Gingerlee Cafe

Decent coffee, broad selection of all day breakfast and brunch. Nice setting, easy parking

Nothing wrong with coffee. Had a blueberry muffin which was good. The waiter was friendly. Unfortunately with so many great places for breakfast around here, it just doesn’t stand out. The location and outdoor terrace is a good place to meet or watch passersby, but not a place to come eat or drink for primary reasons. Wish there was little extra something to stand out.

As you might expect from such an achingly hip inner Melbourne suburb, this East Brunswick haunt is all about too-​cool-​for-​school edgy minimalism. Step inside the refurbished motorbike shop or grab a seat on the pavement outside and you will be greeted by a clan of skinny jean-​wearing, tattoo-​happy staff. Take in the less-​is-​more whitewashed brick walls hung with the odd maritime painting over breakfast, brunch or lunch. Boasting a pretty substantial menu peppered with egg-​based favourites and some more substantial dishes with a Middle Eastern twist, all of which are served all day, you’d be forgiven for stopping and snacking. As for the coffee — rich and dense short blacks are bursting with nutty, chocolate flavour; a punchy acidity giving way to a well-​rounded finish. Milk-​based offerings come piping hot and are smoothly satisfying.

I came here for the Syrian French toast. It’s known for being completely different to anything you’ve ever had. Instead of using toast, brioche or any other soft bread, they use a crusty baguette. It comes doused in orange blossom syrup accompanied by soft and tart rhubarb, honey yoghurt and crushed pistachios.
It was rather sweet overall, but the flavours were vivid and delicious. I must admit though, it was a little more difficult to eat, being so crunchy and all. In fact I don’t think it’s even dipped in any egg/​milk mixture like a traditional French toast is. If it was, however, it must have been so light that it never soaked through the bread or moistened it up. It was nice, but it wasn’t the best.

My favourite things about this place are the coffee (I don’t think I’ve ever been served a bad one, or even a mediocre one here) and the outside seating area by Edward Street. Combine the two and it’s a pretty blissful set up. The fact that there are free newspapers to read means that one can easily wile away the hours with the sound of trams rattling past in the background.
The inside is not so spectacular. It’s kind of dark and narrow (at the front) and then noisy and, well, even darker, at the back. Depending on who you get, service can be a bit surly but this is easily overlooked in view of the aforementioned damn fine coffee.
The food is breakfasty with a middle-​eastern slant. The shakshouka, baked eggs with Israeli tomato casserole, is hearty and healthy. The Moroccan tagine with baked beans, yoghurt, lemon and coriander is another definite winner, but the dish I see being brought out to tables most often is the pork and fennel sausages with poached eggs on sourdough toast. I’ve never ordered it, but I have tasted it — thank you fellow diner — and it’s no surprise that this is one of their more popular dishes.
Did I mention the coffee?