the breakfast club

We are making a move to the north this winter and will take this opportunity to check out the cafes that everyone's been raving about!

The Breakfast Club sits along St Georges Road, which for the eastern suburbs noobs (I will willingly admit I was one until very recently) is kind of a nicer version of Burwood Highway - a major highway-like road which is home to a weird empty spaces, lots of residential and commercial properties, and a very beautiful piece of indigenous Australian reconciliation art, on the back of a billboard girding a sports oval.

It's a little cafe sitting behind a black and white striped canvas, where you will find the kind of comforts on display in the home of your artist friend who lives in Northcote. Small details like the salt and pepper shakers which are kitschy porcelain affairs in the shape of capsicums, tomatoes and cabbages. Dark wood tones, exposed brick - tick tick. Squishy seating - unfortunately a tick.

The menu is small, with handful of breakfast items and sandwiches. Their logo is very cute - a silhouette of the final fist pump moment from the iconic John Hughes movie we all watched in our 20s ironically with glee.

There is nothing kitschy about the food though - the items sound creatively yummy ("eggplant and cauliflower sambal, brown rice, cashew cream and vadouvan" and "kaagi corn fritters, miso aioli, green tea salt and pickled cabbage") and I witnessed some serious portions (y'all know how I feel about portions).

We were here in the late afternoon and I got the lamb wrap - juicy lamb with barley tabbouleh salad. Nicely seasoned, fresh ingredients.

As 1405 and I sipped our chai lattes (taste very natural and subtle, I liked it but 1405 thought it was bland) we did some people watching. Gone are the blonde stroller mums in 2XU leggings and down vests with their daughter clones abundant in our area. We saw a pair of shaved head lovers split a muffin (which looked delicious, by the way) and a cigarette. Another couple wore their matching outfits from the 1970s and gazed lovingly into each other's eyes when not furiously texting on their phones. Two teenage boys ate monster plates of eggs and bacon. We saw a man with a giant furry mastiff-like dog walk in and out nonchalantly, his giant bear dog trailing him, scaring the little jack russell that belonged to the shaved head couple, hiding under the table.

I think we are going to have an adventure here.

The Breakfast Club
206 St Georges Road
Northcote
9489 0251