Beetroot for breakfast
Phone: (03) 9600 0695
Okay, this post is going to reveal how dedicated I am to this all this food blogging business. See, I have developed a fascination with a certain cafe that has a fabulous autumn breakfast menu. And I have made it my mission to work my way through it - to have everything at least once (…or twice, in some cases ;-), before they move to their winter menu. And goddangit if I ain’t gonna do it too!
So why do I keep returning? Could it be for the absolutely amazing spanish milk rice with cinnamon and orange infused raisins? Go on, look, it is pictured above. When I get this I feel like I am having dessert for breakfast 
And see the cute little bottle of warm milk you get on the side? I could almost coo in delight.
Beetroot is only open Monday to Friday (damn them - I want a good weekend breakfast!), and only then for breakfast and lunch. But this has its benefits. The same staff are able to work, day in day out. There is continuity. There is developing customer relationships. There is the fact that half their patrons are on a name by name basis. I like that. I hate being lost in the experience. I like to be welcomed and enveloped by one instead.
And this is what Beetroot does so well. It is the little details that make it for me. The fact that my coffee comes with a chocolate freckle or a muffinette, or that after our third visit, they know exactly what coffee EG and I order (and that I have a particular sweet tooth when it comes to breakfast). I love their faintly square coffee cups (the espresso cup is just adorable), their little jars of sugar cubes and crushed pepper. Home made jams lining the walls. Personal postcards and photos pinned up on the other. The banter is friendly, and I feel like I am in someone’s home.
The bircher muesli is one of the better ones I’ve had in this town. Rolled oats and plump raisins are made tender by yoghurt, and it is sweetened naturally with house-made poached fruits, a berry compote and whole pistachios. The actual components of the bircher changes on occasion - I guess utilising whatever is best in season. Peaches, plums, nectarines and blackberries have all had their go at playing protagonist. The pistachio nuts seem to be a regular player though, which is fine by me considering I love pistachios.
The scrambles, infused nicely with pesto, are wickedly good. I know some think it sacrilegious, but I kind of think it has become a bit of a Beetroot signature. The bacon, as you can see, was perfectly cooked - not underdone (eww), but not charcoaled to crispness either. And it was all served on a hunk of barely toasted turkish bread, which again, is up for some discussion. But I like it.
Now this is a breakfast that is up there with the best (…and leaves bills hotcakes for dead). French toast with banana, dark chocolate and vanilla mascarpone. This is the play by play. Turkish bread halved and stuffed full of banana. Dip in egg and fry in butter. Drizzle with a dark chocolate sauce. Sprinkle with icing sugar. Top with a generous dollop of sweetened vanilla mascarpone. Oh. my. god.
Okay, I’ve had this twice now. I couldn’t resist. It is THAT good (…and if I wasn’t so keen on completing the Mission: Autumn menu, I would have had it again, and again, and again…)
Now if you are wanting a healthy option - and yes, even I am prone to bouts of altruism, one can go the porridge. The toppings change regularly, in this instance it was stewed rhubarb - a nice tart accompaniment to the rib sticking oats.
And this is the baked beans infused with maple syrup and bacon. The beans are firm and bitey in the way that only good home made baked beans can get. And the infusion of maple syrup is no lie - it is quite discernable and goes so well with the bacon (yes, I did spend a little time in Canada developing a penchant for bacon and maple syrup).
You can also get plain toast (well…turkish bread or a gluten free option bread) with your choice of spreads, or the wonderful Flinders fruit loaf. They also do a range of fresh baked muffins if nothing else on the menu excites (which I assure you, won’t be a problem here).
Between EG and I we only have two more menu items to try. We’ve got this one licked…although the Winter breakfast meny is only around the corner 
Everything looks so delicious! I’m thinking I’m going to have to make a trip myself..!
12:12 am - April 21st, 2007Ooooh, that all looks good… I’ll have to give this place a go, for sure. Hm, perhaps Monday…
6:29 am - April 21st, 2007That french bread, banana and chocolate thingy looks like it would set you up not just for the day, but the week! Nice work.
7:04 am - April 21st, 2007oh. my. god. is right. i gotta go!
ps. great blog and i love how you consider eating porridge altruistic. heh!
8:12 am - April 21st, 2007What a brilliant post! You deserve a foodie award for your efforts.
I have been meaning to go for ages. Will definitely try to this week and report back.
9:25 am - April 21st, 2007Hey mel. - uh huh, this one will certainly satisfy all your secret foodie life
Hi anna - well if you go for brekky then get off at Melb Central station and walk. It is then about a 15 minute walk to work. BTW, they do what looks to be a fabo lunch. We should jaunt there for a looksee?
Hey neil - well if your math is correct, then I have about two weeks worth of banana/chocolate french toast in me. Ahhh..
G’day ester - thank you for the compliment. BTW, I seriously drooled reading about your bombe alaska - what a classic! I so must give it crack myself.
Hey truffle - hmm, hardly a foodie award. But perhaps a lifetime membership to Weight Watchers?!? Yes, definitely make your way there. As mentioned above to Anna, they also do some wicked looking lunches. But breakfast for me is the marker of the day - it sets one up so well, especially when you have something like that Spanish milk rice. Mmm.
12:52 pm - April 22nd, 2007Love your reviews and photos as ever, mel.
4:22 am - April 30th, 2007Just got back from having lunch at Beetroot (the moussaka, which interestingly had both eggplant and potato over the lamb), LOVED it.
Have you tried their hot chocolates??? Milk, dark or white (proper chocolate melting in the bottom of the glass filled with hot milk) - and topped with a generous cloud of Persian fairy floss. Pretentious? Possibly. Did I love it?? Most definitely!
Hey ya mutemonkey - oooh, I haven’t been there for lunch yet - but I drool over their display cabinet every time I go for breakfast.
And I haven’t had their hot chocolate either, perhaps because I normally go the sweet option for breakfast, which makes hot chocolate with fairy floss seem kind of obscene. Eehh, surprisigly I do have some willpower!!
11:52 am - April 30th, 2007Ok, I am Di, one of the owners of beetroot. I have to say, I am absolutely flattered and surprised that you have gone to such effort, and trouble to create such a wonderful blog, of our breakfasts. And the food looks awsome! Something has to be said for your dedication to our autumn menu, which would explain why we havent see you in a while.
Spring menus up, and the semolina with mandarin and blood orange compote, with toasted almonds is the bomb!
Anna, thanks again. Hope to see you soon. Team beetroot.
1:06 am - September 1st, 2007Hey Di / Team Beetroot - thanks for swinging on by our lil’ blog. We absolutely adore the breakfast at Beetroot, hence the post. You deserve all the kudos you get!
Will drop by for brekky again soon, as that semolina dish sounds right up my sweet-tooth alley
We’ve been saving $$ for our upcoming Japan trip, hence the reason you haven’t seen us much for breakfast. But you have dangled the carrot, and we’ll pop in soon.
1:28 am - September 3rd, 2007Beetroot has been on my must-visit brekky spot since I read your post! Spring menu sounds delightful too. Do you know what time do they serve breakfast till?
11:48 pm - September 10th, 2007Hi anon - I’m not sure what time they serve breakfast to, as we’re always in and out around 8am!
Can anyone else help out?
12:22 pm - September 13th, 2007