Tuesday 24 February 2009

Ladies Who Lunch: Power Breakfast Edition at Cumulus Inc

Cumulus Inc.
45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne (map)
9650 1445


65/65 egg

A few weeks ago the Ladies Who Lunch decided to mix things up: instead of our usual catch-up over lunchboxes at Cafe Vue, we made it a Friday morning Power Breakfast.

(Can I just say that Friday morning Power Breakfasts ROCK - we don't have to wear suits on a Friday, we can saunter in the morning sunshine all the way down Flinders Lane back to the legal district afterwards, and the combination of socialising with good friends and eating fabulous dishes puts us in great moods, making the last day of the working week that much easier to swallow.)

Cumulus Inc

The venue of choice was Cumulus Inc, Andrew McConnell's city restaurant that I drooled over when I wrote it up last year. I'd only ever eaten there in the evening, but had heard great things about their breakfast menu and was excited to say the least. We ensconced ourselves in the corner table and commented on how nice the lofty interior looked by daylight.

Miss T had the pink salad of strawberry and watermelon, served with rosewater, mint, pomegranate and yoghurt ($10). Sensational combination. The yoghurt was smeared on the plate under the cubes of watermelon, and Miss T drizzled the rosewater over the top. It tasted fantastic!

Pink Salad at Culumus Inc

Miss B and Miss L both ordered a dish described as smoked salmon, 65/65 egg, sorrel, apple and dill ($17). "Ooooh, 65/65 egg... is that what I think it is: an egg cooked at 65 degrees for 65 minutes?" I asked our waitress, a little breathlessly (if you can't tell from the food porn photo at the top of this post, I have a bit of a thing at the moment for slooooooow cooked eggs).

Out waitress confirmed with a smile that I'd guessed correctly. I didn't end up ordering it (I wasn't in a salmony mood), but Miss B and Miss L lurved it.

Smoked salmon with 65/65 egg65/65 egg

As for me, I had the Turkish baked eggs with spiced tomato, dukkah and labne ($16). I must say that the dish overall was slightly on the acidic side (too tomatoey), not sure I'd order it again. The dukkah was fabulous though.

Turkish baked eggs

Upon arrival I'd been delighted to see that the $2.50 lemon curd madeleines I'd so enjoyed when I'd had dinner at Cumulus Inc were also on the breakfast menu, so I'd promptly ordered four of them for the four of us to have as a cheeky little breakfast dessert. They arrived just as we were finishing up, hot lemon curd dribbling lazily out of them. Nom nom nom!

Madeleines filled with lemon curd

Despite the slight misfire with the Turkish eggs, Cumulus Inc is still one of my very favourite restaurants in Melbourne at the moment. I'm taking Dad there for an Oyster Tasting and Shucking Class during the Food & Wine Festival, hopefully I can talk him into dinner there too... :)

Iced coffee

10 comments:

Cindy said...

Breakfast dessert! There should be more of it.

Serenity Later said...

Breakfast madeleines, yum! That sort of thing needs to catch on i reckon

Serenity Later said...

Breakfast madeleines are the sort of thing that need to catch on i think. These little babies can be quite addictive!

Serenity Later said...

ok, either senility or bimboheadedness (or both) was responsible for that doubling up of comments there. sorry :-S

Unknown said...

Sounds amazing. I can't wait to try cumulus out on my next trip back to Melbourne

Agnes said...

Lovely breakfast! That's a great way to start off a Friday. :)

Anonymous said...

This is us!! I still get excited when I get a mention (or when my hand is photographed).

I love the fact that the Ladies Who Lunch are branching out into power breakfasts. And I have to agree with you that they make Fridays so much more enjoyable. This tradition must continue!

claire said...

Glad you feel the same way about breakfast dessert, Cindy! It need only be bite-sized (and these madeleines only cost $2.50 - bargain).

No worries about the multiple posting SL - it makes the post look more popular than it is! :)

Hi GC, how goes it in London? Cumulus Inc is a MUST try for your next visit home.

Hey Agnes - I know I should always keep trying new places for the blog, but I was thinking of seeing if the LWL want to make Cumulus breakfast a monthly date...

Aw Miss T you can be my hand model whenever you like! I'm having food bloggers remorse that we didn't photograph our brunch at Auction Rooms on the weekend, your hands could have featured prominently...
When I finish this Friday morning yoga course let's get back on the Friday morning power breakfasts xx

bunchesmcginty said...

OH THOSE EGGS...



Yes.

Slow cooked eggs.


Sorry, you were blogging...

Anonymous said...

I must agree, those madeleines are to die for. I still need to go back for another one.. or two...