The Turtle

It was really a nice and warm day and the beach was just the perfect place to be. A nice sun bath, something I really miss from Italy or Greece, where you do not have to spend half of the time thinking about cancer and related problems. I used a normal sun protection cream and not a 30+, and I get brownish. But it can't be all perfect in Australia :-). Why this introduction? Just to say I moved a bit along the coast and on the way back I stopped in Elwood for breaky. It was already 3:30pm, and calling it breakfast is a bit too much, not even brunch, possibly lu-ner or di-nch. Well, anyway, I wanted my eggs and a latte, so I opted for the Turtle, which is a nice bar on a round about shared with other cafes and a 7/11. This round space gives a bit of European environment, sort of square, and The Turtle is located in a beautiful two storey art deco shop, I really like it. It is close to Elwood Patisserie and Bakery, run by a Greek family (this is the best Patisserie in Elwood, well Melbourne, possibly Victoria and maybe Australia) and opposite to Café de Cuba. So, if you are lost here around, well you will not have problems looking for food and coffees. The Turtle has a nice area outside, with few tables on the pavement, and you can smell vacation here, even if, unfortunately, the day after is a working day. The atmosphere is very relaxed, you can still smell the sea and it even seems warmer here. It's just a nice place to have a breaky, which they serve till 4pm. I was just in time to order my latte ($3.50) and my baked eggs with Italian sausages ($16.50) and I was really starving. The coffee arrived straight away and the food soon after, a good start I though. The eggs covered almost completely the little terrine, just perfectly cooked. Inside the sausages in a tomato sauce. I attacked the dish, which was at 89 degrees Celsius, not a good idea, but I could not wait. I than let the dish to relax a bit, getting cooler, and than again my fork was full of sausages and eggs, there was bread on the side to help me to amalgamate the mix. Well, I originally thought that $16.5 for a breaky is a bit too much, though we are in the upper class Elwood, but the quality of the meat was just so high that I was astonished. The sausage just melted in my mouth, the texture was divine and the combination with eggs and a little ciabatta was just perfect. Was I maybe to hungry and therefore everything would have been perfect? Possibly but I do not think so. The coffee was good/average and the service was responsive and smiley, which I really appreciated, understanding that being friendly even at the end of a tiring and busy day is not a common thing, good score on this.

Rating (5=too good to be true,1=i saw and tasted much much better)
Coffee: 3 Average, and not Fair Trade
Food: 4 well done, excellent quality, they could have scored better if the price would have been below $15
Service: 3.5 responsive and smiley
Place: 4.5 fantastic and relaxing

34 Glenhuntly Rd
Elwood (take bus 246 or have a nice bike ride)
www.theturtle.com.au (but nothing on it