After a fantastic night of dining at Abla's, and a rather sleepless one in our little serviced apartment on Bank Place, the two of us were up bright and early the next morning (i.e. today! Sunday!). A lukewarm shower (yeeuuggh), a hot cup of tea (at least we got that one right), and we were out in the chilly Melbourne air by 10am or so, after checking out of the hotel and leaving our bags there to pick up later.
First thing on my mind: COFFEE!!! Need. Coffee. Now. And breakfast, although that came a pale second to the coffee. We wandered off in the direction of Degraves Street (via Centre Place), which, as many of you would know, is one of Melbourne's many (famous) laneways containing many little cafes peddling one of humankind's main legal addiction - coffee. Espresso coffee, to be exact.
I've heard many good things about Journal but have never been there (yeah, and my generation is supposed to be an early adopter). It's on Flinders Lane near the corner of Degraves St, in the CAE building if I'm not mistaken. It looks trendy enough for Melbourne - all high ceilings and communal tables, breakfast menu scrawled on a chalkboard near the entrance. Trendy, art student types made up the wait staff, wearing trendy, "i-bought-this-from-salvos/savers" outfits in trendy, asymmetrical (mostly) hairstyles.
Here are a couple reviews of Journal, in The Age Epicure and Melbourne Cafe Reviews.
Jam was craving eggs and bacon, however, today's breakfast board didn't have them :( But, being the sweetie that he is, he opted for a toasted ham and cheese croissant instead. I had the toasted leg ham, tomato and cheddar sandwich. Flat white for him, soy latte for me. The coffee was fantastic. Yum. So good I had to have two. The toastie was rather delicious too, with enough helpings of melted cheese and good sourdough (I think) bread. And you know it's a trendy place when Dan Spielman walks in ;)
Oh yeah. Sorry, no pictures of the yummy toasted sanga - it simply went too quickly. The coffee too.
Leisurely breakfast in a trendy CBD cafe while reading the Sunday papers - check. Now to tick the other thing off our list - strolling through the CBD via its series of laneways.
We continued on Flinders Lane, and stopped by Polyester Records. Then off into Block Arcade, where we bought Sarah and Jules a bag of Haigh's peppermint chocs and a gold-wrapped milk chocolate frog, as tokens of our gratitude for them looking after Oska while we were away from home. Back out into Block Place and into Royal Arcade. Stopped by Suga to watch the masters at work, churning and rolling out those pliable chunks of sugar that would become bite-sized boiled lolly pieces, passed by the quaint little babushka shop, then out on to Bourke Street. Nipped into the GPO for a quick squiz at the latest fancy fashions, stared at a pair of Campers that I really want but are oh-so-expensive, then out on to Elizabeth Street.
Time for a morning pick-me-up. Where better to go for a cup of fresh juice than Tropicana Juice Bar? You'll know the place - it's brightly coloured and has all manner of fresh fruit adorning it's front doors (right now it's oranges). I got the Giles Special - a blend of fruit and veg juice with a hit of ginger, and he got the South American Delight (apparently the ingredients are a secret, but we could definitely taste the ginger and lime).
Then up on to Little Bourke Street, left at Hardware Lane (the cafes were just starting to come alive when we walked past), across Queen Street, past Vue de Monde and back into Bank Place where we picked up our bags and headed home. We could have done more in the city, but guess the combination of us recovering from being sick and the lack of sleep the night before had done us in.
What you need to know:
Journal
Shop 1, 253 Flinders La, Melbourne
t: +61 3 9650 4399
Tropicana Juice Bar
213 Elizabeth St, Melbourne
t: +61 3 9670 3568
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