Fandango

97 Errol St, North Melbourne 3051
Visited: 20th Oct 2011

Walked down from the CBD on a 30 degree Melbourne day to Fandango's for breakfast.  The front of the cafe had a very small seating area and we were asked upon entering if we would like to sit inside or outside.  We chose outside.  We were led through a kitchen area out into a sun-filled courtyard with wooden tables surrounded by trellises and assorted potted flowers.  It was quite lovely, really.

We both had our "usual" lattes, which came quite quickly.  It had the nice leaf art on the foam, which I liked, and the coffee itself was very good.

There was a comprehensive selection of breakfast fares which I found quite hard to choose from.  I was torn between the pesto scrambled eggs with oven roasted tomato on toasted sourdough and the pancake stack topped with fruit compote, strawberries, honeyed cream cheese and maple syrup.  They both sounded so good!  In the end I decided on the pesto scrambled eggs and added bacon. 

There was quite a long wait before our food arrived, although it was a weekday morning and there weren't many customers yet.  But when the food came, it was well worth the wait.

There were mounds of eggs on my plate, piled upon two slices of thick sourdough, topped with crispy bacon.  I was in scrambled egg heaven - this was one of the best eggs I've had... really rich, just wet enough (not dry and omelette-y like the way how sometimes scrambled eggs can get!) with the perfect amount of seasoning and flecked with bits of nuts.  The sourdough bread itself was very good - thick and crisp with an actual hint of sourness.  The roasted tomato I didn't like quite as much - to me it had an odd taste of something else that was overpowering it, like some other sort of fruit that I couldn't quite make out.  LOL.

Pesto scrambled eggs, roasted tomato on sourdough, add bacon ($18.50)

MerlinFan had french toast with bacon, baked apple and maple butter.  Man, this was a mountain (not that anyone was complaining :D) of toast, bacon and apples dripping with syrup and dusted with icing sugar.  It was more like a piece of art!  The french toast was rich and eggy, with crispy corners that were not soggy.  And the maple syrup came in a tiny jug, which you could top up yourself.  The bacon was amazing - really tasty and crispy.  MerlinFan does not usually indulge in artery-clogging bacon fat, however this was cooked so perfectly that she finished every little crisp bit of it.  Her only comment was that the baked apple could have been "more baked" but that was only trifle - needless to say there was nothing left on her plate after she was done with it.

French toast ($17.00)

Overall probably the best breakfast place so far.  There is a bit of a wait for the food, but trust me, it's worth it.  Definitely coming back soon.  I'm coming back for the pancakes :3

Continue here to my second visit to Fandango