Charmers, Manuka

It's Thursday morning and I here I am in Manuka, right across the road from Minque, formerly La Grange, the site of many a big Wednesday night on the turps for pollies and staffers alike. Indeed, it was at La Grange that Mark Latham (Labor polly) first met his second-wife-to-be, Janine Lacy (Liberal staffer). These days, the political crowd has migrated to the Holy Grail, down the road in Kingston, and the Lathams seem to have moved on to the Campbelltown Hungry Jack's. But Manuka still pulls the crowds with its cluster of cafes. Or, to be more specific, its cluster of cafes, and one "coffee lounge". And so I settled in for eggs, bacon and beans at Charmers Coffee Lounge, 42 Franklin Street, Tel +61 2 6295 1848.



Two things struck me about Charmers. First, the food was better than I expected, especially the light-as-a-feather scrambled eggs. Second, the prices were even more of a rip-off than I expected. $17.50 for smoked salmon eggs benedict. That's more expensive than the Bot. And this place is no Bot.

But just because the food was better than I expected doesn't mean that it was great. The bacon, for example, was soft and limp and not at all crispy. And the "Tijuana" beans were just beans with a few bits of spring onion and some chilli thrown in.

It was good to see "Hot Waffles" on a brekky menu... surprisingly rare these days. The potato stack sounded good too... layers of potato, bacon, avocado and tomato finished with basil pesto oil.

12/20 "overpriced"