Supersized Kanteen

Dodgy-looking, isolated, public toilet blocks used to be the kind of place a young gentleman might go to meet another young gentleman for a bit of fun. The kind of place George Michael might hang out if he was in town. But nowadays, it seems, everyone is hanging out at the local toilet block, sipping soy lattes and showing off the latest thing in oversized sunnies. Kanteen, beside the Yarra just below Como park, was an early example of this trend. And thanks to its recent make-over, you almost forget there's a perfectly good block of brown-brick dunnies lurking beneath a designer layer of recycled timber cladding.



Food-wise, the supersized Kanteen hasn't changed much from the original. Lots of stuff they can slap up quickly, like: ham, cheese and tomato melts on rye (with or without poached eggs); toasted pide topped with avocado and cottage cheese; and a breakfast pide stuffed with mashed egg, mayo, herbs, spinach and melted cheese (I had this and it was quite good). They also do Spanish Eggs baked in a dish with a couple of bits of chorizo, goats cheese and tomato sauce (and padded out with chunks of pide). These are cooked (or reheated) in a big old Aga stove.

But no bacon. Hello? No bacon? What kind of breakfast venue doesn't do bacon?



Kanteen does a decent Genovese coffee, plus you can get T2 teas, Emma and Tom's juices, and "Italian" hot chocolate. Service is still so-so, with the old get-your-own-water routine, and a long wait for coffees. Plus, they forgot the marscapone cheese on their own signature dish.