Caffe Cento Venti, Collins St, Melbourne

Caffe Cento Venti, Collins St, Melbourne
Sunday 20 August, 2006

We wandered out on this chilly Melbourne morning to find somewhere for breakfast. Walking down the laneway from our hotel we hit Collins St and saw Caffe Cento Venti just opposite the Grand Hyatt. That'll do....

We entered and were warmly greeted by our engaging barista. The dining space was small but cosy and it was almost full. There was more seating on the other side of building but this is typically kept for dinner reservations. Caffe Cento Venti is a fine Italian restaurant but breakfast offers eggs, toast, pancakes etc.

Our barista was fantastic, the conversation flowed as he made our coffees an discussed his brief, but enjoyable, time in Sydney. The coffee was sensational and we also discovered a Victorian brand of juice called Apple Time that do apple based juices with blackcurrent, passionfruit, mango etc - they are soooooo good.

I ordered my old favourite Eggs benedict and my breakfast buddy ordered toast with jam. It arrived at the table slightly burnt and on two slices of white toast (not muffins). The ham was shaved leg ham (burnt around the edges) and the eggs were swamped in home made hollandaise. It was OK but I came to the realisation that Eggs benedict is so easy to get wrong. It's not consistently good and if you order it for the first time somewhere (as I did two mornings in a row) you will be dissapointed. My breakfast buddy was given frozen butter for her toast and we laughed as she tore up her bread trying to spread it.

It was an average breakfast - I'd go back for coffee & juice but that's all.

Caffe Cento Venti - 120 Collins St, Melbourne - (03) 9650 5621

www.caffecentoventi.com.au