Tuesday 27 July 2010

Treacle

I'd previously tried to visit Treacle at the Grange for dinner, only to find it booked out. This time we headed back for breakfast. Although it was really busy on the Sunday morning of our visit, we managed to grab a table on the outside terrace.

Menus were brought to our table promptly, along with a bottle of water and a couple of glasses. So far, so good. The breakfast menu is pretty comprehensive, which means you should be able to find something that takes your fancy, no matter which way your tummy is grumbling.

After checking that they had gluten free toast (which they did) I ordered the zesty avocado on sourdough with bacon, halloumi cheese and two poached eggs ($16.90). I keep meaning to order more avocado dishes for breakfast, but usually forget when it comes to the crucial moment.

When my breakfast arrived, it was a good serving - two slices of toast smothered in "zesty" avocado, layered with rashers of bacon and halloumi slices, with two poached eggs sitting on the top. There was also a decent sized pile of rocket on the side of the plate, which remained untouched. I enjoyed most of the dish - the eggs, bacon and halloumi were all cooked perfectly, but I wasn't so keen on the zesty avocado. It tasted a bit like a guacamole (which is fine) but the pieces of raw red onion in the avocado mix overpowered everything else on the plate. Towards the end I began scraping the avocado off the toast, and found it more enjoyable.

My wife ordered the ricotta pikelets with lemon curd and berry coulis ($14.90). Unfortunately these were disappointing, mainly because the pikelets didn't taste like much ricotta (if any) had made it into the mix. On top of that, $15 for three large-ish pikelets with a bit of lemon curd isn't exactly great value.

We both ordered flat whites, which I found a bit weak compared to my daily Merlo fix, but were otherwise ok.

Other breakfast options include Treacle's home-made muesli with natural yoghurt and honey ($9.90), gypsy pocket filled with double smoked ham off the bone & Swiss cheese ($14.90) and
free range eggs Benedict on organic cornbread topped with fresh hollandaise, which is served with sautéed spinach and roast tomato ($13.90), double smoked ham off the bone ($14.90) or
Treacle's homemade salmon gravlax ($14.90).

While service was friendly throughout our meal, we waited a very long time for our breakfasts to arrive at the table. It was almost an hour after we had sat down when our meals were served. In my book, that's too long to wait for a couple of breakfasts.

Overall, if the service had been better, our visit to Treacle would have been so much more enjoyable. As it was, we waited too long for the food to arrive and when it did, our breakfasts didn't blow our socks off.

Treacle is also open for lunch and dinner. The lunch menu in particular looked good, and we'll have to pop back to try it out. (Sorry there are no photos - I only realised my phone battery was dead when we sat down at the table).

What does all this mean? A wide ranging breakfast menu that should keep everyone happy, but our visit was held back by slow service.

food bling ratings
Food - Ok
Service - Poor
Value for Money - Ok
Ambience - Relaxed suburban cafe/restaurant, with a sunny outside terrace
Vegetarian - Good
Gluten Free - Ok

Treacle
Shops 2-3, 8 Days Road
The Grange 4051
P - 07 3352 4144
E - info@treaclecafe.com.au
W - http://www.treaclecafe.com.au/

Treacle on Urbanspoon

4 comments:

Linda Vandermeer McCubbin said...

That avocado and halloumi dish sounds right up my alley

Gregory said...

great to see you back on board

Anonymous said...

I went there for dinner and would agree with the time it took for food to be served - plus we were put out on the balcony on a cold winter's night with no choice of inside or outside given. The food was ok once it arrived but definitely not good enough to try again ...

Anonymous said...

The meal I ordered was Smoked Ham off the Bone, with some sauce i forgot what it was, it was VERY nice to enjoy the meal with my work mates. I'll be going again this weekend, hope it is just as nice as last year.. The service WAS slow, as I was near last to be served. Even when we pre-booked on what we wanted, it was still slow. But nice atmosphere while sitting outside.