It’s incredible with all the cafes already in Richmond that Pg.2 decided to open its doors in a growing part of Swan Street. In the early stages in order to be competitive a cafe has to look closely how it wants to be seen, its menu prices, and above all its staff.

To some, it may seem easy to get a cafe off the ground and running at a nice profit. But shortly after opening how often do we see cafes closing their doors! About a month ago we walked past this particular cafe had a quick look at the menu. There was a crowd and we remembered the staff member who passed on the menu with a friendly smile (and the La Marzocco machine).

That was enough for us to decide on this particular Saturday morning to go back and give Pg.2 a try. The friendliness of the staff was equalled today. The prices on the menu are extremely reasonable and the venue is nicely fitted out but certainly not making a hard and fast grab at the entire market with an elaborate renovation budget. It seems well planned and knows its place.

The last piece of the puzzle is obviously the food. We had no expectation either way, but hoped to find some honest food for breakfast that provided something to go back for. After all, the walk there is only about 8 minutes for us! Again, Pg.2 delivered. My mushrooms were flavoursome with good balance between showing off the mushies and adding to their richness. The bread tastes like it is from the patisserie down the road which makes a good loaf, though a touch on the sweeter side. The poached eggs come with some nice hollandaise on top and were perfectly cooked. Lastly, I initially asked for crispy bacon but the waitperson explained that the bacon here is locally smoked and cut thick (so it wouldn’t be that crispy). With that explanation I was happy to have it how the chefs usually cook it, and you can taste the quality of the smoking bringing out that beautiful deep salt that pork has as its greatest asset.

Catherine’s avocado, tomato and goat’s cheese on toast were a good rendition of this Melbourne breakfast staple. A little bit of pizazz with the old school reduced balsamic thrown in for both flavour and effect, but the main feature was nice quality ingredients. With some pretty ho-hum versions out there, this one for only a little over a tenner is pretty amazing value.

While it isn’t easy, there is always more room for a good suburban cafe, even in the Richmond metropolis. Pg.2 is getting the balance right.