Apte, Alphington
I'm not sure I can call it the perfect breakfast, but this morning I had my first 20/20 experience at Apte, 538-540 Heidleberg Road, Alphington, Tel +61 3 9482 2991. Excellent eggs. Equally great extras. Fantastic fritters. Schmick venue. Smooth service. No mistakes. Schwing!
Perfection, I fear, is an elusive beast. Jessica Alba may be 2007's sexiest, but is she the perfect woman? Derek Zoolander may have been born with perfect bone structure, but is he the perfect man? Robert Parker may have scored the 1986 Romanee Conti Montrachet 100 points, but is it the perfect wine? No, no and no.
So please don't get hung up on the whole perfect score thing. Just enjoy a truly delicious corn, pea and feta fritter, drizzled with dill-infused sour cream and topped with a mountain of Tasmania's finest smoked salmon (and some nice, ripe avocado). Or tuck into a beautifully balanced big breakfast, with eggs, bangers, bacon and house-made relish, plus mushies, spinach, tomato and organic toast. Or go sweet with toasted, house made banana and coconut bread (with honey labna, pistachios and roasted seasonal fruit). Yum, yum and yum.
20/20 "almost perfect"
Eggs & Bacon $10.40 BB100 +4%
Perfection, I fear, is an elusive beast. Jessica Alba may be 2007's sexiest, but is she the perfect woman? Derek Zoolander may have been born with perfect bone structure, but is he the perfect man? Robert Parker may have scored the 1986 Romanee Conti Montrachet 100 points, but is it the perfect wine? No, no and no.
So please don't get hung up on the whole perfect score thing. Just enjoy a truly delicious corn, pea and feta fritter, drizzled with dill-infused sour cream and topped with a mountain of Tasmania's finest smoked salmon (and some nice, ripe avocado). Or tuck into a beautifully balanced big breakfast, with eggs, bangers, bacon and house-made relish, plus mushies, spinach, tomato and organic toast. Or go sweet with toasted, house made banana and coconut bread (with honey labna, pistachios and roasted seasonal fruit). Yum, yum and yum.
20/20 "almost perfect"
Eggs & Bacon $10.40 BB100 +4%
Labels: 20, alphington, apte, banana, bread, coffee, fritters
posted by Jamie Wodetzki at 6:44 pm
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26 Comments:
Wow! Congratulations on locating the first 20/20.
Great to see my favourite local eatery finally reviewed, and with an impressive score too!
Rarely a day goes by that I am not at least in there for coffee, I wonder if I saw you on Saturday. I highly recommend the BLAT (bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato on a turkish pide), it got an excellent write-up in the Age recently too.
I agree. Completely kid-friendly (read great for the kids and for the kidless). And a lovely walk by the Yarra just down a sidestreet.rv
Apte is an oasis in a cafe desert. Superb coffee, great attention to detail, amiable service, excellent quality produce and ingredients. Decor is relaxed and easy going. It always has been 'my' 20/20 . Also great artworks rotate on a monthly basis - which adds to the warm ambience. There are some great photos hanging this month.
So yummy! Kee p the good work. Merry Christmas!
Saw this post just as I was trying to work out where to go for a birthday brunch after a leisurely morning ride along the Merri Creek Trail. What can be more perfect! I am salivating with anticipation already...
Their banana bread makes me sing out loud. It's just stunning. All the options I tried on the menu were winners.
I (and others) don't like the fact that it's located right on the road - most noticeable in these summer months when you're sitting outside.
Merry Christmas Jamie, happy healthy new year to you too, Vida x
great site!! please come out to williamsburg brooklyn, NY and rate some of the great brunch places we have!
Their sister cafe 'Liar Liar' in Hawthorn is very special also - same great coffee and staff that move between Apte and Liar Liar.
Sigh, this is torture. Eggs are not Marrakech's forte I am afraid.
hi bf guru!
could you plz let me know how to get this place?
i really dying to get there, but i have no car..
i am totally stranger in melb..
so, i just have to know how to get there by public transport..
:(
i am sorry abt that...
it would be nice if you let know, thou..
cheers!
alex
hi alex,
i'm no local, so I looked on google maps for some clues, and my best guess is that you catch the train from the city, get off at fairfield station, and walk the rest.
the train you want is the hurstbridge line, i think...
http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/route/view/8
cheers,
jamie
ah..
thank you so much for that..
Jamie!!
i will try to get there on friday, then..
