Sunday 7 March 2010

AUCTION ROOMS

103-107 Errol St, North Melbourne - ph: 9326 7749

There is a lot of hype about Auction Rooms. It's ranked amongst the best coffees in Melbourne and is pretty famous for its food too.

In my current cafe-weekend-brunch-find-the-perfect-poached-eggs obsession, I decided to go pretty much half way across town to try it out.


First impression was really good; the place has been nicely done up - it's bright, spacious and bit grungy / quirky in true cool Melbourne way. We were greeted with a smile by one of their waitresses.

Then came our first order. Hubby in his usual 2 orders per breakfast style decides to start with a croissant and asks for it to be heated up before serving. To his disappointment and my bemusement, we noticed it has been heated in a microwave - which results in a soggy and slight hard dough and with almonds losing all their crunchy-ness. Disaster.

Almond croissant ($4.5)

Our other orders are quick to follow. Hubby is again a bit disappointed by his avocado and tomato bruschetta. Firstly, ONE toast seemed like a bit too little for the price. Secondly, the rocket salad on top looked like it had not been washed properly. Ignoring the salad he thought it was a tasty dish overall, but wasn't impressed.

Smashed avocado and tomato bruschetta with pesto and lemon ($13.5)

I can say the same for mine. The moroccan stew tasted quite nice; eggs were cooked really well and toast was delicious, but I just kept playing around with my food searching for the yummy ingredients - there was barely any feta or chorizo in it.

Moroccan tomato stew with chorizo, poached eggs, goats feta, black olives and dukkah ($16)

At least the coffee met our expectations. The house blend of Kenyan beans tasted deliciously sweet and nutty. And the small glass of sparking water to clean the palate was a really nice touch.

Short black ($3)

I left with the impression that Auction Rooms were trying to cut corners with the food to maximize profits. Apart from the croissant, our dishes tasted good but felt short from impressing. I might go back for take away coffee if I'm in the area, but wouldn't come again for the food.

Auction Rooms on Urbanspoon

6 comments:

  1. The Moroccan stew does look good, but I hate playing 'find the goodies' in dishes, like when you order a seafood risotto and only get one prawn or something!

    Did you see anyone order the smoked trout? Saw it on another blog and swooned a little :)

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  2. That is absolutely tragic about the croissant!

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  3. Sounds like a very disappointing meal! I have to say, I always order the same thing at Auction Rooms (the smoked trout) and it hasn't let me down since it popped up on their menu. Also, I generally stay away from pastries in cafes for that very reason...

    I'm glad you enjoyed the cofee though, the Small Batch roast has really improved and I think Andrew is doing a great job with it.

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  4. oh thats so disappointing. Love the coffee at auctions rooms, and the food at dinner is great, but never tried breakfast.

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  5. Hi Conor and MSG - maybe I'll give it another go after all and order the smoked trout next time. My dish actually tasted good, it just didn't feel like a generous serve.

    Camille - how I would like to be in Paris right now eating the 'real deal' almond croissant!

    Maria - I didn't know they were open for dinner as well. Thanks for the tip!

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