Pavillon Beachfront Maroubra





 



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Farewell to the Bra..a fond farewell to Maroubra beach as brunch clubber Andrew is moving on from living here. A stunning autumn morning at the beach. Cafe was a bright modern light and airy spot perfect for beach watching.



The brekkie was good, Haveros Ranchos eggs were great. One of the delightful things about this cafe was the staff - mature girls who knew exactly when to ask whether more coffee was required - blond, surfie chicks without any attitude, just relaxed

and professional.

Very enjoyable.  Our Quizz efforts this morning were not great Brad was the saviour of the side getting most of the winning answers.

SAL:  I rated this highly - great location, really enjoyed my breakfast, staff were excellent. Four golden eggs

I will be coming back here - especially good for an out of town visitor.

BRAD:

ANDREW:

The Dunes, Palm Beach 29 Sept, 2012

Eager for some coastal air and with our Interstate guest (regular) with us again, Brunch Club went to Palmy for a bit of posh nosh.

Despite the online booking system letting us down ('Oh, yes, we never check our emails".) the friendly waitress gave us the best table in the restaurant and so began a very pleasant brunch experience indeed.

Surrounded by Martha Stewart decor and with the gentle sound of breaking waves jut over the, well, .... 'dunes' of course, we began our chat with politics and theatre. Poor old Andrew struggled at times to keep the Club's focus on finalising theatre subscription choices for 2013. We were also occasionally distracted by the cliche middle-aged Nautica wearing types of the peninsula, but we were soon brought back to our core mission when the food arrived.

Big Breakfast, Eggs Benedict and the coffee were all first class. And we all enjoyed excellent service. Helpful but not invasive.

Surrounded by such beauty and with the cares of the week well behind us we reached a high with a 20/20 for the Quiz. Huzzah! [Stage Direction: Throw Good Weekend into the air]

We'll be back.

ANDY: 4 1/2 golden eggs. I fear we are all doomed to become our own Nautica-wearing types one day.

BRAD: 4 1/2  Golden Eggs. Loved it. I'm more a Ralph Lauren man but I know what you mean.

SAL: Darling, I love it. 4 1/2 from me too. Now pass me my Gucci sunglasses.

SHELLEY: Well done Sydney!

Barzura, Coogee Bay. 11th Aug, 2012

When the wind is howling and the temperature plummets, where else would one want to go but... the beach!.

Yes brunchclubbers, after some pressure from our coastal friend, we headed off to "Barzura" cafe at Coogee to sample the coffee and eggs (if not the rays). The cafe has a solid reputation and Brad remembered being here in the past when he was a 'local' for a few weeks (He was leant a friend's water view apartment right next door for a few weeks several years ago.)

We were advised to be there early and a good thing too. It is clearly a popular place with the locals. This may have impacted somewhat on the 'touch of a pre-fab feel' that was beginning to appear

Discussion topics were diverse but the level of contribution varied. The highlight was the spooky news of two different Robert Hughes in the news this week. One for being a brilliant mind and art critic, the other a child molester. Most unfortunate.

The Quiz: Well, shocking questions. All about popular culture, mummy porn and interior design. Still, the Club came up trumps and exposed at least one of us as having just a little too much general knowledge about such topics. Anyway, we scored a very respectable 18/20 but still felt like we needed a shower at the end of it.

Ratings:

BRAD: Good coffee but a little dull on the scrambled eggs which were a little too firm. You know I like things a little softer. 3 1/2 golden eggs

ANDREW: Thanks to my Coogee local colleague Kalliope for recommending this place. 3 1/2 golden eggs. Nice place but you must get here early. Sorry to my fellow brunchers that I had my period this day. Had a tough last 2 weeks & was nervous about doing the City to Surf in a twister. But shouldn't have worried, went amazingly well considering.

SAL: The highlight was the walk on the beach afterwards!

Bean Tree Cafe, Bondi, 13th May

Well, occasionally even your faithful Brunch Clubbers get it wrong. After doing our research (via our competitor websites - Urban Spoon and Eatability) we agreed to try this apparently fantastic brunch spot in Bondi. Even better becasue we had a visitor from Germany who was only in Sydney for a few days. What could be better? Brunch, Bondi, sunny weather and exotic company?!

Alas, we were a little taken aback by the humble little cafre called Bean Tree. It is a non-descript tinly little coffee and snack place several blocks back from the Beach with no views and, well, no ambience.

