Date visited: 16th March 2012
It's funny how MerlinFan and I have never been to Manchester Press despite being CBD dwellers. We decided there was no better time than the present to come for a late lunch, especially after Hui raved the other day about how good the bagels and the coffees here were and showed us the fantastic photos she had taken on her iPhone. She had, after all, only been here three times XP
I had to admit, the tiny alleyway known as Rankins Lane just off Lt Bourke St is a bit dodgy and abandoned looking, but hey, if Hui made it out alive, so would we. Besides, we could see the Manchester Press sign toward the end of the lane, and people coming and going.
The entrance to Manchester Press is via a roller door. The wide, spacious room, high ceilings and barred windows all contribute to the converted warehouse/ garage feel. The floors, tables, lights and wall decor are very industrial looking, which adds to its appeal.
The menu in itself is interesting - made out of perspex, and each item on the menu is printed with a coloured label maker. Cute. All the breakfast items except for one are available all day.
Two lattes for us today. Look at the beautiful coffee art. The details on the faces were pretty intricate too - look around and you'll see lots of people snapping photos with their camera phones just before taking a sip :D Just on tasting the foam, I knew at once this was going to be good. The first sip is always the best and this was one amazing latte. It had the perfect amount of milky creaminess, but my only one complaint is that the coffee was not as hot as I would have liked it to be (maybe I took too long trying to catch a good photo).
Neither of us were really into salmon, roquette or most of the recurring (healthy sounding) ingredients on their savoury bagels, so we both opted for the sweet ones.
MerlinFan had the raisin bagel with mascarpone and blueberry-passionfruit jam. She was visually disappointed that it looked nothing like my extravagantly presented dish (see below) and were just two sides of a bagel with separate pots of mascarpone and jam. The toasted raisin bagel was tasty, crispy without being tough to chew. The mascarpone had no distinct taste, but I had a taste of her blueberry jam and it was delicious.
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| Raisin bagel w blueberry jam and mascarpone $7 |
I had the fruit & nut bagel with mixed berry mascarpone, strawberries and pistachio dust.
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| Fruit & nut bagel, strawberries, mixed berry mascarpone and pistachios $12 |
OMG, this was one really beautiful dish. My first bite of my bagel told me how fantastic it was - crispy and fruity, with just a hint of chewiness that I really enjoyed. Halfway through my first bagel half I was already thinking of when I would come back again LOL. The mascarpone was gorgeous too - fresh, lightly sour and tangy from the mixed berries. It wasn't sickening sweet like some sweet brekkies can get, so it didn't leave me feeling queasy at the end of it. My only comment is that perhaps they were overgenerous with the toppings, for I had quite a bit of mascarpone left over when I finished my bagel. But hey, I rather they be overgenerous than skimp out on toppings :)
Loved Manchester Press. It left me thinking of of the fruit and nut bagel with mixed berry mascarpone all afternoon with starry eyes.
Click here for our second visit
<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/71/1584177/restaurant/CBD/Manchester-Press-Melbourne"><img alt="Manchester Press on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1584177/biglink.gif" style="border:none;width:200px;height:146px" /></a>
Hahaha I'm glad you tried the blueberry mascarpone bagel!
ReplyDeleteMe too, it was amazing! Great recommendation!
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