Jack the Geezer

Middle Park's latest cafe, Jack the Geezer is the sort of place you want to love, but instead comes out with a 'nice try - have a gold star for your efforts'. The staff are friendly, the venue is modern (but still warm and welcoming), the coffee hits the mark and the menu looks absolutely drool-worthy.  Unfortunately there were a couple of aspects of the food that didn't quite hit the mark and the service wasn't exactly speedy.

To eat I ordered the 'Spice Girls' - spiced baked eggs, chorizo and slow braised beans with pistachio, pomegranate and avocado salsa. The dish came out looking absolutely magnificent, however the eggs were overcooked and the dish was cold - tasting like it had been sitting out on a bench for awhile - I couldn't even spread my little nob of butter (which was quite a sweet idea) on my cold piece of toast.

My friend ordered 'The Geezer', which consisted of two poached eggs, bacon, smashed avo and beetroot béarnaise on pea, corn, mint and potato fritters.  Luckily for her, her dish was still warm, and the beetroot béarnaise was definitely a delicious twist on the usual culprits for breakfast.



With such incredible potential (at the end of the day, it was really just the temperature of the food that let it down), I'm not giving up on Jack the Geezer just yet, and would be willing to give it another go.

Food: 2.5/5
Service: 4/5
Venue: 3.5/5
Total: 10/15
Verdict: Like - get around to trying it at some point.

Om Nom Kitchen

For such a world renowned food scene, it's quite surprising the lack of desert venues in Melbourne. But with a 3 course desert degustation (that's right, a desert degustation) Om Nom has you covered.

 

Situated above Ezard, Om Nom is the Rolls Royce of desert bars - white table cloths, exquisite service and the sweet waft of fairy floss and sherbet the minute you walk through the doors. Being our first time to Om Nom, we couldn't go past the desert degustation ($48 per person), opting for the Granny Smith Pannacotta Party, the White Peach Injection and the Passionista.

Whilst all the dishes tasted 'nice', and came out looking magnificent, some of the flavours were on the underwhelming side. The highlight was the Passionista which consisted of passionfruit curd, passionfruit fluid gel, passionfruit jelly, dehydrated passionfruit air, aerated basil ganache, basil ice cream, fresh baby basil, sesame cat soil and salted caramel. The dish packed an absolute punch and was just bursting with flavour and texture.



The White Peach Injection (which consisted of white peach sorbet, raspberry and rose curd, toasted marshmallow milk granita and peach nitro) whilst putting on a show, was one dimensional in flavour.  So too was the Granny Smith Pannacotta Party (which consisted of vanilla pannacotta, green apple jelly, cinnamon & white chocolate powder, compressed apple, green apple sorbet, lime & green tea meringue, apple whizz fizz and white chocolate aero), which had the overwhelming flavour of apple which masked many of the other incredible flavours.

While I won't be rushing back to Om Nom any time soon (give me Mr Miyagi's Pumpkin Toast desert or Supernormal's Peanut Butter parfait over the above deserts any day), the dishes were still tasty and it definitely offers a novelty factor which is generally missing from the Melbourne food scene.

Food: 2.5/5
Service: 4/5
Venue: 4/5
Total: 10.5/15
Verdict: Like - get around to trying it at some point.

 

Punjabi Curry Cafe

If you're looking for Melbourne's best naan bread, then look no further than Punjabi Curry Café on Johnston Street in Collingwood. Punjabi Curry Cafe's colourful décor certainly has an eclectic charm - complete with an open fire playing on the TV, and the sound track of the old school French movie Amelie playing in the background.

With an open kitchen so you can watch all the magic happen, a banquet (that you definitely won't be able to finish) will only set you back $31.90.  The banquet comes with a serving of tandoori chicken, vegetable samosas, butter chicken, lamb rogan josh, mixed vegetable curry, plain naan, saffron rice, raita, pickle and gulab jumun for desert.

 

 

Other than the naan bread, the tandoori chicken and the butter chicken were the highlight dishes of the night.  The chicken was succulent and juicy, and both dishes were bursting with flavour.

 

But no matter how good the butter chicken is, make sure you save room for the gulab jumen. Warm and gooey, they are definitely one of the reasons why desert was made to fit into a separate stomach.



For its naan bread alone, Punjabi Cafe is a great choice if you're in Collingwood looking for a cheap Indian eat.

Service: 3.5/5
Venue: 3.5/5
Food: 3/5
Total: 10/15
Verdict: like - get around to trying it at some point

 The New Fave dined courtesy of Punjabi Curry Café