Cafe Sweethearts
| Where | 263 Coventry St, South Melbourne, 3205—View map |
Contact | 03 9690 6752 |
Website | — |
Open | Breakfast Monday to Friday 7:00 am to 3:00 pm, Saturday and Sunday 8:00 am to 3:00 pm |
Payment | EFTPOS, Visa, Mastercard, Cash |
Diet | Soy |
Seating | Inside |
Kids | Welcome |
Pets | Unwelcome |
Hey there, sweetheart
Rowena Robertson 30 October 2009
My breakfasting companion and I were musing as to whether this was the place Jimmy Barnes, Don Walker et al had in mind when they named Cold Chisel's Breakfast at Sweethearts album, um, Breakfast at Sweethearts. A quick check of dates reveals that the album was released in 1979,while Café Sweethearts has been around since about 1984. So the café was probably named after the album. Or perhaps not. In any case, like the classic Oz rock record, Café Sweethearts has achieved something akin to local icon status.
Twenty-five years in business have given Café Sweethearts an opportunity to work out every potential glitch that might occur in the running of a cafe. Indeed, the interior speaks of efficiency, sleekness, comfort and ease – with its soothing cream/beige colour scheme, rattan chairs, wooden tables, pristine napery and soft lighting, it's almost like being in the living quarters of one of those spiffy flats on St Kilda Road.
What impresses most, though, is the fact that Café Sweethearts simply has the largest breakfast menu of any café I've visited yet. Now, this would be meaningless if the actual food was not much chop. But thankfully the breakfasts, in whatever form they come, are flawless.
Egg lovers can rejoice: there are about 20 different egg dishes, including classics like Eggs Florentine and Eggs Benedict, as well as less commonly served dishes like Eggs Romano (poached eggs, spinach, hollandaise sauce, basil, tomato concasse); Eggs La Mer (poached egg on an English muffin, smoked salmon,hollandaise sauce and dill); and the divine Eggs Forestière, which my friend chose (poached eggs on a toasted English muffin, grilled bacon, hollandaise sauce, mushrooms and fresh herbs). There are also Chilli Eggs and Mexican Eggs.You can get eggs scrambled or fried, and with a variety of extra sides. It's basically an all-out egg fest.
Then there are the pancakes. I chose the strawberry pancakes, but the menu also lists blueberry or banana and pecan. The Lumberjack Stack is a stack of plain pancakes served with bacon and grilled egg, and the Blueberry Stack comes with bacon and a hash brown. Savoury pancakes include the salmon stack; that is, salmon and wilted spinach pancakes served with a poached egg and riata.
And to top it all off, there is a range of other "miscellaneous" dishes available at Café Sweethearts – including kippers. That's right, kippers – that staple of the British storybooks of one's (well at least, my) childhood.
Genovese coffee is served, the service is impeccable, and kids are welcome. Café Sweethearts is nothing less than a well-oiled machine –but one with a (sweet) heart.