Benito's, Melbourne

It seems reasonable to assume that Benito's, 445 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, Tel +61 3 9670 5347, is named after the guy who managed to get the trains to run on time. Apart from being a fascist dictator and mate of Hitler, he was also booted out of school for stabbing a fellow student and throwing an ink pot at his teacher. We can only wonder what kind of chef he would have been. But I'm pretty sure he would not have been a fan of blogging.



Whatever the merits of its name, Benito's is a tightly run ship. The service is friendly and professional, and the food very good. Having settled into one of the cosy leather-padded booths with the morning paper and a perfect cappucino, I was soon presented with a generous serve of Eggs Benedict with some spinach on the side (the waiter's recommendation). Although the eggs had been shallow-poached, they were cooked just right, and the hollandaise was excellent. The muffins, spinach and thinly sliced grilled ham were also pretty good.

As with many city venues, the menu is short-ish, but with some interesting items like ciabatta fried in egg with ricotta and honey, semolina porridge, and sausage frittata.

After some flip-flopping, I'm going to ping them a point for price. My eggs ended up costing $17.50 which has to be called expensive, even if they were good.

16/20 "nice booths"