~ Curious Charlie ~

Brunch @ Ascot Food Store @ Friday, December 04, 2015

Saturday 24th October

How long do you think it takes to get from Vermont South to Ascot Vale? 2.5hrs. Tram, train, bus, train, tram. Combine a place on the other side of the city (up north, maybe more west) and brunch hours means we need to plan in advance. A couple weeks. But one weekend we finally made the long trip to a very popular brunch spot, not on a strip but randomly on the corner in between residential places. Where they're bound to be upset about people parking in/close to their driveways.

Ascot Food Store used to be a house but was been converted into a casual restaurant.

Front Room

Drinks

Complex tea descriptions.

Bushfire Breakfast $3.50

Sri Lanka - Taiwan - Australia

Invoking the romance of bushlands regenerating after fire. Soft smoke is balanced with fine tannuns and citrusy Eucalypt. A combo of organic orange pekow, lapsang souchong and lemon myrtle.

Jas picked tea over the milkshake and had the bushfire bkfast tea, which was very aromatic and very nice, the spices didn't come though and the flavours tasted more of the two teas; if you like eng bkfast you'll like it, it's a more aromatic version. The milk that accompanied tasted cheap and like powdered or skim.

Strawberry & Mascapone Cheesecake Milkshake $6.50

Strawberry milkshake! I normally don't get the strawberry but this one had mascarpone! Also it was called the 'cheesecake'. At $6.50 it was reasonably priced, unlike my local fancy pizza restaurant which has $8+ milkshakes.

Made with flavoring like most places, as strawberry milkshakes made from the real thing has a seedy texture to it and the flavours isn't that strong.

The milkshake was awesome! The foam, you gotta start off with that, eat it with a teaspoon. Yum! I'd recommend it and get it again. The only way to improve it is with a strawberry perched on the rim. No cream needed thanks to the awesome foam.

The converted hallway was made into small booth like waiting rooms.

Sporting a 70s style with a lot of new wave/mystique orange, Ascot Food Store used to be a house but was been converted into a casual restaurant, with booth like seating. There's plenty of seats, for the solo fox to groups. Outdoor seats, a communal table, bar height tables, typical cafe tables in the back room and booth like seating in between, with a set up that reminded me of a caravan. Good placement of windows meant that we sat in the hallway but still got good pictures.

Complete with a fireplace this place reminds me of grandpa's house in Malibu, which still has an orange sofa.

Corn Fritters $18

Avocado puree, tomato jam, soft poached egg, snow pea tendrils

The fritters were served with a poached egg that looked like paper but tasted normal, with a lovely runny yolk. A few watercress leaves accompanied the egg and fritters, with a tablespoon of a hot sweet chili sauce. To me the dish wasn't dry but needed that something sitting in a bowl on the side - smooth creamy buttery avocado. But I'm allergic.

On urbanspoon the 62° eggs were popular so we went with that and the corn fritters.

Unlike St Ali Ascot Food Store isn't known for their corn fritters, that look nothing like pineapple fritters. But their fried chicken wings and 62° eggs.

62 Degrees Eggs $17

Chrives, shaved grana (cheese), pickled truffle, brioche soldiers

Served on a wooden board that jas got a splinter from, was/were four buttery beautiful thick slices or soldiers of bread, under a snowfall of cheese that was across the board. The bread sticks weren't to be dipped into the runny soft boiled egg. Instead you'd pour the egg on top of the toast. Which slid perfectly out of the eggshell.

Runny soft boiled eggs, warm thick buttery bread and cheese. Was a basic ideal/dish but very yummy/satisfying. Just needed some salt, which there were vials of in a beaker. I do prefer a grinder though.

Buttery soldiers of bread - is that what it's called?

Top View

The service was good and on our way out they still had quite a few syringe donuts. I'd get the eggs again but not the fritters, it was good but not amazing.

Will we be back? If we lived closer and I made more $$ I'd say yes. But it's way too far as we're on the other side of the city, also it's a tiny bit pricier than how much we normally spend.

I'm glad there's no lines though, at least not when we got there around 2.15pm. Definitely recommending this place to Lola who loves breakfast and is a morning person.

Have you been to Ascot Food Stores? Any places with amazing eggs to recommend?