Arcadia, in the middle of Gertrude Street

Gertrude Street is one of the most know street in Melbourne area, because of the nice restaurant, because of the retro art shops, interesting pubs, outstanding architecture (including the Community Housing Development, one of the first in Melbourne, an example of inclusion and not separation, where the less lucky people are moved to the ghettos, far away from the city, as it happened in Paris, with all the problems that still the French capital is experiencing). Sorry I am Italian, and my political background has to come out sometime. Did I forget to mention anything in this nice street? Oh yes, the café scene and lifestyle. Located almost on the border with Fitzroy, has a mix clientele, mostly in the middle class, after a nice coffee and the daily newspaper. It is hard to get a table in the weekend as the café is not as big, but waiting for few minutes is not a huge issue in this street, lots of interesting people and shops around, difficult to get bored. I was almost sure about the quality of the breakky as soon as I stepped in. A big black board with all the specials, many available, and a fantastic menu to choose from. My appetite could be well satisfied I thought. And reality was……fantastic. Really great breakfast, based on eggs and small meatballs, well impressed. Coffee was an experience as well, unfortunately not good experience. The waiter forgot first to place my order, than she placed the order, than I waited and after a long while, after the breakky was all gone (well, in my stomach), it arrived. It must have been only that waiter and just in my case, because O could see coffees going to all tables but mine, so I take is as an unlucky experience, but surely it will not happen again (hopefully). Having the breakfast without any coffee is like going to a pub and not drinking, or even worst ask for a beer and it arrives when the pub is closing.

Rating (5=too good to be true,1=i saw and tasted much much better)
Coffee: 3 Average good latte
Food: 4 well done and reasonable price too
Service: 2 it should have been less than that, but I believe it was just an unfortunate case
Place: 4.5 I like it, they way it is organised, with all the adds on the left wall and newspapers around

193 Gertrude St
Fitzroy

Pics and video to add

The Vegie Bar

Well, I know this is not the typical breakfast café. First thing first it is called bar and not café, and, as the name says, it is vegetarian, therefore no bacon or sausages. Add they only have lunch and dinner during the week, so brekkie is only on Saturday and Sunday morning, from 9am. But, and this is why I believe it should be in this blog, the place is really nice and grunge; it is a place you can't miss when you walk in Fitzroy Street. I wonder if they studied the interior design or just happened to be like that, it's hard to say. They have a central area with a bar and the kitchen on the back, a coffee machine and lots of waiters working here, that makes service one of the fastest in the city I guess. Many tables distributed in the main room, upstairs, in the side room, in the backyard and on the street, is it enough? But still it may happen that you have to wait for a table. Why? Because it is so cool that it is always full, and this is a good sign. Another good point is that The Veggie Bar is cheap, with most of dishes below 15$ and breaky at 10-11$; but don't think that saving on money means also saving on quality, this is not the case here. It's just that you will not have bacon or sausages or chicken, but only eggs and any sort of veggie, mostly on season, which is great for the customers, money and quality wise, and for the owner as well. Should you come here for the coffee itself, maybe not, there are other better places around. You should come here for the lot, for the mix of place, people, food, and an average latte. There are people a bit grunge, with tattoos that cover most of the bodies, and theatre ads everywhere on the wall. Close your eyes, open them and you could be in some cities in the East Europe, maybe Budapest, the only difference is that the house around Fitzroy cost between 1 and 2 million dollars, in Budapest you should be fine with 1 or 200,000 dollars, and lots of coffee and breakfast and lunch and dinners to cover the difference.
Back to business, let's go the final rating(5=too good to be true,1=i saw and tasted much much better)
Coffee: 2.5 Average, nothing to scream about
Food: 3.5 well done, fresh and cheap
Service: 3.5 quick
Place: 4 grunge, young, interesting, sort of Uni bar, but not only for students, a bit bohemian but in a very rich area.

The Vegie Bar
378 Brunswick Street
Fitzroy (tram 112)
vegiebar.com.au