Mixed Business

Where:
Mixed Business
486 Queens Parade
Clifton Hill VIC 3068
(03) 9486 1606

When:

Open Tue-Sat 7:30am-5pm; Sun 8am-5pm

It's with mixed feelings that I write about Mixed Business in Clifton Hill. I wanted to fall in giddy school girl love with it.  I'd heard great things from people who know food.  It had all the trappings of a fincalgal-friendly establishment: small gestures of homage to previous lives as a furniture restoration and skateboard shop, a shabby-chic fit out and a leafy corridor of outdoor seating.  Yep - mismatched salt and pepper shakers, a hand written menu and a lemon tree potted in a 20 litre oil drum - this place was seemingly created for me.

The place was humming for a Sunday, but without being ridiculously busy. So there was no accounting for the slooooooooooooow service that left us choking on snail dust.  After toying with us by taking (and delivering) our drink orders immediately, we waited a full hour before our warm roll and salad arrived. Yes you read right.  A warm roll and salad. We're not talking a whole suckling pig cooked from scratch with all the trimmings.  Our order was more "assembling" than it was "cooking".  It was all very perplexing. The wait did provide us with ample time to admire the courtyard, however.

And to ponder things other than the whereabouts of our meal, like the origins of the pennant flag adorning the back wall.

When it did arrive, my Tuna Salad was a symphony of blanched green runner beans, creamy baby kipfler potato halves, tomatoes, tuna and olives, providing a nicoise nest for a soft poached egg in all its wobbly wonder.  Delicious.

The warm roll of herb crumbed chicken, lemon mayonnaise, roasted capsicum, seeded mustard and cos was less impressive, but still tasty.  The roll was chewy ciabatta perfection, the chicken tender and with just the right amount of crispy crumbing, but the lemon was a little over-powering.

I'm determined to re-visit Mixed Business and have the experience I wanted to have.  Next time I'll order the "gingerbread waffles with maple syrup, stewed apple and candied walnuts".  Or the "poached free range eggs with smoked salmon, pickled beetroot, dill and creme fraiche".  Maybe I'll trial the "roasted field mushrooms with goat cheese, hazelnuts and greens". Whatever I order, though, I'll be sure to not have anywhere to be afterwards.  You know - just in case.

The Breakfast Club

Where:

The Breakfast Club
206 St Georges Rd
Northcote, 3070
0450 581 494

When: Tues-Fri 7.30am-3.30pm, Sat-Sun 9.30am-3.30pm

Those who know me, know of my unhealthy obsession with John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club.

As teenagers, my friends and I invested hours trying to copy Molly Ringwald’s dance moves and ‘ooohing’ and ‘ahhing’ over bad boy John Bender, played by then (inconceivably, because to be honest, age has not been a kind mistress to poor Judd) to-die-for-cute Judd Nelson. There was his unkempt hair, his penchant for bandanas, ripped denim, trench coats, and, most importantly, his in-your-face ‘tude: “But face it. You’re a neo maxi zoom dweebie. What would you be doing if you weren’t out making yourself a better citizen?”

You cannot begin to imagine my disappointment then that the only homage paid to this should-be-immortalised-cinematic-classic, were a few token references located in the menu. There’s the Emilio Molette (spicey beans, goat’s cheese and herbs in a hollowed out baguette); the Sheedy Toasts (simple sour dough toasts with a choice of spreads) and the Ringwald (quince paste and brie melt with basil on sourdough).

I’d heard the service here was rigid and unfriendly, but this wasn’t our experience at all. We did find them rather “absent’, but in the way that counter-order establishments tend to be. Communal tables and scrubbed seating pews meant we were privy to the conversation of the blue and fuchsia haired, grungy leather jacket wearing, tweenies sitting opposite us, and their rehashing of the previous night’s exploits at a live band venue made us grateful we’d left that life behind some time ago.

Adding to the quirkiness are the options of Coco Pops served with milk, and the Bananarama – banana, cream cheese, cinnamon, Nutella and honey on toast. I’m tempted. But not as tempted as I am by the Baked Red Eggs nestled in layers of spinach, halved tomatoes, finished off with a crumbled soft cheese and served with a tomato and avocado salsa. Even the chalkboard rabbit proclaims this House Special to be “Wow!”, and when it arrives, I have to agree.

As John Bender would say, “This is a very nutritious lunch. All the food groups are represented.”