Good Coffee

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Reunion & Co – Richmond – Saturday 2 May 2015 – Breakfast

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There is instantly a reason for coming back here. The Vic Meats bacon, is cut thick, and oozes with flavour, and the fat is rendered beautifully. It is not the only delightful ingredient being plated here though.

Being a regular to the area close to Lumberjack and Touchwood it was never going to be long before trying Reunion & Co. What I didn’t initially appreciate is that Reunion has only been open for six days!

When several of us tried to grab a table for lunch on Wednesday it was full. I noticed then that there is a lot of space in the cafe, and that the predominant table setting was for two. It’s a lovely old room, previously a furniture store, but with more history than that, and gorgeous stained glass windows welcoming your entry. Coming back this morning I thought Catherine and I must be a good chance for a table for two and we were only waiting for a couple of minutes when that table came up.

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The Allpress coffee is a good standard, well made by the barista using a La Marzocco machine. Juices are supplied by Noah’s; Catherine’s “Summer Lovin'” very nice with apple, mango, peach, kiwi and lime. The food is the focus here though.

Catherine asked about the bircher, which is done in a coconut milk, and our waitperson confirmed it was quite sweet so she opted instead for the staple bacon and poached eggs. I decided to adventure this morning, and ordered the “house cured trout congo & kipfler potato, beetroot relish, goats curd and poached eggs on toast”. The house cured trout was superb, the absolute star of the dish, and combined well with the other ingredients, especially the relish and curd. I’d suggest the generous serving of potatoes is reduced a touch, and cut thinner, as several bites were dominated by it, until I decided to leave half of them alone, and let the trout sing without competition. The presentation of the dish is immaculate.

The bacon serving is extremely generous, and is amazingly flavoursome. Catherine’s poached eggs were cooked perfectly too. The only critique would be toast that is not buttered, and then having to wait over a minute to get any butter. Personally, I think the toast should be buttered, but if it is not, at least have butter on the table.

Which brings me to the service. The maitre’d is great and was pinch hitting for some of the misses by the floor, which is good to see. Not realising the cafe was doing its first Saturday I can accept some of the service misses, especially since everyone was polite and friendly. I’m confident a few aspects will be ironed out quickly but I did notice issues from delivery to the right tables, to providing the right bill, but as I said it is the first week and nothing overly important impacted our enjoyment of our breakfast.

It’s good to see another attractive cafe in Richmond that is serving some differentiated dishes, good coffee, and has the makings of a potential regular.

Reunion & Co on Urbanspoon

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Coffee and scrambled eggs – part 1

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Normally coffee on my way to work in Perth is via Hay Street’s Bench Espresso. However, Perth is in a state of grand development along Riverside Drive and as usual, where there is development, traffic flow stops as a result. Tired of coffee becoming an outlandish adventure through crosstown traffic, new options were needed.

Introduce Sprolo on Canning Highway in South Perth. Easy parking and the promise of some of Perth’s best coffee led me there but would the change bring rewards or regret?

Focussing on the coffee, it is indeed superb. The guys here seem to tag team as baristas and are both very good at their craft. There are several types on offer between blends and single origins. The long black comes in a small cup which is perfect for me, preferring not too much hot water in addition to the just extracted espresso. Normally in Perth I have to order “half full” but not here.

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The barista chooses the coffee to match your order and in this case selected the Etude blend by Blacklist Coffee Roasters for my long black. It is almost like syphon coffee in its subtlety and continuity of flavour, without the robustness normally associated with black coffee. I came here two mornings in a row and was pleased to be remembered by the guys on the second morning, with the barista offering for me to try a single origin but such was the coffee the day before that I opted for the blend again.

Back to the first morning though and I was here early. The coffee machine was naturally on and ready as the opening time is 7am. However, the kitchen opens at 8am. Needing to eat at 8am or just after at the latest I asked whether the chef could organise my breakfast earlier if they were to arrive before 8am? I was a little bemused to hear that the chef was there out back but was prepping for the day. Sprolo is going well, but that is almost like throwing money out the door for someone who can’t wait. I can’t think of one place in Melbourne where I’ve been told similar.

I’m pleased to say that my scrambled eggs and toast arrived at 7.50am which is a credit to the staff for breaking the rule. Unfortunately in this coffee temple, the food in this case took a backseat. The toast is not buttered (a pet gripe), but worse than that, with the scrambled eggs presented in a side bowl, there was a watery residue surrounding them in the bowl that may have escaped had they been presented normally. The presentation was not bettered by the taste and even with the addition of a lot of salt and pepper, I just couldn’t finish. It was like eating scrambled eggs out of a buffet bain marie.

On the one hand this place has superb coffee that I will continue to go back for on future visits to Perth, but on the other, misses with simple breakfast dishes are unforgivable. It is time for the food to match the coffee without any exceptions.

Sprolo on Urbanspoon