Courting Miss Jackson

Miss Jackson

2/19 Grey St

(enter from Jackson St)

St Kilda 3182

Telephone: 03 9534 8415

Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 7am-4pm

Miss Jackson is the kind of lady that will make all your troubles go away.

Not a difficult feat to begin with: the sand and sea are a block away and while she’s a shy beauty on the outside (finding the entrance took some hunting)…

…the interior gives off a unique combination of vibes: minimalistic with a hint of Mamma Mia! (the Meryl Streep version). Certainly, Miss Jackson has distinguished herself, having won the accolade of Best Food Café as per The Age Good Café Guide Awards 2011.

My sister is starving and orders the corn fritters with bacon, avocado and vine tomatoes — adding poached eggs as a ‘side’.

The corn fritters are crisp, sizeable, and embedded with juicy golden kernels, the avocado slices are fresh and fleshy, and the eggs are poached perfectly. Interestingly, the presentation of the dish appears to have evolved quite a bit since its inception.

I can never say no to eggs prepared with goat’s cheese and this omelette proved impressive — in taste and size.

It was massive! And more importantly: moist, thick, and generous with the cheese. There was a bountiful lot of bacon to match that was a little burnt around the edges but still very good. My only niggle was the bread. This might be a point of personal preference, especially given it didn’t look at all burnt, but it was so crisp and hard that it wouldn’t have been out of place spun across the room in an old Bruce Lee film. Perhaps if it had been sold to me as biscotti.

Unfortunately, the pan fried gnocchi with sausage didn’t fare as well. Which was disappointing, as it was aesthetically amazing.

The portion was pretty small (next to the omelette, minuscule) and the gnocchi itself a tad bland and mushy. Given the glowing reviews I’ve read elsewhere, I suspect this might just have been a kitchen miss on the day.

Too full from my enormous omelette, I opted to take away a brownie (a huge hunk), which was deceptively innocuous in appearance.

After an initial nibble in the car, I finished it before we’d even reached the city. It was exemplary: fudgy, nutty, and heaving with chocolate.

I’m not sure it’s got the best food in Melbourne but Miss Jackson’s certainly bringing all the boys to the beach, and they're like, it’s better than yours. Definitely worth a revisit as the days heat up!

What kind of food do you think goes best with a sea-nic day out?

Demi-Tasse

Demi-Tasse

550 Lonsdale St

Melbourne 3000

Telephone: 03 9642 3571

Opening Hours: Mon-Fri Breakfast and Lunch

My favourite South Australian is in town and confined to the legal district for the duration of her stay. Lawyer jokes aside, this is actually a pretty terrific outcome on the feeding front. As the number of eager eagles on Masterchef would suggest (most in fact originating from this very block of bricks in Melbourne), the legal community takes its eating very seriously.

The edible (and other) delights of King St are just a block away. But it’s easy to get distracted with closer café heavyweights like Earl Canteen (luxe, lush sandwiches that have been blogged about extensively – go for the Otway pork belly), SMXL (try a ‘moave’ with your excellent cuppa), and Le Traiteur (a long lunch experience, start with the tomato consommé). If you prefer to go down the road less taken, however, you can’t go past Demi-Tasse. Which is funny, because it is very, very easy to go past Demi-Tasse. This dame’s not much to look at from the outside.

But she’s a Hepburn beauty within, with similar style. Dark wooden panellings with matching furniture, bottled beauties up top, a literally angelic mural, and lush red leather booths.

Though I question whether Hepburn could have maintained her slim physique if she’d frequented a place like this very often. The food here is hearty, homemade, and addictive. And the service is just as warm and lovely.

We make with the meatballs.

A very traditional mix of pork and veal served with tomato sugo and crusty bread ($10.50). I couldn’t think of a better dish for a cold Melbourne day, and even though it’s spring, it’s clear we won’t be in shortage of those anytime soon. The meatballs had great bite, they came apart in juicy chunks and we mopped them up with the bread and sugo.

And I never say no to a house-made pie.

