Pearl Cafe
599 Church St, Richmond, 3121
(03) 9427 1307
Over the weekend, bf-B and I went in search of brunch. It was prime time brunching hour (somewhere between 10-11am) on a Saturday, and having decided we could not face the queue at Pillar of Salt, I made the executive decision to wander up to Pearl Cafe.
I dragged a hungry B to Pearl where we were told we would also need to wait for a table (although this time there wasn’t the harrowing line winding out the door). We grabbed a table outside and ordered coffee while we waited. I was a little annoyed when others who arrived after us were given a seat inside, however, I was too weary from hunger to muster the energy to complain.
Maybe 10-15 minutes later we were rewarded with a cosy table for two inside (I was happy we weren’t made to sit at the central communal table, as my current mood made any human interaction completely intolerable). As I viewed the menu, I was happy to find that along with the usual staples, it consisted of a variety of unusual dishes: Toasted tortilla with tomato, sliced manchego cheese, jamon and a hint of chilli ($13.50); Free range coddled eggs with a choice of either wild field mushrooms sauteed in sage and burnt butter, double smoked bacon and toasted multigrain ($16.50); or buttered english spinach, lamb and fennel seed sausages, spicy tomato jam on toasted sourdough (which I chose); or pan fried eggs middle eastern style with smoked eggplant and tomato, tahini and turkish bread ($18). There was a lot of things I wanted to try, but the eggs with fennel sausages caught my eye.
When it arrived, I was a little disappointed with the presentation. Coming from Pearl, I expected something beautiful; like artwork on a plate. The tomato jam came already spread over the toast, however, I would have rather had the pleasure to do it myself. I’m not a fan of serving things in bowls on the plate either – as soon as I got the dish I tipped the coddled eggs (hidden here under the sausage and spinach) onto the toast which, to me, was instantly more attractive. On a positive note, the dish was delicious. The eggs were runny, and the sausages were perfectly seasoned. The tomato jam too added a sweetness to the dish which I really enjoyed.
Bf-B opted for the BELT, a twist on the traditional BLT with the addition of a fried egg, and served in a toasted ciabatta roll. Nothing ground breaking, although I was thankful it did manage to pull him out of his hunger-enduced depression.
Overall I thought the food was good. Definitely some interesting choices on the menu, and a few crowd-pleasers to keep the average diner happy. They have a great lunch menu too, and a good selection of sweets. Perhaps a little pricey, but that’s to be expected with the Pearl tag.
Suz
I think you will find that there are new owners at Pearl … Geoff Lindsay ended his association there around September last year … he obviously set a high standard which is difficult to live up to … we went to Proud Mary in Collingwood on Saturday morning, we had the same problem there in that they didn’t take bookings for brunch either and we had to wait outside in the cold for around 30 minutes, but the wait was worthwhile.
Kaz
Long way to travel for brunch? Did you read my post first? Sad about Geoff Lindsay leaving – what’s he doing now do you know? Must have a look..
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