Auction Houses and Tram Stops... Part One
You must be wondering what these two places have in common. Well, for one, they have unique concepts. They have great breakfast, aromatic coffee, wonderful relaxed casual ambience, good service. Seriously! What more can you ask for? I bring to you, two fantastic places for brunching in Melbourne, and tons of pictures. A satisfying hearty breakfast is something I will never scrimp on. I can have sandwich for lunch everyday, and maybe save a bit and have veggies for dinner, but my weekly brunch around Melbourne is a MUST. So presenting to you, two hot spots, AUCTION ROOMS and MART 130.
Part 1: Auction Rooms
Tucked away in the busy little errol street in North Melbourne, we have Auction Rooms, a place easily mistaken for a cranky bar or even overlooked at times because of the slight peeling blue paint off the wall, enhancing the historic appeal of the old facade of an auction house in the good old early days.
Stepping into the cafe itself however, is a huge contrast. Immediately you are greeted with the mixture of the fragrance of strong coffee and the aroma of bacon and eggs and everything nice. Its modern interior retains some of the old appeal with little ancient gadgets in corners of the spacious room.
Pam and I first ordered coffee while pouring over the really cool menu. With quirky names like "shady deal" and "opening bid", we were quite spoilt for choice.
Pam settled for the 'opening bid' , poached eggs, with bacon, mushroom, tomatoes, and spinach on sourdough bread. I had the "no big deal" which was poached eggs on sourdough, and added a chorizo to go with it.
The coffee was pretty good. My only complaint was that the food took forever to arrive. We probably sat there shaking our legs and chatting and laughing for about half an hour before the food finally finally finally arrived. And even then, I thought pam's poached eggs were a little disappointing. It was a bit overcooked and the yolk wasn't as runny as she would have liked it to be.
This is 'no big deal'. With a piece of blackened chorizo.
And this is the "opening bid".
Other than that... we loved the ambience. A perfect place for a cool day when one wants to escape from the cold with a cup of hot steaming coffee.
Auction Rooms
103-107 Errol Street
North Melbourne VIC 3051
Tel: (03) 9326-7749
Part 1: Auction Rooms
Tucked away in the busy little errol street in North Melbourne, we have Auction Rooms, a place easily mistaken for a cranky bar or even overlooked at times because of the slight peeling blue paint off the wall, enhancing the historic appeal of the old facade of an auction house in the good old early days.
Stepping into the cafe itself however, is a huge contrast. Immediately you are greeted with the mixture of the fragrance of strong coffee and the aroma of bacon and eggs and everything nice. Its modern interior retains some of the old appeal with little ancient gadgets in corners of the spacious room.
Pam and I first ordered coffee while pouring over the really cool menu. With quirky names like "shady deal" and "opening bid", we were quite spoilt for choice.
Pam settled for the 'opening bid' , poached eggs, with bacon, mushroom, tomatoes, and spinach on sourdough bread. I had the "no big deal" which was poached eggs on sourdough, and added a chorizo to go with it.
The coffee was pretty good. My only complaint was that the food took forever to arrive. We probably sat there shaking our legs and chatting and laughing for about half an hour before the food finally finally finally arrived. And even then, I thought pam's poached eggs were a little disappointing. It was a bit overcooked and the yolk wasn't as runny as she would have liked it to be.
This is 'no big deal'. With a piece of blackened chorizo.
And this is the "opening bid".
Other than that... we loved the ambience. A perfect place for a cool day when one wants to escape from the cold with a cup of hot steaming coffee.
Auction Rooms
103-107 Errol Street
North Melbourne VIC 3051
Tel: (03) 9326-7749