CHURCHILL CAFE & LARDER

13 Hamilton St, Mont Albert - ph: (03) 9890 3444

Churchill Cafe is one of my favourite places for Sunday brunch in the Eastern suburbs. Just the drive all the way down leafy Mont Albert Rd already puts you in a good mood.

Churchill used to be a cafe and providore, stocking up homemade frozen dishes and other good quality items, such as my favourite ice-cream, Jocks.

This time, the place looked totally different: the big larder fridge is gone to give way for more tables and there are also more tables in the courtyard outside.

Fruit loaf with sweet ricotta ($7.50)

I believe the owners are still the same, but something has definitely changed in the atmosphere of the place. It feels less cozy now a bit more commercial... but food is still very good!

My husband had yummy fruit loaf with sweet ricotta. The loaf was soft, very tasty and full of crunchy nuts. The sweet ricotta was a good combination, as the loaf itself was not too sweet.

Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs with tomato and avocado salsa served on sourdough topped with benedict sauce ($14.50)

I chose one of the day's specials: smoked salmon with scrambled eggs and tomato and avocado salsa. All components of this dish worked really well together and the eggs were well cooked. But the avocado and tomato salsa and smoked salmon were served cold (intentionally, I think) which made the eggs a bit cold... It might have worked better if the eggs were served on the side instead.

Breakfast pie with spinach, bacon, fried eggs and tomato relish ($13.50)

The breakfast pie looked amazing and was quite a large serve. The puff pastry base was soft and crunchy.

Omelet of chorizo, zucchini and cheese, served with extra bacon ($15 + $3.50 extra bacon)

The chorizo and zucchini omelet was one of the other specials. It doesn't come with bacon; my carnivore friends decided to add some more fat (or protein, to put nicely) to it. It was served with balsamic vinegar, which they enjoyed.

Overall, food was still as good as I remember, but service was lacking. Our coffee orders took forever, they forgot one of the dishes and then forgot to bring cutlery when the dish finally came out.

It's a bit disappointing when you feel that one of your favourite places is not the same anymore... Hope this is just a temporary thing with the staff getting used to more tables - I'll make sure to try it again soon to compare.