Saturday, March 12, 2005

Kanteen, South Yarra

This afternoon, for second breakfast, we took the dog to Kanteen, South Yarra, on the banks of the Yarra river. For the al fresco experience, it stacks up pretty well, but the egg options are limited.



As I had already pigged out at Trotters, I went for the single poached egg option, served atop a rye melt of ham, cheese and tomato. It was an attractive looking egg, lightly spinkled with cracked pepper and crowned with some sort of leafy green garnish. Unfortunately, however, it was a long way short of cooked, with raw egg white spilling everywhere. Soft poaching is fine. Raw egg white isn't.

Other menu choices include Kanteen Eggs (with smoked salmon, spinach, marscapone cheese and lemon vinaigrette, on toasted pide), toasted avocado pide (with cottage cheese, lemon juice and sea salt), or the exotic-sounding black sticky rice with banana and coconut milk.

The staff are pretty laid-back, and the seating is a mish-mash of fold-up chairs, high bar, plastic stools and communal table. So don't expect silver service.

12/20 "super soft"

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have tried again and again and again to love this place. It has so much going for it with great coffee, great architecture, fab position on the river and laid back feel. Waiting around 25-30 minutes on three different visits for anyone to even come near us for a coffee order (after being told not to order at the counter as it's full table service) and then waiting another 15-20 minutes (for a couple of coffees and muffins)does just not cut it!Sorry, you've lost us (and others we know who have had a similar experience!)

23/2/07 13:26  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love it best coffee in town always had great service.I meet lots of clients at Kanteen and love it well done MARK!!!

14/4/07 01:23  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Please allow me my own comments..... At kanteen we pride ourselves on our coffee, produce and outstanding staff who fortunatly for everyone pride themselves on all aspects of kanteen. I hold the utmost of respect for all my staff. They work as hard if not harder than any other in this industry to give our customers the most wonderful experience in the most beautiful environment. I question the integrity of these people making negative comments and ask who are you? Please understand we are not perfect, but appreciate we are one of the busiest cafes in Melbourne, especially on the weekends. I consider myself to be one of the most passionate people in this industry and pride myself on every aspect of our cafe. See you all soon, Mark xxx

19/4/07 20:34  
Blogger Adski said...

Mark, good on you for sticking up for your cafe. But the reality of it is, your cafe cant seem to cope with how busy it is. You have jumped in the deep end and are sinking quickly. Sure you're busy, but people who appreciate their food won't come back a 2nd time if the service is consistantly poor and food remains at a low standard. You can fancy a menu up as much as you want, but unless good food is put on the table, people will slowly realise that there are better places to eat. If you don't believe me, look at the photos on my review at totallyaddictedtotaste.com not only did I leave your cafe disappointed, but I left pissed off! Rather than get on your high horse about how busy your cafe is, you would do well to listen to the people who actually are passionate about food enough to spend time writing about it. Generally if they say it aint good, it aint good. Obviously if the reviews are consistant, there is a problem. One simple solution would be to either hire staff that know what they're doing, staff with experience.

4/5/07 22:45  
Blogger exchef said...

BEST EGGS IN TOWN. maybe it was my visit, but awesome experience. we don't give a fuck about the wait! on a nice day just absorb the wonderful surrounding. Amazing location, friendly staff, who all look as though they are having a ball working there. fresh juice, the menu is simple, but effective. the staff knew what was on the menu, they explained about the wait... there is a reason why the place is busy... they are on to a winning formula.

1/4/09 12:20  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Beautiful place, you just can't beat the location. The only complaint I can make is with regards to the wasps but if you're popular, well...

13/4/10 11:49  

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