Beef Bourguignon with tomato relish and green salad ($7.50)

It’s always a pleasant surprise to receive a ‘gourmet’ pie in a city café that isn’t manufactured by Boscastle. This was very sizeable, and a bargain for the price. The pastry was delicately layered, and I especially enjoyed the tomato relish, which had a very unusual sweetness and tang reminiscent of chutney. The filling itself was more than decent, though a little dry. If you like your meat meaty, i.e. not indiscernibly minced, it’s definitely the pie for you. Other pie options include vegetable or a very interesting-sounding chicken fricassée.

Or pick something else from its extensive and extensively tempting menu.

Demi-Tasse: petite with plenty of pizzazz. And particularly important if you work in this area: its coffee packs a punch as well.

Outing Outpost

Outpost by St. Ali
9 Yarra Street, South Yarra
Telephone: 03 9827 8588

Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-5pm; Weekends 8am-4pm


I am late - at this post, at Outpost. A thousand apologies.

St. Ali, Fabulous he!

Ali of Yarra
Genuflect, shorn some respect
Down on one knee*

If ever there was an exalted coffee connoisseur, St. Ali would be it.

Now, try your best to stay calm
Brush up your Sunday salaam
Then come and meet his spectacular cof-fee*

*To the transcendent tune of Aladdin's Prince Ali.

And although I remain agnostic regarding Melbourne's religion of coffee, there is much to be said for its messiahs. Not one to be left behind, I dutifully agree to attend at a Saturday morning sermon.


As far as appearances go, this is an exquisite temple indeed.


Walk through to pray with the masses at the back.

Literally, our table is an arm's length.

Worship at your leisure, it was a full ten minutes before our orders were taken; the flat white arrived four minutes later (good), the food twenty-five (it better be good).


What we lack in thirst, we make up in appetite. We went extremist on extras.

Free range eggs on toast with homemade tomato relish ($9.50), Daylesford smoked bacon (+$3.50), roasted roma tomato (+3.50), balsamic and thyme roasted field mushrooms (+$4.00), grilled chorizo ($4.00), avocado and feta mash ($4.50).

Extra poached eggs:


Basically, a blessed breakfast for two weighing in at $29.00.

Sublime? Well, I relished the relish. Everything else was pretty standard café fare. Some rumblings: scrambled was slightly overcooked, poached a little sour (laced with vinegar), and the avocado fridge-cold. "Underwhelming," says hungry, hungry sister.

There was not much redemption in the twee-est, teeniest lemon cupcake you ever saw (comes in two sizes - this is the mini).


It was as sweet as sweet can be - unfortunately not in a good way. Not wretched, but not wonderful either.

Almost everyone loves this place, so I feel like a bit of a malcontent. Was Outpost otherworldly? Not to us. And with better brunch offerings around, I'm not in a hurry to walk over water to return.

Pay homage if you're a coffee devotee/in the 'hood/unfailingly fashionable. Pass if not.

Waffling on Waffle On

Waffle On
Shop 9 Degraves St
(Just outside the Flinders subway exit to Degraves)
Telephone: 0401 408 168

Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-5pm
(sometimes later, or earlier, depending on how quickly they run out)


My friends always say, "Hey, Vee! You're always so busy! What do you eat when you're on the go?"


Or at least they would if I had any.


I'm lying of course; I have three.

Unfortunately (because it would be very entertaining otherwise), none of them speak like their dialogues are written by campy advertisers. Or Sesame Street writers.

It is true, however, that I am very busy. Sims 3 was just released after all, and the new season of America's Next Top Model is out. I'm hectic. So whenever I catch a break, I get my fix from my man Mark.


Best waffles anywhere. Thick, rich, and with granules of sugar sweeter than Don Lothario. They'll melt in your mouth...because they won't be in your hands any longer than five seconds before you stuff them in your gob.


Nutella and ice cream (who would've thought) sets the bar for me, but my friends (two of three) swear on the strawberries and chocolate. Waffles cost $3, and toppings are a dollar extra encompassing maple syrup, chocolate, bananas, jam, whipped cream, peanut butter...sugar, spice and everything nice.


To counter the sweet high - Le Roast Beef, with added brie.