To be fair though, it wasn't pretending to be anything other than that. So, we had to swallow our pride and just order some fairly simple affiar. The coffee though, it has to be said, was good.

Highlights were the company as always and the lowlight was a very humble pass on the quiz.   

  

Morning Glory (Coogee Beach) 6th August 2011

Wilt Sal away, the remainder of The Brunch Club (ie Andrew and Brad) made hasty arrangements to simply meet at Coogee Beach and take it form there. And so we did. Stumbling upon a busy but brilliantly positioned little cafe called, yes... wait for it... Morning Glory. An apt title, given the weather, but not so given the clientele. Too much sun is really not great for the skin after the age of, well, shall we say, 20.

Taking charge, we ordered quickly and they topped up our coffees confidently while other bashful tourist types watched on in awe and jealousy. So, the service for us was ok but I'm not sure the others around us would agree.

The food was better than we expected, given the cookie-cutter look of the decor and, yes, it has to be said - staff. So, in short, we were pleasantly surprised and if we ever find oursleves inthis particular strip of foreshore we might well return.

Brad: 3 golden eggs. Nothing spectacular but happy with the experience and got the sense that it would make a reliable local.

Andrew: 3 golden eggs. Same reasons but annoyed I couldn't spread myself out in my usual way.

Quiz Result: 12.5 (if you include our divided answer to Norway/Sweden). Much better than we expected with the absence of Sal but really roared it home in the end. Aiming for even higher next week.

Molly's (Maroubra) 30th July 2011

In deference to Andrew's need to dine locally later due to his planned BBQ with 1000 of his students, we agreed to try a little local number from Maroubra which was recommended by, yes, one of his students. So we found ourselves on another of Sydney's gorgeous sunny saturdays by the beach and at Molly's...

This cafe will probably be remembered for the strange service and quirky accoutrements rather than the food. Which is a pity, because the food was quite good, albeit limited in range.

To give you a sense of the strange 'tude that is the 'Bra, our waiter responded to our request for further info re the blackboard menu about what was meant by 'the Perfect Breakfast', he responded with eyes diverted and in a mumbled carefree (read: careless) tone, 'Well, it's the perfect breakfast'. And we were left with that. Mmmm.

Other 'quirks' included a half bottle of water but no glasses on table; when requesting glasses only two came. Coffee arrived sometimes with a spoon other times not. When one was requested it was taken as a presumptuous intrusion. The highlight, however, were the coffee receptacles. Not only did they come in all shapes and sizes, they required different maneuverings to master ingestion. And to top it off some of them were clearly stolen property - one was clearly marked and shaped as a Max Brenner chocolate jug!

All this prompted the regular jollity and none of this put us off our quiz. We scored 13/15 and while a little annoyed we didn't get the Cassandra answer, we were not surprised to be unaware that Will Powers (yes, true!) was a motor sport champion. Who cares!


SAL: 3 golden eggs. All for the food which was pretty good. I liked the ricotta especially. No eggs for service this week.

ANDREW: 4 Golden Eggs. I have to support my local (especially if I want to come back). I've always found it wise to keep the local Bras on side.

BRAD: 3 Golden eggs max. Same reasons as Sal. First time I have audibly (to fellow brunchers, not the man himself) called the waiter a dick. Apologies for the vulgarity but, in my defence, I was provoked.

LEON: 3 Golden Eggs despite the horrific exchange rate!

Specc Cafe (Clovelly Rd, Clovelly) 25th June 2011

What a great spot! It might have been helped by the gorgeous Sydney winter weather of glorious sunshine piercing the crisp air, or it might have been all he good goss' that we had to share this morning, but whatever the reason, this was a very enjoyable brunch at a very pleasing cafe. After avoiding the potential noisy small yuppy child issue inside, we set up camp on one of the footpath tables which had glimses of the water just over the hill. Great service, and good food. This would be a great cafe to keep on the books for overseas guests. Avoids the cliche Bronte/Bondi cafe scene but has the same coastal ambience. Great walks nearby. Anyway, now for the scores...

Sal: Service was excellent. I give it 4 eggs. Food was ok (corn fritters) but not on Morso level etc. I give it 3. So overall, a 3.5 golden egg rating.

Brad: I concur, although I give a bonus 1/2 egg for the friendly locals (one joined us with her dog just so she could squeeze in her coffee fix) - rare in the Eastern suburbs in my experience. 4 golden eggs.

Andrew: What? Oh, hang on I just have to take this call...


QUIZ RESULT: 12.5/15. Uzbekistan caught us!