Breakfast at St. Ali

It was such a struggle to get out of bed on Saturday morning. Was out drinking with the crew on Friday and I woke up with a slight hangover. Not a great start but I did drag myself out of bed. Eventually.

First up, breakfast at St. Ali in South Melbourne (12-18 Yarra Place). This cafe is well-known for it’s speciality coffee beans that it sources and roast in the cafe itself!

Met the Friday crew at St. Ali a wake-me-up caffeine hit and breakfast. Ordered myself an expresso shot of Kenyan Gethumbwini. Taste as described on the blackboard – Herbal with big berry tones. I was not disappointed. The aroma was not as intense and it had a sourish undertone. It hit the right notes with me and I was almost back to my usual self.

Latte at St. Ali

St. Ali has a nice breakfast menu that maybe a little pricey if you are just looking for a regular brekkie on a Sat. morning.

I ordered the winter poached fruits with semonlina, masarpone & pomegrante molasses. I was expecting fruits but not dried apricots, prunes and raisins on the dish. It did not work for me as a breakfast dish. It was more like a ‘dessert-type’ breakfast. The semolina and the masarpone did cut through the intense sweetness and sour-ness. It isn’t my cup of tea but I am sure there are few that will like this very sweet breakfast dish.

Winter poached fruit

Henry ordered the french toast with lemon curd, cinnamon dhukka & maple syrup. It scored better than my dish. The lemon curd was well balanced and I guess you can’t go wrong with french toast and maple syrup! It was a safe decision that had a satisfied customer

French toast

And last but not least, Wendy ordered a poached egg on toast with smoked salmon house made kasundi. The intensity of the smoked salmon was relatively strong and did not work well with the kasundi. The kasundi tasted quite subtle. The egg was poached to perfection and the salmon was well smoked. An almost perfect breakfast dish (just had to leave out the kasundi that did nothing to the dish).

Smoked salmon with poached egg

Overall, it was still a really nice and relaxing breakfast and kudos to all of us that actually woke up and made it!

Next stop – Farmers’ market at Gaswork.