)
is like going to yum cha and not having prawn dumplings, and A1’s version is
seriously impressive. The bread is light, sweet and leaves a dusting of flour
on your lips, and the cheese in the middle is melted just enough to retain its
salty squeakiness.
Baklava ($1ea) |
And of course, a piece each of the Baklava ($1) that had brought a
tear to my eye the first time I had it. It’s not as flaky as I remembered, but
it’s still indulgently buttery, nutty and syrupy, good enough to make my
sister’s eyes grow wide at her first bite.
And our trip to Savers after? We
picked up 6 books and the Harry Potter board game for only $19.95 – SCORE!
I liked the Green Refectory when I went, although I wasn't too sure about their coffee, had better elsewhere. The baklava looks delish!
ReplyDeleteAnd LOVE the photos. :)
Thank you Jenny :D
DeleteI did like green refectory too, though it seemed a lot more rushed and of lower quality than the other brunch places around town... but not many places serve brunch for less than a tenner either! And the bakalva was one of the best sweets I had last year, definitely have some if you're up that end of town
The Green Refectory looks like a really cool place. I love your photos and you're blog. Definitely going to follow.
ReplyDeleteSarah
http://sarahmelenhorst-likeitis.blogspot.com.au/
Hey sarah, thanks for dropping by! I'm really glad you enjoy my blog, it's always lovely to hear <3
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