Cafe Sweethearts - [Eggs eggs eggs]

Cafe Sweethearts
263 Coventry Street, South Melbourne


Cafe Sweethearts for me is the come-to place if I am craving for perfectly poached eggs covered generously in hollandaise sauce. They offer a wide selection of 'egg dishes', e.g. eggs with salmon, eggs with chilli, eggs benedict, eggs this, eggs that..., but the bottom line is that nothing is more satisfying than watching the egg yolk ooze out. MMMMmmmmm...and Cafe Sweetheart never disappoints in that respect. Coffee is not great (I must confess I am not a coffee person), and the meal portions do vary from time to time.


Eggs Florentine - ~$15.90
Poached eggs with hollandaise sauce, bacon, wilted spinach and sauteed mushrooms.
verdict: one of my favourites! I felt the hollandaise sauce is one of the best I've tasted - it has a great balance between the sourness of the lemon and the saltiness of the butter. The mushrooms are also very juicy and flavourful. Love it.  

Eggs Florentine

Chilli Eggs - ~$15.90
Poached eggs with bacon, and chilli sauce. Great combination of flavours that will kick-start your morning. If you're wondering, the chilli isn't very spicy.

Toast with bacon, mushrooms and poach egg - $10
The sauce-less version of egg florentine with one less egg (costs $5 less than the other ones). I got 2 big rinds of bacon!!!

Conclusion: If you are craving for eggs, Cafe Sweetheart is the way to go. We give it 8/10 for the egg dishes.

Snow Pony - [Not too shabby]

Snow Pony
95 Whitehorse Road, Balwyn, VIC

I adore banana bread. I am normally not a huge bread fan, but bananas just make the bread awesome. I tried baking them a couple of times myself, but I still haven't got the texture right.  In search of the perfect banana bread, we headed to Snow Pony. Snow Pony is the sister store of Porgie and Mrs Jones. I've never been to Porgie, but I think Urbanspoon likes the Pony better. The cafe is very spacious (even has a back courtyard!), but it was packed when we arrived. Nonetheless, it's a nice and cosy place for a lazy Sunday brunch to catch up with friends, or just, you know, stare into space. :)

note: Life size snow pony!!!

First up --> the coffees...

Mocha 
verdict: the mocha they served today was a bit burnt, leaving a bad aftertaste in my mouth. No wonder they were advertising for baristas.

Chai Latte
verdict: I have had better Chais around. Not memorable. 

 
Second up - The real deal
(p.s. forgive me i forgot the actual names of the dishes) 


Banana bread with pistachios, berries compote and mascarpone cheese -- aud $14.90
verdict: Nice! Arguably nicer than the one in Las Chicas. I thought the banana bread was almost perfect. It was fluffy and moist, not too sweet, with the right amount of banana. I felt the pistachio and berries added a lot of textures and layers to the dish. The only thing is the small amount of mascarpone cheese didn't contribute much to the dish, I'd like to see more of it sandwiched between the bread.

Lemonade scone with chantily cream and jam -- aud $3.50
verdict: Well made scone but I must say I did not taste the 'lemonade' explosion that people have been raving about. My theory of scone-indulgence is to eat it with a huge dollop of cream and jam on top. ^___^ I really liked the cream...but $3.50 for a scone? Hmmm I may have to think about it next time. 

Scrambled eggs with goats cheese on toast -- aud $12.90
verdict: Loved the way the eggs were cooked. Together with the goats cheese it was thick, smooth and very satisfying. The bread was a bit too hard for my liking and  I'd love to have tasted more herbs/spinach on the dish.

Conclusion: I'd definitely come back for the banana bread and eggs, but Snow Pony is not a place for good coffee. I'll give it a 7.5/10.