!!!
alexx
I was hugely pleased when I found out that the old milk bar on the corner of my street was being turned into a cafe. Hurrah, I said, at last I won't have to schelp up to Station street every time I want a decent coffee. And their coffee really is very decent, as is their breakfast. However I am getting rather tired of my driveway being constantly blocked by four wheel drives and BMWs on the weekend, and being bowled over by yuppie mothers with their all-terrains prams and designer pooches as I walk up to the the BP to buy a newspaper before I catch the bus to work on weekdays. I suppose the good has to come with the bad, and who knew that opening a cafe in an old shop on one of Melbourne's busiest roads would be such a success? I just wish their success didn't cause the locals such a headache :~(
After seeing the 20/20 i had to go. Maybe the score makes you expect perfection so anything not quite right is twice as bad? Anyway, i went yesterday and i usually judge the food by the eggs, the type(s) of bread they have and the mushrooms. Having said that, I went with the ricotta pancakes first. The place was busy but not full and they had what seemed like ample staff (1 per 3 or so tables) but the food took about 30 mins to arrive after we'd finished off our lattes. Happily the pancakes were delicious and rivalled, if not bettered Replete's. Next the eggs...well that was what i had ordered but after 30mins, nothing. A little reminder and another 20mins and still nothing. By then we'd been there half the morning and i'd read 2 papers and flipped through a magazine and i wasn't prepared to wait any longer...
So my experience was definitely not a 20/20 but the food was delicious and the eggs i saw looked like they may be tasty. The coffee was good but not exceptional and the staff were friendly and fairly prompt but just not with my food. Would I go again? Probably, because it may have just been one of those days. Would I recommend it? If you haven't been to Mart 130, Circa, Replete, Amici's and the European then yes.
Cheers
Glen
Went to Apte for the first time yesterday, as per your recommendation. The place was packed, and we had to wait at least 10 minutes to sit on a crate outside, and then another 10 minutes for a table. The food took about half an hour to come out (a bit long in my book).
I had the tasmanian salmon with the pea and feta fritter, which was tasty, and my husband had the eggs benedict with salmon but we still prefer the food at St Ali and the European.
Not quite 20/20 for us.
Julie
I really liked the food at APTE and the coffee wasn't bad. But one big turn off was the hot water oozing from my poached eggs when I sliced them open. Especially bad since it was a weekday and not too busy.
Won't be heading back when melboune has so much goodness to offer.
I'm not sure you can be upset at a cafe for having to wait for a table when it's busy, the reason you are there is the same reason everyone else is,there is'nt much the staff or owners can do
About as much as they can about the fact that they are located on a busy main road
Just been to Apte where I had the big breakfast and the missus had the pancakes.
Have to agree with the 20/20 rating! The big breakfast was not greasy (unlike many other places) and the service and atmosphere was great. I'm a local and never made it down there till now.
It is a line ball decision between this and Mart 130 - Mart is a lot harder to get a table and not as family friendly.
Great site!
Checked it out today and we really enjoyed it. I had the big breakfast, my partner had the vegetarian breakfast.
absolutely amazing soy latte's as well. and only 10 mins drive from ours!
Went there with 2 friends last Saturday. I had the big brekky, the others had the vege brekky and scrambled eggs on toast.
Enjoyed the seating out the back. My first cappucino was truly excellent but the second one was too watery. I might not have noticed it so much if the first one hadn't been so good.
As for the food, one of us really enjoyed their breakfast, my other friend and I were not greatly impressed with ours. I found the big brekky bland, the tomato relish lacked punch and the sourdough was too strong and heavy for the subtler toppings. (The mushrooms were tasty though.)
I would consider going back but would try something else on the menu... there were some very interesting sounding non-standard alternatives to your regular brekky fair.
So, all-in-all not hugely impressed unfortunately. I still prefer St Ali (whose coffee has never been less than perfect) and an eggs benedict at Veludo's in St Kilda.
My husband and I recently received our copy of Delicious Magazine for February and were very excited to find that the National winner of the cafe of the year went to a Victorian cafe, apte. We had never heard of it and so did a little research on the net, which lead us to the breakfast blog website. It was even more surprising to find that they were the top cafe on this website too! So, last week we decided we had to go and check it out.
Often, the hype surrounding a place with such high wraps is unjustified, but this was certainly not the case. Never have we been so impressed with a cafe and we can see why the votes for apte cafe in the Delicious Magazine cafe awards were so overwhelming. The food, coffee and service were all excellent. Even though they were busy, the staff were very friendly and attentive. It was so nice to be served by people that enjoy what they do and take pride in their work.
The food was awesome and we will definately be back soon.
Good lord... Just around the corner and sounds perfect. I've cycled past it many a time but never stopped. Will now, and nothing girds the loins like the words "superb coffee" and "kid friendly". The words "Heidelberg Road" on the other hand...
My first visit to Apte after reading the view - the big breakfast has a nice combination; personally I prefer a more fluffy scramble but Apte's one is not bad. The bangers and mushroom are nice though. Then we tried the mix platter with banana bread and the ricotta pancake. The banana bread is interesting with crunchy texture thanks to the coconut. The pancake itself is not that tasty but the fruit compote and yoghurt give it a nice flavour. Coffee is great, OJ is nice. I love the garden setting, pity it is a bit too close to the road but nonetheless a good setting to have a nice weekend brunch. Definitely recommend to others.
I completely agree with this review. Their vegetarian brekky is the best I've ever had and they are the most consistent coffee makers ever - consistently amazing!
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