Sliced in half for picture perfection!

This is $8.50 I believe, but I'm always too hungry to count my change (when I get change out of $10 for good grub, I don't complain). Rare roast beef slices, French pickles, French mustard, mayonnaise, rocket salad, tomatoes, thick slabs of Brie on a buttered house-made baguette. That will do me, merci!


The only 'table' is a very narrow shelf along the wall on which you can precariously balance your goods and food at the high risk of having them fall off or on you (twice now). Short of sneaking a seat at Grill'd across the lane, I'd suggest you take your treasures home with you, like I did tonight.


Now I have to spend the rest of my evening with a hunky meaty sandwich. Poor me!

Café Vue: To View and Be Viewed

Café Vue
401 St Kilda Road
(near the corner of Toorak Road)
03 9866 8055

Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-11pm; Sat-Sun 8am-11pm

There are few things more trendy in Melbourne than hidden destinations, tiny spaces (for elbow-knocking exclusivity), and The Vue Trinity. I'd love to be Mr Bennett's Ms Darcy.

Café Vue on St Kilda Road eschews the 'little local' hypothesis however - it's big, bright and beautiful. And with the droves of people clamouring to get on board - you can bet she knows it, the saucy minx.


We were seated immediately at 9:45am on a Saturday morning. Menus were brought promptly, with a full bottle of water.


We placed our orders, and my pistachio cupcake was served in seconds (this, unfortunately, marked the end of the day's good service).


It was almost like a pistachio flourless cake - very dense, very nutty, and not too sweet at all. I didn't like the stiff little icing, which was reminiscent of 'strongly-flavoured' pistachio ice-cream. But that's an absolutely personal thing - I've always thought pistachio ice-cream tasted a bit like cough syrup. And I'd definitely order this again, as the icing's easy enough to pry off.

Sit at the bar?

Definitely a place for chic-chat and to lounge about fashionably - my sister's adequate flat white arrived only after 20 minutes, and our food took a good 30-40 from when we first placed our order, so we missed our next appointment. It was also difficult beyond reason to flag someone down to check on our order.

Don't mind if I do.

When it did arrive, however, it was completely flawless.

62° eggs on toast ($9.50 + $3.80 for the white sausage)

My stalwart order - perfectly poached eggs, lemony hollandaise, crisp, chunky toast, and enough spice in the sausage to elevate it from 'something I could get at the supermarket'.

We were a little less impressed with the presentation on my sister's dish.

Spanish eggs en cocotte with tomato fondue & capsicum purée ($9.50)

My secret self-satisfaction at having made the superior order was quickly extinguished however! (Food envy karma will bite you in the bacon.)


The tomato fondue blended with the capsicum purée to produce the freshest tomato 'salsa' I've ever had; there was absolutely nothing ketchupy, pasty or 'processed' about this, just really pure and fresh tomato and capsicum flavours. I unashamedly appropriated copious amounts for my own forkfuls of eggs, sausage and toast - the joys of eating with family!

Bacon for the table, as you do ($3.80)

And I can never go past this - the most perfect little lemon tart, with a meringue dollop only just-crisped on the surface ($4.50). I haven't had any better in Melbourne, and I love them - so tell me if you have!


All in all, you can't fault the food - or the fabulousness of your surroundings. My obvious gripe though would be how s l o w the service really was; in speed and quality! For example, it was a pretty annoying (and ridiculous!) end to the meal when we paid $58.10 exactly for our $38.10 breakfast and received our $20.00 change in coins. (The reason for this being that our $8.10 in small change was ignored completely, and the person processing our order only put the $50.00 note through!) Consequently, we received a mostly-silver pile of coins in our bill tray taller than the tart we'd just consumed! Mind, it took 10 minutes to get our bill, and a further 15 to (poorly) process the payment!


Would I come here again? Probably; I do adore the food, the novelty of sweeping space, and it's conveniently located in the middle of my regular route. But I wouldn't schedule anything else for the rest of the morning.

My advice? Bring lots of reading material if dining alone - plenty of surface area to spread it out on as well!