Penny Farthing Espresso

On Sunday I went to Penny Farthing on High Street in Northcote to see what all the hype was about.

With only a handful of tables in the front room, first appearances were that this place looks quite small, but with mention of a back room and courtyard we decided to investigate. We chose to sit in the quiet but spacious courtyard - despite the threat of rain.

I ordered a coffee, which was great. The extraction was perfect and the milk was silky and full of favour even though it wasn’t Bonsoy. It wasn’t until later that I realised that you could choose between two soy milks. I thought this was a bit strange to have two soy milks as well. My friend ordered tea, which came with a cool hourglass timer on the tray so you know when the tea was brewed. Thumbs up on the little added bits!

There are quite a few delicious things on the menu, so we decided to share a couple of the more unique dishes:

“Pea & Sage Bruschetta” with a poached egg, smoked salmon and snowpea shoots.

“Spinach, Onion, Chorizo, Chilli Omelette, served on Dench’s sourdough with a chive salad”

The food was good, with generous servings and some interesting flavours but I felt a few little things let them down. The bruschetta was nice but we couldn’t taste any sage, always a bit of let-down when it’s a key ingredient! The omelette was a little too runny inside, maybe because of the spinach and onion in it, but it did have a nice little kick of chilli.

The staff were very nice but forgot to ask if we wanted a second coffee, which I very much did after my impressive first serve.  After the order was finally placed it wasn’t long before they arrived. Disappointingly it was not as good as the first. My coffee was slightly over extracted.  My friend order a hot coffee as I told her the temperature would not be to her liking. (After making her many coffees before.) It still didn’t come out hot enough, it was the same temp as mine. Here a little tip for them- they should have heated the cup first.

Breakfast at Penny Farthing was a pleasant experience, and I’ll definitely be back for more. 

St Edmonds

Finally a place that gets it right, in my neighbourhood!

It's great to walk into a place that you know the owners have thought about everything. The fit-out is very cool. When I first walked in the door I was greeted by friendly staff, they quickly found me a table even though the place was full and very lively. I order my coffee and within minutes I received a great flat white. I had a quick read of the menu and it looked amazing. I didn't have time to eat, so next time I will be there for the food. I loved that the menu is short. I ordered another coffee to go since the first one was so good. I got it within minutes again. 

I have to admit I have read the reviews on Urbanspoon and all I can say is that if you have never made coffee before you probably don't understand how long it takes to make and also you never see how many dockets are lined up. If someone gets their coffee before you do even if you ordered before them it's because the barista is grouping the dockets by milk. This is for efficiency. So give the guys a break. 

I think this is going to be my new local. Thanks guys.