The Kettle Black

50 Albert Rd, South Melbourne 3205

Date visited: 14th August 2014

Exciting news.  MerlinFan told me the other day that the crew from Top Paddock and Two Birds One Stone had opened yet another new cafe in South Melbourne, called Kettle Black.  I had a week of annual leave so we grabbed this opportunity to head over there this sunny Thursday and avoid the weekend crowd.  

The cafe is easily accessible by tram, only a few minutes walk down Albert Road from the Domain Interchange.  There was a coffee cart parked outside for takeaways, and they even had doughnuts and other pastries on offer.  Ingenious idea.

We arrived before noon and the place was not yet full.  We were greeted by a smiling waitress who showed us to our seats at the end of a beautiful marble bar.  The cafe was decked out in white walls and light coloured wood furnishings, accentuated by shades of pastel green and shiny gold accents.  With the natural light streaming in from the glass windows, the interior had a very airy, relaxed feel to it.

The waitstaff were chirpy and efficient.  Our coffees arrived amazingly fast after our orders were put in.  I had a Cappuccino and MerlinFan had her Latte, both were velvety smooth and creamy.  Nice.

Cappuccino and Latte

The menu was rather interesting and had the infamous Ricotta Hotcakes from Top Paddock.  They had tempting sounding dishes like muesli, coconut yoghurt, polenta porridge and the usual eggs and toast.  If you're after something different, they also have scrambled eggs with wallaby, King Island crayfish, or Wagyu steak in a black bun to name a few.

Being boring not too adventurous and craving some good ol' poached eggs, so I opted for the Benedict style eggs with free range pork shoulder and aerated hollandaise.

Benedict style eggs $17

I loved the crunchy slightly chewy toast.  The pork was tender but slightly under seasoned - nothing a little salt and pepper from the table couldn't fix. My poached eggs were gooey but not runny and the slightly tangy aerated hollandaise was delicious but sadly there wasn't much of it.  Without both, my second toast ended up pretty dry without much to hold the elements together. 

MerlinFan couldn't resist and got the Hotcakes with house made ricotta, blueberries, pure maple, double cream and seeds.  Yes, they were just as good as they were at Top Paddock.  A fluffy pancake with crisp corners, dotted with blueberries and ricotta and topped off with maple.  The blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, flowers and seeds added that extra tanginess and texture.

Ricotta hotcakes $18

If you fancy, they also have doughnuts from Doughboys Doughnuts and other goodies like frangipane tarts, brownies and croissants.

Overall, Kettle Black has lots of expectations to live up to, being the sister of two powerhouse cafes.  The pork shoulder could have used more hollandaise and seasoning, but overall good coffee and the same yummy ricotta hotcakes.




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