Mocha - $3.70 |
Collective Espresso
3 Cookson Street
Camberwell VIC, 3124
Ph: (03) 9882-8995
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Last weekend we had a great catch up with the lovely Daisy from Never to Sweet for Me at Collective Espresso in Camberwell. I've been meaning to come here for years, ever since I got a takeaway coffee and saw that they have kaiser bacon on the menu, so I'm glad I found an excuse to visit.
We sat inside at first and had a coffee, but quickly decided to move outside. A couple of points to be aware of - the music in there is really loud, which I think is fine in a bar or restaurant at night, but feels a bit out of place during the day, and makes conversation difficult. Also, all the seats inside are on high stools, so if you've got mobility issues, or just don't like uncomfortable seats, you'll need to sit outside. Luckily the weather was nice!
Cappuccino - $3.70 |
And speaking of which...
Brioche roll with fried chicken and chipotle coleslaw - $13 |
Chipotle Mayo |
Avocado and feta mash, fine herb, extra virgin olive oil with poached eggs - $17.00 |
"Build your own" South Gippsland free range poached eggs on sourdough toast - $10 Kaiser bacon - $4 |
Yolkporn |
Now, lest you think we were going to leave without anything sweet, we'd actually decided to share the ricotta and blueberry dumplings as a dessert. However, when it came time to order, our very friendly waitress informed us that they'd run out of dumpling mixture. Boo! She suggested we order either a lemon meringue tart or a raspberry coconut slice, and we chose the lemon meringue tart as it was made in-house.
Lemon meringue tart - $4 |
Um yeah, it was a bit sad looking. Unfortunately it didn't taste very good either - the pastry base was soggy and not cooked through, the lemon curd was really, really eggy, almost like scrambled eggs, and the meringue was all broken and weepy (see the little dots of liquid that seeped from the meringue on the top right hand side). If I had seen it in the cabinet, I would have suggested we avoid ordering it. It was really disappointing, considering how nice everything else had been, and we only had a bite each before leaving it. I've since googled the blueberry ricotta dumplings, and they looked incredible! (See this post from Poor Student Eats/Drinks Melbourne). Gutted we missed out!
Oh well, that's just another excuse to come back. Despite the disappointing tart, and the coffee just being ok, the savoury dishes were very, very good. The staff were really friendly and I liked the atmosphere on the outdoor tables - a good spot for a nice meal on a sunny day.
5 comments
That is the most horrendous looking lemon meringue anything I've ever seen. It actually almost made me flinch.
ReplyDeleteAlso, heavy on the feta. No such thing! (But then again, I eat entire wedges of feta and blue cheese straight with a spoon.)
Coffee head is always my go to place in that area so good to have another option (although not keen on luke warm coffee).
ReplyDeleteAww how lovely to meet Daisy! I'd love to meet her one day :) That lemon meringue tart sounds so sad and soggy :(
ReplyDeleteYum that bacon looks spectacular! I think I would have gone for the fried chicken burger though. lol
ReplyDeleteOh dear, that lemon meringue does look sad and frankly, unappetizing. The brunch dishes at Collective are great! hope u get to try the ricotta dumplings soon!
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